I sat on my desk chair while Rose sat on the bed. She watched me tap my foot anxiously, staying completely silent, waiting for me to explain.

I looked at her, to find her looking at me curiously. She sat straighter when I lifted my gaze to meet hers.

"Father was here," I began, watching her eyes go wide.

"Did you meet him?" She asked. I nodded.

"Lucian didn't want me to though. I don't know what is going on between them," I said, then continued with whatever Father said downstairs.

"So, we're going on a picnic with him to decide who we want to live with," Rose stated in disbelief.

"Yes. Our decision would be final," I said, feeling quite nervous.

"What do you think?" Rose asked, her gaze falling to my chest, where the bruise was.

"I don't know. I don't trust anyone," I said, clenching my jaw and looking away.

"Me neither," She muttered. "But we have to choose between Father and brothers."

"It'd depend on what Father does tomorrow," I said. I stood up from the chair.

I don't want to live here. The brothers have just turned me against them till now. I don't know about Rose. But the separating us, Damien scaring Rose then doing what he did today has made me completely against the idea of living here.

"Lunch!" Asher called out, really loudly from downstairs. I sighed and stood up waiting for Rose to finish tying her hair.

She slipped her hand in mine and we started walking to the kitchen.

Everyone was already there and seated.

Lucian was seated at the head of the table, as always. Asher sat on one side while Jayden and Josiah sat on the other. Damien was not here, which I was thankful for.

Rose tightened her grip on my hand, probably already nervous she has to sit beside Asher.

I looked at Lucian to find him already staring at me, studying my reaction.

Well. Since Damien wasn't here, we have the chance to sit together. So I made my way towards the opposite side of the table going to sit beside Asher, in the middle. Rose sat on the other side, nervously.

Lucian didn't say anything about it.

"No exchange of food," He reminded.

"Did you go through everything you bought, sweetheart?" Asher asked from beside me.

I shook my head, not looking at him.

"Did you set up your laptop?" Josiah asked, looking at Rose. Rose shook her head.

"We didn't open the boxes," She said, softly.

Josiah frowned and looked at Lucian.

It was clear from the tension that everyone knew about what happened.

"Be on your best behavior tomorrow. Don't think if you're not around one of your brothers, you'll get away with everything." Lucian gave me a pointed look. Rose grabbed my hand immediately, providing every little amount of comfort she could.

I looked down at my food and started eating.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day.

That statement applied to today too, when just as we were about to go to bed, a knock sounded on the door.

Just after the knock, the door opened and a very tired looking Damien entered the room. And when I say very tired, I mean very tired.

"Get out!" I snapped, as soon as he stepped in. He looked at me, a glare almost formed on his face, but he took a deep breath and dropped the scary look.

Rose was sitting tensed, not looking him in the eye, while I was looking at him with nothing but hate.

I saw Lucas in him at that moment.

"I-" He began but got cut off.

"I said, get out," I gritted. My jaw clenched as the scene revolved before my eyes.

He looked at me before dropping his gaze to the collar of my shirt. A frown covered his face which deepened with each passing second. But soon, the apologetic look on his face vanished and he turned emotionless again.

"Fine," He said, before he stuffed his hands in his pockets and left. I slumped back against the bed and took deep breaths. My heart was beating so fast against my ribs.

"He looked sorry," Rose mumbled quietly, clearly not wanting me to hear it.

"People can pretend," I said, laying down properly. "Goodnight, Rose."

"Goodnight, Levi."

I woke up before Levi next morning, which was unusual. She was usually awake whenever I woke up.

I shuffled out of the warm sheets. The cold floor sent shivers from my foot to my head.

Pushing the sliding door open, I stepped into the balcony and closed the door gently. The warm sunlight soothed me. It was warm. Neither too dull, nor too bright.

I took a deep breath and stretched, yawning in the process.

There was a forest surrounding the property, which looked beautiful with the sheet of sunlight covering it.

I stood near the railing and looked down. I don't think I've paid much attention to the house. That's why I've just entered the balcony for the first time in two days and I haven't noticed the huge swimming pool we have behind the mansion.

Wow.

Levi is going to love this. I looked back to see her still sleeping peacefully. Something I'm grateful for.

She's had bags under her eyes for a long time now and I know she doesn't sleep much.

I sighed and turned back towards the backyard. I just hope this day goes better than what we have now.

I just want everything to be good for her too. Lucas never talked much to either of us. He had to sign our report cards as the guardian and do the normal parent stuff. Other than that he never talked.

Now Lucian found us, with the help of a twisted game of destiny. I don't like it here. I don't like it when people compare us with each other. I don't like it when she gets treated as the bad guy, just because she's trying to make me have all the attention and affection. Which she shouldn't do.

I don't like when they look at her like that. Like she's treating me bad or like she's trying to go against them purposely.

Asher and Josiah are good and kind. Lucian is scary but treats us equally. But Damien and Jayden cross the line, almost always.

That's why I don't like it here. We can't live with people we're so scared of and we can't tolerate someone trying to turn us against each other.

We have our differences but we're not putting each other down. I never blame her for being the decision maker or making the choices for both of us. I'm always comfortable with whatever decision she takes and with some magical power she knows immediately if I'm opposed to something.

I just wish I could do more for her.

I sighed and started walking back into the room. Seeing Levi asleep, I made my way to the door quietly.

I skipped to the stairs, jumping down on each one, while humming to a song and being lost in my thoughts.

I always wanted to slide down the stairs, but Levi never got the chance to teach me.

Jumping down the last step, I skipped towards the kitchen, occasionally skipping a step and twirling on the spot.

"...if Dad takes them away?"

"We can't do anything about it. It's all in their hands and if I try to tell them anything, they'd think I'm purposely making them go against Father," Lucian spat the last word out. "You know how Bunny reacts to things."

"He still wants them to call him that?" Asher asked, as I heard every other sound stop.

We've always called him Father? What's wrong with that?

"Yes," Lucian said, a small sigh escaping his lips. "I don't want them to go live with him."

"I hope they choose us. We haven't even bonded yet. I don't know how they're gonna decide," Asher muttered, sadly.

"Hm. Don't let the boys do anything stupid, okay?" Lucian's voice sounded.

Just then, I mustered up some courage and opened the kitchen door.

Asher looked up from the pan and a smile appeared on his face.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Why are you up so early?"

"Good morning, Asher," I muttered, reluctantly, just because Lucian doesn't like it when we don't. He's scary.

Levi's always been scared of him. I don't know why. Even before the divorce, she was terrified of him. I still remember it.

"Is Bunny sleeping?" Lucian asked, obviously knowing the answer. If she was awake, she'd either come downstairs for me or with me.

"Yes," I mumbled, looking down. I rushed to the cupboard, before he could scold me for eye contact.

The cupboard was huge. I reached up a few times, before someone came up behind me. I jumped and stepped aside to be away from them.

Asher handed me a glass and smiled, ignoring my reaction.

"Do you want to have breakfast now, honey?" He asked, using those sugary sweet names again.

"No," I said, as I began filling the glass with water.

"Come sit here, Rose," Lucian said, making me still the glass near my mouth. I looked back to see him nodding his head towards the seat on the shorter edge of the counter.

I gulped and lowered my hand and the glass. I shuffled over to the high padded seat and climbed on it.

Lucian looked down at his phone for a long time, during which I just fiddled with my fingers and stared at the water in the half filled glass. While he was busy on his phone, I spent time sipping on the water. I just finished half of it and he still hasn't spoken a word.

"How was life back there?" He asked, casually like making a conversation with an old friend. "I mean, before your step-brother ran away."

"I'd rather not talk about it," I mumbled, wishing he doesn't hear it, but he did.

"Why?" He asked. I could hear, smell, see the suspicion.

"Because we don't want to talk about anything with you," I said what me and Levi decided on together, without even talking about it.

This way they won't think they can barge in and start acting like the past eleven years never happened.

"And why's that?" He asked, exchanging looks with Asher.

I shrugged and picked up the glass of water, gulping it down to make myself look busy.

"I gotta go," I said, quickly getting up and rushing out. Thankfully he didn't stop me and let me run away from there.

Levi will panic if she wakes up to find me gone.

I speed walked to the room, thankfully not bumping into anyone. As soon as I opened the door, I came face to face with a panicked Levi.

"Rose," She said, releasing a sigh of relief. She rushed forward and had her arms around me in a second.

I melted into the hug, wanting to enjoy every second of it.

How much I love her hugs and what I'd give to live here in my sister's embrace forever.

"Where were you?" She asked, pulling away.

Now that she was calm, her face had gone back to its normal expressionless front.

"I went downstairs to have some water," I said, smiling reassuringly.

She worries too much.

She frowned, so I spoke again.

"I'm okay. Don't worry."

"Okay," She said, nodding her head slowly, before rubbing her eyes.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked.

She smiled.

"Yeah."

That's all that was said between us.

I was humming to a song, while taking a warm shower.

I wish it could go back to how it was two years ago. She was affected the most with Dad's loss. She's never been the same again. I miss her.

"Do you know what I did?" Levi asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"What?" I asked. My voice dropped to a whisper.

"Dad was dying his non-existent beard and I replaced his brown dye with a green one," She whispered, making my eyes go wide.

"Amira Levi Verlice!"

"Oops. I'll go hide. Cover up for me, will you?" She kissed my cheek before winking and running away.

Just as her small footsteps went silent, heavy footsteps thundered down the hall and into the kitchen.

"Good Morning, Dad." I smiled, trying to calm him down.

My smile turned into laughter when I saw his green beard. He had a small beard and the green color made it more noticeable.

He dropped his scowl and his eyes softened.

"Morning, Sweetie. Where's my troublemaker?" He asked, making me laugh again.

"I don't know." I shrugged. He narrowed his eyes, clearly knowing I'm lying.

"That's not true. You two always tell each other if you do something." He pointed at his beard. "Stop lying, little girl, before you find yourself on Santa's naughty list and on the naughty step." He pointed to the third step behind him.

I just smiled sheepishly and pulled my puppy eyes on.

Dad put his hands before his face in a defensive pose.

"This Dad is immune to that look." He waved his hand dramatically.

"No Dad is." Someone scoffed. I shook my head.

This was expected. She can't live without her snarky remarks.

"Is that my little troublemaker I hear?" Dad said, in an extra heavy extra loud voice. He moved towards the pantry door, slowly.

We heard muffled laughter from in there, making me smile. Dad too. He was smiling as he took steps towards the pantry.

"Amira," Dad sang as he moved closer.

He opened the closet door and grabbed her.

A giggling Levi appeared with Dad's arms around her. Dad smiled smugly.

"Ha! You thought you could hide from this superdad."

"Yes." Levi laughed loudly, trying to get his hands off her sides.

"You have been accused of dying my beard green," Dad began how he always announced the actions and consequences. "The king wants you to be seated on the naughty step for the next twenty minutes."

"No!" Levi drew out the word and waved her hands dramatically.

"Yes." Dad picked her up and walked out to make her sit on the step himself.

We hate that step. We threw a tantrum when we were little, demanding an elevator in the house, so we could destroy the evil stairs.

I put my phone in my pocket and walked out to find Levi pouting with her arms crossed and sitting on the third step.

Dad was smiling smugly while watching TV in the living room.

They will fight the whole day because of these twenty minutes.

I smiled sadly and jumped out of the shower. Life was so good with Dad. We had never been so happy. He was a great father and we never felt like we were not related.

Levi was okay with touching back then. We would both even crash in our parents' room to cuddle with Dad. He forced us initially just after Mom's death. We thought he'd need hugs so we complied.

But that became a habit. A good one that was taken away too soon. I miss him.

I walked out of the bathroom, to find Levi sitting on the edge of the bed, looking out the huge glass sliding doors.

She took twenty minutes to get ready and we were already walking to the kitchen, with her walking before me confidently while I shuffled behind her.

I wish I could be so confident and outspoken.

We reached the kitchen. She pushed the door open and held it for me, waiting for me to enter.

I stepped beside her and took my seat at the side, while she sat between me and Damien.

"Good morning, babies!" Asher greeted as he came from around the counter and took his seat.

"Morning," We both muttered. Levi was reluctant and cold while saying it.

"The social worker will be here tomorrow. You have to decide by then and tell her who you want to live with," Lucian said, looking at no one in particular. Something different from him considering he's the one barking at everyone for eye contact.

"Okay," I said, when he raised an eyebrow at the lack of a response. He nodded and looked at Levi, who was just blankly staring at the table, but aware of the surroundings.

"He will pick you up in an hour," He informed, frowning at the lack of reaction from Levi, who was also frowning.

She's acting odd.

Her hands were a little shaky and Lucian hasn't even spoken sternly.

"Levi," I whispered, making her glance at me before turning back to stare at the table.

"Hm?" That's all she said.

"Are you okay?" I asked, quietly, feeling nervous because of the attention we were getting.

"Yeah. Just waiting for food," She said, not once looking at me.

I nodded, a frown appearing on my face. The food was served and Levi didn't raise her head once.

"So you're just letting them go with Dad for a picnic?" Damien said, stabbing his food. Everyone stopped eating and looked at him.

Jayden scoffed at that but stayed silent.

"He's the biological father, Damien," Lucian said, giving him a warning look that screamed at him to stop talking.

"And what if they decide they want to live with him?" Jayden asked, leaning forward slightly to look at Lucian properly.

"Then they live with him," Lucian said, his eyes turning visibly darker.

"How can you say that so easily?" Damien said. Levi was tuned into the exchange but wasn't looking up at anyone.

"What else am I supposed to do?" Lucian said back. "I forced them to live here, because everything was in my hands. Now everything is in their hands. They will make the decision themselves. I can't fight against Dad."

"Can you all just leave this topic for once?" Levi grumbled, shoving food down her throat.

"Can you just keep your mouth shut?" Damien scowled at her.

"Can you stop existing?" Levi retorted. Lucian was glaring at the two.

"Can you-" Damien was cut off, when Lucian cleared his throat. That was enough to shut them up and for me to stop breathing. Whatever Lucian does, it's scary. Everything about him is scary.

Levi looked down at her food again. Damien did the same.

Why is everything so chaotic?

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