"Now, I want you to tell me what you were thinking about." He said. My head snapped towards him again as I searched his face for any hint of a joke in it. There was none.

"Whenever you think you're slipping down the memory lane. Just start telling instead of focusing on the picture playing in your mind. Being out of it like this can be dangerous," he said, nodding his head, confirming he was indeed serious.

I nodded, which made him smile.

"I'm almost done. How about we go sit there and talk?" He said, pointing to the table.

"Okay," I said.

'Why would he be interested in what you have to say? Wouldn't they be jealous of your Dad for being so important to you?'

I sighed and looked up, jumping when I saw Asher looking at me closely. He extended his hand which I took and jumped down.

Leading me to the table, he took a seat at his usual chair. I went to pull my hand out of his and move to sit beside him.

Asher had different plans.

He pulled me and set me on his lap, carefully, so I was wrapped in his arms tightly.

I looked at him and gulped.

"So what did you see?" He asked, smiling sweetly, effectively comforting me.

"Dad made Lasagne once." I started the story.

At one point I got so engrossed in telling everything, that I didn't notice someone entering and sitting across from us, on Damien's seat.

Like I know someone entered and I made eye contact with them but I didn't pay any attention to who it was.

And when I ended with that childish handwave and the loud, 'they did the wedding kiss!', I slapped my hand on my mouth when I heard Asher's loud laugh and a soft stifle from across us.

I whipped my head around, but all I saw was an emotionless face.

My eyes widened in surprise and my eyebrows raised.

Suprise one, Lucian was here. Surprise two, I swear I heard him stifle a laugh. It was barely audible but I heard it.

The first thing I thought of doing was pushing Asher away and sitting in a chair properly. But Asher tightened his hold and laughed at my misery.

My next thought was to hide as I felt my ears heat up in embarrassment. I did just that. I stopped fighting and turned my head to bury my face in his chest, the sides of his shirt clenched tightly in my fists.

My nose felt the vibrations when his chuckles resonated in his chest. I grunted in annoyance. He should've just let me up.

"Come on, Sweetie. That's your brother. You don't have to be embarrassed," Asher said, trying to pull away. I kept my head there, not letting him push me away and see my embarrassed face.

"Let me get off then," I muttered, quietly but loud enough for him to hear.

"Okay," he said, slowly releasing his hold on me. I jumped off and stood up straight, facing away from them. Giving myself a little pep talk, I gathered the courage to turn around and prepare to run out of the door.

"Stop," Lucian said, when I was about five steps away from the door.

"Yes?" I asked, turning around and looking at his nose.

Lucian opened his mouth then closed it again. He frowned, looking at Asher. They shared a look, with Asher giving him a what could be called a pointed look. Lucian sighed and turned to me again.

He has shown more emotions by the turning of his head and talking to Asher through his eyes than he has ever shown on his face.

"Nothing," Lucian said, shaking his head slightly.

I turned back around and speed walked again.

"Wow, Lucian," Asher scoffed. I slowed down as soon as I walked out.

"I tried. You can't change in one day," Lucian said back.

Oh?

"Fuck." I forgot my phone in there.

Rolling my eyes, I turned around and walked back into the kitchen. Asher and Lucian looked at me again. I went straight for the phone. Picking it up, I put in my pocket.

I froze when a shriek rang through the mansion.

"Rose!" I yelled, running towards the door.

Lucian and Asher followed quickly.

Skipping two stairs at a time, I ran upstairs, coming to an abrupt halt when I heard someone laughing.

Moving forward towards the source, I saw Rose standing near the wall, pouting at the ground, while Jayden was on the floor near the opposite wall, rolling on the floor like a dog and laughing like a wolf howls.

"What happened?" I asked, standing beside Rose. She looked up and her pout vanished.

"I was walking down the hall and he jumped out of nowhere." She pointed at Jayden.

"And he scared you?" I gritted, glaring at the criminal. I took a step forward, my fists clenched at my sides. I managed to take just one step because Rose grabbed my arm, holding me back without even using any force.

"I just said, 'Boo!'. She got scared by that," Jayden said, now sitting up, laughing.

"That was mean!" Rose said. Her voice didn't raise, although she was trying to.

"Aww. Baby got scared." Jayden pouted and said that in a sweet voice. "Let's name you Boo now."

He's dead.

"You call her that and see how I-" My threat was cut short when Jayden turned his head and looked at someone behind me.

My eyes widened and I zipped my mouth shut.

"Aww. Baby two is scared too." He pouted again, putting his palm flat on the floor and standing up. "Okay, Bunny and Boo, let's go have lunch."

Oh. Lunch.

All the anger vanished as he unknowingly reminded me of the special surprise.

I hid my smirk and slipped my hand in Rose's.

"You must be hungry, Rose," I said, turning to her. She looked at me, furrowed her eyebrows then nodded slowly, complying.

I smiled and turned back towards the way we came from. Lucian and Asher were still standing there, with their usual expressions.

They followed us back to the kitchen, while I couldn't keep the smirk off my face.

Damien arrived just in time. We were waiting for him, because he was on his way.

Asher put the plates of grilled sandwiches on the table. I helped, earning a hair ruffle from him.

'We earn love by loving others. Every good thing you do returns as a loving gesture in my kingdom. Just you existing is the best thing you can do and that's why you're so loved.'

"Take a seat, love," Asher said, pulling his hand away after setting my hair. "I'll serve the rest."

I nodded and turned to the table again.

Sitting beside Jayden would be dangerous.

I walked over to where Rose sat and stood behind her chair. Leaning down, I whispered,

"Can you sit at my place for today?"

She nodded her head and stood up. She smiled at me as she took a seat on my chair.

Jayden looked up from his phone and smiled.

"Oh. Hey Boo. Wanted to sit with your favorite brother today?" Jayden asked.

"Yeah. I really wanted to sit with Asher."

That caused a loud howling laughter to be thrown out of my throat. My chair stumbled and I was about to fall backwards when the two guys on my both sides showed their quick reflexes and held the chair in its leaned back position. Their forearms held the chair up.

The way she said it so sweetly, slightly sweeter than her normal voice made it better.

"Be careful," Damien grumbled, tapping my forehead with a little too much force with his index finger. Although he meant for it to be stern, he had a small smile, he was trying hard to suppress. There was a strange twinkle in his eyes, which I couldn't recognise.

"Burn!" I said, laughing at Jayden, who fake pouted at Rose. I looked at Rose, who was smiling. A big bright smile. She giggled when Jayden grumbled.

"How does it feel being roasted by an angel, Jayden? Must be something rare." Damien mocked.

Jayden narrowed his eyes at him, but immediately diverted his gaze when Damien sat straighter and glared.

Haha. I can even punch Damien when he's giving me that look. Flex!

I stifled a laugh again and bowed my head to hide my face.

'Look at you laughing like a pathetic bitch. What makes you think you can be so happy?'

My smile dropped and a frown covered my face.

Right.

'You forgot your own rules. Sacrifice your happiness for the sake of Rose.'

"Bunny." Someone called out. I lifted my head, pushing the frown back and looking at Lucian with an emotionless face.

"Yes?" I asked. He put his phone down on the table and lifted his gaze to look at me.

"What did it say?" He asked, clasping his hands together, while keeping his piercing gaze on me.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Whatever you heard in your head. Your expressions took a little too quick to flip to the opposite," he said, making my eyes go wide.

"Nothing." I muttered, looking away.

'Don't be so close. You trusted Asher quickly.'

"I know it's not nothing," Lucian said, making me look at him again. Asher put his hand on his forearm that was resting on the table. Lucian didn't say anything else.

"We will talk after lunch, honey," Asher said, turning his frown into a sweet smile quickly.

"Here have some ketchup, Boo." Jayden mocked Rose as he passed the ketchup to her.

"Don't call me that," She mumbled, looking up at me, almost pouting.

"Why are we calling her Boo today?" Damien asked, after he was done swallowing the bite.

"Because she got scared when I said 'Boo!' and she looks like Boo," Jayden said, furrowing his eyebrows at the end, concentrating on Rose's face. "Yeah she does!"

"That baby from Monster's Inc.?" Damien asked. Jayden nodded, seeing which Damien concentrated on Rose for sometime, thinking hard. Rose shied away from the attention.

"You're right," Damien nodded slowly.

Oh and Damien looks like Sulley and Jayden is Mike.

Nice.

I rolled my eyes, to which Rose shrugged in agreement. Thankfully, Lucian was too focussed on seeing how Rose resembled Boo to pay attention to the eye roll.

"I can see the resemblance too," Lucian said, slowly nodding his head in agreement.

"Can you stop making her uncomfortable?" I grumbled, when all five of them kept studying her.

They diverted their gazes and blinked.

"Sorry," Josiah muttered, throwing an apologetic smile towards a flustered Rose.

"You start school tomorrow," Lucian began just as Asher took his seat after he was done putting everything on the table.

"What?" I exclaimed. My tone was a little sharp.

Lucian raised an eyebrow, making me slump back a little, to avoid his warning gaze.

"Yes. You start school tomorrow. I want you on your best behaviour. No rule breaking. I don't care if you're popular or I have connections, if you break rules, you will be punished accordingly by the school." He raised an eyebrow, while looking at Jayden with a pointed look.

"You don't have connections. You rule that hellhole," Jayden grumbled to himself, avoiding Lucian's gaze and ignoring the warning hidden underneath.

My eyes widened and I instantly felt fear creep inside me. He's got guts to say that in Lucian's presence. I pity his future self.

"Well, that hellhole has consequences and if you get suspended, you know what happened last time," Lucian said, now glaring at him. Jayden shifted in his seat.

"When I tell you something, I expect a simple yes in return. No arguments, no complaints. Am I understood?" Lucian said, not taking his eyes off Jayden, who was staring at the table now.

"Yes," Jayden muttered, before busying himself with getting his sandwiches and piling them on his plate.

"You can order the things you need online." He looked at me then at Rose.

"Although I've already ordered most of it, but if you don't like anything, feel free to use this card," he said, sliding the card towards me. I extended my hand to pick up the card and put it in my pocket.

"I expect the same from you. No misbehavior when you're at school," he said, looking between me and Rose but giving me a pointed look at the end.

I don't want to go to school!

"Yes Rose?" Lucian said. I looked up to see Rose's hand raised a little, as she tried not to make eye contact with Lucian. There was that twitch in Lucian's lips again.

Asher was leaning back in his chair, smiling at her.

She's adorable. I know.

"Don't we have to choose what subjects we will be opting?" She asked, like the smart girl she is.

Lucian nodded.

"The forms will be given to you tomorrow at school. So think through what you want to study," he said, diverting his twinkling gaze to me. "Good luck. Perform well."

I grunted in annoyance, hearing the same noise from across the table.

This is going to suck!