Nico sounded happy when he spoke.

"I feel honoured. Go on. Snitch on it so I can kick its non-existent butt."

Letting out another small chuckle, I gathered my courage.

"So, we were laughing because Rose kinda roasted Jayden. He was teasing her, saying if she wanted to sit with her favorite brother, because she went to sit beside him. Asher was on her other side, so she replied with, 'yes, I wanted to sit with Asher'."

Nico stifled a laugh at that.

"Now that was cruel but she did him right," he said. "I love her more for this."

I chuckled. How can someone calm down your nerves so easily?

"So, after teasing him a little it said-" I stopped, biting my lip. "It said, I was laughing like a pathetic bitch and forgetting my own rules."

"What rules?" He asked. My eyes widened. Did I really say that?

"Bunny?" Nico asked, a little more serious.

"That-That I have to-" I stopped, tears gathering in my eyes again. "I can't, Nico."

"Yes you can, sweetie," he said, encouraging me to tell him.

I took a deep breath.

"That I have to sacrifice my happiness for Rose to be happy." I said that so fast, I hoped he didn't understand. Silence followed, making me anxious.

"Who said that to you?" he asked.

"No one," I sniffled. I feeling extremely vulnerable.

"It doesn't work like that, Bunny," he said. "You cannot go on punishing yourself for nothing. Rose will not be happy with it. She wants you to be happy and that's not possible if you keep thinking that way."

"But it has always been that way. If we're both happy, something happens and then we're both sad," I said. "She's been happy for two years."

"I'm sorry for breaking it to you, Honey. But she's not. She feels bad that you're not happy. She wants the old Levi back. She wished for your happiness but couldn't give it to you," he said, softly. His deep voice so gentle, it was almost soothing.

That made me feel bad.

"Sacrificing your happiness won't work. Because Rose will not be happy as long as you're not," he said. "Now I want you to throw that rule away and try to be happy for your twin. That is stop pushing away. Give in to what you want, not what that voice wants. Okay?"

"Okay," I mumbled.

"Now what happened the second time?" He asked, his tone the same gentle and smooth.

"I put lettuce in Jayden's cheese sandwich. After Lucian told Jayden to eat every bit on his plate, because he cursed when he found out," Nico stifled a laugh at this, causing me to let out a mixture of a sob and a chuckle.

"So he was chasing me around and I thought only Lucian can save me, so I hid behind him and held onto him. Then when I was about to snitch, I saw the frown on his face and it said, he'd be enraged by me acting like that," I said, my voice dropping to a low volume as I reached the end of the sentence. It was all my fault I got stuck in this situation. If I had just ignored it I wouldn't have to be here.

"He can never be enraged by you being kids," Nico said. "In fact, it must be amusing to him, but considering he's a robot, he must've hidden it."

He scoffed at the end.

"We love you to no end, Bunny. No one is going to be angry if you act a certain way, unless it is disrespectful. Lucian doesn't take that lightly." I rolled my watery eyes at that. "And you will only make Rose sad, if you try to push everyone away. Okay?"

"Okay," I said, feeling a little more relieved.

"Okay last question. Is there something weird you felt today?" He asked, like he had just pointed out something from what I told him.

"Yes," I said. "I thought isolation will be a good thing. You know, with the whole pushing them away thing, I thought being alone would be better."

"Isolating yourselves is actually quite the opposite. It just makes everything worse. So whenever you have such a thought again, tell me or one of your brothers. You can text me too if you don't wanna talk directly. Alright?" He asked.

"Yes Nico," I said, smiling a little. He's easy to talk to. Better than Lucian's interrogation. That's why he's the therapist and Lucian is the guardian.

Cue the eye roll.

"Alright. I heard you have school tomorrow," he said. "Any problem, no matter how small you think it is, I want a phone call from you. Okay?"

"Yes." My smile got wider. "Thanks, Stinky-butt."

"Anytime, love. I really want to give you a big hug right now," he said, sighing a little.

"Aww. You miss me already," I teased, in a high pitched voice.

"No, I don't. Who said that? Not me!" He backpedaled quickly.

I chuckled.

"Alright, Stinky butt. Whatever you say," I said.

"So any gossips?" He asked next. My eyes widened.

"Nah. Just Jayden being annoying. He scared Rose and named her Boo because he had said 'boo!' when he jumped before her. Now everyone thinks she looks like Boo from Monster's Inc." I rolled my eyes, when he chuckled.

"Hold on. She does!" He exclaimed, letting out an exaggerated gasp.

"She will disagree with you," I said, remembering her pouty face.

"One of the puppies stole my cookie today. I tried to snatch it back. Do you know what he did!?" He exclaimed at the end, like the puppy did the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"What?" I held back a chuckle.

"He put the whole cookie in his mouth, covering it with the saliva then put it in my hand. He had the audacity to look smug about it." He scoffed, sounding quite angry about the cookie.

"Gross," We said at the same time, then we laughed a little.

"Where's Lucian?" He asked. I looked over my shoulder, towards the closed door.

"Still outside," I said.

"Alright. After you hand the phone back to him, I want you to hug any of your brothers really tight and relax. That's homework," he said.

"You can't give me two homeworks in one day," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Since I'm the one giving it, I can," he retorted. Not like it was something too hard...

Who am I kidding? I have to give myself a pep talk before I take a step like that.

"Okay," I said, standing up. "I'll hand the phone to Lucian now."

"Alright. Goodbye, Honey. We will meet soon. I love you and all of your siblings do too," he said, softly.

"Goodbye, Stinky-butt." I said, quietly, before opening the door.

Lucian and Asher were not here. I poked my head out and looked around.

"They're missing," I muttered, hearing a chuckle on the other end. Just then, a door opened and they walked out of the room next to Lucian's office.

"Oh they just appeared," I said.

I extended my hands with the phone laying on them to Lucian, who took it quickly, rather impatiently.

"Yes, Nicholas," he said, into the phone. He walked past me and into his office, while I stood there moving back and forth on my heels, looking at the floor.

"So, how'd it go?" Asher asked bending down to my level.

"Good." I shrugged, looking at his smiling face.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked again.

"Yes," I smiled back. His smile is contagious. "Can I hug you?"

He stood up straighter and chuckled.

"Of course. You don't need to ask that," he said, extending his arms forward. I walked into them, trying not to look into his eyes.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, while my head rested on his chest, burying my face in it, partly because of embarrassment, partly because he smells nice. His cologne has a weird comfort to it. Like I can feel relief as it goes into my lungs.

That's why I took a deep breath and felt the relief spread through my chest. His arms wrapped around me tightly, helping me relax more.

"I'm so proud of you for talking it out, Bunny," Asher said, kissing the top of my head. That spot felt warm and it felt like all the worry was fading away. Like every single problem was solved just by that one kiss.

He kissed my head again, causing me to tighten my hold and let out a small sigh.

I didn't know I craved comfort so much.

He stood there, completely still for a long time, which I spent listening to his heartbeat, feeling almost sleepy in the silence.

"Asher," Lucian called out, breaking the silence. I jumped, which caused a chuckle to reverberate in the chest having the comforting heartbeat. I pulled away, as Asher loosened his hold.

I was about to step back, my lips turned down in a disappointed frown, because of the lack of warmth I was feeling.

Asher had different plans, again. He picked me up from under my armpits and set me on his hip like a bloody three-year old. He did it so easily, I almost questioned myself if I was too light or something.

I squeaked and wrapped my arms around his neck, out of instinct.

"Put me down, Asher," I said, trying to jump down.

He shifted me so I wasn't on his side and my legs were wrapped around his waist.

He just chuckled and walked back into the room. I hid my face by burying it into his neck.

"Embarrassed again?" Lucian asked, when he entered. I could sense the amusement.

"Bunny needs cuddles," Asher stated, sitting down and adjusting me so my legs were hanging down on the side of his legs.

Meanwhile, I kept my face hidden in his neck.

Lucian started speaking in Italian, to which I felt Asher nod and say stuff sometimes.

Asher's voice was so soothing, I yawned when he spoke a paragraph, instead of one or two sentences. Then my sleep vanished when Lucian's heavy stern voice started entering my ears.

Asher started rubbing my back with one hand and stroking my hair with the other.

I relaxed completely, focussing on the fingers in my hair, running across the length of it but stopping at random places and rubbing circles there.

I yawned again.

"Can I go to my room?" I mumbled, sleepily. I didn't have the energy to open my eyes.

The conversation stopped at once.

"Just sleep, honey. I'll put you to bed." Asher kissed my forehead. I nodded and snuggled closer.

'We love you to no end.'

"Where's Levi?" I asked, when Jayden entered the kitchen alone.

He looked at me, then at Asher.

"Lucian has asked her lunch to be sent to his office," he said. He had a sad frown on his face, which made me uneasy.

"What happened?" Asher and I asked at the same time, causing him to ruffle my hair with his clean hand, while watching Jayden closely.

"Her expressions flipped to the opposite again. So Lucian wanted to talk," Jayden said, sighing. He moved over to the table.

"How do we control that voice?" Damien grumbled, staring at his food, his hands resting on both sides of his plate.

"By asking her to. It's her who needs to try," Josiah said, staring at his food as well.

"Can I go be with her?" I asked, quietly, turning to look at Asher. I really wanted to be there.

So much has happened in the past days. She's never had a break.

"I don't think Lucian will appreciate that," Damien said, looking at me now. "I think Asher should go."

His gaze moved towards Asher, who nodded and stood up immediately. He was also deep in thought like the others. Sweet how they're stressing so much for her. Levi finally has people who are not letting her encage herself.

I lowered my gaze with a frown, my appetite long gone.

"Eat, Rose," Damien said, making me tense up at the slightly stern tone.

"Finish your food, Honey. She'll be okay." Asher smiled, picking up her plate and walking out, while Jayden returned to sit beside me.

"Are you really eating that?" Damien asked him, to which Jayden chuckled softly.

"She messed with just the one on top. The others are okay." He chuckled, thinking about something while smiling sweetly.

When he smiled like that, he looked exactly like Josiah. I could've mistaken him for Josiah if I didn't know already.

I took a bite of the sandwich and chewed slowly. I tapped my foot nervously.

I really want to be with her.

"Stop that." Jayden tapped my knee twice with his index finger.

I stopped and focused on eating.

"Lucian is not going to kill her," Damien said, looking at me, while biting the sandwich. He bit half of the triangle off.

I was actually worried about that voice in her head affecting her and her happiness. She was letting go and this voice had to ruin it all.

I exhaled deeply and lowered my gaze back towards my food. Just one sandwich and I can go.

After we were done, Damien and Jayden went to set up the movie room.

Josiah stayed back to clear the table so I helped by picking things off the table.

He smiled as I handed him the plates. When the table was cleared, I stood near him while he did the dishes.

"Wanna talk about it, Honey?" Josiah asked, glancing at me then back down at the dishes.

"I'm worried for Levi." That's all I said.

"We all are," he replied. "But we have to help her through this. She's doing excellent so far and I'm sure she'll be okay soon."

The confidence in his voice, put me to relief a little.

"If you don't mind me asking-" He stopped, a slight frown visible on his face. "Or if Bunny doesn't mind." He looked up at me. "Did something else happen that night?"

I shook my head.

"I don't know," I said, quietly. "I was unconscious from the drug he forced into my mouth before Levi arrived then he hit my head on the lamp post," I mumbled, watching him cease his movements and frown angrily.

"I really wish Lucian finds that- him soon," Josiah said, before he continued with his work.

"Can I help with something?" I asked.

Josiah was by far the most approachable brother. For me, at least. For Levi, it was Asher.

But Asher gives the soft guardian vibes. Opposite from Lucian but still somehow similar. He's still a lot older, so he doesn't feel as friendly as Josiah does. Josiah doesn't scold me but I feel like Asher will.

"No, Sweetie. Thanks for offering." He smiled at me sweetly.

The only difference between Jayden and Josiah. Josiah has a softer touch to his expressions and voice while Jayden is like Damien. A scary touch to him mixed with an annoying one.

About five percent of how scary Damien is. And that's a lot.

"Did she take her medicine?" I asked.

"She has to start it tonight. Then after breakfast and after dinner everyday." He said. I nodded. I'll need to make sure she takes them.

"Alright. Let's go to the movie room," He said, while wiping his hands on a towel.

"But she isn't back yet," I said, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Let's go get settled. Asher and Lucian will take care of her and will be down soon," he said, smiling at me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me towards the room.

I'm closest to Josiah so far. He's been nothing but friendly and helps keep my mind off of things.

When we entered the room Damien and Jayden were already settled on the mattresses and pillows they threw here, to make it warm and comfortable.

"What movie?" Damien asked, as I sat down, close to Josiah.

"And don't say 'whatever Levi wants to watch'," Jayden said, in a high pitched voice, trying to mimic me.

I stammered for an answer. That was exactly what I was about to say.

"Can we wait till Levi comes back?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

Jayden rolled his eyes.

"That's the same but improvised statement," he said, referring to what he stopped me from saying.

I giggled a little, causing Josiah to smile and wrap his arm around my shoulder.

Soon, I was cuddled into his side, while my three brothers talked to each other.

I hope Lucian isn't scaring her too much.

😭❤