"You ready to talk now, sweetheart?" Asher asked, softly after a while of us just sitting there in silence.

I shook my head and tightened my hold on him.

"Is it okay if we just communicate through heartbeats?"

A chuckle resonated in the chest, making happiness brew inside me too.

"No, Honey. You don't get to use my own words against me. I can't know what's going on inside your head just through our hearts," he said, stroking my hair, before adding. "Yet."

A knock on the door made us both turn abruptly. That knock disturbed the comforting silence.

I grabbed the edges of the blanket and pulled it up, to hide completely, because I was sure Asher wouldn't let me move.

"Yes?" He called out, after he was done chuckling.

The door opened and footsteps sounded, while I stared at the darkness.

"I brought your dinner." Josiah's voice was heard, after the clanking of the plates.

"Thanks, Josiah," Asher said, softly, moving his hand from my hair to my arm, rubbing up and down.

I waited for a while, expecting retreating footsteps. Instead, Josiah decided to move the blanket a little bit so we made direct eye contact.

He smiled sweetly, before leaning down to place a kiss on my forehead.

"I hope you feel well, sweetheart."

I nodded, before snatching the blanket and hiding again. That caused both of them to laugh out loud, before I finally heard Josiah's footsteps retreat and the door shut.

"Alright, Bunny. Let's eat," Asher said, lowering the blanket.

"I don't want to," I said, softly, fiddling with a button on his shirt, absentmindedly.

"Are you really not hungry or you're just not in the mood?" He asked, stopping his movements to look down at me.

"I'm not hungry," I lied, stilling my hand that was fiddling with the Bunny's hand now. Maybe I took a second too long, because Asher started being scary.

"A lie," he stated, the gentle touch to his voice wavering a little. "And I don't want to hear another one."

I gulped a little, not daring to look at him. Instead, I started fiddling with the Bunny again.

"Alright. Sit up," he said, gently lifting me up into a sitting position. He straightened himself and shifted backwards so his back was against the headboard, taking me with him.

Putting my palms on the bed, behind me and beside his leg, I tried to lift myself off his lap. But he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me back, all the while reaching for the plates with the other.

He adjusted himself, so now the leg I was sitting on was behind me, bent at the knee. I pulled my legs back and crossed them, putting the plate he handed me on my lap, while he kept his plate on his other thigh.

Picking up the fork, I looked at the food half-heartedly. I took a deep breath and gathered the energy to take the first bite.

Chewing slowly, I stared at the wall before me.

'Heartbeat is a way for hearts to communicate.'

"What're you thinking, sweetheart?" Asher asked, making me turn my head to look at him.

"Were you serious about that heartbeat thing?" I asked, looking back down. "I mean, you said sometimes the ear can't understand heart language. So does it mean sometimes it can? How's that possible?"

I sneaked a glance towards him. What I was met with was a warm smile.

"That is possible," he began. "Take an example. A newborn baby can't tell what it wants yet the mother knows. That's the hearts communicating."

I stayed silent. That actually made sense.

"But-" I stopped, taking a deep breath, wondering if I wanted to ask this or not. "If someone has walls around their heart, how is it supposed to communicate? And what if that someone does not want to lower the walls?"

My voice was a mumble as I played with the food, too deep in thought to focus on eating.

"Everyone has walls around their hearts, sweetheart. Life teaches a baby how to build the wall slowly so the heart stays protected from all the rough things being thrown at it," He said, stopping for a second to let that sink in. When I nodded, he continued.

"You never have to lower the walls or break them. All it takes is a person who can see through the walls," he said. The sweet smile stayed on his lips, spreading throughout me.

"Can't you just see through?" I mumbled. I don't want to word everything that happens in there.

"No I can't. I don't have that superpower yet." He chuckled. I looked at him and he was still looking at me with that warm smile and a bright twinkle in his eyes.

"How do you get it?" I asked, taking a moment to look into his eyes, spotting the warm loving touch in his gaze in an instant.

"By a special bond." He shrugged. "You have to earn that superpower and I promise I will earn it one day."

I frowned and looked down.

You get the superpower by a special bond?

"Still confused?" Asher asked, to which I just dropped the frown and looked at him. "Have you ever met a certain someone who could tell what was wrong just by looking at you?"

He had a knowing look on his face and it instantly clicked.

"That's what Dad superpower is!" I blurted, a little too loud, with a gasp following that sentence. "That's why we never needed to tell him."

"Yes." Asher chuckled. "Your Dad earned the bond that paved the way to your hearts and connected yours to his."

"Hence, he got that superpower," I said, looking wide eyed at the wall before me. "Mean of him for not telling me this."

"He was a great Dad," Asher muttered. "I'm grateful for how he treated you two. Don't listen to anyone telling you otherwise, but he's definitely better than every single person you will meet in life. That includes your blood family."

I looked down when tears sprang to my eyes suddenly.

"So better that he's not even in the competition," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"But I'm in trouble," I mumbled, wiping the tear away.

"For what happened downstairs?" He asked, to which I gave a single nod.

"No you're not," he said, kissing my head. "The only people in trouble are Jayden and Dex."

"But I cursed and raised my voice and argued. Lucian will-" I was cut off.

"Lucian will simply apologize for forcing the last name on you. You're not in trouble," he said, putting his hand on my head and running it over my hair.

He won't.

I simply shrugged and started eating. We ate in silence for a long time, during which my mind played everything that happened today. I focussed more on what Asher had said, connecting the dots.

Dad did have that superpower. I never had to tell him. He either found out on his own or I simply started spilling. There was no struggle from his side.

"I don't want to lose his name, you know," I mumbled. "He left that part of him with us and I don't want it snatched away."

"I know, sweetheart," Asher said, softly. "No one is going to force you now. They need to learn how to communicate because they clearly suck at it."

I let out a chuckle, moving the food in my plate.

"Thank you."

"That's my job as your brother. Don't thank me again." He chuckled and booped my nose.

Asher was done with his dinner before me. He texted someone while I was eating and immediately put his phone down once I was done.

"Alright. Do you wanna accompany me to my room and stay with me while I work? I'm kinda scared and I think you can help me fight the fear away," he said, gripping my chin lightly and raising my head. He proceeded to shower kisses all over my face, ending with a final big kiss to my forehead.

"That was a good joke," I mumbled, clutching the Bunny tighter when the warm feeling settled in my stomach again.

"No I'm serious," he said, smiling sweetly. Getting off the bed, he stood up and extended his hand towards me. I took his hand and stood up myself.

Before leaving the room, I picked up my journal and a pen. Asher's gaze flicked from the journal to me, but he didn't question anything.

Once in his room, he helped me get settled. That was helping me find the most comfortable place on the bed and drape the blanket over me. That comfortable place happened to be the right side of the bed.

"I love that side too," Asher commented, after he got me safely tucked in. That was my lower half, since I was sitting.

Explains why it smelled more like him.

He kissed my forehead once and moved to sit on his desk, sorting through papers and writing stuff.

I turned back to stare at the journal in my lap and the pen sitting upon it.

I opened it and stared at the empty page, deciding how to put everything into words.

Dear whoever reads this,

I stopped at that. I was lost deep in thought as I twirled the pen in my fingers.

After a lot of thought, I started scribbling down on the paper, stopping from time to time to think about what to write next.

Today the bitch told me to kill myself and gave me ideas about how I can do that. It actually sounded fascinating because I would see my Dad and Mom and Rose would maybe be happier if she didn't have to deal with my shit.

I felt overwhelmed afterwards, but I didn't try to hurt myself, despite getting the urge to do that.

I read the note over and over again, wanting nothing more than to just rip the paper. But I had to take this first step.

Maybe Nico can really kick its non-existent butt.

Nodding to myself, I closed the journal finally and put it aside.

In the whole process of writing that short note, I didn't notice that I was now sitting in the kneeling position, facing the headboard now and leaning down, so my face was inches above the bed where the journal was placed. My left hand held up my chin.

I raised myself into a sitting position that caused the blanket to slip off my back. I turned my head to the side to see that Asher wasn't there.

My breathing quickened surprisingly fast. I looked around frantically, relaxing a little when he walked out of his closet dressed in his home clothes and wet hair.

"Oh! You're awake!" He joked, moving to his desk again. "It's almost bedtime."

My head snapped to the clock to see there were indeed five minutes left for bedtime. I was focussed on this for about an hour.

"Okay," I said, scrambling to get off his bed. I was stopped when Asher clicked his tongue. He put his palms on the bed and leaned down to my level with a sweet smile gracing his lips.

"Do you mind if I hold you close tonight?" He asked, softly, with so much hope in his eyes that the instant answer I had was yes.

"But Rose-" He shushed me quickly.

"Rose and the twins were watching a movie in Jayden's room and they're all already asleep there," he said. "Figured you'll not like sleeping alone in your room."

I nodded slowly, unsure if I was being too much of a burden.

"I can manage." I stopped the upcoming protest when his smile dropped slightly, daring me to compromise just because I was insecure.

I gulped and looked down.

"Okay." I nodded my head in compliance.

"Alright, baby," he said, happily. I saw him stand straighter and walk back into his closet. A second later, the sound of a hairdryer was heard, while I sat there, unsure if I should just go to sleep or wait for him to choose where he was gonna sleep or decide where I was gonna sleep.

A few minutes later, Asher walked out of his closet with his hair dried. By that time, I had moved from the right side of the bed and was now standing in front of the balcony doors, pretending to look out while there was complete darkness outside.

Asher moved to the bed and patted where I was sitting some time before.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get you in bed, otherwise I'll have to listen to Lucian's lecture all night."

"Can I sleep on the other side?" I asked, making him furrow his eyebrows so slightly it wasn't noticeable.

"Sure," he said, crossing the bed to hold the covers up for me to get in. I put the journal on the nightstand, before getting in. I laid down, looking up at Asher. After he was done tucking me in, he kissed my forehead and threw a smile towards me.

He walked towards the other side of the bed. Just as he was about to climb in, he stopped when his eyes landed on the Bunny sitting on the nightstand on his side. Long forgotten.

That's what it gets for being smug. Asher picked it up and laid it down on the bed between us. He tucked the Bunny in and kissed his forehead too, making my hands twitch and eyes narrow at it.

Asher is not sharable.

I huffed quietly and turned to my other side, so the Bunny wasn't visible. I don't know why but that made me a little jealous. A little.

Asher turned the lights off but I kept staring into darkness, not finding sleep like any other night.

I might sleep till afternoon but the number of times I wake up during nights and the duration for which I wake up every time is large. Hence, the bags despite sleeping for so long.

It was complete silence when a high pitched voice broke it.

"Y'all forgot the 'holding you close' part!" The bunny reminded.

"Oh yeah. I really forgot!" Asher said, letting out an exaggerated gasp. A giggle almost jumped out of my mouth but I pushed it back in.

A second later, two arms wrapped around my stomach and pulled me back, taking the bunny with me.

So much for trying to give him his favourite side.

Asher adjusted us so my head laid on his chest while his one arm wrapped around me and his other hand stroked my hair. The bunny was kinda tucked into my neck and my nose was buried in its fur.

"It smells like you." I mumbled. A confused frown appeared on my face.

"I sprayed some of my cologne on it." Asher mumbled back, tightening his hold when my breathing hitched.

Tears almost sprang to my eyes at the sudden realisation that hit me out of nowhere.

The walls might have gone translucent for him already.