20 minutes ago

It's been almost a month. Almost a month since Olive came back, and I still know shit about her.

Yeah, I know that she's a pain in the ass, but other than that? Nothing. Amadeo said to give her space, 'to not make her feel like she has no privacy'.

I want to know about her past. I'm not saying that I necessarily care, it's just so hard to not be curious.

I'm so fucking curious.

And as I lie down on his bed, I know Santo is too.

"She was in Mrs. Bernard's office today." He said, spinning on his chair. Even though he gave me a fucking headache, I straightened myself and leaned against the wall so I could look at him better.

She got sent to the principal's office before me? "Really? What'd she do?"

He shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. "How would I know? She didn't say anything about it, I just saw her walking out."

I scoffed. "She doesn't say anything about... Fucking anything."

Everything about Olive is a big, annoying mystery. Fourteen years of being away, and there's almost nothing we- I, know about those years.

I know she used to live in a damn orphanage, and that fact alone makes my blood boil. Our entire family spent years trying to find her, but apparently this place kept no personal files of the kids in it.

If that's not a giant red flag already.

"She doesn't have to say anything." Was his only response, and the flat tone he used got under my skin.

"It's so obvious she has so many secrets, don't you want to know what the fuck happened? How she got that fucking scar?" I shot, and my hold on his stupid stuffed tiger tightened.

Alessandro, and everyone else, liked to say that I have anger issues.

I don't.

People piss me off easily, sure, and I feel the need to kill them as soon as they do, but I hold back.

At least most of the time.

I have it under control, and Olive proves it perfectly. Fuck, the amount of times I wanted to shove her inside the trunk of a car just so I won't have to hear her going on about how she gets a rash in her knees after eating strawberries, or how she thinks all humans should have longer arms so they could scratch their backs easily.

A real pain in the ass, I swear.

Santo stopped spinning, looking at me with disbelief and furrowed eyebrows. "Of course I want to know what happened to her, she's my-" he cut himself off, rubbing his forehead.

"Look, we can't just force her to tell us about everything that happened before she came here, she needs to feel comfortable to do that herself."

Great, Santo and his words. I know that he has a point, but why does he always have to be the bigger person?

"I bet her friends know." I muttered, lying back on the bed. "We can blackmail them."

There was a slight pause before he talked again, irritation clear in his voice. "Does your brain processes the words that come out of your mouth? Do you even have one?"

I rolled my eyes and threw the tiger at him.

It's not like it'll work anyway, they seem so close to each other. They've been all up each other's ass since they got here, so much that I could hear their annoying laughter constantly even through my closed door. I wanted to kick them out of the house so bad.

I don't like how she braids their hair, how they joke around and I definitely don't like how they hug her.

But why wouldn't they hug her? They grew up together.

"Why doesn't she feel comfortable telling us?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Santo's eyes snapped back to mine, and there was a knowing glint in them. There was another thing they both shared besides blood.

A scar.

Santo hates answering questions about the scar on his face, especially to people he barely knows. Is this how Olive sees us? People she barely knows?

But it's true.

"Do you think she likes us?" Santo's own question threw me off.

I kicked his pillows off the bed, but he didn't seem to notice. "I don't know." I answered honestly, and he let out a big sigh. We sat in a sad, pathetic silence for the next couple of minutes.

What the fuck do I need to do to make her tell me things? How do I make her... Comfortable?

Nope, I can't do it.

I grimaced and got off the bed, giving Santo one last look before turning off his lights and leaving his room.

"Asshole!" he yelled, but I already closed his door behind me.

It's almost midnight, and yet, I could hear Alessandro and Amadeo talking downstairs about things I absolutely don't care about.

Riccardo is probably in his room, getting drunk with Duke like he normally does on Fridays. Or any other day of the week.

Olive is not the only one who shares nothing, you see, Riccardo is even worse. Our parents sent him to so many therapists after everything that happened, but he just... stayed the same.

I never really believed that Olive will magically come back like the rest of them, but I always thought that if she will, Riccardo will get better. But I guess I'm not the only one who feels like it's hard to ignore the invisible wall between us.

So, with a stupid idea of checking up on how she's doing, I opened her door. "My charger is shit so I need your-"

It's like my air got knocked out of my lungs in a second, and every single thought I had before completely disappeared, leaving me with nothing but the sight of Olive.

She was sitting on the edge of her bed with one hand pressed against her neck. Her head hung low, but I could still see the tears running down her face.

And I could see every drop of blood on her hands.

She didn't look up to meet my face, but she didn't need to. I slid down the floor in front of her, and I don't think my eyes could go any wider.

What the fuck happened to her?

She silently sobbed, her body shrinking with every breath she takes. Her blonde hair was now covered in red at its end, just like her shirt.

"Shit, I- Olive." The words got stuck in my throat, and it felt like all I could do is stare in shock.

I've never seen her cry before.

I brought one hand to the direction of her neck, but she immediately got off the bed, facing away from me.

"Just... Go." her voice broke, and it felt like someone threw a rock at me. Blood kept dripping down her arm until it hit the floor, and by the way her body shook faster, she seemed to realize that as well.

I scrambled up to my feet and tried to ignore the sound of my own heartbeat in my ears. "Show me what happened, I can-"

"Please, go away." She repeated almost pleadingly, not once glancing my way. She rested her body against the wall, and my legs moved automatically to her front.

"No, you- you're hurt. I can't leave you like that." I won't leave you like that. She was clearly in pain, but she was also begging me to leave.

She doesn't feel comfortable around you.

My heart clenched at that thought, but it doesn't matter. Not when she's hurt.

My eyes lingered on the hand she was furiously pressing to her neck, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. I need to pull my shit together.

"Sit... fuck- sit down." I slightly pressed her shoulders, making her slide down the wall so she won't accidentally fall. She winced, but did it anyway.

I rushed towards her bathroom, knowing Alessandro made sure each of us has a first aid kit in there. My hands shook as I tried to find it, and my body occasionally froze when the sounds of cries that escaped her lips reached my ears.

Why the fuck am I acting like that?

The second I found it in one of the cabinets, I snatched it and ran back to her. She was in the same position I left her in, but now her head was leaning against the wall, giving me full view to her face.

The tears are still flowing down from her closed eyes, and her nose turned red. Mom's nose also turned red when she cried.

"I'm pathetic."

Her voice was just above a whisper, and I almost didn't hear her. She didn't open her eyes, nor did she turned to look at me.

"What? No, no." I gulped and sat in front of her, trying my best to open the damn kit. Why isn't it opening? Come on! I tried taking a deep breath to calm myself, but each time I raised my head and looked at the blood on her hands, my mind gone blank.

"It's okay, you can agree." she whispered, pain evident in every word she spoke.

Fuck it. I ripped the kit open.

I searched for the rubbing alcohol and pads, trying to think about what am I going to do. I used my kit more times than I can count, but always for my split knuckles. "You're going to be fine, I promise I-"

"That's what I thought!" She suddenly chuckled, and the sound sent chills through my entire body. "God, I feel so stupid."

I brought my hand to the side of her neck, trying to keep it steady. "I'm going to clean it, okay?"

She didn't seem to care. Only keeping muttering to herself. "Why the hell did I believe Alessandro when he said I don't need to worry anymore?"

"Olive," I whispered. "What... What happened?" I don't know what answer I want to get, but it's better than to let my mind guess. Did she do this to herself? While I was only a wall away?

"You know," She hissed when I pulled her hand off her neck. The skin was completely raw, and I could see the nails marks all around her partially open scar. "It's a funny story. I tried to rip it off."

My eyes snapped to her face for a second, and even though she said it was funny, the tears still ran down her face.

Nothing about it is funny. Tried to rip it off.

I couldn't find any words to express the things I felt at that moment. And to think I was wrecking my brain just ten minutes ago, trying to figure out how'd she get it in the first place.

While she was here, hurting.

"I'm sorry." I continued to clean up the wound, trying my hardest not to look at her face. I hate to see her in pain. Why can't she just be a pain in the ass now?

"For what? It's not your fault he fucked me up."

This time, my whole body froze. The bandage I was halfway into opening up suddenly felt like it was so hot against my cold hands, and there was no ignoring my loud heartbeat now.

Didn't I want to know what happened to her before she came here just minutes ago? So why does it feel like my blood is burning my skin after one glimpse to her past?

"What?" I heard myself ask. It's not your fault he fucked me up.

"Why fight it anymore, right? I'm marked. There was never an option for me to forget him." She muttered, breathing heavily as I try to fight through the anger and secure the bandages with the tapes.

I could feel the anger clouding my mind, making me clench my jaw until it hurts. There is someone out there, someone who hurt her. And I wasn't- none of us were there to stop him.

But now he's making her hurt herself, and we are here.

And you still didn't stop her.

"Stop blaming yourself, dipshit. He's behind bars now, anyway." she opened her eyes for the first time, and the usual gray turned so much darker.

She looks so tired.

Without thinking, I leaned against the wall next to her and placed my hand on her head, pulling it to my shoulder. I didn't look away from the wall in front of me, and tried to calm myself.

Holding Olive helped.

I can't believe I thought I didn't care about her this past month. I was lying to myself, but now I know I fucking care.

I don't know how long we stayed on the floor, none of us saying a word. All I could think about is how she said this man is behind bars.

He's alive. He's fucking breathing, the son of a bitch. Just wait until I'll tell Alessandro and he'll find-

Am I going to tell Alessandro?

Telling him means to hurt, to fucking torture, the man who dared to hurt my sister, but at the same time, it means to break the small trust she put in me.

She was comfortable around me.

Chapter 31!!

Its 2am in my country lol and I have school at 8am but I had to deliver ;)

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