As soon as I get in, a boy glares at me.

"Who's she?" he asks harshly.

The other boy beside him elbows him.

I don't answer, but I'm tense. I don't know which rule to follow in this situation, and my mind keeps unhelpfully supplying reasons to use a certain rule.

"Not right now, Emilio, okay? She's already overwhelmed," Alex says, starting the car.

"Fine," he groans, leaning back and kicking his feet up.

"Where're we gon'?" Elias asks, swatting at Emilio's feet, leaning forward when Emilio reluctantly lowers them.

"Home," Alex replies simply.

"Then why'd you pull us out of school?"

Alex glances at Elias in the rearview mirror. "I saw Oliver today," he says instead of answering.

Elias nearly faceplants when he jerks his arm out from under him. "Oh, uh, was Stella with him?"

Emilio rolls his eyes as Alex snorts.

"No, she wasn't. They apparently split up to do some things."

Yeah, taking the photos of me naked down.

"Oh." Elias blushes. "Don't tell Antonio about that reaction."

"Too late." Emilio holds up his phone.

Elias lunges for it and the two wrestle in the backseat.

Now that the shock of everything is wearing off, my brain registers the throbbing pain in my ankle and wrist, and the exhaustion clouding my mind.

I close my eyes, resting my head against the window. I watch the scenery fly past; trees and houses and people and parks, all blurring into a colorful mess.

We pull into a driveway, going only a few feet before a large black gate comes into view. Two security guards are watching it, and one nods to Alex, typing a complicated password onto the keypad and scanning something before the door swings open.

Alex drives through, heading down a long driveway decorated with flowers and statues. The driveway is windy and takes about three minutes to make it to the end, when he clicks a button and a large, black garage door slides open, revealing a spacious garage.

Dozens of cars - all sleek, shiny, and expensive - take up the space, and I notice with a start that the other two garage doors don't seem to be connected to this one.

I don't have time to appreciate the beauty of the garage though, for as soon as I step out of the car, a shooting pain hits me, starting at my ankle.

I bite back a cry, and then I don't see anything.



I open my eyes again, cursing under my breath.

Second time I've fainted in two days.

I shoot up.

Two days.

It was yesterday morning I woke up and my mom was dead, Nathan was on the run, and I was meeting my brothers.

I have no memory of the night coming, but I assume Alex pulled over to sleep too.

I run a hand through my hair and look around.

I'm in a bedroom - a huge one at that.

It's white, with a fuzzy rug under the king size bed, several pillows under my head.

Looking up, there's railing around the walls, and my eyes widen at how high the ceiling is.

I look down and notice my wrist and ankle have both been properly bandaged and iced, the swelling having gone down significantly.

The door opens and Alex smiles at me.

"Hey, you're awake."

Stating the obvious, but all right.

"Are you feeling better?"

I nod. "Yeah."

"Good." He walks in and brushes the hair out of my face gently, watching how I flinch defensively.

"Whose room is this?"

"Michael's," he answers, looking around. "I figured you'd be most comfortable in here, his bed is the softest."

"How long was I out?"

His smile falters, concern returning to his eyes. "A few hours. What happened to your ankle, Ror?"

I look down again, touching the bandage. "I sprained it."

"How?"

I don't answer, and he doesn't push it. He just grins and offers me his hand.

"Michael and Nico are home, you want to meet them?"

I nod. "Can I change first?"

His smile softens and he nods, pointing. "You can take a shower too. Just use Mich's bath, he won't mind. Towels are in the drawer. You can borrow some of his clothes until we go shopping, okay?"

I hesitantly nod. "He won't mind me using his stuff?"

"He won't," Alex promises. "I'll let them know, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Alex."

His smile widens. "Of course, Rora."

He leaves me alone and I head into the bathroom, my jaw dropping when I see it.

It's large and blue and amazing. A tub with tile is the first thing to catch my attention. I force myself to move past it and open the cabinet under the sink, retrieving a blue towel.

I open the glass door to the shower and turn the water on, letting it warm up while I undress.

I step under the water and gasp at the sensation. I relax as the warmth envelopes me, my hair falling into my eyes.

I pick up Michael's hairbrush tentatively, debating whether to use it or not. I ultimately decide to not risk it and just run my fingers through my hair, wincing at every knot I catch.

Ten minutes later, I exit the shower reluctantly, grabbing the towel and wrapping it around myself. I head back to the room and turn around, trying to figure out where Michael keeps his clothes in his room.

When I finally find it an embarrassingly long time later, I dress quickly and prepare myself mentally for what's to follow.

Meeting my brothers.