"Hah!" I put my right fist forward as I changed my stance to match with the man in the movie. When he kicked, I kicked. When he punched, I punched.

"Um...Honey, what are you doing?" Kade asked as I threw another punch at my invisible enemy. I panted a bit as I tried to get my breathing straight.

"Training" I said simply before mimicking another kick.

"Training for what? The apocalypse?" Ares asked as he leaned on the couch with his forearms and just watched as I continued to practice, not really bothered that I was being watched.

"Well, Roman has someone coming over so in a little while you'll have to do this in your room" Kade said and I nodded.

Ares watched me for a little before speaking up.

"I'll practice with you" Ares said with a grin before coming around the couch and standing next to me. I glanced at him before moving a little so that I wouldn't accidentally hit him if I turned too suddenly.

We both mimicked the man's actions but I could see that Ares was struggling to match the stances correctly so I would help him adjust his body at some parts.

"Well, look at that. My little sis is the next karate kid" he said jokingly the first time I had helped him. I only gave him a small smile in return.

I didn't want to reveal my true intentions for why I was practicing. I wanted to be able to have confidence, and I thought that maybe if I were stronger mentally and physically, then I would have the confidence to approach my everyday challenges.

And also because I wanted to protect my family. My brothers were always coming to my aid when I was in trouble but who would come to theirs? I wanted to be that person for them, someone that they could rely on when they needed help.

When we were finished, we collapsed on to the couch, both sweaty and tired.

"Good work out young grasshopper" Ares said ruffling my hair. I frowned before reaching up and ruffling his hair, seeing how he liked it.

"Hey, hey. You don't get to do that..." He said with an embarrassed look and I smiled in triumph before leaving him and going up to shower.

After showering and putting on new pajamas, I tried to brush my hair but huffed when my arms began to hurt. It really is a pain to have to do this everyday. I looked at myself in the mirror as I brushed. Putting up two fingers to my hair in scissor style, I tried to imagine how I would look with shorter hair.

"Ceres, your hair is so beautiful...Mama loves it so much"

"But I don't like it..." I muttered, responding to the voice as if it were actually talking to me. I sighed before just trying to finish brushing it and putting it in a low pony before heading downstairs to get something to eat.

What I wasn't expecting was for Roman and his company to be downstairs.

"Oh, Ceres, there you are. This is Alain, my coworker" Roman said. I looked at the man who was standing next to Roman with a smile as he waved at me.

He was flashy. Sunglasses, gold watch, and cool clothing. He reminded me of the men Mama brought home and she would do bad things with them and they'd give her money.

I hated everytime it happened and I refused to let this man do it to Roman so I ran in front of him and spread my arms out in an attempt to shield Roman from him but with Roman being way taller than me it wasn't really working. So to help, I also put on my best glare, which I knew could be frightening because Diana had told me so.

"Uh..." the guy stopped smiling as he stared down at me confused but my gaze remained unwavering as I dared him to try and come closer to Roman.

"Sorry about our little guard dog here. She's very protective" Ares said as he tried to pull me away but I glared at him and he just backed away with a surrendering look.

I heard Roman give a short sigh from above me and suddenly, he was leaning down to my height to look me in the eyes.

"Little one, I promise this guy isn't as bad as he looks" Roman said and the guy made a scoffing sound. I frowned at Roman's words, still not being able to believe him.

Seeing that I was unconvinced, Roman gave me a reassuring look.

"If I feel like I'm in trouble, I'll call for you okay?" He said and even though I felt that it wasn't enough to satisfy me, I didn't want to seem bratty so I nodded and backed away where Kade guided me to his side.

The entire time the two walked up the stairs, I just watched them silently. When I heard the sound of Roman's door closing, I was about to rush up and listen in but before I could, I was suddenly picked up by Kade.

"What are you doing?" I muttered and Kade shook his head at me.

"Come along honey. Eavesdropping is rude" Kade said as he carried me to the couch.

"But I have to listen out for Roman calling me" I said crossing my arms. Kade chuckled before patting my head.

"You will. I'll keep the TV down so just sit and cuddle with me for right now, okay?" He asked and I frowned. I really wasn't in the mood to cuddle right now. I had to be ready in a moment's notice but Kade didn't seem to be taking no for an answer so I reluctantly complied.

"Jeez, kiddo. That's the first time I've seen you like that. You get a bad vibe from him?" Ares asked and I faltered.

I didn't get a bad vibe from him at all, I was judging him based off of his looks and how I associated those kinds of people from my past experiences. I know it was wrong of me to do that but I also just couldn't help it.

"No..." I muttered playing with the ends of my still slightly damp hair.

"So why'd you act like that towards Alain?" Kade asked and I sighed.

"Mama used to bring men home that dressed like him...and I guess I just thought..." I trailed off, not really wanting to finish telling them what I was thinking.

"Well, you had a good reason for it. You just wanted to protect Roman, right?" Kade said and I nodded.

"So it's fine. Just make sure to apologize to Alain later" Ares said and I nodded.

I stayed silent for a moment before deciding to change the subject so that Ares and Kade would feel more comfortable.

"I think...I want to cut my hair" I said and Kade's eyes widened.

"You sure? I mean, last time I asked..." Kade trailed off and I just shook my head.

"I want to..." let go of Mama, I thought the rest to myself.

Even now, it was as if I was still living with Mama. Afraid of certain things, not wanting to speak my mind, and not wanting to make friends with others but since then I've felt like that hold she had on me has been lifted.

I want to do more things I've never done before.

And I'll start with cutting this hair that Mama loved so much.

"Oh wow, kiddo you're gonna look amazing!" Ares said and Kade nodded. Did they really think so? What would the others think? What would Diana think? Would they like it?

I found myself really nervous but excited at the same time. I was finally doing something for myself for the first time, and it felt great.

~a little later~

"Ceres, can you let Roman and his friend know that dinner is ready?" Lucas said and I nodded, jumping at the chance to finally rescue Roman.

I walked up the stairs and headed towards Roman's room. I knocked on the door and when hearing Roman's voice telling me to come in, I opened the door.

Roman was at his desk as usual while his...'friend' was reading some papers as well but he was seated a little ways away from Roman.

Roman lifted his head and looked at me.

"You need something?" He asked.

"Dinner is ready..." I said and he nodded. His friend also seemed to be listening and when hearing me say that dinner was ready, he stood up.

"I guess that means it's time for me to go" He said as he did a short stretch.

"You sure? It's not a problem for you to stay" Roman asked.

I watched the two converse silently. Roman truly didn't look uncomfortable and if anything he looked the exact opposite. I guess I really was wrong...

I remembered what Ares had told me earlier. I needed to apologize for wrongly assuming that...Alain...was someone that he isn't and being rude to him.

"Excuse me..." I said quietly. I was a little nervous to be talking to him since I'm still not used to just up and speaking to strangers, but this was sort of like practice in a way.

Alain looked down at me and out of nervousness, I played with the hem of my shirt to try and distract myself from his gaze. I was feeling so queasy but maybe that's just because I am trying to force myself to do something I'm not used to.

"I'm sorry...about earlier..." I said, feeling my cheeks heat up with each word being uttered. Why was this so hard? I felt like my heart was gonna burst at any second now.

"Don't worry about it. I understand completely" he said giving me a friendly smile and I couldn't help but feel even worse than I already did.

Here he was being so nice to me and I had been the one to wrongly judge him. I'm such a bad person...

Letting his words be my cue to leave, I walked out of the room and went back downstairs to eat because I didn't get the chance to earlier.

Alain did as he said he would and went home saying that he didn't want to impose on us any more, which totally wasn't true. He hadn't bothered any of use the entire time he's been here.

"Did you apologize?" Ares asked after dinner. I was helping him clean the dishes by drying the dishes as he passed them to me.

I nodded.

"He said he understood" I said.

"See? Everything worked out just fine" He said and I just gave a small smile. Once we were finished, Max had asked me to come with him to his room.

"I meant it when I said I was going to teach you how to paint. After seeing Ares'...attempt at drawing, I refuse to let you end up like that embarrassment" He said and a small grin was on his face as he seemed to be recalling the events from Roman's birthday.

So that's what we did for a while and I even tried to make conversation. Max was easy to talk to when he was in his own element. He was calm and even lightly joking with me. It made me feel that I could talk about lots of things and he wouldn't mind.

A knock on the door grabbed our attention and we turned to see Kade standing in the door way with his hand on his cheek.

"Aw, isn't that cute? Now that you have someone younger than you, you want to be a good big brother" Kade cooed upon seeing us.

Max's calm demeanor from a few seconds ago completely vanished as soon as Kade's words left his lips.

"Who wants to hear that from you?!" Max yelled with a blush prominent on his face as he got up to go and push Kade out of the room.

"There's no need for you to be embarrassed, I was giving you a compliment" Kade said as he stood there, unfazed by his younger brother's attempts to push him out of the room.

Note how I said attempt.

"I don't care just get your ugly face out of here" Max grumbled and before I knew it, Kade had brought Max into a hug while going on about how cute Max was when he was embarrassed.

"What is going on in here?" Roman said as he peeked his head into the room. Seeing Kade clutching a flustered Max to his chest, Roman just shook his head.

Hearing Roman's voice, Kade turned his head towards him.

"Roman? Did you want some love too?" Roman's face paled at Kade's words before he shook his head quickly and left the room but that didn't stop Kade from chasing after him with his arms wide open.

"He's so fucking annoying...now I'm going to have to take an extra long shower tonight" Max grumbled and I couldn't help but let out a tiny chuckle.

"It ain't funny!" Max exclaimed. Normally I would have been afraid when being yelled at like that, but now after seeing such a kind side of Max, I couldn't bring myself to be.

"I said...it isn't funny!" Max exclaimed and I whined when he began pinching my cheeks. It wasn't enough to hurt me but it still stung nonetheless.

"Sowwy..." I tried to say but Max pinching my cheeks made it difficult. He huffed before letting go and on his face was a sour expression.

"Now you have to get out too. Lesson's over, I wanna be by myself" he said and I nodded, respecting Max's wish and leaving.

When I left, I saw Roman shutting his door in Kade's face making the older sigh.

"All of you boys are just so rude, no manners at all" He said.

I wonder why Kade liked hugging so much? Couldn't he see that the others don't like it?

"Oh, there you are. When I came in the room, I meant to ask you if you still wanted to cut your hair. I don't mind doing it for you" Kade said as he approached me.

I nodded and we went to his room where I sat in the chair in front of his mirror.

"So, how much do you want cut off?" Kade asked as he loosely examined my hair.

The chestnut locks fell all the way down to my waist, it truly was a pain now that I think about it. The time it took to wash it, dry it, and brush it was honestly exhausting.

Even if I wasn't honest with myself in the past about it, at least I could be now that Mama wasn't in my life anymore. I kept my hair long thinking that the love she expressed for my hair could also mean that she loved me as well but deep down in me, I know that wasn't how she meant it but I wished she did.

After making up my mind on the length, I told Kade and even though he was surprised that I wanted to cut so much off, he just nodded.

While Kade was cutting, I had decided to ask him what I was thinking about earlier.

"Kade?" I asked and he hummed in response.

"Why do you like hugging so much?" I asked and I could sense that Kade had stopped his movement for a moment before continuing what he was doing.

"If you were any of the others, I would tell you it's because I like bugging them but I won't lie to you like that. I'd feel bad~" Kade said with a small chuckle at the end.

He'd feel bad? For what? I waited patiently for Kade's next words.

"I simply want to give them the affection our mother and father couldn't. We've all had our rough patches growing up, and mine stemmed from the absence of our parents. I craved their love and affection. Seeing all the other kids with their mom and dads made it hard for me and I often believed that they didn't love me because of it. It took time and a lot of talking it out for me to come finally to terms with myself but now I've moved on. I don't want any of you guys to feel the way that I did, so I took on the role of being the overbearing and doting sibling" Kade finished with a distant look in his eyes, as if he were remembering those times when he was younger.

I had no idea that me asking him a small question would spark such a personal answer. I was a bit speechless at his answer, not really knowing what to say.

"I haven't talked about that to anyone you know? It feels nice to let it off. And you know Ceres," I was a bit surprised at hearing Kade saying my actual name for once instead of just calling me his usual nickname.

"I know that there are things that you too, may want to get off your own chest. You aren't with you mother anymore. None of us are going to get upset because you express how you're feeling. Cry if you're sad, get angry if you're upset. Those things are natural and it's something you're allowed to do. We all do it so there's no reason that you should feel that you can't. You don't need to hold it back anymore, okay? We're all here for you now and just from seeing how you acted with Roman earlier, I know that you're here for us as well" Kade finished with his usual warm smile.

I let Kade's words wrap around my head and repeated it like a mantra. He had basically explained what I had been feeling this entire time. I wasn't with Mama anymore. I was free to be my true self, but unfortunately I wasn't even sure what my true self was like.

"Hm, so this is what girls talk is like. It's so fun!" Kade said and I couldn't help but laugh at his words. I've never really had girls talk before either but I'm sure that this doesn't really count as girls talk.

"And would you look at that, we are all done. You look stunning!" I looked in the mirror and saw a different girl. No longer was the girl who hid behind her locks, too afraid to even think of doing something like this. In front of me was a girl, happy and smiling at her new appearance. My hair now rested on my shoulders and Kade had even cut my fringe a little just so that it could frame my face better.

"Do you like it?" Kade asked and I nodded.

I couldn't wait to show everyone.