"Love is the most beautiful
of dreams and the worst
of nightmares."

~~Aman Jassal

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~Nevada~

After spending the first part of my morning puking my guts up and my head threatening to split in half, I ended up sleeping until well into the afternoon. It was probably better that way seeing as how I was disappointed with myself despite knowing that Nova had needed me to be there. His emotions had been all over the place and, having always been more sensitive to his feelings, I knew I had to do something to keep from crawling out of my skin.

Nova was my best friend, my brother, and I knew he had been through more than his share of pain. Edith didn't deserve to call him her son but who was I to interfere? I was part of the reason they had fallen out after we had graduated high school and I couldn't help but resent the woman for causing such distress to him even if he hadn't voiced it.

Sighing, I looked around the bedroom and ached from August's absence. He had stayed with me, caring for me, all night and most of the day. The vague memory of him waking me up to tell me that he was going on watch floated through my mind and groaned. I hated all of this, the high security and the element of danger that the future held, wishing I could run away and never have to face it again.

That wasn't an option, or a path, that I was willing to take however. The vision that I had experienced at Michael's house surfaced momentarily and I shuddered, unable to accept that as my future or Nova's. No matter how badly I wanted to run away, I knew that we had to face what was coming and we had to do it together. If we continued to fracture, there would be nothing left but pieces to fight the war to come.

"I need to get out of this room," I muttered, discouraged at the bleakness of recent events. 

I grabbed a quick shower, brushed my teeth for what felt like the hundredth time and finally made my way downstairs. The living room was empty but I could hear muttered curses and the bang of pots and pans coming from the kitchen. Curious and vaguely hungry, I followed the sounds and found Dominic unintentionally trashing the normally clean room.

"What are you doing?" I asked, looking around at the clutter of pans, bowls, and various food items. "I think it's safe to say you're having difficulties."

Dominic turned away from the counter, a bowl and whisk in hand. His normally stoic expression was transformed into one of frustration and the front of his clothes appeared to be covered in flour.

"That's putting it mildly," he replied with a hard exhale through his nose. "I'm not usually the one to do this."

"What is 'this' exactly?" I watched him as I pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and leaned against the edge of the island. 

Dominic tossed the bowl and whisk on the counter, ignoring it as it fell to the floor with a clang as he irritatedly ran a hand through his hair. His eyes drifted to the mess around us with a grimace.

"I was trying to cook." He shook his head with a sheepish smile. "I'm not really that good at it."

I swallowed a laugh, taking pity on him. 

"Why didn't you ask for help? Nova is really good at cooking, and I doubt he would have cared to help out." I glanced around and tried not to cringe. "Or at least supervise?"

Dominic's face screwed up, a mixture between a scowl and something indecipherable. "Something tells me he wouldn't have been able to. Or willing, maybe."

I raised my eyebrows questioningly but didn't ask, my head still aching slightly. "Alright, so maybe I can help. I'm not the greatest but Nova and I haven't starved in the last few years so I do okay."

Dominic hesitated, his jaw clenching as he glared at the disaster around the room. Finally he sighed and leaned against the opposite counter from me.

"Alana is mad at me," he answered quietly, a wave of sadness rolling over me so strong it made me gasp but it quickly disappeared as if he had pulled it back into himself. "She's hurting because of Ashira, we all are, but I didn't do more to get information out of Edith and I should have. Then Edith took off and Hatter found her but let her go because she convinced him it was the best thing for Nova, all of us really…. Anyway, now Lana won't let me in the room."

Several questions filled my head but I held them back, deciding to handle the issue at hand. "And you thought you would cook for her?"

Dominic scowled, frustrated. "We don't fight, Nevada, not really. So yeah, I thought I'd make this cake thing her mom used to make her when she was sad."

"I thought you didn't get to know her family because of opposition within the races?"

"I didn't but she talked about it all the time," his eyes held a wistful and faraway look as he remembered. "Whenever we missed you, she would talk about it, and other things from her childhood, that we would show you someday. It seemed to always help so I thought I would try."

Dominic shrugged almost helplessly as my throat ached, grief for the life I might have had momentarily blurring my vision. Sniffling, I offered him a watery smile.

"Well, how about you let me try to talk to her and maybe Nova will help you out with that cake later. I'm not really a great baker unless it's from a box." I moved to the refrigerator and pulled a large tub of ice cream from the freezer and two spoons from the drawer. "Sometimes all a girl needs is some girl time."

I attempted to keep my tone light, not wanting to feel any more heavy emotions but my words felt weighted despite my efforts.

"I love your mother, Nevada," Dominic said quietly. "Regardless of what she says or what I do, the truth is that I'm a barbaric bastard when it comes right down to it. She's my soul and so are you and your brother. I wanted to protect you three, but I'm a bull in a china shop when it comes to nonphysical pain."

This time my smile was strong, a warmth blossoming in my chest at the truth in his words even if he seemed embarrassed by his show of vulnerability. I gestured around the room, "Sometimes, it's the effort that helps the most you know. You can't keep us from hurting, Dominic, but being there while we put our pieces back together is sometimes the best thing you can do."

He looked at me, bright green eyes seeming to unravel all the parts of me that I wished to hide, but I held his gaze unwavering.

"I just want you to be happy. That's all the matters to me." The words felt as if they held a double meaning but I didn't want to get my hopes up so I remained quiet. Dominic glanced around the room, scrunching up his nose. "August is going to kill me."

I laughed as I turned away, "You did just wreck his kitchen."

"With good intentions!" Dominic called after my retreating form.

I smiled and shocked my head as I climbed the stairs. Something Dominic and Nova had in common was their inability to handle tense situations without throwing some humor at it. Making a mental note to track down Nova and check on him after visiting Alana, I raised my hand and nervously knocked on the door.

"Go away, Dom, or I swear I'll light you on fire," came Alana's angry voice, muffled on the other side of the door. 

"Uh, it's me, Nevada," I stammered with mild uncertainty. "Can I come in?"

A pause, long enough to make me uncomfortable, passed before she opened the door. Alana's blue eyes were red rimmed and slightly puffy, her cheeks blotchy from crying. The oversized tee shirt and baggy sweats hung off her small frame making her look like a child playing dress up in her father's clothes. Taking the initiative, I held up the ice cream.

"I come bearing gifts." I announced with forced cheerfulness. Taking a deep breath to calm my anxious heartbeat, I tried again. "I thought maybe we could talk."

Alana said nothing but turned from the doorway and headed into the darkened space leaving me to follow behind. Forcing my feet to move and ignoring my anxiety, I let the door click shut behind me and perched on the end of the bed. I looked at Alana who sat with her back against the headboard and her knees drawn up to her chest. 

As the silence stretched on, her eyes distant and shining in the single lamplight, I searched my mind for the words that could help. I came up empty. Instead of saying anything, I scooted to the middle of the bed and tossed her a spoon before pulling the lid from the container. 

"I hope you like chocolate vanilla swirl," I said casually while filling my spoon. "I wanted double fudge but August either didn't look or they didn't have it. Either way, it's ice cream plus there's chocolate."

Alana's mouth twitched even as I felt an almost overwhelming sense of anguish coming from her. "And they say diamonds are a girl's best friend."

I smiled and then filled my mouth with the frozen treat before I started rambling nervously, giving myself a few more moments to get my thoughts together. Honestly, I had no idea how to approach the situation, especially since I didn't know much about her or Ashira. But as her daughter, and the only other female in the house, I wanted to try. Gathering my courage, I joined Alana at the head of the bed and positioned the tub between us.

"I didn't know Ashira very well," I began carefully, "but I know what it feels like to lose someone close to you."

Alana grew tense beside me but said nothing, using her spoon to draw random shapes in the ice cream. Looking at her profile, I could see the dark circles that ringed her eyes and cast shadows on her beautiful face. 

"When my father died, it was easy to blame my mother because she didn't stop him from leaving that night." My throat grew tight and my eyes burned with the memories. "I was so angry with her and some of the things I said were absolutely terrible but at the time I had no one else to blame."

"I blame Edith," Alana growled, anger making her tone sharp. "Why is everyone trying to protect her? She came here to betray us all and killed Ashira in the process. She is to blame."

I shrugged helplessly. "Maybe, but I don't think anything is that simple anymore. I used to think so but since my father died, and everything that's happened recently, I don't think it's ever just black and white."

"It's simple really, Nevada," Alana looked at me, the pain more than apparent in her eyes. "Edith brought this trouble to us and she will pay for it."

"Probably," I agreed willingly, "but Dominic didn't play a part in this and Robbie wouldn't have made a decision like that without a damn good reason. That man is in love with my brother whether he knows it or not and Dominic would rip out his heart just to see you smile."

Alana looked down at the slowly melting tub of cream, her expression slightly guilty even as tears slipped down her cheeks. 

"If I'm not angry with them, I'll fall apart. And I'm not putting that on you, it's just the truth." Her voice was quiet, broken by the sobs that threatened to spill forth. She swiped angrily at her cheeks and shook her head. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this. I'm your mother and you should have to be here babying me like this."

"I don't mind, Lana," I told her, a grin splitting my face even with the current dark pretense of the topic. "Dominic would have been in here but since you wouldn't let him in the room, he took to destroying August's kitchen instead."

She looked at me in confusion and it was almost comical how it instantly turned to horror. "Oh gods, he was trying to cook?!"

I laughed. "Yeah, something about a cake you liked as a child and he seemed reluctant to ask Nova, our unofficial chef, for help."

Alana's eyes softened at my words, warmth filling them as more tears slid silently down her cheeks. A small, sad smile tugged at her lips as she took a bite of ice cream. We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"He walked in on Robbie curled up with Nova this morning," she said, smiling at my widened eyes. "He was a bit flustered and then I kind of lost my shit for other reasons. Poor guy probably would have rather gone into battle than deal with such scenarios."

"Sounds about right," I agreed, thinking back to his words in the kitchen. "But he loves you, and us too even if we don't let him."

"I know," Alana whispered, dropping her spoon into the ice cream. "Watch a movie with me?"

I blinked at the sudden topic change and realized she wanted distance from everything even if it was superficial. Nodding, I handed her the remote and let her switch on the tv across the room.

We settled into a quiet bubble, the emotions in the room calming to a less suffocating level. At one point, she twined her fingers with mine as if silently seeking comfort. Our relationship was still fragile, still new, but it felt good being able to offer her even a moment's comfort nonetheless. 

Alana fell asleep halfway through the movie and I decided to let her rest while I searched out my brother. He had been through a lot the last couple of days but I was also curious about the situation with Robbie. It had been tense ever since the night we took off to Michael's. 

Slipping from the bed, I quietly let myself out of the room and into the hallway. Before I made it farther than a few feet, I found my back against the wall and a firm body pressed against mine. I looked up into August's silver eyes, my body reacting instantly to his proximity. 

"Hi," I greeted breathlessly. 

"Have a good talk?" he asked, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. The brush of his fingers across my skin made me shiver. "Is she feeling better?"

I rested my hands on his shoulders. "I think so but I'm not sure. She's resting at least so I guess that's something."

"Alana is strong. She'll get there," August reassured me, his lips hovering over mine. "I'm glad you're working things out with them, too."

I smiled but it was swallowed by the gentle press of his mouth on mine, desire and list bursting to life inside me. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him closer and deepened the kiss. Lost in our own little world, my mind registered the footsteps on the stairs along the clatter of dishes on a tray as someone headed towards us, but the thought flew from my head with the next swipe of August's tongue against mine.

His large hands gripped my ass and lifted me up, my legs going instinctively around his hips as he pressed into me.

"What. The. Actual. Fuck?!" Dominic's voice boomed through the hall. 

August and I both froze, my heart pounded frantically in my chest. He was the first to break away and look at Dominic, his muscles tight beneath my hands as if preparing for an attack. I forced myself to look at Dominic, afraid of what I would see on his face.

Dominic was standing at the top of the stairs, a tray laden with plates filled with various snacks and a large mug of what seemed to be hot chocolate steaming in one corner. His eyes were bright with shock and anger, his jaw clenched as his hands gripped the tray so tightly I was convinced it would crumple.

August gently released me, my body sliding carefully to the ground. He turned, putting himself between me and Dominic with his hands raised as if approaching a wild animal.

"Dom, calm down and let's talk about this," August reasoned. 

Dominic met my eyes, holding them tight as so many things swirled in the brilliant depths. My pulse raced and my body trembled with adrenaline as I remained locked in his gaze. His anger and shock gave way to something com unexpected, his face donning a blank mask but his eyes spoke volumes I couldn't begin to understand. 

"I can't…," Dominic began but shook his head and walked to his and Alana's bedroom door, careful not to look at either of us. 

I watched, frozen in place as he opened the door and took a step inside the room before looking back at me one more time. My heart clenched at what I saw before the door clicked silently shut, cutting August and I off from whatever confrontation should have happened.

If I wasn't mistaken, what I had seen was… grief. 

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A/N: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up. I haven't been in the best mindset lately and I didn't want it to reflect in my writing.

I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading!❣

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XOXO🖤❤🖤❤

~SM~