"Leave me alone!"

"No, not until you drop it!"

"Mind your own business-"

Crash!

"Hey, stop that!"

The door to the dining room flung open as Jeffrey ran out. The moment he spotted me, he began wailing.

"A- Angelo, look what Ian did!"

Ian, who wasn't far behind him, yelled, "Shut up! I wouldn't have had to do that if you could stop your fat self from finishing all the ice cream in the house!"

"No, you shut up! How is that any of your business? The m- man even said I could have it."

"You know mummy would never let you eat that much-"

"For goodness sake, please stop!" I groaned, massaging my temples. I just freaking got home, at least let me take off my shoes!

Although they both fell silent, Ian continued glaring as Jeffrey sniffled.

"Thank you. Now, someone tell me what happened."

"Sure, I'll-"

"No, I will!"

"You'd just lie, Ian!"

"Keep-"

"You know what, I'd tell the story!"

I looked up at Pierre, who had an exhausted expression on his face as he leaned against the dining room's door.

Sighing inwardly, I nodded. "Please do."

"This one-" He jabbed the wooden spoon held in Jeffrey's direction, "-asked me for some ice cream. I agreed, but soon after, the other one started complaining that his brother was eating too much-"

"Because he was-"

"Silence!"

Shivering, Ian followed the command immediately. Honestly, I don't blame him for doing so- even I was a little shaken by Pierre's raised voice.

Pierre looked at me once again. "That's basically what led to the argument."

Gesturing at Ian, he added, "Oh, and this one knocked the bowl out of his brother's hand."

"It's not fair, if mummy was here Jeffrey wouldn't dare-"

Pierre glanced at Ian sharply. "What did I just say?"

Ian's mouth remained open, but for a while, no words left it. When he finally spoke, my eyes widened as he yelled, "Fuck you!"

He turned and raced up the stairs, and soon after his room door was slammed and locked.

Pierre's face scrunched as he muttered, "What kind of child is that?"

Shaking his head, he forced a smile onto his face as he turned to Jeffrey. "Come on kid, I'll get you another bowl of ice cream."

Jeffrey's face brightened as he rushed after Pierre.

Sighing, I walked into the living room, then collapsed on a couch. Coaxed by the silence in the room, my eyes soon closed.

A while later, they reopened as the TV blared on. I jerked up, looking wildly around until I spotted Jeffrey, who was clutching the TV remote as he held onto a bowl of ice cream.

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's alright," I replied, even though my head was throbbing due to a lack of sleep. "I didn't even realize when I fell asleep."

"Oh, okay."

He settled onto a couch, gobbling down spoonfuls of ice cream as he surfed through channels.

I silently watched him for a while, then said, "I take it that your brother doesn't have the best control over his anger?"

Between mouthfuls, he replied, "Yeah, he has serious anger issues. It's really not good."

"Mm. I guessed as much, after what he did to Liden yesterday."

Jeffrey's face scrunched. "What did he- oh, you mean when he pushed him down. No, that wasn't because of his anger issues."

"Really? So he wasn't angry when he did it?"

"Well he was, but his beef with Liden is different. I think he hates him."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"Okay maybe he doesn't hate him, but he doesn't seem to like him much either. You see, Liden isn't our brother-"

"I know that."

"-he just stays with us because his mum died and his dad, my uncle, is out of town a lot. My dad didn't want him to move in with us though."

My interest perked up. "Your dad?"

"Yeah. He hated Uncle Ben, so he didn't want Liden coming to leave with us. He even threatened to leave if my mum allowed Liden to stay with us."

"I'm guessing he made good on his threat."

Jeffrey's face fell as he nodded.

That certainly explains why there are no photos of him in their house.

I shrugged. "Since your dad left for such a reason, you're probably better off without him anyway. I mean, at least you've got your mum."

Jeffrey scoffed. "It's Ian you should be telling this to- he is the one who worshipped our dad. "

"What about you?"

He shrugged. "I didn't care much when he left. At least I don't have to hear him call me fat anymore."

I chuckled, even as certain pieces of information began fitting in place. "That must be a relief. So let me guess, Ian hates Liden because he blames him for what happened with your father?"

Jeffrey's eyes widened. "Wow! How did you figure that out?"

I smirked. "Elementary, my dear Watson."

"What?"

"It's from- never mind."

I stood up, but before I left the room I asked, "By the way, is Aimee still here?"

"Who- oh, you mean your girlfriend."

My face warmed. "She's not-

"I think she has gone home."

"Oh. Do you know what time she left?"

By then the majority of Jeffrey's attention had been captured by the bowl he held, so he simply shrugged.

I frowned. "Uh, don't you think you've had enough ice cream?"

Eyes widening, he clutched the bowl tighter to his chest. "Please don't start lecturing me as well!"

Shrugging, I walked away. "Hey, it's your body."
.      .      .

The next day, which was a school day, I hardly spoke to Aimee. I'll admit, that was for my lack of trying. Anytime I spotted her, I either left the area or immediately engaged in conversation with someone else nearby.

This went on till lunch break. Then, she smiled and waved at me as she walked into the hall, but I quickly turned my head and asked, "Uh...so, how's everyone finding the food?"

Mitch's eyebrow arched. "We eat this on a weekly basis."

Luckily for me, Seth said, "Yeah, but I kind of get what Angelo means. The sauce seems spicier, in my opinion."

I nodded, even though I had little idea of what he was referring to. "That's right."

"Hey!"

Oh no, not now!

Wiggling his eyebrows, Hans grinned at me. "It's for you."

Sighing, I looked back at Aimee, who was indeed staring at me. "Hi. What do you want?"

Her brow furrowed, but it quickly smoothened as she nodded in the direction of the hall's exit. "Can we  talk?"

"Ooh."

I glared at Hans. "Fuck off." Keep going, engage her!

"Romeo?"

Turning back to Aimee, I rubbed the back of my head. "Now- now is not a good time. You see, I haven't finished eating-"

"Like that ever stopped you before- ow!"

"Thank you, Mitch," Aimee said, as Hans rubbed the back of his head.

"My pleasure," he replied.

Yeah, thanks a lot!

Aimee looked at me again. "It'd only take a few minutes. Please?"

After a few seconds of silence, I nodded. "Alright, but only a few minutes."
.      .      .

When we got to the end of the hall, I asked, "So, what's up?"

Please don't ask-

"I just want to find out... how you're doing."

A chuckle escaped my lips, even though my heart was racing. "Me? Oh, I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well... you know, with all that happened the day before-"

"You mean with Dylan's relatives moving in? Don't worry, I've gotten used to their presence. They're practically like family now! In fact, I wouldn't mind if they moved in permanently."

Yo, what are you saying?

An uneasy look on her face, she replied, "That's nice, but what I'm talking about is... you know... the other thing."

"What- what other thing?"

Aimee remained confused for a bit, then her eyes widened and she backed away from me. "If you don't want to talk about it, then, of course, that's fine-"

"Oh, you mean that thing! Now I understand!"

Angelo, what the hell is wrong with you? You've been given a one-way ticket out of this conversation, free of charge! Use it!

On the other hand, wouldn't using it clue her to the fact that I'm uncomfortable with what happened between us that night? Wouldn't it make me seem even weaker?

But admitting the truth would mean admitting my discomfort, which would still make me look weak. So, what to-

"Hey, Romeo?"

I blinked, refocusing my attention on her once again. Before I could even properly reflect on it, I blurted out, "You want to know more about Max's death, don't you?"

At that moment, we mirrored each other- frozen and wide-eyed.

What the fuck, mouth? Why on earth would you let that out?

Aimee was the first to break out of the stupor: she nodded. "Y- yes. If that's okay with you, I mean."

No, it's not! How on earth would something like that be okay with me? Do you have any idea how many things I'd have to reveal to you if I did?

Ten minutes later, she knew about it all- The Society, Lucas, Annie, Dylan's dad, even her own dad's involvement with the Society.

Strangely, I felt a lot calmer than I had expected myself to be after I'd told her.

Of course, the same can't be said about her.
.      .     .

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