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When I came back out, having washed my face, and brushed my teeth, I pondered climbing back into bed with my guys. It was tempting, very tempting. Being buried between them felt like the safest place on this planet for me, but I was actually hungry and decided I should try to eat something while the mood struck. So I picked up the hoody Tom must have taken off earlier, from the chair in the corner, and pulled it over my head, then crept from my room, closing the door quietly behind me.
My nerves rose as I walked through the silent house, memories of everything discussed at dinner that night replaying. Fears of those three fucking demons coming back for me again.
“NO!” I hissed to myself. “We are not doing this, Blake!” I knew it was bad, talking to myself, but I needed a reprimand. This house had become my home. Never once since the first day I arrived there had it scared me. It was the first place that I had ever lived, that felt secure and comforting. There was no way I was going to allow anyone to take that from me. Dad had said we had a load of security and we were safe there. I had to hang onto that.
“Blake?” Startled I looked up and found Luca standing at the end of the hall, watching me with concern. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he added when I just stared at him.
“I…it’s okay.”
“I thought I heard something. Are you alright?” he asked. I noticed the way he slowly took a step back, putting a little more distance between us, I was sure to try and soothe me, and I was grateful for it.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “I w-was just…kitchen,” I pointed in the direction of the kitchen when I couldn’t make my words come out through my panic.
“Oh, right. I was just working, but if you give me a sec I can get out of your way,” he told me as he turned and rushed off. It was clear he read my fear and I knew he was trying hard to stay out of my way, which was appreciated, but also made me feel a little less wary of him. People who wanted to hurt you, never tried to make you feel at ease. Not in my experience anyway.
I followed behind him to the kitchen and saw his laptop and a stack of files and papers laid out on the counter.
“You d-don’t have to…you can stay there,” I stuttered nervously when he started to gather up whatever he had been working on, in a hurry.
“Are you sure? I can do this in my room. It’s no problem,” he offered and I turned to face him fully across the counter and tried for a smile.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Okay. I’ll stay right here though, on this seat,” he told me as he planted himself back in the seat he must have vacated when he heard me talking to myself. “You just tell me if you need me to leave,” he added and I nodded.
Not feeling comfortable enough to turn my back to him, I crab walked, sideways over to the fridge and opened the door, happy to have it between me and him.
“I think there were a ton of leftovers from dinner if you’re hungry,” Luca said, and I glanced from him to the containers stacked on the middle shelf. I lifted a few out, looking through each while also keeping Luca in my peripheral. I was pretty sure I could trust him, since there was no way Dad would have someone in the house he hadn’t fully vetted, but I was remaining cautious.
I found a container of Nan’s chicken casserole and decided my stomach could probably handle that. I also grabbed a bottle of water then sidestepped again, over to the microwave, placing the container inside and awkwardly pressing the buttons while also facing Luca.
Once the microwave was busy reheating my snack, I looked up fully and found him busily working away, looking between his laptop and a file he had open.
“Don’t y-you sl-sleep?” I asked, curious why he was up working in the middle of the night.
“Not much,” he replied as his eyes moved up and met mine. “We have nine month old twins at home, so I’ve learned to function with little to no sleep,” he added with a chuckle.
“Twins? That m-must be hard work.”
“It is, but they’re worth every second. Do you want to see a picture?” he asked as he held his phone out before him. I stepped forward a little to look at the image on his home screen, of two chubby smiling little babies, both with pink hairbands in their bright blond hair.
“Two girls?” I asked as I looked to him with a smile.
“Yeah. I know, I’m fucked,” he laughed.
“Not as fucked as the f-first boyfriends th-they bring home, I’m g-guessing,” I joked as I looked him over, thinking he was likely going to be an extremely protective dad.
“Jesus, please don’t talk about that. It gives me hives,” he cried as he mocked itching at his chest, making me laugh a little.
The microwave beeping at me broke up the conversation and I walked over to it, turning my back for just the moment it took me to get there.
Once I had my food poured into a bowl, I walked over and sat on the stool at the island furthest away from where Luca was sitting, setting my water down before me, then realising I had picked one without the sports cap I was able to open.
“Are we r-really safe in the h-house?” I asked after I had taken a few bites, needing some reassurance.
“Yes. No one can access the property without me knowing about it,” he told me firmly.
“And w-when I go out?”
