Mess of a life

7 - Big muscly man

"Getting all lovey dovey on her already?" sounded a mocking voice.

I felt Charles throw a glare above my head, but I had already let go. I felt my cheeks heat, embarrassed by what I just did. Idiot- he didn't even know me, and here I was, throwing myself at his arms like a desperate person, asking for reassurances he didn't have to give me. I frowned at myself, annoyed by my own clinginess.

I felt a pet on my hair.

"Go sit down, food's ready. We'll eat in a minute. You too Dane."

I turned to the island, where most likely Elliott had set the table without me noticing it, and was now closing his laptop. Dane followed me, a mocking smirk on his lips. I carefully avoided his gaze.

It turned out Charles was a great cook, and I even enjoyed being around my brothers a bit, listening to their small talk about the planning of the next few days. Nicolas was supposed to be back in the following days, but the date wasn't fixed yet. I gathered Elliott had to finish some stuff for uni before the end of the semester, but Dane was already done for the summer. Charles had taken a few days off work, and I immediately felt guilty. If it weren't for me he wouldn't have needed to trouble himself so much...

At some point during the meal, Dane's phone dinged with a notification which he read with furrowed brows. Slightly tilting the screen toward Elliott, he seemed to wordlessly exchange with our oldest brother present, before abruptly getting up from his seat and leaving the kitchen without a word. A few seconds later, a door slammed at the other side of the floor, and then the roar of an engine.

That was how my first meal in the King household went by. Despite my listening during the night, Dane didn't come back. Jesper neither.

My first night in my new bedroom was strange: the unfamiliar furniture took the appearance of menacing shapes in the dim starlight from the open curtains. Everything felt too big, too soft. Too empty. I found I couldn't sleep without the reassuring knowledge of my sisters' presence a few doors down. I didn't feel safe without my mom. Submerged by the feeling of my unmeasurable loneliness, I spent most of the night drifting in and out of sleep, curled in a foetal position with a pillow hugged to my chest.

Safe to say that I was awfully tired when I estimated that it was day enough for me to get up. Getting dressed in an another pair of oversized sweats, I got down to find a shirtless Daniel facing the counter where he was cutting a banana and putting the pieces in a blender. Ok, he was back from wherever he went to yesterday, but that wasn't part of the plan. From what I saw of him yesterday, I didn't feel like being alone in a room with him. He didn't give off the most welcoming vibe.

Come on Camille, he's your brother!

"Are you going to stare at me for the rest of the day?"

I started, my cheeks immediately picking a flaming red colour. He didn't turn around, and goosebumps rose on my arms. I hadn't been that loud when getting down here, especially in my socked feet. Facing my lack of options, I crossed the living room space to go behind the bar, in the kitchen part of the huge open floor. Everything was perfectly tidy save for the counter Dane was using. Not a single item of breakfast was laid out, and for the umpteenth time in the last few days, I was lost. What did they have for breakfast here?

As a way to seem like I knew what I was doing, I poured some water in the kettle and went to open the cupboards to find a mug, and then some tea. All along, I felt my brother's attention on me, while not ever looking in my direction, and not bothering to help me sort out where things were in the cupboards. It was unnerving.

I felt my own eyes literally sparkle when I found the tea cupboard. It held neatly arranged colourful metal boxes of all kinds of teas, and I took some time taking it all in before opting for my every-circumstance choice, the russian earl grey.