Iris POV

A few hours later, my mind is as calm as it can be, sure thoughts of doubt still plague it, but it's definitely better than before. I remember reading something about things like this happening and that when it did happen, it was probably you ignoring your subconscious and making the problem worse, but in all honesty, I couldn't care less. It sounds like a problem for another day.

Suddenly, my room door bursts open, and in walks Aleksander who looks all too casual as he strolls toward the bed I'm laying on.

"Come on, it's dinner time." He says, a slight smile on his face that makes him look less scary than he actually is.

His smile disarms me for a second, and I feel my walls dropping down just a little bit, but I couldn't really be bothered to stop it because I'm tired. I'm so incredibly tired of not showing others how I feel, it makes me feel physically sick. It all stops today.

Do you really think that anyone's going to care about the way you feel?

They probably won't, but I don't give a shit about that.

You sure?

Yeah, don't convince me otherwise because it's fucking tiring and you know it.

"Okay," I slowly get off the comfortable bed, my body aching in protest. "Could you help me find my way to the dining room?"

"Of course, that's what I'm here for. But why so formal?" Aleksander asks, his lips tugging down into a frown.

"I don't know, I'm not really used to being around people, so I don't know how to act. In all honesty, I don't know if I'll ever be able to just... Be normal, you know?"

"I get it, Iris. Don't worry about it, you'll adjust. I promise." Aleksander sticks out his pinky at this, an expectant look on his face, but I don't really know what the hell he wants so I just look at him with what I think is a questioning look.

"Okay, see, this is called a pinky promise. You just take your pinky and lace it with the other person's, then if they break the promise, you're allowed to break their pinky." He explains, and I smile at the image of me breaking the giants finger.

"You're imagining it, aren't you?" He smiles, and I laugh in response before lacing my pinky with his.

"Now come on, we need to gooooo." I say, ruining the moment a little bit, but I couldn't be bothered. I'm hungry.

"Okay, let's go." He says, gently grabbing my arm and tugging me in the direction that we need to go.

"Hey, Alek?"

"Yes, bug?"

"Does the rest of our brothers not like me?" I ask, causing him to halt in his steps.

"No, why would you think that?" He asks, a frown marring his features.

"It's nothing, I just... It was a little awkward earlier on, and I mean... It isn't like I expected it to not be awkward but I don't know, I guess I expected more... Emotion." I explain, my subconscious scolding me for mentioning it.

"I see, that isn't the problem, bug. It's that we just didn't know how to react, most of us gave up hope of ever finding you, and I think that's where the problem begins and ends." He says, and the note of truth in the words ease me a lot more than I'd ever admit.

"Okay." I reply, and with that, we're back on our journey to the dining room that seems to be a million miles away.

A little while of walking later, I'm feeling extremely lightheaded, but I ignore it as we finally reach the dining room. Everyone is already seated, and I watch as Leo's face lights up when he sees me enter the room.

"La mia luce, come sit here." He says, pulling out the chair next to him and I happily walk over, ignoring that feeling of light-headedness.

The moment Alek and I are both seated, four maids walk in, each carrying a platter of food. There's a huge platter of pasta, some salad, chicken and steak. Each part of the platters looks absolutely delicious, and I decide right then that I'll be helping with meal prepping from today onward because it feels unfair that I'm not doing anything.

Once the food is on the table, everyone starts to dish out for themselves, but I can't really find it in me to eat. I'm staring off into space, when suddenly I see a spoon dish out some pasta onto my plate.

I look up, only to see that Leo was the one who decided to dish it out for me, and I feel extremely thankful when I realise that he dished out the smallest portion possible for me.

I smile in gratitude and slowly eat my pasta. By the time I've finished, everyone else is too and the maids walk in once again to clear up the plates. For now, I allow it to happen but I just know that I'll be doing this work from now onward. As much as I hate it, I was raised by Antoine so I feel like everything needs to be done by me and only me.

Once everything is cleared up, I decide to go to my room and take a nap because of the lightheaded feeling that still hasn't gone away. Hopefully it'll be fine when I wake up.

"I'm going to go back to my room and call it a night, good night Leo." I greet as I get up from my chair.

"Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you." He replies, shooting me a reassuring smile.

My heart breaks just a little bit because I don't think I can tell him that I love him just yet, but I ignore it as I give him a quick hug before doing the same to Alek, Luka, mum and dad.

Sure, it may have been a little rude that I didn't greet the rest of my brothers, but if they couldn't be bothered to speak to me, then I couldn't be bothered to acknowledge them. Cruel, I know, but such is the way of the world.

With that, I walk off to my room, each step feeling heavier than the other. When I finally make it back, I collapse onto the bed and I'm out before I can even process the fact that I shouldn't be feeling this way right now.

───────────── .°୭̥ ❁ ˎˊ˗

Shorter chapter than usual, I know, but it's about as long as I can get out right now. I'm sorry, I really am, but it's the only free time I have right now and it's all I can write.

This year is really a wreck.
ALSO, I ATE FUCKING WORMS TODAY. SO THERE'S THAT, I FEEL PHYSICALLY SICK. HERE'S THE STORY OF HOW I DIED *SAYS IT IN A FLYNN RIDER VOICE*

Okay, so I was craving chocolate, so I bought one. Ate a piece without looking at it, opened the wrapper more to share it with my friend when I saw WORMS.

It's safe to say that I puked, but I still feel freaking disgusted. Someone tell me how to get rid of this like fr 😭