I spin to face the three guys staring at me. Killian falls back onto the couch, arms stretching over the back of the cushions, giving him a lazy air.

Kade watches me, the silence building between the four of us growing tense. Malachi moves for the fridge, pulling it open and retrieving two waters.

Walking to me, he hands me one and when Kades eyes narrow on the bottle in my hand, and Killian makes a noise, Malachi scoffs.

"You fuckers can get your own shit." He turns from their curious gazes and moves back for the kitchen, rumbling around in the drawers.

I twist the cap off, sipping from the water since it seems I won't be eating today with the way it's already gone.

The cool liquid slips down my throat, quenching any thirst I might have had.

And then I turn to Killian, ignoring Kades eyes.

"So he's your cousin?"

It takes him a second to reply but when he does, his words are low. "His father was the youngest, he took off after our mother died."

Kade snaps his head to Killian like he's said too much but Killian ignores him.

Then Kades eyes swing back to me, "You need to stay away from him."

"Hard to do if he comes near me, and we also go to the same school it seems."

"He's mixed up in some messy shit."

My brows furrow, "and you're not?"

Kades eyes narrow, his annoyance with me clear as day. "Just stay away from him."

I don't say anything, watching him oddly for a moment before I nod. "Okay."

He nods back, but the silence stretches between the four of us before Malachi slices through it with a clatter.

I turn my head to him, watching him pull out a pan and place it on the stove, and then he's cooking, the smell of bacon and eggs wafting around the room and causing my stomach to grumble its hunger.

"How do you like your eggs, baby girl?"

It takes me a second to answer, my mind having to catch up with the thought that Malac is cooking. For me.

"Scrambled." I answer.

Malachi looks to his brother and Kade, and for a second I think he's going to ask them what they want but he narrows his eyes. "You guys can leave now, I'll make sure Rosie stays out of trouble." He winks at me, the action full of male satisfaction.

"Whatever, I have shit to do anyway." Kade grumbles, pushing off the wall and walking for the exit, the door left ajar behind him.

Killian slips from the couch slowly, his eyes lingering on mine for a moment before looking towards his brother.

But then he's gone too, the snick of the door shutting echoing around the near empty dorm.

I stay silent, buried in my head as Malac cooks, humming to himself every now and then.

Hunger pangs through me and I silence it with a hand to my stomach, promising I'll feed myself soon.

I don't have to wait long, a plate overflowing with scrambled eggs and crispy bacon is placed in front of me.

"I hope you like your bacon crispy because that is the only way I cook it."

I look up at Malac, smiling softly. "Thank you." I say in both gratitude and answer, slipping the plate onto my lap and biting into a piece of bacon.

He eats beside me, his own plate near full.

• • •

I slip the plate off my lap, so full I could burst.

The sound of the cutlery hitting the plate and Malachi placing his beside mine is the only noise before I have the urge to break it.

"So. . ."

"Yes, baby girl?" Malachi raises an amused brow and leans back into the couch, looking too much like a spoiled prince, arms crossed over his chest with an overly amused expression on his face.

"You cook?" I ask, looking around the room to avoid looking his way.

Malachi laughs, sensing my awkwardness no doubt, "Nearly every day, I cook for Killian and Kade a lot."

"Who taught you?"

He's silent again. "My mother."

"Will you tell me about her?" I don't know why I ask the question. Don't know why I'm digging, I shouldn't be. I just want to know more about him.

He's silent for a moment before he speaks. "She was one of the only good things in our world." He says softly. "Every morning she would wake me up and we'd sneak downstairs and make breakfast, pigging ourselves on everything as soon as it was cooked." He smiles softly at the memory. "She'd teach me her family recipes and let me cook anything I wanted to try."

"And Killian?"

"She'd try to get him to help but half the time he was too busy reading, his nose always buried in a book." He laughs, "he'd help sometimes but every time we'd be running out of the kitchen from the smoke or throwing out his burnt concoctions."

"Sounds like me." I murmur and Malac smiles.

"That's why I cook, if Killian was left in charge we'd be eating take out every night and Kade hardly steps foot in the kitchen."

"Killian likes to read?" I ask, since I've never seen him reading. It makes sense, with the way I found him in the library that time.

"Not anymore."

The words confuse me, remembering how he read beside me.

He's silent again, lost in his thoughts, his face lit with devastation.

"She sounds like a lovely mother." I say to fill the silence.

"She was." He says softly, "she was always so lively and smiling, always helping everyone. She even volunteered at the homeless shelter to cook, sometimes she'd take me with her. Killian too but he'd just sit outside and read. She always did everything with us, taking us everywhere she went, she never let us out of her sight."

"She loved you."

"It was a bit more than that." He surprises me by saying. "She was scared."

"Of who?"

"Our father, our family." 

"Did he-?"

"No." He shakes his head, "he didn't abuse her. Not physically at least, his method was always psychological." He stares off, not exactly looking at me but looking past me. "I should've noticed the signs earlier but-" he stops.

"You were so young." I say.

"I was selfish, I didn't notice because I was too busy caring about myself."

"Malachi-"

"I was the one who found her." He says quietly, and I furrow brows.

"Found her?"

"One night, my father-" he pauses, "lost it and did something-" My eyes widen and he notices. "-not to her. To me."

"Malachi."

He shrugs, "I'm over it now. But my mother took it hard, really hard and went off at him. It was the first time I'd seen her stand up to him. I was so proud of her."

"What did he do?" I'm almost afraid to ask.

He turns and reaches behind his back, pulling his shirt up and exposing his scars. He flexes his back, shoulder blades popping out as if to emphasise the deep circular scars on each blade.

I reach forward, as if to touch them but stop myself, dropping my arms.

"How?"

His shirt drops and he faces me again, "He sliced my-" he pauses, hesitation taunting his features. "Flesh off in a rage, and my mother lost it."

"I lost consciousness before I could see what she did or how he reacted. When I woke in the morning, she never came to find me, to begin our tradition. So I went looking for her. She was dead in her bed."

I squeeze his hand in mine.

"She'd taken a bottle of pills, went to sleep and never woke up again."

I suck in a breath, not expecting that was how she'd left this world and curl my fingers tighter around his.

"She left a note, addressed to me and Killian. I still have it, haven't read it. Killian doesn't even know about it."

I don't say anything for a moment, don't know what to say. "Will you read it one day?"

"Maybe." Malachi murmurs.

"If you do, I'll be there for you. If you want me to be there of course." I say awkwardly, cursing myself for not knowing how to be soft and understanding. I don't even know why I say the words, I'm a stranger to him, someone he has to keep an eye on. We're not friends.

He squeezes my hand in reply before continuing on with his story.

"Our father swept it under the rug. The whole family did. The only ones who seemed to care was Kades parents."

He looks up, "our mothers were also sisters,"

"Where are they?" I ask, dreading the answer.

Malachi looks lost and grim. "Dead."

"Your father?" I'm almost afraid to ask but he smiles when he replies,

"Dead. If I could've killed the fucker myself I would've. But someone deserved it more than me."

He slips off the couch, effectively ending the conversation and I watch him grab our plates and walk back to the kitchen, beginning to clean up.