THIRD P.O.V.

"Please...?"

"No"

"Pleeeaassee?"

"No"

"..."

"Plea-"

"No"

"..."

"How about now?"

"No"

Ceres just sighed before turning to the bagel bites that were in the freezer. She put her hand on the glass as she stared at them longingly, hoping that her sad face would make Roman change his mind.

She wondered if she should cry for extra incentive but didn't want to end up doing dramatics like Kade, in the middle of a store.

Roman just looked at his sister and while everything was telling him to continue saying no, he found himself unable to actually stay consistent this time. It had been quite a while and if Ceres was beginning to plead like a child, then surely she was at her limit.

"One box" Roman said and Ceres snapped her head at Roman who was wearing a look of regret on his face.

"One box, only" he said and Ceres had squealed before swinging the glass door open and grabbing the box of bagel bites. Once securing them in the cart, Ceres couldn't contain the pep in her step as she happily pushed the cart behind Roman.

When the two had gotten home, Ceres was quick to grab the box of bagel bites and run into the kitchen, not even caring that she left her bags of groceries on the floor.

"She's unusually excited" Max said as he watched his sister run into the kitchen. Ares had managed to catch a glimpse of the box in Ceres' hand and turned to Roman with a shocked look.

"You finally gave in?" Ares exclaimed and Roman sighed.

"Yes...although I had no idea it would make her that happy" Roman said and Lucas nodded.

"Well, it is her favorite. I'd be excited too if I finally got to eat my favorite food after months of not having it" he said.

After putting away the groceries, the others just watched as Ceres seemed to be in heaven as she happily ate her bagel bites, not even caring that she was burning her mouth in the process.

"To think something so unhealthy can make one so happy..." Roman said.

"She's so precious..." Kade said as he snapped a photo of the happy look on Ceres' face.

While watching, Roman couldn't help but think back to the first months of Ceres staying with them. He never would have imagined that Ceres would become so expressive and even a little more talkative. It was evident that she had truly come a long way compared to how closed off she was back then.

~ Flashback ~

To the brothers, their little sister was an...interesting person if they were to say the least. She wasn't the cold and apathetic person that she made herself out to be. In fact, she just may have been the exact opposite.

True, Ceres did have her moments where she would just stare at others blankly which tended to creep them out and whatnot but they had quickly learned that it was only because she wasn't sure on how to respond to them.

It wasn't until a little later did they soon all notice how much more comfortable Ceres seemed to be around them.

She was more open to having conversations, even if they didn't last long and she would let out small smiles and bits of laughter here and there more often. It was all very endearing in their eyes.

But those laughs and smiles were seemingly reserved for them only as it was a different story when it came to others.

One day, the siblings all had a day off that lined up with one another.

Kade was off daydreaming about whatever ludicrous things he normally dreams about, Lucas was having his snacks as per usual, Ares was watching TV with Lance and Max, and Roman was trying to engage in light conversation with Ceres.

Emphasis on 'trying'.

The girl was barely paying attention as Roman talked to her and even though Roman noticed this, he still decided to try and coerce Ceres into the conversation.

He had meant it when he said that he would try to help Ceres on her social skills but at the rate this was going, Ceres would forever be a sheltered hermit crab.

"Ceres!" Roman exclaimed as Ceres had succeeded in nodding off for a split second. Ceres jolted a little before looking at Roman with a confused and dazed look.

"What's wrong, Roman...?" Ceres drawled out.

"What's wrong is that we're having a conversation and you aren't paying attention. How do you expect to communicate properly with others like this?" Roman asked with a frown.

Ceres' lips formed a slight frown of her own before she had began to mumble some things under her breath and all Roman managed to hear was 'not talking is just fine'.

Roman sighed.

"Ceres, why exactly don't you like talking to people?" Ares asked, jumping into the conversation and all he got in return was Ceres' blank face staring back at him.

Ceres continued to stare at Ares like that for a few more seconds before a small embarrassed look crossed her face and she averted her eyes.

"Don't like it...and I'm not good at it" she mumbled and Max raised an eyebrow.

"What exactly about talking are you not good at? We're talking right now and you seem okay" Hearing Max's words, Ceres just shook her head. Even if she told them, she didn't really think they would understand.

"Perhaps we just need to get you out more?" The two turned their heads to Kade who was now standing next to them.

"And how do you suppose we do that? She's not gonna just start talking to random strangers" Lucas said as he stopped munching on his chips.

"Hmm, all she needs is a little practice and she'll be ready to go!" Kade said.

"Maybe you're right..." Roman muttered and Ceres just sighed as she realized she had no say in the decision.

And so the practice began.

"Alright, Ceres. It's easy. All you have to do is give a simple greeting and a compliment. Just say the first thing that comes to mind" Kade instructed.

They had seated Ceres and Ares across from each other and Ceres was currently struggling to make eye contact with Ares who was beaming at her. The man's aura was too bright and Ceres felt that her eyes might fall out if she stared any longer.

"It's okay, Kiddo. You've got this!" Ares said before clearing his throat and sitting up.

"Good morning, Ceres. You look lovely today" Ares said. Even though Ceres knew the compliment was just for the sake of practice, she still couldn't help but blush at it.

"G-Good morning...Ares...you l-look n-ni...ni...ni..." all of her brothers watched in deadpan as Ceres started to stutter like a broken record. Her lips were pursed and her brows furrowed deeply.

"Ceres...are you alright?" Max asked worriedly as he watched her struggle.

"This is going to be harder than I thought" Lance said with a sigh.

"No, it's okay! We just have to give it another try. I'll go now" Kade said before practically shoving Ares off the chair and sat.

"Asshole..." Ares muttered.

"Morning, Ceres! I'm so happy to see you today, how are you today?" Kade asked as he smiled sweetly over at Ceres.

Ceres stared blankly at Kade before doing exactly what Kade had told her to do.

Say the first thing that came to her mind.

"I want to leave" she said blatantly and in perfect sync everyone exclaimed,

"Wrong answer!!"

Now sitting before Ceres was Roman.

"How about you try starting off the conversation this time, Ceres? Preferably with a smile and a compliment" Roman said and Ceres paled.

He was asking for a bit much...

The siblings watched as Ceres' lips had slightly twitched, and then that slightly turned into heavily as she seemed to be experiencing some serious malfunctioning.

"Stop that!!" Max yelled, creeped out by the look on Ceres' face and Lance just sighed.

"Lance, how about you try? After all, you and Ceres have spent the most time together as of now. Maybe it'll be easier for her to converse" Lance looked over at Kade with a curious glance before shrugging.

"It doesn't hurt to try" he said as he took the seat in front of Ceres. It didn't take long for Lance to start once he made eye contact with Ceres.

"Hello, Ceres. If I must say, you are looking quite lovely today" Lance said with an effortless smile.

The siblings watched as Ceres had froze up once again and she crossed her arms and averted her eyes.

"..." Ceres just stayed silent as she had seemingly given up completely and the others just sighed.

"Okay, maybe that's enough for today" Roman said with a sigh and Ceres nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

"Wow, I guess it is harder than we thought" Ares said and at his words, Ceres' eyes turned down to her hands where she just stared at them.

She knew it was her own fault for not putting in enough effort and now she felt guilty that she had wasted the others time.

"Sorry for wasting your time..." she muttered and Ares panicked as he could feel the gloomy aura that was now surrounding Ceres.

"N-No, Kiddo! You didn't waste our time!" Ares hurried out and not only was he feeling Ceres' gloom, he could now feel the murderous glare coming from Kade.

"You idiot, how dare you make Ceres feel bad?!" Kade exclaimed as he shook Ares back and forth vigorously. Max just shook his head at the two but did nothing to stop the act of violence.

Meanwhile, Lance looked at Ceres and noticed that she truly did seem to feel bad about her actions. Her lips were slightly frowning and her hands were clenched in her lap with her shoulders hunched slightly.

Sitting up straight, Lance cleared his throat to gain his sister's attention.

"Ceres" he said and said girl picked her head up at the sound of her name being called.

"I think the problem with this is that this is a set up. You would be able talk better if it's natural, no need to be forced to think of an answer under pressure, am I right?" Lance asked. Ceres shrugged her shoulders a little.

"I guess so..." she said and Lance hummed.

"So talk to me normally. What is it that you want to talk about? It can be the first thing that comes to your mind, and even if you don't think it's worth talking about, I'm all ears" Lance said while offering her another smile.

Ceres' eyes widened slightly at Lance's offer before she briefly tried to think of something to talk about before speaking.

"Your hair looks fluffy..." she said and Lance couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh at the statement. Of all the things she could have said, she chose to say that?

"Is that so?" Lance said and Ceres had actually begun to compare the two of their hair's similarities and differences and how she was jealous of Lance's. Even though Lance didn't necessarily understand why she was so worried about it, he still let Ceres speak her mind.

"Wow..." Roman muttered as he listened to the conversation going on between the two. There was a small smile on Ceres' lips and even Lance held an amused one as he listened.

"Ceres is doing so well...I'm so proud" Kade cried. Roman just let out a laugh at Kade's emotional blabber.

"That's Lance for you" Lucas said and Max nodded in agreement.

"Hey...where's Ares?" Roman said suddenly realizing that his brother wasn't in the room.

"Well with the way Kade was shaking him earlier, I'm assuming he went to throw up. He did just eat after all" Max said and Roman sighed.

"Oh brother..."

~ Flashback End ~

"Don't worry, Roman. I know she appreciates your kindness" Lucas said with a pat to Roman's shoulder.

"That's not what I'm worried about" Roman said.

He was worried about himself giving in more often now that he had seen the end result. Roman wanted nothing more than for Ceres to be happy and healthy. He wanted to keep her health in check so that she would never have to worry about anything like that but now as he looked at the wide smile on Ceres' face, he found himself at a lost.

So, Roman had decided to make a silent compromise. He'd get her a box every once in a while just to see the happy look on her face.

But somehow he had a feeling that that it would end up being more than one...