Silver Falls, Colorado
(2020)
- Broken -

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The next morning was the same as always: get up, hope you can have your time in the bathroom, get ready and then have breakfast!

Valeria had already got used to this routine. Nevertheless, she was always amazed at how long it took her brothers to get ready for the day in the bathroom in the morning! They were boys, what took them so long?

Questions upon questions and definitely no answers! Valeria sat down next to Cole without saying a word and began to eat. He turned his head, looked at her and grinned. In a flash, she turned her head in his direction and shot him a confused look. What did he have in mind this time?

"What?!" it suddenly shot out of her without meaning to say it. Cole slightly flinched and lowered his head. Alex, Nathan and Danny had noticed Valeria's little tantrum and looked at each other. Lee and Isaac seemed to have noticed too, because they were now scowling at Cole.

"Hey all good, Val?" Danny asked cautiously but in a friendly manner. Valeria looked at him briefly and nodded. She was embarrassed that she had thrown a little tantrum and she was sorry.

"Yes, Danny, all good thanks!" it wasn't all good and Danny knew that, but he didn't want to upset Valeria any further! Alex swallowed before looking at Valeria. His brown-green eyes glittered beautifully in the sunlight and for a moment Valeria forgot what had happened.

"Hey Philadelphia, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable!" Alex immediately broke the eye contact when he heard Cole's voice and looked at him instead. Valeria shook her head slightly before also looking at Cole and sighing.

"Cole, no, I'm sorry! You didn't do anything wrong, really! I probably just slept badly and that's why I'm in such a bad mood. I didn't mean to snap at you like that, I'm really sorry!" Cole, Isaac, Alex, Lee and Danny were perplexed. Had Valeria really just apologised to Cole? Isaac and Lee weren't used to their sister apologising for anything because at their old school, she was like the school queen and go-getter that all the boys were in love with all the and girls were queuing up to be friends with! Valeria Alamilla Garcia didn't usually apologise for anything!

"Sis, can we have a quick word with you in private?" Valeria looked at Lee and nodded, slightly confused. Then the 3 of them got up and walked towards Lee's room and closed the door as soon as they were inside!

"What do you want? And why do we have to talk about this in private?" Isaac took a deep breath before he started talking, which Valeria didn't like at all.

"What was that just now? Since when do you apologise for anything? We don't know you like that!" Lee nodded and Valeria would have liked to leave her brothers where they were and walk back to the breakfast table! But instead she took a deep breath and answered Isaac.

"Is apologising forbidden now? Why shouldn't I apologise to Cole if I've made a mistake? And if you want to make allusions to our old school: stop it!" Lee and Isaac sighed. Of course they were glad that their sister had changed and was no longer such a go-getter as at their old school, but somehow they missed this version of Valeria.

"Of course you can apologise, it's just that we kind of miss the old version of you! You know that go-getter that all the boys were in love with and all the girls were queuing up to be friends with!" Lee suddenly said, which upset Valeria and made her think. Why did he say that? She had been expelled from school so many times for not following the rules and to be honest she had hardly had any friends, let alone a boy who was interested in her!

"I hardly had any friends, let alone a boy who was interested in me! And you're rambling on about 'a go-getter that all the boys were in love with and girls were queuing up to be friends with?! Stop with that bullshit and come back to reality!" Lee and Isaac flinched and watched their sister leave Lee's room and head back to the kitchen.

Just before she got to the kitchen, she changed her mind and stormed out of the house instead! Alex and Cole looked at each other before they both got up and ran after her! Valeria was fast and the two boys struggled to keep up, but eventually they caught up with her!

Valeria paused and lowered her head. Alex looked at her worriedly, but she couldn't see that because she was standing with her back to him. Cole also looked at her with concern. Cole, who she had initially thought was a cold-hearted asshole, was now turning out to be an empathetic and caring person? No, that didn't go together!

Slowly, she turned round and looked at the two of them. First she looked at Cole, then she looked at Alex. They were both so perfect and beautiful. A chaos of emotions erupted in Valeria, which she couldn't seem to contain! She swore to herself that if she ever fell in love again, she would want a caring, sincere, funny and loving boyfriend, and both Walter Boys seemed to have exactly those qualities, even though one was deeply hiding them under his arrogance and the other was freely omitting them.

"Why did you follow me?" she asked, unimpressed and definitely annoyed by their presence. Alex just hoped that Cole knew what he was doing and he prayed that Valeria wouldn't rip their heads off!

"Do you seriously think we're going to leave you alone after you stormed out of the house like a fury? What the hell is wrong with you, Val?!" Valeria flinched and took a few steps back. She hated being shouted at and yet Cole felt it was the right thing to do!

"Can you please stop shouting at me? And besides, I didn't storm out of the house like a fury, Cole Walter!" she crossed her arms in front of her chest and scowled at Cole. Where did he get the right to shout at her? And what was Alex there for if he didn't say anything?

"We need to work on your perception a bit, Miss Philadelphia, and also: never lie to me again!" now Alex looked at him too. Valeria had lied to Cole? With what? Valeria was confused. When had she lied to Cole?

"When have I've been lying to you?" she was very confused and Alex was confused too. Valeria went through all the conversations she'd had with Cole since she'd been living with the Walters, but she couldn't figure out when she'd lied to him!

"You're not sorry for hissing at me at the breakfast table this morning and you definitely weren't in a bad mood because you slept badly, but because you're just a bad person from the ground up, Valeria Alamilla Garcia! And I will never apologise for saying that!" without her wanting to, tears formed in her eyes and seconds later they rolled down her cheeks. Alex didn't know what to say or if he should say anything at all, instead he took her right hand in his and squeezed it lightly. Cole's expression changed when he saw Valeria's tears and somehow he felt bad and regretted what he had said, because with his last sentence, he had lied to Valeria too!

"Wow, you're an even bigger asshole than I thought, Cole! Stay away from me if I'm such a bad person that you don't want to have anything to do with! It would probably be best if I just move out again so I never have to see you again!" Cole flinched and lowered his head. Alex squeezed Valeria's hand tighter now, as he was afraid of losing her. Valeria's mind was still a mess of emotions and she didn't know what to do. Should she move out again and hurt Katherine, her brothers, Alex and George, or should she stay and put up with Cole's moods?

In a flash, she released her hand from Alex's and ran back into the house. Cole and Alex looked at each other before Alex ran after her, realising that once again she was too fast for him! Valeria locked herself in her room as soon as she got in and immediately lay down on her bed and tried to cry quietly so her brothers wouldn't hear.

But somehow she didn't manage to cry quietly, because suddenly there was a knock on her door and she heard Lee's and Isaac's voices.