AN: here's a bonus chapter. Enjoy, people.

This chapter is dedicated to @CupidVictimFifteen for your lovely messages and idea for this chapter!

Lexi's POV:

"WAKE UP LITTLE SIS!"

I opened my eyes as a huge weight leapt onto my curled up body, snapping me out of my dream. I blearily blinked away the last remnants of sleep and glared at my older brother.

"Sam, what the hell is wrong with you?!" I screeched, shoving him away.

With a cheeky grin he bounced on the bed. "Wake up! Wake up! It's your eighteenth birthday! We have lots to do!"

I slapped my dressing table and grabbed my alarm clock, staring at the red digits in disbelief. "It's nine o'clock in the morning."

"So?"

"It's nine o'clock in the morning on a Saturday."

"Again, so? It's your birthday! You're officially an adult. We need to celebrate early!"

"I shall celebrate my birthday in bed and refuse to get up until at least twelve." I snuggled deeper into my mountain of pillows and closed my eyes. I teetered on the edge of sleep, but was pulled back to reality as the covers were yanked off me, exposing me to the harsh cold air.

"Sam, what the f-"

"Ah, ah, ah." He cut in, shaking his head. "No swearing."

I scowled and pushed myself upright. "I'm legally an adult now- technically, I could move out if I wanted to."

"Like we'd let you." Thomas grinned, entering the room. He ruffled my hair and pulled me into a warm embrace. "Happy birthday, Lexi."

"It would be a lot happier if I was asleep." I yawned.

He chuckled. "Get ready, Sleeping Beauty, the others are waiting for you!"

"How long have you guys been up?" I asked, grabbing a set of random clothes and trudging to the bathroom.

"About two hours." Thomas shrugged. "We were setting everything up."

"Where are we going?" I shouted through the thick door, pulling on my favourite blue shirt and black jeans.

"We've planned a home party for you." He replied, smiling as I exited the bathroom. Slinging an arm around my shoulder, he continued, "we've also booked dinner at a restaurant later and then we'll go to the fair."

A faint smile tilted my lips upwards as the three of us walked down the hallway lined with many photos. Ever since my sixteenth birthday, the boys were determined to make it a tradition that at least once a year, we would visit the fair. So far, they've kept their promise- even going as far as to cancel important meetings with influential clients to uphold it.

We entered the kitchen and were immediately assaulted with brightly coloured pieces of paper and sparkles. My brothers and friends starting singing 'Happy birthday!' And I threw my head back and laughed.

"Who made the cake?" I asked in between chuckles.

"Your brothers did- they refused to let anyone else help." Savannah snorted, wresting a gun out of her three-year-old daughter's hand while Xavier watched in amusement. "No Clara, you are not allowed your gun until we get home!"

Clara frowned and pursed her lips, looking at West and pulled the oldest trick in the book- the puppy dog eyes. Unfortunately for her, he had become immune to them.

"Sorry, Clara, we have to listen to your mother." West smiled apologetically.

"But why?" Clara crossed her arms.

"Because, young padawan, we choose life." West said demurely. "You shall understand when you get older."

"Come on, Squirt," Diana chuckled, wrapping an arm around the distraught toddler, "you can help organise my knife collection." Clara cheered.

The scary thing? This was considered normal in our household.

"Hey Lex!" I was pulled into a warm hug by my best friend. I buried my face in the crook of his neck and wrapped my arms tightly around him. He whispered in my ear, "I guess we didn't need the runaway plan, huh?"

I laughed and pulled him even closer, "no, I guess we didn't." I disentangled myself away and gave him a lopsided smile, "thanks for everything, Ace."

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat. And thank you, Lexi." He grinned and moved away.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" A small body collided into me. I stumbled back and laughed, wrapping my arms around Maddie. Jackson and Dean joined the hubbub and the next few minutes were filled with wishes and plans for later.

"Are you excited about going to university?" Dean asked.

My brothers stiffened and time seemed to stand still for a second. My brothers were a little... touchy about me going to a university so far away from home. At first, they were upset and tried to emotionally blackmail me- saying how we didn't spend enough time together, or how I would have a roommate that would blast music at two am., or what if for some unexpected reason the entire country went on lockdown and I won't see them for a very long time? (*coughs*) And that, really, it was in my best interest to stay close to them.

But then, they started being more accepting.

"Yeah she can't wait to get away from us," Jack scoffed and shot me a withering glare.

Hey, I said they were being more accepting, not encouraging.

"Right," Maddie chuckled awkwardly, "anyways, we've put your present on the dining table and uh, let's cut the cake!"

"Uh, Lexi? Can I talk to you for a second?" Jackson tugged my arm nervously.

"Er, sure, come on we can talk in my room." We left the kitchen and I could feel the burning glares of my brothers and Ace scorching into the side of my head.

I shut the door of my room and motioned for Jackson to sit on the swivel chair. I flopped on my bed. "So, what's up?"

He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans, "okay so um, you know Chloe?"

"Your best friend who you've been madly in love with for about three years and won't shut up about? Yeah I believe I know her."

"Yeah um, I've been thinking of asking her our next week and I don't know what to say so please, please, please help me!"

I sighed, "Jackson, I'm about as romantic as a cabbage. Why didn't you ask Maddie or Dean?"

"Because they're so in love it's nauseating being in the same room as them." He snorted.

"Fair point," I conceded, "why don't you pretend I'm Chloe and ask me out? I can give you some pointers then."

"Sure, but it'll feel a little weird considering I think of you like my sister," he inhaled deeply and looked at me, "okay, here goes. Chloe, I'm not great at this stuff but uh, I've liked you for a really long time. Will- will you go out with me?"

"That was-" I started.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Sam burst into the room, his death glare fixated on Jackson. He pulled me up and pushed me behind him. "You stay away from my sister! I forbid this!"

"Woah, Sam, you're misunderstanding the situation! I don't like your sister!" Jackson protested, raising his palms in surrender.

"What's wrong with my sister?"

"Nothing!"

"So you do like her!"

"Sam!" I snapped, "stop it! That's not fair- he doesn't like me like that!"

"Yeah Sam, lay off them." Violet called, leaning lazily against the doorframe, "my little brother's been pining after another girl for years!"

Sam scowled at her. "Not you too! I know how boys think-"

"My brother is not anything like you," Violet's tone was icy, "and thank Heavens for that."

Sam and Violet had an interesting friendship. One minute they'd be breaking into a store at the crack of dawn and raiding the frozen food aisle, the next they'd be trying to drown each other or run over each other with a truck.

'Let's go,' I mouthed to Jackson, who looked relieved at being able to escape the standoff.

"You'll be fine," I assured Jackson with a small smile, ruffling his hair.

"Thanks Lexi." He smiled.

"Anytime." I breathed in the delicious smell of cake and beamed at my brothers. "Come on, let's get the party started!"

Violet and Sam came downstairs a few minutes later a begrudged truce between them.

As I was cutting the cake, I was bestowed with another rendition of 'Happy Birthday' and a stern reminder from Tony and Flynn that although I was legally an adult, I was not to touch alcohol unless I was in a safe surrounding with at least one of my brothers and even then I was only permitted to have one or two small glasses. Jokingly, I asked about drugs and quite quickly realised that my eldest brothers were not fan of such jokes.

As we were leaving to go to the fair, I got a call. An involuntary smile tilted my lips. "Guys I have to take this- gimme a sec." I stepped into the living room and closed the door, swiping the green button.

"Hey there Lexi!" Liam's jubilant voice came over the phone, "happy birthday!"

"Thank you," I whispered, "how are you and the others?"

"We're all good- cutting a cake on your behalf."

About a year ago, I decided to forgive Liam. Yes, he did subject me to years of physical and mental abuse, but he did it to protect his family from Isla the psycho. I knew that I would do the exact same thing if I was in his position. I managed to get in touch with him and it turned out that he'd been keeping an eye on me. There were a shocking amount of people that wanted me dead and he was swiftly dealing with them.

"Say hi to Alex, Leo and Lucius from me. Did they like the present I-"

"Lexi, who are you talking to?" Tony asked, poking his head in the room.

"Just an old friend," I brushed him off.

"Lexi, who is that?"

Tony's eyes darkened when he heads Liam's voice. He snatched my phone away and growled. "I swear, if this is who I think it is, you stay away from my sister or I'll kill you."

"Lexi hasn't told you?" I winced at Liam's hurt tone. "Oh well... you might not believe me, but I swear I'm the good guy-"

Tony hung up on him and slowly turned to face me. I attempted to make a run for it, but the rest of my brothers and friends were standing in the hallway. Judging by their flabbergasted expressions, they'd heard every word of the conversation.

"This feels like a private matter," Maddie said, grabbing Jackson and Dean's arms's. "Let's go guys. We'll wait outside."

"But I want to see the tea!" Dean whined, abruptly shutting up at his older brother's (That's Ace in case you guys have forgotten) harsh glare. "But it's cool, I'll just boil a pot at home."

I heard the front door click shut. Shuffling awkwardly, I coughed. Suddenly the wall had become very, very interesting.

"Lexi," Ryan started gently, lowering his camera, "do you want to explain?"

I took a deep breath. The words spilled out of me like a hot volcano. My voice caught on a few words and I averted my gaze to the ground. An earth-shattering silence descended upon us I awkwardly trailed off.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ace questioned.

I shrugged one shoulder, "I don't know... But, uh, before you guys make any judgement against him, I think you should know that Liam's been looking out for all of us. You remember Ben Garcia? My assassin?"

"Yeah- the dude whose body was found in the lake last week. The police say it was accidental drowning- oh." Ryan's eyes widened, "Not an accident?"

"Not an accident," I confirmed, "it was Liam who managed to track Garcia down."

"Well." Will said. "He's okay, I guess, then."

"We'll discuss it in more detail later. I also want to meet Liam." Tony asserted in a tone that promoted no further arguments. He wrapped an arm around me. "Come on, Lex, let's go celebrate you being one year closer to death."

I raised an eyebrow. "Bit morbid, huh?" We all laughed and went outside, chatting amicably about big things and small things. A warm, bubbly feeling expanded in my chest like a helium balloon. It felt nice to know that I had a family- I felt like I deserved a happy ending after all I'd been through.

There are some scars that will never fade, however. I have a long, thick scar that runs across my abdomen from when Isla kidnapped me. I still have nightmares about that cell and I can clearly remember each and every detail. I would wake up screaming my throat raw. I remember Geoff- the teenager who risked his life yo save mine purely out of the goodness of his heart. To this date, I don't know if he is alive.

But I'm getting better. I've been attending therapy and I've been trying to open up to my brothers. I'm not there yet, maybe I'll never will be, but I'm getting there.

And for now, that is enough.

End of Bonus Chapter.

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