© Jojo B 2016

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*N.E.V* The Seven Deadly Simpson Brothers

27

(Picture is Coral)

Walter and I walked fast back the way we came. For all we knew, Ario could have been gathering his gang to come after us right at that moment. We would be safe not just in Simpson territory, but in the Simpson household itself. That was one place the Santiagos wouldn't dare get close.

"You guys need to get here now Eli," Walter barked on his phone as he gripped my hand with his free one. "...Forget the bill, since when did you care if you've paid or not? ...If it's that much of a problem, just leave the money on the table. I...I need you. Now."

Walter cut off and put his phone back in his pocket.

"They should be coming soon," Walter told me. "In case the Santiagos are after us. I can't fight and protect you at the same time, not if there's more than one of them."

"I hope it doesn't come to that," I said, too scared to even glance behind me.

I never thought for one second that Ario would find out the truth so soon. I could barely even register what had just happened. Everything had just changed, in a single second. Ario, who I had considered a friend, was now an enemy.

He hated me.

When the Eli and triplets arrived, they made me feel a bit relaxed, even though the situation hadn't changed. It was just so hard not to be shit scared when the triplets were so excited. They formed a protective shield around me, laughing and joking all the while, as well as making playful threats towards 'skull face and the rest'. Walter didn't share the same enthusiasm, he was grim faced and held my hand in a tight grip.

"Did blue eyes say anything?" Eli asked me, looking straight ahead as he walked on my other side.

"No," I winced. "He said nothing."

Eli looked over my head at Walter and I didn't need to ask them what it meant. It was very clearly: not good.

"Are you going to fight?" I asked the boys in a worried voice.

It was the last thing I wanted, especially with Walter's ribs and Gio's healing wound.

"If they come after us, yes," Walter grunted. "But if not, it will be another day. Blue eyes won't let it rest without a confrontation."

"And by confrontation," Gomez turned to grin at me as he walked backwards. "He means a pretty good fight."

"But you just had one," I said in dismay.

"It's okay," Walter said to me.

"Relax," Severn smirked at me, throwing at arm around Gio's shoulders. "We got this."

Eli rolled his eyes at them and I tried to take the whole situation lightly, like they were doing. Impossible. I knew it was only a matter of time until Ario responded, and I got his message loud and clear.

***

The Santiagos didn't show.

Which is what I had wanted, but it meant I'd be carrying the fear for day after day until Ario gave me what I deserved. Whatever that was. He wouldn't really hurt me, would he? I thought I knew him well enough, but when Walter had told me about Ario's temper, I was taken aback. I realised then, that I couldn't guarantee my safety.

The triplets had gone upstairs, talking in disappointed voices about how they didn't get to fight the Santiagos and Eli sent me a goodnight before going up to his own room.

I was still shaking, half from the cold but probably more from the fear of what was going to come next. Walter made me a cup of tea and he sat with me in the kitchen until I finished it. It calmed me considerably and I took one long deep breath.

"You want to shower before we go to bed?" Walter stood up, holding my hand.

I nodded silently and fell into his chest, trying not to cry. I was upset, scared and confused. I wished that I knew what Ario was thinking. Whether he was planning to attack, or if he was alone and hurt more than anything.

"Walter, I'm scared," I closed my eyes.

Walter held me close, kissing the top of my head, "I've got you. I won't ever let any of them hurt you Coral."

I knew he meant it. I could feel it from the way his heart was pounding.

I had a hot shower and washed my hair too, just to try and feel that little better. Walter was in his room waiting for me to finish so that he could go and have a shower too, and when he saw me enter, only in my towel, his eyes filled with desire.

He wordlessly got up from his bed and approached me. He held a strand of my damp hair in his fingers and then looked down at the water droplets that ran along my collarbones and down past my towel. I felt my cheeks getting warm and my palms starting to tingle. My stomach started to feel light and I didn't understand why my body was acting so strange because of a look Walter had given me. It wasn't as if I'd be able to venture any further with him if I wanted to, I was shameful.

"I'll let you get dressed," Walter glanced up at me and smiled, before he left to go to the bathroom.

I knew he was taking things slow because of me, and he still didn't know the full story. He'd never directly asked me...the same way I hadn't directly asked him about the tattoo on his hip, which still played on my mind every now and then.

When Walter returned, I had already changed into some pyjamas as well as half-dried my hair with my hairdryer. I sat on the edge of his bed, facing away from him as he stripped and got into some boxers and a t-shirt. He crawled onto the bed behind me and kissed the back of my neck when he was finished. I turned and faced him, before kissing him hard on the lips, putting in all my emotions, knowing that Walter was the only one who could have my heart, despite the guilt I was feeling towards Ario. He had become a brother to me, but I knew better than to think I'd been nothing more than a sister to him.

Walter broke off the kiss, breathing raggedly against my lips.

"Don't worry about blue eyes," he said huskily to me.

I nodded, "I don't want to talk about him right now. I...I want to know more about you Walter."

Walter raised his brows for a second, before smiling softly at me. I'm sure there were still plenty of things I didn't know about him.

"Let's get comfy," he said to me, getting out of his bed to turn his light off so that the room was dimly illuminated by his desk lamps.

I got in under the sheets and Walter slid in beside me, letting me lean on his chest and holding me comfortingly him with his arm.

"What should I tell you about me?" Walter murmured to himself under his breath with a faint smile on his face.

"Anything," I put a hand on his solid chest through his shirt.

Walter looked up at the ceiling and then his eyes seemed to change. They shone for a brief moment before he turned his face down to look at me.

"When I was growing up, back in central London, there were eight of us," he said, making me widen my eyes in disbelief.

Eight Simpson brothers?! Were. I refused to believe where Walter was going, and desperately hoped that the last sibling simply lived somewhere else even I knew it wasn't the case. If anything, they would have all stayed together, at least for now.

"My sister Eunice died when she was eight," Walter said gently, playing with my fingertips in his hand. "I was a year older than her...she was Eli's twin."

I gasped, unable to contain the mountain of shock that came with those two sentences alone. Maybe that was why Eli was so bipolar sometimes, because he'd lost a twin sister! Eunice Simpson. E.S.

"Your tattoo," I whispered. "It's for her."

"Yeah," Walter smiled, despite the crack in his voice. "It's for her."

"I'm sorry Walter," I said to him. "I had no idea."

"It's not your fault," Walter hugged me, burying his face in my hair.

When I heard Walter sniffing, I widened my eyes so wide before almost breaking down and crying myself. Instead I pressed my trembling lips together and tried to be the strong one, as I rubbed Walter's dark hair.

"Sorry, Coral," he mumbled over my shoulder. "I'm eighteen years old...this is pathetic of me."

"No," I said sharply, gripping his hair. "No Walter. It doesn't matter how old you are, you can cry if you have to. I can't imagine what you've been through. It's not pathetic at all."

He laughed whilst crying and I felt my heart swell with so much love and emotion for him. I wanted him to stop hurting, I wanted to make him feel okay.

Walter pulled back and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. I wondered what Eunice had looked like. If she had dark hair like Phoenix, Landon and Walter, or blonde hair like Eli and the triplets? What was she like? A joker just like her youngest brothers? Or more serious and reserved like her eldest one?

"What was she like?" I asked him quietly.

Walter smiled again, looking up at the ceiling once more.

"She was so friendly," he said fondly. "She never really got angry, even though we teased her all the time...well all of us except Eli. She was the only girl so we loved to try to rile her up, but Eli would always defend her, fight for her even when she wasn't bothered about it. I guess he misses her a lot. They shared a lot of secrets, I could hear them whispering at night all the time."

I smiled along with Walter at the cute childhood memories. Eunice had been a lucky girl, having so many good brothers.

"What did she look like?"

"Like Eli," Walter answered. "Even though they were opposite genders, they had the same eyes, same hair, same smile. Basically everything."

"Wow," I breathed, wishing that I'd gotten the chance to meet the only Simpson sister. "I bet she was a lucky girl to be loved by so many brothers."

Walter half-smiled, "Yeah, I guess. I know it's childish but...I wish...I wish she never had to go. She was only here for a short time, there was so much more she could have done. Stuff we could have all done together."

"Oh Walter," I looked at him. "It's not childish."

He had tears in his eyes but he kept smiling, being so strong.

I gently cupped his face and kissed his right cheek and then his left one, before kissing his forehead and finally his lips.

"She's in a good, safe and happy place," I said softly. "That's what I believe."

He nodded, chewing on his bottom lip.

"Enough about me," Walter said eventually, after he was certain he wasn't going to cry again. "Tell me something I don't know about you."

Walter had been so open with me, about something so deep, personal and painful. I felt like I was finally ready to do the same.

"I've told you a bit about my childhood," I said, recalling the first date we'd had in the cafe a while back. "But this time I'll tell you all of it."

Walter looked at me silently, knowing I was about to tell him about the horrible things that kept me up at night. He held my hand and that small gesture gave me the courage to go ahead with it.

"My mum died when I was three years old," I said, looking down at our entwined fingers. "I was in social care until I was seven when I was adopted by my father, who I'd never met, who turned out to be a...very horrible person. He....he..."

I broke off, swallowing as I tried to moisten my suddenly dry throat as well as push down the sickening memories that were trying to arise.

"It's okay Coral," Walter rubbed my hand with his thumb, trying to mask his shock. "You can do it. I'm here."

I nodded and took a breath before continuing. "He abused me for years...he said I couldn't tell anyone because they wouldn't believe me, and if I ever did, he said he'd kill me. I don't know why I was scared of death, I mean, surely it was better than the living hell I was going through."

Walter made such a pained expression when I said that, I almost wished that I hadn't added that last part. I quickly kept going.

"I don't remember a lot," I said, "but it comes back to me in my dreams. One thing I can't ever forget is his smell. Some sort of aftershave he always wore, I think. It was very distinct."

Walter was plain disgusted, he wasn't angry at all. He was holding my hand so tight, I didn't think he'd even noticed he was doing it.

I gave him a wobbly smile to try and put him at ease, "It went on until I was ten, and then one day out of the blue, he just didn't come back home. So I stayed on my own for a couple of days and was picked up by the social services again when I started a small fire whilst trying to cook on the stove. I was in care for six years, which wasn't exactly a sanctuary either, and it was when I was sixteen that I got my job and moved into my little flat. I've been there ever since, barely scraping by, until I met you...and things changed. And that's it. That's my childhood."

Walter blinked a couple of times, the anger starting to show in his features as he continued to grip my hand in his.

"You're stronger than you think Coral," Walter told me firmly. "You've been through a lot of things other people wouldn't have been able to survive. You kept going, and for that, I'm proud of you."

"Thank you Walter," I said, looking into his hazel eyes. "You've made me very happy."

Walter's face split into a smile, "You have too."

He suddenly dropped the smile and his gaze, then started blushing. I knew what he was going to say before he said it, and even then, I still couldn't believe my ears when Walter confessed.

"I love you," he said, looking into my eyes at the last second.

He looked to nervous I wanted to squeeze the life out of him. I grinned, and my eyes stupidly decided to fill with tears. I wiped at them quickly and Walter smiled, caressing my face.

"I love you too," I said quietly, my voice breaking.

Walter pulled me into his arms and he held me in a warm, tight embrace. I was happy. So inexplicably happy.

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