"Do you think, Stella has something to do with this?" Came Zayn's voice from behind me which caught me off guard.

My eyes moved to Ashton, I waited for him to shout at Zayn but he didn't.
Coming out of his deep thinking he said," I am not sure."

Really? You don't believe your own sister?

"Guys...not now." I said as the boys seemed to ignore the fact that Stella was with us.

She was sitting quietly on the chair near dining table. She had gulped down two glasses of water in past ten minutes.

Did she hear her brother saying that he was not sure about her?
Even if she did, her emotions were latent behind her blank face with her eyes staring at the blue bare wall in front.

"Umm...do you need some more water?" I asked hoping she would get out of her trance.

She didn't reply. Instead a tear passed from her left eye.

I was afraid to hug her, it seemed like I could break her or something as she looked weak and delicate.

"Shhh...you are fine here with us Stella." Said Brady patting her back.

Soon she broke the silence and started crying hysterically in Brady's arms.

It was unbearable for Ashton to even look at her state so he stood up and left the room.

What kind of brother is he?

"Do you guys really think I'm involved with the murderer?" Stella finally spoke up.

"We were just discussing the possibilities, Stella. Also you may not have been in this whole thing but Nathan is surely involved." Said Zayn tapping his fingers on his chin as if thinking deeply.

"Shut up!" Shouted Stella which startled not only Zayn but all of us present.

Stella wipes her tears and prepared to speak again,"Nathan is not a murderer okay? No one in this room is as innocent as he is."

As soon as she finished there was a scoff which escaped Zayn's mouth.
I glared at him giving him a sign that I'll beat him if he doesn't keep quite.

"Ahem, umm I'll have some fresh air. It's kinda suffocating here." And with that Zayn left the room too.

I looked up at Brady and motioned him to ask her what had happened but Brady moved his head in a no

Ughhh why are these guys afraid of crying Stella?

"It's okay Stella, we just want to know what happened last night. We are not going to judge you okay?" I said hoping to get a positive response.

"You still think I'm involved in the mishaps right? Go away! Just go." She shouted at top of her voice and it didn't take me a minute to realise why the guys are afraid of her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were all sitting in the garden waiting for Nathan to come. He was with Detective the whole night.

Stella was fast asleep in my bedroom, I chose not to wake her up even when it was past noon.

"I don't know what to think, I've lost my brother in this month, my sister has been caught in a contrasting situation, my Aunt hasn't come to even console us." Said Ashton and started sobbing.

For a moment I thought it was Aspen. Ashton being sporty and strong had never shown his emotional side but this time I don't know why but it was difficult to tell if it was Ashton or Aspen.

Aspen.

I had formed a different bond with Aspen. He was the most understanding and sensitive of all the boys. He never teased or mocked me. He was the most gentleman of all. He even shared his bad past with me. He was so pure and so genuine. But... He WAS. He isn't with us anymore.
We have been caught with solving the mystery so much that we haven't realised what it must've been with Ashton and Stella. They've lost the closest person to them.

Ashton was facing much difficulty in controlling his emotions that he broke down like this.

"Rose? Are you okay?" Brady asked me holding my hand in his.
I realised tears were rolling down my cheeks uncontrollably.

I got up and went inside to avoid consoling. Ashton needed his friends more than I needed.

I ran up to my room as I heard Brady's footsteps behind me.
I opened the door to my room and saw the bed empty.
Oh no where's Stella? Panic rose in me like acid reflux from stomach.

But soon I was relieved by the sound of water coming from the attached bathroom.

Suddenly, Brady arrived and turned me around and embraced me in his hug.
I gave out small sobs but then I stopped realising that I had been crying too much.

"You don't need to hide your emotions, you can cry whenever you feel like. I am always here with you." Said Brady and kissed my forehead.
I appreciated his kiss by giving him an assuring smile but the moment was broken when we heard the door opening rashly.

"I'm sorry..I disturbed you, didn't I?" Said Stella standing in the door with her hands on her waist. A glint of mischief in her eyes.

Ahh finally my Stella is back.

"Nope, it's fine." Said Brady and motioned her to come and sit with us.

"I'll go and make some coffee. Also my mom has made porridge for you. I'll be back." I said with a smile but she stopped me and held me back to my position.

"Please stay. I want to talk to you." Said Stella. I was glad that she had chosen me to share the things.

Brady stood up and said, "You guys continue, I'm in the garden if you need anything."

"Noo, don't go. I need you too." Said Stella and both of us sat across her, ready to hear whatever she had to tell.

"First of all, I'm really sorry for shouting out at you yesterday. I was just baffled by the situation. Never in my life had I imagined anything like this to happen to me." She said with a huff.

I kept my hand on hers and assured her to continue.

"I know somethings indicate that me and Nathan are murderers or something but trust me we are not. The truth is..." She closed her eyes for a second as if she was in dilemma to tell us or not.

"Speak up Stella. What happened? Did Nathan threatened you?" Spoke up Brady. I looked at him and told him to calm down. It was our duty to be patient listeners. It was surely some big revelation, that's why she was taking a long time.

"Umm...No. why would he threaten me? He loves me!" Said Stella as if it was obvious but soon realised what she had blurted out.

"Everybody loves you Stella,We love you too. You don't need to be afraid of anything. Just speak the truth." Said Brady pushing her to say the truth.

Stella chose to ignore Brady and turned towards me,"Rose! That is the truth. Nathan loves me and I love him! And umm...we have been together for a year now." Said Stella her eyes waiting for our reaction.

Brady's eyes widened in realisation. But he kept quite.

My ears couldn't believe whatever was said.

"Like you are in a love relationship with your brother's best friend?" I asked to confirm.

There was a change in her expression more towards guilt and sadness.
"I don't know how Ashton and Aspen would react to this." Said Stella but changed her sentence to," I mean Ashton."

Ohh this girl...she was facing much more than us. I hope Ashton accepts this.

"Ashton will surely accept this, don't worry. And I'm happy for you." I said and hugged her.

"Nathan? Seriously? You are dating Nathan? What the hell!" Came through Brady's mouth and he stormed out of the room.

Oh no.

"Please stop him Rose. I don't want Ashton to know about it like this." Said Stella but I was already running behind Brady who had suddenly disappeared.