A/N

More pictures of the kitchen😌😌

The window kinda thing is not a window instead we're gonna pretend that it's long window/doors leading to their backyard!

not edited

~*~

I walked inside the house the back door of the house and directly into the kitchen as the twins followed after me. Two men in black suits followed after the twins with bags in their hands. Two young ladies came from the side and took the bags from their hands. All them them walked out of the kitchen and Zion closed the doors behind the men. 

My eyes landed on Octavian who was leaning against the refrigerator scrolling through his phone, sipping on a bottle of cold water. I cautiously walk past and plop down on one of the stools. I saw Octavian raise his eyebrows in the twins' direction as I rested my head on the counter top. I could care less about the secret conversation they were having through eyebrows. Cue the eye roll. 

A bottle was slammed on the counter in front of me. I slowly look up and see Octavian with his lips twitching a little. A small took over my face as I looked at him trying to smile. "Water?" He asked.

"Thanks," I muttered as I opened the bottle. In my peripheral vision, I saw Zion and Zane with identical smirks and my eyes narrowed at them. 

"Vian," Zane called, the smirk still on his lips. Octavian turned around and one of his eyebrows rose on seeing the twins' smirking faces. "I'm thirsty," He continued.

"I think I'm dehydrated," Zion said, his smirk widening. Even though the twinkle in his eyes and his glowing skin contradicted his words, he looked like he had completely believed his words. I let out a silent chuckle as I brought the bottle to my lips,chugging down the water.

I watch the three amusedly as Octavian gave them an unimpressed look. The twins just watched his expressions change with the same smirk but it was widening by the second. With one last blank glance at them, Octavian turned towards me. I kept the half-full bottle of water down as Octavian leaned on the counter-top, his weight on his forearms.

"So, how was it?" He asked. He had a cold facial expression as always and his voice had little to no emotion. It was as if he had recited all of this and the way he said it, it was the most casual sentence but he made it sound so hard. It was like I was giving a job interview.

"Exhausting, but I had fun," I said as I nodded and looked around, trying to avoid his eyes. He sighs.

"Did you decide anything for your room?" He asked, his eyebrows raised. I gulped softly and shook my head, no. 

"Okay," He continued slowly as the twins sat down on each of my side, "Did you decide on a color?" He asked instead.

"Um, wasn't it compulsory for me to use grey and black?" I asked. I thought it was mandatory for me to use the same color palette as the whole house.

"No, you don't," Octavian replies, "You can choose any color you want," He says, shrugging.

"No, I think I'll still go with grey, white and maybe touches of pink here and there?" I replied but it was more of a question as I look at all of their faces. Octavian had literally no emotion on his face where the twins looked as if thinking the idea over.

"It would look good, I guess," Zane muttered.

"You can't seriously go wrong with grey and white," Zion replied, nodding to his twin's statement.

"Alright then, it is decided. Grey and white," Zane said.

"Now, what pieces of furniture do you need?" Octavian asked, observing me keenly.

"A bed," I replied, shrugging his question off with a nonchalant answer.

"Just a bed?" Zion asked and I nodded.

"A bed, one bed? for that giant-ass room?" Zane asked, his voice high.

"Yes, anyone who lives there after me can change it according to them. It'll be the most convenient option," I said, shrugging.

"First off, no one, I repeat, no damn one is living there except you," Zion said, as he gritted, "So, we are going to decorate your room better than any fucking room in this whole house."

I leaned back, a little away from his tensed form. He looked like he was on the verge of getting extremely angry and that was not good for me. I looked at Octavian with a question in my eyes. He just shrugged, his way to say that he agreed with Zion.

I sighed and Zane looked at me, " So," He said with a finalty in his tone as he whipped out his phone, "We need a queen size bed," He said as he typed away on his phone.

"A desk and chair," Zion continued.

"Sitting arrangement and T.V. counter," Octavian said, nodding.

"Two side table, sitting arrangement for the balcony, a bookshelf maybe?" Zion asked and I shook my head, I didn't need a bookshelf. I could keep my books in a cupboard, "A bookshelf, definitely," Zion finalised as he ignored my frown.

"Alright, that's enough," I said, my voice a bit firm this time.

"But what about your closet and your bathroom," Zane whined. In that moment he did not look like a 23-year-old grown ass. He looked like the 12-year-old boy who was happy with his whole family. That was about to be snatched away from him in a matter of seconds. 

My lips twitched as I tried not to smile at his childish behaviour. "There are already sections and cabinets in the closet and the bathroom. I'll work with that," I said, softly, trying to persuade him.

"Are you sure you'll be fine with it?" Zion asked, his eyebrows scrunched together.

"I was fine with just a single bed, with all of these things, I think I'll have more than enough storage space," I said with a small smile.

"Alright then," Octavian said, "Now, you just need to decide on the designs and how you want you room.to look. Be ready by tomorrow, the people will be coming to renovate your room by Thursday. So just keep your designs ready by tomorrow." I nodded in reply as I stepped down from the stool. 

"Do you want me to help you set up your phone and the MacBook?" Zane asked.

"If you don't mind," I said, shrugging. He sighed in response.

"I'll be in your room in a few minutes and I'll help set things up, okay?" He asked as I nodded. Avoiding Octavian's calculative gaze, I turned sharply on my heels and walked out of the kitchen and towards the living room. 

I climbed up the stairs and saw the maid exiting my room. They stopped in front of me and I stopped walking as well.

"I have taken everything out of the bags and set them in the cupboard beside the closet door. I hope that's fine with you," She said softly. She looked as if she was in her mid-twenties. With her dirty blonde hair tied up in a sleek bun and an off-white shirt tucked into her black pants.

I smiled at her a little and said, "You didn't have to that, but thank you."

"You're welcome," She mutters as she looked at me in question as if asking me for permission. I narrowed my eyes at her in question as well as I tilted my head a little.

"You can leave Gwen, thank you," A booming voice from the end of the voice said. I watched Gwen give a nod in the form of a curt bow as she walked away. I looked behind me to watch the retreating form of Dorian. 

I watched him disappear into his room on the other side of the floor as I sighed and entered mine. As I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, I relieved my hair of the tight ponytail, tied it in a loose braid and let the braid fall freely along my back. I washed my face as I refreshed myself as plopped onto the bed. 

I pulled the bags on the bed beside me and pulled the boxes out. Setting them on the bed, I carefully studied the minimal packaging of the wireless earbuds. Airpods, it said, with the picture of a sleek looking device.

Just then, a knock resounded on my door and I allowed the person behind the door to enter. Somehow, the lock of the main door was fixed when I came back from the little shopping trip and I was not complaining.

Zane poked his head inside as I gave him a small smile. He opened the door wide and a small ball of white fluff strutted in and with much effort, jumped onto the bed. My smile widened as Sky jumped onto me as she licked my face, barking softly. I couple giggles escaped me as I looked up to see Zane looking at me with a small, almost invisible smile.

"Oh by the way, Matthew fed her, so don't have to worry about it," He muttered as he jumped on the bed as well.

I nodded in reply, "Thank him for me, will you?" I asked him as I caressed Sky's soft white fur. He nodded in reply as he observed me.

"Shall we get started?" He asked eyeing the spread in front of us. I just sighed and nodded.

"So," He began as picked up the whit box that contained the phone.

"So, um, this is is i-phone," He stated.

"Is something written here?" I asked mockingly as I pointed at my forehead with a blank expression on my face.

He narrowed his eyes at me, a playful twinkle present in them as he smirked. I smirked right back at him and he asked, "Iphone...?" He waited, as if waiting for me to complete his sentence.

"12?" I asked, unsure of that.

"13," He corrected and went back to unboxing.

"It's out already?" I asked, my voice high pitched. He winced and looked at me accusingly.

"Are you trying to burst my eardrums or what?" He asked as a chuckle escaped me.

I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Overdramatic bitch," under my breath. The words escaped before I could stop them. I just called one of the most powerful men in the world a bitch. I must be out of mind. There was something the water Octavian gave me.

My eyes widened in fear as I look at him. A small smile graced his lips as he replied, "As if you aren't one." Hearing his words, I let out a short relieved breath, thanking the lord that he wasn't angry. 

"I'm not," I complained. It was clear he was playing around unlike Dorian, whose words held pure, unbridled hatred. 

"So, let's get started," He said, as the light blue phone turned on. I shifted closer to him as peered in, mentally taking noted about what he is doing.

***

"I want him to die, I'm wishing for death at this point," I muttered as I rubbed my forehead.

"I thought you'd like him," Zane complained as he watched Damon die from the inside.

"That piece of shit is unlikable, I don't think I would ever like him," I mutter, not taking my eyes off the screen. 

We had set up the electronics and were now watching the vampire diaries as I cussed out Damon. According to Zane, Damon was a fan-favorite but to me, he was nothing more than an abusive piece of shit. 

"Ah, just for a couple more seasons and then tell me that you don't like him," He said, smirking.

"Whatever," I muttered, rolling my eyes, directing my attention back to the series. A knock sounds on my door as I ask the person to come in.

Gwen peeks inside and he eyes are soon drawn towards Zane. "Oh hey Gwen," Zane said joyfully. 

I could see her cheeks burn red just from mere words from Zane. "Hello, Mr. Crawford," She muttered looking at her feet.

"Yeah no, we have told you numerous times to call us by our names," Zane said, narrowing his eyes playfully.

"Of course, M- Zane," She said, still not looking up. I watched their conversation with more interest than I watched The Vampire Diaries. My gaze traveled from the flustered looking Gwen to mirthful Zane as I tried to make sense out of the situation.

"They wanted me to tell you that the dinner is ready and they're waiting for you two," She said, offering me a small smile which I returned.

"Alright, thank you for informing us. We'll be down in a few minutes," Zane nodded. I nodded as well as she closed the door and walked away but not before a last glance towards Zane.

A smirk rose on my lips as a warm feeling spread in my heart. It felt felt nice to know little things about your brother and not just the nonsense the media shows.

I felt involved in their lives as a sister. As family and definitely loved that. And now that I had a taste, I wanted more of it. I wanted more. I wanted more the feeling of acceptance and love and appreciation. I wanted to be more involved in their life.

Not that I had the right for that.

***

A/N

So, new chapter. I know it's been long but school's really kicking my butt 🥲🥲.

Ummm, I hope you like it and soon Astria will be shifting to her new room which will be followed by new drama 😭😭😭. So, stay tuned for that.

Also, what did you think about the little conversation between Zane and Gwen??

Do you think Octavian's efforts are good enough or is he just not putting enough effort?

Also, there will definitely be more of Dorian in the upcoming chapters, so keep an eye out for that.

So, if you liked the chapter please vote and share and comment and tell me about your faviourite part of this chapter (the amount of ands in that line, smh)

QOTD: What are your hobbies?
AOTD: I like to read, write and dance in my free time!!!

Toodles

~Ash