Y'all, I'm just too interested in this story to to take breaks 😭😭😭
So, here's another update, enjoy!!!

not edited

Astria accepted the spoonful of soup Octavian was holding out. She felt her taste buds come back to life with the delicious soup that was made by Jess. She was thankful for the ladies staying here just to take care of her.

"Do you want to try eating some noodles or a piece of chicken? If it gets too much, we'll just focus on the soup," He said, looking at her in question.

"Maybe a piece of carrot or celery," She shrugged in reply. She felt no harm in trying and she just wanted to get back to normal as soon as possible. At her response, Octavian scooped up the tiniest piece of the soft carrot, bringing it to her lips.

She took it in, trying to get through the piece. She kept chewing it, with little breaks in between.Even the soft piece of carrot was too much work for Astria. She rested against the headrest of her bed as she kept chewing on the carrot.

"Let's just focus on soup for now, please?" She asked Octavian who just nodded in reply. The rest of Astria's lunch passed in silence during which Zane popped in a couple times to check on her.

"So you're going to stay here now?" Astria asked. She observed Octavian who was now sitting at her desk, typing away on his laptop. "I mean, you can do whatever you want, this is your house, of course. I just-"

"Yeah, calm down there," Octavian clutter in, effectively cutting the girl off. "You need to be under complete supervision for the next three days, today included."

"Is it that bad?" She asked, her insecurities filling in through. She could imagine how much work and other stuff Octavian had to skip through to be at the hospital when she fainted and even now. She had tried to be less of a burden but that just backfired onto her and now she's troubling them more than before.

"It's bad, but you're going to be alright in about a week's time. So, don't worry about that," Octavian muttered, observing the girl's each reaction a bit more. Astria was like an open book to Octavian. He always knew what she was thinking, her expression often gave her thoughts away.

"Are you sure you're fine? No work commitments? I mean, you don't have to stay here. I'm sure I'll be fine on my own. Maybe Gwen can check in from time to time. You guys don't have to disrupt your schedules for me, it's al-" Astria started but Octavian cut her off again.

"Now now Astria, before you get ahead of yourself. Every one of us is here because we want to, okay? Nobody's forcing us to do anything. We want to be here and take care of you," He said, "So remove such thoughts from your mind and try not to overthink."

Standing up from the chair, he walked towards the sitting area of the room and turned on the television. On his way back towards Astria he opened the clear glass doors parting the room completely so that she has no problem watching the television.

Dropping the remotes beside Astria, he said, "There is Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney plus, Hulu, peacock and many more subscriptions on there. So, try to distract yourself. If you feel like everything that has happened in the past is getting too overwhelming and television isn't helping, feel free to call Zion or Jess or Amelia. You can call me too, I'm here, like literally beside you. So, don't hesitate. Okay?" He asked.

Astria didn't want to trouble them more but she also didn't want to listen to another speech so she agreed to Octavian, albeit hesitantly and turned to the television.

***

Astria's POV

It has been a week since my fainting incident and I'm still not allowed out of my bed. The snowstorm passed a few days ago but Octavian still hasn't moved from my bedside.

I don't know how I feel about the whole Octavian being sweet thing. I'm still scared of but I am getting more and more comfortable around him. I can freely talk to him while looking him in the cold eyes of his so I guess that's progress.

For the past week, I basically survived on liquids. The twins did persuade me to have soft rice so that I don't have to chew much but my throat has been really sore so I've been drinking all kinds of bland soups, hoping not to irritate it any more. I would love to get back to my normal diet but that doesn't seem soon because I don't eat anything because it hurts me to eat anything.

The food situation and staying cooped in my room is really taking a toll on me. But because I can't eat anything, I don't have energy to even walk to my bathroom. I spend a couple hours of my day with Sky but I cant spend too much time with her too as she rarely sits still now that she is in this humongous mansion and I can't move from my bed. For now, she has moved in with Zane but she still sleeps with me because nobody can stop her from doing that.

Dorian has not visited me since the fainting situation. To be honest, I did expect that from him, but it still hurt everytime I thought about it. We only saw each other at meal times and maybe in the halls or gardens. He never went out of his way to see me or acknowledge my efforts to spend time and bond with him.

The door to my room burst open, effectively breaking my train of thoughts. Octavian sauntered in with Zion in tow. Zion's hands were filled with the books that I had requested him to get me from the library upstairs while Octavian's hands were occupied with a tray of my food. Zane looked up from his laptop at their intrusion, before shutting off his laptop and paying full attention to us. Yes, they still had me under constant supervision and I appreciated their effort but still hated it from time to time.

Octavian wordlessly set the tray in front of me as zion set the books on my bedside take. I peered onto the food in the bowl, getting a good look at my today's meal. My eyebrows furrowed in question at the peculliar dish that the brother's had served. "What's this?" I asked.

"Well, one of my employees had come here for a meeting with me and they suggested to try this if you can't chew much or have too many spices. So, we decided to give it a go. The name well, let's not focus on that. What matters is that this has a consistency that is softer than most solid food and is not liquid. So you don't have to chew much but you'll still get something solid in your system. Also, it only has salt and the littlest amount of other spices so it shouldn't irritate your throat," Octavian replied in his monotone voice.

"Jeez, that was terrible," Zion sighed before sitting down beside me. His comment made Octavian glare lightly at him which made me chuckle under my breath. "Frist off, she isn't an employee. Well, maybe she is but she is also one of our best friends. Octavian would never admit this but he loves her," That earned him another glare from Octavian, "Anyways, she was the one who made this and she told that this is a traditional dis from where she is. It can be eaten one when is ill because it's light and all the boring stuff Octavian just explained. But to be very honest, this the best thing prepared for you and I know because I tried everything that is being made for you. It doesn't get better than this," he finished.

"It's not rice though, right?" I asked, with one raised eyebrow. Zion quickly turned his face to Octavian, not answering my question. My eyes narrowed at his action but I kept quite. I looked at Octavian who was already looking at me with a guarded expression.

"No," he replied, in his usual cold voice. After a few minutes of trying to figue out his expression, I give up and pick the glod spoon up from the tray and dip it into the bowl of yellow substance. I couldn't make out it's texture and state because as Octavian said it was softer and more fluid than a solid but it was too think and held shape very nicely to be a liquid.

I plopped the spoonful of the food in my mouth, hoping for the best. I chewed it softly, not that i needed to. If I wanted, I could just swallow it down and I would be fine. It tasted good, it was like rice but not that bland, it had good flavour as well. Now the part I feared the most, swallowing. For the amount of flavour it had, it seemed as if would have a lot of spices and would hurt my throat.

Witchout giving it more thought, I swallowed it. I was shocked but also relieved that it didn't hurt. Much. I only had soups and rice for the past days and they hurt going down as well. So, anything i ate, it did hurt but spices hurt worse. And this thing, dish, didn't hurt too bad and it tasted good.

"It's good, I like it," I muttered, going for another spoonful.

"Finally, never thought I would hear you approve any of the food we made," Zane said, standing up from the chair and laying down on the bed beside me,

"Well, technically you didn't make this," I whispered softly t him so that Octavian doesn't hear me. The day I got back ho,e from the hospital, I did joke around and give sassy replies to Octavian and did he did not react badly but the way I acted was because of the drugs. Now, I'm not so sure that I want to give sassy replies or even normal replies to him. His cold and calculating eyes, hard, stone face and built body scares me too much to that.

Zane only scoffed in reply, making me grin triumphanty. I continued eating with a satisfied expression and my brothers settled into a comfortable silence. A nice comfortable silence that Zion broke, "Do you want to meet her?" He asked, "You have talked to her before, I think. So, it shoudn't be too weird," he said.

"I haven't talked to too many of your employees. Just three so if it is one of them, it should be a good coincidence," I said, with a small smile. Inside, I was praying with all my might that it would be Ana. It has been a long time since I talked to her, because of Octavian and also because of my own fear. Of Octavian. I've always wanted to meet the kind, young women who helped me through so many situations.

"I don't think that's a go-" Octavian started but before he could even get another work out, Zane took off, exiting my room in a hurry.

"I'll get her," he shouted making me flinch and wince a little because of the loud noise. Octavian just let out a little sigh of disappointment with a small shake of his head. I went back to eating my bowl of pudding, I'll just call it that till I know it's name.

Two minutes later, Zane was back with a tall lady behind him. Zane was taller than her, so I couldn't really see her face but I could tell that she was wearing a suit, with dark grey pants and blazer. The girl looked up and bent a little from her waist, popping out from beside Zane with a small smile, "Hello Astria," She said.

Her words almost brought tears to my eyes. The two words brought a wave of nostalgia so humongous, I didn't have words to explain. There was Ana, standing right beside Zane, in all her glory, looking gorgeous in her suit and heels. Her black hair flowed down her back without any restraint, her flawless brown skin glowing. She was the woman who helped me hold on when I was at my lowest, she wwas the one who saved me and tried to help me alongside Lydel.

It has been quite long since I've had a voice or video call her. She was the woman I met accidently but she has helped so much during the years, she practically saved my life so many times.

"Ana," I whispered, my voice breaking the end. Her face softened, as she advanced towards me. She knelt before my bed before taking my freezing hands in her soft warm ones, giving me her signature soft smiles.

"It's been quite long, huh?" She asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper. I nodded frantically, a few tears spilling out. I hated this, I cried at the smallest things but I couldn't help it. It just happens. "Aww, don't cry," She whispered, wiping my tears away as hers glassed over, "You're here, you're safe now," She whispered softly.

Seeing my reaction, Octavian took a step towards us, ready to ask Ana to leave but I gave him a soft shake, effectively stopping him in his tracks. Ana extended her arms but hesitated for a moment, I just huffed and hugged her as she hugged right back. I noticed Zion leaving the room silently and Zane dragging a reluctant Octavian out, closing the door softly behind them.

Ana pulled away sniffing, "So," She started, "How has it been?"She asked, sitting in the armchair right beside my bed.

"Good, they're kinda sweet, except Dorian. They treat me quite nicely and I'm good. Sky is enjoying-" I started. Beating around the bush, I know what she wanted to know but I didn't really want to drag attention to that topic when everything was going to well.

"That's great to hear, but you know that's not what I'm talking about," She interrupted me. I sighed. It was dumb thinking that something would get past Ana. She had known me for the past four years and she had learned about me a lot and practically knew me inside out.

"I- it was ok, not that good."

"How bad?" She asked.

"Not too bad, just a cut here and there or maybe a flying beer bottle," I dreplied, rolling my eyes.

"That is not ok," She exclaimed, her brown eyes blazing with fury, "This is getting worse by the day Ria. You need to tell someone before it reaches extreme. You know what happened last time."

"She wouldn't go that far this time, plus I am alright, aren't I? It wasn't too bad," I said, taking another spoonful of my meal.

"Too bad? You ended up in a hospital for a week. You know how scared I was. Lydel contacting me that she hasn't heard a response form you for weeks. It couldn have gotten so much worse sweetie, you need put a stop to this."

"I'm sorry. But I promise, it's not bad. Plus she apologized. You don't know how guilty and sad she was. And the cuts and beer bottles are just mistakes. I know they are and she apologizes every time. I know it will get better. She is trying and I know it will be fine. She loves, the last time was a huge mistake, she won't commit that mistake again," I replied. I know that normal kids do not get beaten by their parents. But my mother is just a little strict and everyone makes mistake, I wouldn't jot that down as abuse. If she feels sorry and guilty after it, she doesn't mean to hurt me. It's alright.

"That's not love, Astria. She's hurting you and you need to tell someone. Tell Octavian, twins. Tell someone who can help you," She said in a small whisper.

"I can't tell them. It's going so well here. They're just some mistakes mum made and I'm just making a big deal out of them. It's probably just my fault. They don't need to know how pathetic and stupid I am. Octavian doesn't need to know what's happening," I replied softly.

At that moment, the door burst open and Octavian walked in with furrowed brows and narrowed eyes, "What do I not need to know?" he asked, looking between Ana and me.

***

A/N

Okay so this chapter was quite serious ig, no fluffy moments between the siblings. I really wanted to show this where um, the abuser manipulates the victim into thinking that what they are doing is okay and for their benefit.

But it is not.

So, if anyone is going through this or has gone through it, if you want to talk, my private messages are open. If you're still going through it, I want you to know that what is happening is not ok. And not normal. So, find people you trust and talk to them about this and seek help. I also want you to know that you are not alone through this, there are a lot of people ready to help you, you just need to take a step and there will numerous people to take you from there!

On a lighter note now, Astria's past is now slowly coming into light so you guys know what's happening. And since Astria has been living with her mom since she was like six, her mother has drilled it in her brain that she is just doing everything to help her. So, yeah. Kinda sad but that's the life of the main character. Filled with tragedy. Sorry for the pain Astria 🥲🥲

Anyways, if you liked this chapter, please vote and share. Comment and tell me about your favorite part of this chapter!!!

QOTD: Do you call this season Autumn or Fall?
AOTD: Autumn lol.

SIBLING MEME!!!

Everyday man, I experience this everyday 😭😭😭

Toodles
~Ash