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I combed my curly hair and secured the front half with a white satin scrunchie that was wrapped around my wrist. I straightened the ends of my hoodie before glancing at the reflection of the numerous jackets stacked on my bed, courtesy of my overdramatic brothers.

I shook my head with a small smile before fishing out Zion's grey denim jacket which had the softest fur on the inside. I put it on and then topped it with a long coat from Octavian. Well, it wasn't supposed to be long, it reached just a little past his waist but for me it reached past my knees. But it had a belt at the waist so it worked and tightened both the coat and the jackets to fit my waist.

Wrapping the woolen scarf around my neck, I turned off all the lights, before sauntering out of my room. The moment I stepped out of my room, a very excited Sky greeted me, jumping up and down and running around my feet. My smile widened at the sight my pup as I bent down to pet her. She lined sloppy kisses on the length of my palm before jumping up on my laugh.

I walked down the staircase with Sky in my arms and was greeted by three of my brothers. The only one absent was Dorian. As much as I enjoyed spending time with the twins and Octavian, I couldn't deny the guilt I felt. Because if I weren't here, they would most probably be together but now just because I'm here, Dorian can't spend time with his brothers.

Sky jumped out of my arms the moment she saw the open door, racing out towards the gardens. I let out a squeal of surprise before calling out after her. The twins watched in amusement as Octavian just stood there, watching the whole ordeal with an emotionless mask on. I averted my eyes to Zane who spoke up, "Don't worry, Matthew is right outside, waiting for her. Plus, there are other guards surrounding the estate, so she'll be fine," He said with a soft smile on his face. I nodded in reply as Octavian started walking towards the door. The twins followed him as did I.

Before I could follow the twins out, Dorian walked past me. I stopped right in my tracks as did my brothers before me. Dorian just silently passed all of us before stopping beside Octavian, "I'm coming with you guys. I need a few things," he muttered. Octavian sighed but nodded and as soon as he was about to say something Dorian finished his sentence, "And yes, I'll behave," He said, rolling his eyes. Octavian narrowed his eyes at Dorian tone who shot him an apologizing glance before following Octavian out.

I kept to the twins the whole journey as they chattered amongst themselves and shopped for their needs at the mall. I didn't mind just trailing behind them carrying a bag or two of anything they decided to buy me until we exited the store and a couple security guards would come and get the bags from me. Dorian and Octavian were together most of the time, looking around, not buying anything but I would constantly feel their eyes on us as we switched or walked through the shops.

This time the twins walked towards the me section while I refused to do so. I was getting quite tired and according to Octavian the whole reason of this trip was to shop for me so now they all were focusing on me. Hence the four humongous men surrounding me.

They all scattered throughout the store looking for items to get me. I stood there just observing them before Octavian raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. My head tilted as I looked at him in question. "Well, look around. We have come here to shop for you after all," He said. I quickly sprang into actions at his words.

I started walking around aimlessly. The twins would come to me occasionally with all types of clothing in their hand and I would just refuse them. I felt horrible using their money. Their hard earned money. I was quite satisfied with the two pairs of hoodies I have but apparently Octavian wasn't. While twins were asking me for opinion, Octavian on the other hand was not having it. Je would just walk around, pick out clothes he would think look good and dump them in the bag a store clerk was carrying around, walking behind him. He would not ask me because he knew I would just refuse.

While I was roaming around the store, a humongous jumper caught my eye. I extended my hand to pull it out and as soon as I did, I realised that it was actually paired with a beige pinafore. The jumper looked the comfiest thing ever and the pinafore wasn't bad either. As I was assessing the pair, a felt a sharp gaze on me. I turned around to see Dorian with his eyes narrowed, observing my moves. I looked at him blankly before sliding the pinafore back into the rack and walking away. I stopped a few feet away, acted as I was looking at the satin dress in front of me but I didn't have any interest in it.

I looked back to see Dorian staring intensely at the beige pinafore and the black jumper. My hands unconsciously clutch the soft satin of the garment in front of me as I try to look like I was looking at clothes but I couldn't stop trying to figure out what was going on in Dorian's mind.

"You're not getting that," Zion's voice cuts through my train of thoughts. I turn around to look at him with a clueless expression.

"What?" I softly ask him.

"You are not wearing that," He muttered pointing to the satin dress that was in my hand. I immediately retracted my hand before taking a good-looking at the dress. It was a pretty champagne colored dress with spaghetti straps. It was short so it would reach the top of my mid-thigh.

I did like it but if he didn't want me to wear it, I couldn't say anything, it was their money after all. I opened my mouth to reply but before I could even get a word in, Octavian's voice broke through, "I'm sorry, did I just hear you go, 'you are not wearing that?'" He asked, his hands folded as he fixed the younger man with a cold glare.

The employee that was following Octavian around, quickly left us at Octavian's command, leaving the bag of clothes on a chair near us, "Y-Yeah," Zion replied, taken aback by Octavian's sudden change in behavior.

"Who gave you the right to tell her what she can wear and what she can't wear? It's her body so it is her choice to wear what she wants," Octavian replied with a hard voice. My eyes widened at his statement as I looked at him with admiration in my eyes. Very few people thought in such way and I am so grateful my oldest brother is one of them. He is overprotective in a lot of cases (cough cough, the tacker) but at least he is giving me my basic rights and the choices that I should have a say over.

"Uh, it's alright. I don't want the dress. It's ok-" But I was cut off because no one was listening to me.

"But just look at the dress, it's short and-and practically has no sleeves. There will be boys staring at her and I just want her to avoid the comments. You know how vulgar teenage boys can be," Zion exclaimed. I was glad that there was no one in the store except us.

"Guys, let's calm down, I really don't-" Again, no one paid attention to what I was saying.

"As I said, it is her choice to wear what she wants. If the boys stare, it is not her fyalt so I am not putting restrictions on her when it is someone else's fault. So, watch me," Octavian said before picking up the satin dress and dropping it in the shopping bag, "Now this better be the last time you're telling what she should wear and she should not. You are not restricting her from wearing anything unless she is roaming around practically naked, for that," He swiftly turned around to face me, towering over me, he said, "Don't expose your private parts to anyone child," He said before turning back to Zion, "So, unless that's the case, I better not hear you say anything about she can and can't wear." They both stared blankly at each other as did I.

"I'm just gonna go to the washroom?" I softly asked and Octavian nodded. I let out a sigh of relief, happy to be out of this awkward situation.

"We'll e billing all this or will be near the electronic section," He said as I walked past him. I replied with a short nod before rushing out of the store.

Halfway to the washrooms, my phone rang and looked down. An unsaved number popped up on my screen and my brows furrowed in confusion. I walked over to a more silent and secluded part of the mall before picking up the call. Lydel's voice filtered through the speaker, "Hey girl, I heard you went shopping," She said.

I chose to completely ignore her statement and ask the more important questions, "Whose phone are you calling from?" I asked.

"Ugh, mine. Somehow, my number got leaked and I've been getting calls all night from crazy fans. I couldn't even sleep. And all of then wanted to know Ezra's number, as if I would ever give it. I cut the calls straight up before even replying but my phone kept buzzing every two fucking minutes. Like, get a life and let us live. Dad gave me a new number the moment he heard about what happened," She said.

"Then why the fuck are you awake?" I asked as I watch the people walk past me.

"Because I don't want to sleep in the morning. If I do then I won't be able to sleep at night," She replied, whining softly.

"What are you doing to keep yourself awake?" I asked as my eyes followed the two men who walked past me. I directed my eyes back to the floor as I waited for Lydel to answer.

"Chilling on the couch, watching movies," She muttered as I felt a gaze on me. I ignored it and etc out a small chuckle at her response.

"You are so dumb," I scoffed, "Do something energetic or you're gonna feel more tired. Like go for a swim, get Tom to play tennis or badminton with you," I said.

"It's almost snowing outside, there is no way someone is going to survive a swim," She said, increasing her volume to exaggerate.

"Yeah," I scoffed, "Let's pretend as if our indoor pools are heated, like our floors, like our houses, like the freaking temperature of the whole building you live in," I said, rolling my eyes. I looked up and around to see that the hallway was empty but I couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching.

I stood up a little straighter and turned, looking all throughout the passage and just as I was about to give up, I saw the two men and a girl with them just waiting around the corner looking at me. As soon as they saw I had caught them, they looked away but refused to budge from their places.

"Ria? Ria?" Lydel's voice broke through my thoughts as I walked out of the hallway.

"Listen, I'll call you in a couple of minutes, yeah?" I asked.

"Alright."

"And do some exercise while you're at it," I said before the call. I then speed walked across the mall. Over to the other side. In the reflection of the glass of a shop, I saw the three still behind me. The girl busied herself at a shop while I kept walking ahead and the men came behind me. I could feel my heart thump loudly against my chest.

I wanted to call my brothers, but I was scared. Unknowingly, I had walked to the loneliest bathroom in the entire mall. If they did something, no one would know what happened as there wasn't anyone here. I was afraid to move even a muscle. I could hear the rush of blood in my ears and loud breaths as I kept my head low. I entered the ladies washroom as a means to escape the men following me. I waited for a couple minutes and when the girl didn't enter, I ruled that possibility out and entered one of the stalls.

After doing my business, I quickly washed my hands, took a couple deep breaths and walked out. My head immediately snapped to the left where the men's washroom was a couple feet away. I saw the two men lounging just outside the entrance of the washroom. My heart that had somewhat calmed down was thumping loudly again. Again, I kept my head low looking away and started walking outside. I needed to get to the electronic section as soon as I could without raising suspicion.

It was as if my senses were heightened. There were sweat beads on my forehead even though it was winter. All the crowd sounds were muted as I could only hear the blood rush through my veins to my heart that was overworking.

All of a sudden, a hand popped in my view. I instinctively flinched away from it before looking up. A familiar brown headed boy greeted me with a soft smile but urgency and alarm in his eyes. He hesitated but wrapped his hand around my waist before saying, "Hey baby, ready to go home?" He asked. I didn't know if he was acting like a creep or if he saw the men following me.

At that moment, I didn't care whichever one it was. The thing was that I knew him from somewhere and Lydel said he was a good guy. I gave him a stiff nod as my hand clutched the hoodie material on his other arm and I pulled him in for a hug. I felt his hesitancy but he wrapped his arms around me as well.

His woody smell around me as I took in deep breaths to calm myself. He was tall and well built, well not as tall as my brothers but taller than me, probably around 5'10 or 5'11. He worked out and it was clear by his humongous arms that surrounded me.

I softly peeked out from under his arms to see the men gone. I let out another sigh of relief before pulling away. I craned my neck a little to catch Aaron looking down at me in concern. "I'm sorry for hugging you like that..." I trailed away.

"I'm sorry as well. Calling you baby and those advances. It was just that the two men-" He said, stopping mid sentence.

"We're following me, yeah. Thank you for saving me from that. And you don't need to apologize for that. You did good," I said, with a small smile as we started walking.

"Why didn't you call your brothers though? I'm sure they and their security team would be there at the drop of a hat," He suggested.

"I did have the idea but then I was in an empty part of the mall. I was afraid that they would have done something and just yeah," I muttered. My cheeks flamed red as I realized how stupid I sounded.

"But there were still shops there which had employees and owners," He said, his face was pretty much blank but there was a twinkle in his eyes.

"The employee wouldn't be able to do anything if I was shot. In the head."

"How will they ever get guns past the security check?"

"Well, criminals can basically do anything and not get caught until it's too late," I said, flailing my hands a little to get my point across but alas, a smirk grew on Aaron's face.

"How do you know they're criminals?" My eyes narrowed at this question of his before he let out a little chuckle. "Alright sorry," He muttered, raising his hands in a surrender motion. After conversations about random topics, we finally reached the electronic section and I turned to him with a smile on my face.

"Thank you for what happened earlier. I'm glad you were here today," I said.

He smiled back at me, looking like a sweet angel in a bucket hat and black hoodie. He was just sculpted by God, while we were the defective pieces. "It's quite alright," He said, "And take care of yourself," He said as we waved goodbye.

Guess he wasn't a creep.

***

A/N:

Y'all I'm so sorry for the late update. It was like a mini writer's block and damn did that suck. I just hope you liked this chapter even though it's not the best. I will try to make the next chapter better which should out in a few days!!

Also, I do wanna talk about one thing, like you are so damn creative. Like my book is being added to a lot of reading lists and I just want to thank you all for voting, commenting, adding my book to your reading lists and just reading it!! You are amazing but your reading list names, like damn. Y'all have some weird reading lists, like how do you even get there. Now there's this one,

Like what does this mean?? Is this good? bad? But damn is it creative!! I mean, y'all are some damn amazing people!!

Anyways enough of my rant. Nobody wants to read that. But you do read the chapters so please vote and share. Comment and tell me what your faviourite part of this chapter was!!

QOTD: Have you started listening to carols and dancing around your house yet?
AOTD: I will neither confirm nor deny any types of claims 😂😂

SIBLING MEME LOL

The champagne dress

the pinafore

imagine it with an oversized jumper.

Toodles

~Ash