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I meekly followed Lydia and Jesper as they walked confidently through the doors. The guards looked down in respect as soon as both of them came closer. Then their eyes would land upon me and shock took over the entirety of their face, I kept my head down, my hood was still down and Sky had fallen back to sleep. I let out a sight of relief as we finally reached the humongous doors that led to the inside of the mansion. The guard who had followed us here till now nodded at Lyd and Jesper and he called someone. Moments later the doors opened.

I could feel my heart pounding against my chest as Lydia and Jesper walked into the darkness. None of the lights were on inside and I could see no one. Everything in me was willing to just walk inside but a part of me was engulfed in fear.

"Come on in Ria, it's going to be alright," Lydia said, with a soft smile on her face, encouraging me. I took a deep breath while walking inside. I trudged forward, standing beside Lyd as Jesper walked ahead and disappeared in the darkness. Again, I couldn't see much, just outlines of furniture from the soft light of the moon coming from outside. Fidgeting on my feet, I clutched my hand on the end of my hoodie when I felt something wet and a bit rough touch my leg.

I let out a shriek which in turn caused Lyd to shriek after me. Jesper came running hearing us shout. Sky had woken up by all the chaos and started barking.

"What happened?" Jesper asked, his voice a bit loud.

"I don't know, ther-there was smoothing here that touched my leg, maybe licked it," I whispered half scared. By now Lyd had turned the flashlight of her phone on and was looking around. The sound of footsteps reached our ears as my eyes widened.

"Fuck you guys, I'm not ready to meet them right now. Why did you have to make so much noise?" I whisper-shouted at both of them, my eyes shooting daggers.

"Such lies, you were the one who shrieked first," Lyd whispered back, shining the flashlight in my face.

"Get that out of my face," I whispered, coving my face with my hand as I tried to protect my eyes from the direct harsh light. Suddenly, that didn't matter as the LEDs above us lit up and I scrunched my eyes close. "Fuck," I cursed.

I look around at the now lit doorway, the structure of the doorway was still the same but now it looked freshly painted with modern decor. Memories of me running down the hall with Octavian behind me on numerous occasions came back to me. The staircase was still as grand as ever, leading to the rooms for the whole family and guests.

As far as my memory serves, the foyer straight led to the living room. The right side hallway will lead to garden and backyard and the left side hallway is the fastest way to the pool. I'm not sure if they renovated and changed the things but this place brings back a homely feeling, a feeling I've felt after so long.

"What's that noise?" A groggy, grumpy sounding voice asked.

"Your sister, Zion, your sister," Jesper muttered, his eyebrows raised, his eyes mocking me. I sent him a glare and my facial expression clearly spoke, 'you're dead.' He just shruged as I turned myself to look at the twins who had come down because of the noise.

"H-hi, I'm Astria, but you already know that." I let out a nervous chuckle as I looked at anywhere but them.

"We're standing here, Astria," One of them muttered, amusement clear in his voice.

"Y-yeah of c-course," I muttered finally looking up at them. They both were almost the same height with similar facial features, blue eyes similar to mine twinkling in amusement. Both of them were in similar pyjama pants without shirts. Their brown hair was a mess considering they both just walked out of bed.

My throat clogged as I look at them. The happy memories from my childhood come flashing back as my eyesight becomes blurry. I take deep breaths as I tried to hold my emotions in. All the times I've seen them happy on the news channels rushed back to me and I couldn't help but feel a little betrayed that they were enjoying without me while I couldn't even sleep without missing them.

But for me, it's now all in the past. I was here for the next six months and I had decided that I was going to try and make amends with them, try to do as much as possible with them and enjoy but that won't stop me from holding them responsible for all the missed calls in the past year.

I knew three out of four of them are not very happy with me being here but I wanted to make them understand that I'm still sister and that I've missed having them in my life and they'll have to bear with me whether they like it or not.

"I'm Zion," The one with blue pyjama pants said.

"Zane!" said the other one.

"I know," I said and gave an awkward wave to both of them as their eyes travelled down to the portable kennel in my hand, "That's Sky."

"Why were you guys shouting again?" Zane asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Oh uh, there was um something here. I'm not sure what but I'm pretty sure something licked or at least touched my leg," I said. Zion's face broke out into a smile as Zanr looked as if he just wanted out of that awkward situation.

Me too, Zane, me too.

"That must be Cecilia," He said with a silly smile on his face. My eyes widen as I raise my eyebrows. I look at Zane who let out an exasperated sigh and looks like he wants nothing more than to get away from his twin's idiotic acts.

"I'm sorry, who?" I asked but an involuntary snort escapes me. Zion's eyes narrowed towards me and his facial expressions screamed offended. I mumbled out a quiet sorry but the smile is still on my face.

"Cecelia is my pet kitten," Zion said, his arms now folded. My mouth dropped open the moment the words kitten left his mouth. My eyebrows furrowed and now it was my turn to look offended.

"I told you guys I had a puppy. Why in the holy heck would to tell me it's okay to bring her when you already have a kitten?" I asked, my voice a few octaves higher, "I could've left her at a friend's."

"No, it's fine, Cecelia's a very well-behaved kitten," Zion said.

"He's lying. He just got the little thing today, Octavian doesn't know yet and the thing is a little devil, zooming around the house, rubbing itself against anything and everything," Zane said, a smirk now on his face.

"She is a little angel," Zion retorted.

"The opposite actually," Zane replied.

"Okay guys, we can discuss this later, she needs to rest," Lyd interfered. Her left hand was propped on her waist as reprimanded the twins. I gave her a grateful smile which she returned with her own. I walked over to Jesper who now had my bag, muttering a thank you, I took the bag.

"Also why are you two here?" Zion asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Oh we were picking her up from the airport," Jesper replied.

"But Damon was there?"

"Yes, there was a man there to pick up a sixteen year old at night. That too at three in the morning. Because her brothers weren't free. Doing what? Sleeping and god knows what. Did you even think once what could've happened if things didn't go the way you guys planned. Did you even think about how she would feel when she is meeting you guys after almost ten years and you aren't even there to get her. You know how many things could have-" I cut her there. Her words made me choke up and flooded my mind with emotions I didn't want to deal with right now.

My hand landed on her forearm as I look at her with a pleading face, "Not right now, please," I pleaded. She kept her hand on mine as she nodded. Feeling relieved that she understood, I let out a sigh.

"Now, will any of you show her to her room?" She asked, throwing a nasty glare their way. I looked at them, my face devoid of any emotion. I could feel my facade break as I saw the guilt and regret on their faces, but I quickly reminded myself of what they did.

Zane was the first to offer to show me where I'll me staying. "Follow me," he said. I nooded and started dragging the suitcase behind me. Seeing this, Zane steps down from the staircase and took the bag from my hand. I tried to convince him otherwise but he was dead set on take the bag.

I just sighed and followed him. Halfway to the first floor, I hear Zion, "You two stay the night. You've already risked it going at night. Just here and tell someone in your families and then come with me."

I gave Lyd and Jesper a small smile as I followed Zane. "So, your room the one beside me, you remember that?" He asked and I nodded. I loved that room, the bed, the study table, the couch, the closet, everything in it was a luxury. When mom and I moved away, I had a rag that I used to sleep on. There was just one bedroom, a hall and a kitchen in that tiny house. I used to sleep in the attic because mom said that she should have the bedroom because she's older and she needs it. I did not fight for it because I didn't want a repeat of what happened in the car.

"Here, we haven't changed it because we thought we would let you redecorate it as you want to," He said and he opened the door. The pink room that I used to adore came into my view. The pink bed with the canopy, a white study table with a matching chair, a pick couch pushed against a wall and a flat screen T.V. on the wall right in front of the bed. A smile grew on my face as I remembered all the happy memories as well as the bad ones.

There were two extra french doors, one for the washroom and another one that led to a balcony. My balcony had the best view out of the others, it overlooked the gardens as well as the pool in the backyard. Beyond the boundary wall of the Crawford property were woods. One could see that as well from my balcony. As I said, it had the best view.

"This room is for a child of course, but you will be able to redecorate it by the end of this week. But till then, you can stay in a guest room," He said as he walked out of the room. I gave the room one last glance as I followed him out.

He then led to me to another room. It was smaller than my room but was till bigger than the one back home. There was a twin bed with white sheets, a small table was pushed against one of the walls and long windows instead of a wall beside the table. A wardrobe occupied one wall of the room and a door which probably lead to the washroom.

"It's not the best, but I guess you'll have to compromise for a few days," he said and shrugged after nervously scratching the back of his neck.

"It's fine don't worry about it," I muttered, looking at the floor and not in the eye, showing him respect.

"I'll leave you to freshen up then. You know my room, in front of mine is Dorian's and in front of yours is Octavian' and in the centre in Zion's. Dorian and Octavian aren't at home tonight so if you need anything, you can come to me or Zion." I nod without saying anything, my eyes still fixed on the floor.

I hear a sigh then some footsteps and the door closed. I myself let out a sigh of relief. I set the kennel in my hand on the floor, rummaging through my short pockets, I produced a key. I opened Sky's kennel door, setting her free. The moment the door opened, she saw her opportunity and zoomed out of it. Running around the room and observing the surroundings she ran back to me, jumping me. I let out a small laugh as I fell back on my butt as I held her in my hands. She licked my face making me giggle.

I set her down on the wooden floor as I folded my legs. With a little effort, Sky managed to climb up on top of my folded legs. Her tongue hanging out and her tail wagging happily as I caress her soft fur. The smile never leaves my face as I realize that even after leaving Mom's place the only thing that could make me smile was Sky's enthusiasm. Back home, dancing would bring me peace and happiness but here, I don't even have that. I really thought they would all be here to meet me after so long, but I guess I am not really as important to them as I thought.

A knock sounded on my door effectively cutting my depressing thoughts off. "Astria?" I hear Zion's voice outside the door.

"Yes?" I ask, not moving a bit. I wasn't in the right state of mind to see him or Zane again without jumping into their arms and breaking down into sobs. But she couldn't do that. By the lack of their enthusiasm when I arrived, I knew I was not welcome here. They did not want me here and honestly, it hurt more than I would care to admit.

"Do you have a bed for the dog?" He asked. I was offended when he called Sky 'the dog' but I let it pass. But he still could have used a better approach. I had half a mind to correct him but I didn't want to give him another reason to push me away.

"No," I replied.

"Here, take this, I have this old pillow kind of thing. You can use till we get her better things," He replied.

I stood up, set Sky down, opened the door and I looked at Zion who was standing outside with a pillow in his hand. "I- um, thanks but you really didn't have to. She would've-" I started but was cut off when he basically shoved it in my hands.

"Just take it already," he mutters. I clutched it, frozen with his unexpected show of coldness.

"Tha-" I started but by now he had started walking away, "nks." I sighed and closed the door. A whimpering sound escaped Sky and I looked at her with teary eyes, "It's alright baby, we'll get through this too. We've been through a lot and will be going through a lot, won't we." I scooped her in my arms and sat back down on the floor. A few tears rolled down my cheeks as Sky continued whimpering, "It's going to be alright. I'll keep my head down, talk to them when needed and avoid them. It's all going to be fine. It is going to be fine. It has to be fine."

I wiped my tears away as I set Sky down on the worn-out pillow. "Comfy?" I asked and was not disappointed when I received an eager bark in return. "I'm just going to go freshen up," I said to her as I looked out of the window to see that it was almost dawn. I stood up and walked over to the window and closed the curtains. Now the only light in the room were the LEDs above us.

I walk out of the shower with my worn-out shorts and t-shirt on. My poor quality night suit didn't really blend in with the posh and elegant decor of the room but as my head started hurting and my eyes drooped, I could care less about it.

I jumped onto the bed and melted right into the mattress. As I said, beds were a luxury and soft mattresses like this, even more so. Right now, I felt as if I was in heaven as I gave the last look to a sleeping Sky. Turning off the lights, I closed my eyes and fell into dreamland.
A dreamland where I was happy and was playing football with my brothers and enjoying ice cream.
A dreamland that will only remain a dreamland.
A dreamland that couldn't be my reality, no matter how much I wanted it to be.

***

A/N
So, that was the second chapter and see met the twins. Again not much happened in this chapter but in the next chapter she'll meet the rest of her brothers. And that's going to be a lil interesting.

What do you think Octavian and Dorian's (the eldest two) reactions will be?

Why do you think Zion was so rude to her earlier?

Who do you like more, Zane or Zion? I like Zane, for suree.

Anyways, the next update will probably in two days so stay tuned for that!!! Also, don't be a silent reader, go on, press that lil star if you liked the chapter!

~Ash