Family ain't blood

Why the fuck did I agree to this?

I sigh as I look up at the huge glowing neon sign in front of me. “The Snake Pit”. Seriously? That’s a charming name for a bar. There are a few people in the line before me and I argue with myself if I should just turn around and go home. It’s not like anyone would miss me if I didn’t show. The girls at my new work place only invited me out of pity because they knew I am new to this town and don’t have any social connections what so ever nearby. The couple in front of me is let in to the bar as I step up in front of the doorman.

“Hi” I mumble, trying to look anywhere but directly at him. He’s a scary looking dude. Dark-skinned, bald, tall and wide as fuck. You would not want to get on his bad side, trust me. I think he could crumble me without breaking a sweat.

“ID?” he asks and I pull out my wallet from my jacket pocket. I hand him my driver’s license and he looks down at it with disinterest.

“Amelia Lily Blackburn” he reads from my driver’s license before he looks up at me. “You’re not from around here?”

Well obviously not as my driver’s license states that it was licensed in London years ago and we’re definitely not in London or even the UK anymore. No, this is Scottsdale, Phoenix, Arizona and I’ve been here for a total of seventeen days. Go me.

“No, I just moved here. Some friends from work asked me to meet them here” I reply, giving the doorman a small smile. He looks down at my card again, then up at me.

“Are you really 24?” he asks with a raised eyebrow looking down at me and I place my hands on my hips in a defensive position.

“Yeah, I’m really 24. But thanks for telling me I look like a kid” I snap annoyed. The doorman smiles at me. Then he hands me the card and points his head towards the door.

“Go right in. But keep that wallet tight, yo. This isn’t the best part of town. There are some nasty dudes in there and you look like a freaking librarian, no offence” he says as he opens the door for me with one hand.

“None taken. Thanks” I mumble back, giving him another small smile and go in through the door he’s holding open for me. As if I haven’t heard that one before. Librarian, Lolita, nerd, brainy, good girly. Yeah, I think I’ve heard them all by now. I look down at myself and winch a bit. Is it really that bad? I’m wearing a long black maxi skirt, a dark green tank top and a black cardigan. My hair is down – for once – and I can feel the loose strains tickle my neck and shoulders. I’ve let it grow for so long without doing anything about it, that it’s almost down to my butt now. I don’t colour it like most girls do, so it’s just the same shade of boring blonde it’s always been. I lift my hand to push the glasses up out of pure habit, but then remember that I put in contacts before I left. I guess that’s my way of dressing up to go out. Others girls might doll themselves up in small dresses, high heels and tons of make-up. Me? I switch out my glasses for contacts and let my hair down.

I look around the noisy and smoke-filled bar. I didn’t even know it was still legal to smoke in bars, but I guess the laws here are different from back home. And looking around the people in here, I doubt anyone would care about laws anyway, to be honest. Shit. The doorman wasn’t kidding. ‘Nasty dudes’ might have been an understatement. Is this a biker bar or what? It looks like I’ve stumbled into a scene from ‘Mayans’. I would have said ‘Sons of Anarchy’, but looking around, most of the guys in here are definitely from the south, as in Mexico or Puerto Rico. They all have that dark glow in their skin, the black hair and that distinctive facial structure. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, seeing as Maritza – the girl from my work who invited me – is Puerto Rican. I look around the bar to find her, but I don’t see her anywhere. I look down at my watch. I’m not even early. It’s exactly nine o’clock and Maritza told me to meet her here at nine. So where is she?

I walk up to the bar and sit down on one of the high chairs. A cute-looking bartender comes over to me and she gives me a careful smile as her eyes roam over my appearance. Then she meets my eyes.

“What can I get ya, doll?” she asks with a heavy Mexican accent.

“Ahm can I just have a coke? Or whatever you have that’s non-alcoholic.”

The bartender raises an eyebrow at me but smiles still. She turns around and I turn towards the crowd to search for Maritza. Where is she?

“Here ya go, doll.” The bartender is back with my coke and she places it before me with a smile. “Are you looking for someone?”

“Yeah I was supposed to meet my co-worker, but she’s not here yet” I nod, taking a sip of the coke. It’s nice and cold, and filled with ice cubes even though I forgot to ask for it. Good bartender.

“Are you sure you’re in the right bar, doll? No offence, but you don’t look like the girls who usually venues here” the bartender asks, her voice full of compassion and curiosity. I hand her the money for my coke.

“None taken” I mumble, taking another sip. “Keep the change. I’ll just finish my drink and head on home again.”

The bartender smiles at me and puts her hands on her hips.

“That’s probably a good idea, to be honest. But if you really want to party, there’s a disco just a few blocks over where.. ah.. your kind likes to party.” I almost choke on my coke. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insinuate that you are... that you like... Ahm, I meant, you know, white people like yourself.”

I smile awkwardly.

“It’s okay. And thanks, I’ll keep that in mind” I reply. The bartender smiles again and turns to service someone else, leaving me to my coke and my awkwardness all alone.

“I haven’t seen you here before, are you new?” someone says and I turn my head. A young man is sliding into the seat next to me as his eyes trail down my body. I shrug casually.

“Naw I’m just waiting for a friend” I reply calmly, but my pulse is raised. This guy screams bad news. He’s probably only a few centimetres taller than me – and I’m pretty tall for a woman being 172 cm. His hair is cut so short it almost looks like he’s bald with only a dark shadow on his head. He is wearing sunglasses, even though it’s dark in here as well as outside. His body is lean, but a bit muscular and hidden behind a black tank-top and a pair of 90’s baggy-pants. His left arm is covered in colourful tattoo that looks to be Mexican-inspired. To be honest, he looks like a wanna-be-bad-boy. Or maybe the kid brother of a real bad boy.

“I could be your friend for the night” the guy smiles at me. I pop my eyes in surprise. Is he coming on to me? That’s kinda unexpected. He doesn’t seem like the type to be interested in someone like me. I smile awkwardly and shake my head.

“I don’t want to let my friend down” I smile back, trying to close this topic as fast as possible.

“I’m Ramon, by the way.” He reached out a hand for me. I look down at it and my manners get the best of me.

“Jessica” I reply smooth while I shake his hand slowly. No way in Hell am I going to give some strange creep my real name. And speaking of looking like a librarian; I’s rather be Jessica Rabbit for the night then. Ramon smiles widely at me.

“Come on, Jessica. Let’s have some fun together. I promise you, you won’t regret it.” I pull my hand back in a hard pull.

“Thanks, but I’m really not interested. Please leave me alone.” There. That’s a shut-down for sure. Ramon’s smile disappears.

“Don’t you know who I am, slut?” he growls, taking his sunglasses off and looking at me hard. I shake my head.

“Don’t know, don’t care” I mumble. I stand up, wanting to leave, but Ramon grabs my wrist.

“Get your hand off me!” I hiss, trying to pull my wrist back. A large hand closes around Ramon’s wrist, forcing him to let me go. I stumble back a bit from the sudden release.

“You heard the lady” a dark voice growls. I look up at my ‘savour’. Ho-ly-shit- The man next to me is probably the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. He’s tall, much taller than me, like 200 cm or so, which is 6’7” to the non-Europeans. His upper body is broad, clearly muscular after many hours working out. His hair is dark blonde. The skin on his face is smooth and his accent is definitely British. His huge body is sporting a light blue button down and black slacks which fits him perfectly.

The man pushes Ramon away and puts a huge arm around my shoulders.

“You alright, love?” he asks smoothly and I stare up at him wanting to reply, but my voice has gone missing. He looks down at me with intensity and I feel so small and fragile next to this handsome brute of an Adonis. So I nod like the dumbfounded and speechless idiot I am. The man rewards me with a broad smile and my entire body hums from joy. Ho-ly-shit.

“Yeah I’m fine. You’re here” I mumble, trying to go along with the act as I smile up at this gorgeous man whose arm is locked tightly around my shoulders. His grip is hard and possessive and I’m actually a bit scared of it even though he’s saving me from someone else.

“This isn’t over yet, asshole” Ramon spits at us. His eyes search around as if to find some backup, but the man next to me reaches around me so his arms are holding me tight. The pulls me back a bit, lets me go and steps in front of me.

“You stay the fuck away from her; do you hear me, spic? She’s way out of your league” he growls at Ramon. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a bunch of guys move in on us from all sides. I sink hard and back up, away from the fight that’s clearly about to happen. Because of me. Shit. The man takes a step forward and his huge fist hits Ramon right in the face. I turn away and my eyes catch the bartender’s. Her smile is stiff and her eyes seem to tell me something. Her head slowly rolls to the side and I follow her movement. A backdoor? I look back at her and she nods slowly, as if she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s communicating with me or maybe she just doesn’t want to draw attention to herself. I nod gratefully and start to run towards the backdoor, not even wanting to look back. No. This isn’t a place for me. Creepy dudes and possessive saviours and fights are not my kind of scene. I’ll have to apologise to Maritza on Monday for standing her up. Or yell at her for asking me to meet her in that horrible place. I don’t know which one yet.

The backdoor leads out in a back alley and I pull my jacket close, as I start to walk fast down it. I don’t want to risk running into anyone of the guys from the bar, so I chose to go the opposite way, even though that will lead me away from home. And I have no idea how to get home if I get lost somewhere in this neighbourhood. Shit. I have to find a way home. I start walking and a few blocks over, I think I see a street I know on the other side of an alley. I recognise that store, don’t I? Shit. I can’t remember. Well, here goes nothing. It’s not like I can get anymore lost than I already am.

There are two streetlamps in the alley, but both are dark, so there is almost no illumination in the narrow alley. The buildings on each side are tall and there are no windows. Only brick wall as far up as I can see in the sparse light from the street. I’m about halfway down the alley, when I hear footsteps behind me. I slowly look over my shoulder. A group of guys are coming down the alley, the same way I am and some instinct inside me is screaming: danger. Adrenaline kicks in and races through my blood, as my primeval fight-or-flight-instinct starts to stir.

“Hey slut!” someone calls, but I resist the urge to turn around. Maybe if I ignore them they’ll go away?

“You know what I want. Are you going to be a good little slut and give it to me? Or do you want me to take it myself?” Shit. That voice. I remember it. I turn towards the group of guys and suddenly fear is spreading all over my skin. It’s the guy from the bar. Ramon. And he’s brought a bunch of friends. I count 4 guys besides him. They move down the alley confident and in sync, almost like a gang. I shake my head and back away, but suddenly they run towards me like ordered by a command. I feel my arms being grabbed hard and forced behind my back. I struggle to get free, but they are too many and too strong. Me against five men? I have the same chance to get free, as a snowball has of surviving a day in Hell. I am pushed face first up against the brick wall; my arms tightly held by a strong guy each. I turn my head to try to look behind me, but I can’t see anything in the darkness of the alley and the angle of my position.

“GET OFF ME!” I scream as hard hands clasps me on the ass. The hands press against my lower back so I am pressed harder in against the wall, my breasts are screaming in pain over the hard shove.

“Stay right there, Jess. Let me see that fucking ass. Yeah, that’s mine now. I want to fuck that ass so badly. Oh look at that round little ass. I bet no one has ever fucked that ass before, am I right?” the man behind me groans as he pulls up my skirt and slaps my ass hard. Shit. It’s Ramon’s.

“NO!” I scream, trying to get my arms free, but they are locked against the wall by the two guys holding me down. Ramon’s fingers grab my hips and pull my ass back against his pelvis. I sink hard as the nausea hits me hard and I suppress the reflex to gag.

“Yeah you’re my little slave now. And when I’m done with you, I’ll let aaaall my boys take turns fucking you nice and good. You want that, slut?” Ramon growls behind me, pushing his hard cock in between my buttocks. “You’ll be our little sex-slave.”

“No! Let me go!” I scream, while the tears start to run freely down my cheeks. I feel Ramon’s soft hands on the bare skin of my thighs, as he grabs the sides of my panties and starts to pull them down.

“You filthy mud!”

The shout is coming from behind me somewhere and it’s definitely a man who’s shouting. His voice is deep and dark and clearly American in the accent. Suddenly Ramon’s hands let me go and I exclaim a startled scream. The sound of a punch echoes in the alley and the other guys starts to yell to each other. Both of my arms are being released and I turn around startled while I pull my panties back up and my skirt back down; covering myself again. A fight has erupted in the alley. Ramon is on the ground, not moving at all, while his friends are trying to beat up the man in the middle who apparently knocked out Ramon. They can’t. The man is simply too fast and too well-trained as they take him on one by one and he knocks them all down.

When all four guys are on the ground, the man – my saviour – turns towards me and I truly see him for the first time. Ho-ly-shit. Yeah that’s my word of the evening. The man in front of me is tall, like 195 cm or so (6’5”, you’re welcome). His hair is ruffled and black, his face a hard mask of masculinity with the shadows of a few days old beard. His body is large and hard, and even in the darkness of the alley I can see dark tattoos on his hands and neck, which is the only part of his skin that’s visible. He’s wearing a long sleeved black shirt and pre-washed jeans. He holds up his hands like he’s surrendering to me as he slowly approaches me.

“Hey beautiful, are you okay?” he asks calmly, but all I can do is stare at him. I can’t even nod as this dangerous-looking man slowly comes nearer. I back up until my back hits the same wall I was pinned against just minutes ago. The man is only like a meter away from me, when my body suddenly begins to function.

“You saved me” I whisper as I breathe heavily and goose bumps spread down my arms. Shit. This man is dangerous. Even if I hadn’t just witnessed him take down 5 others, I would have known just by looking at him. He radiates danger. The man smiles widely with confidence.

“You seemed like you needed it and I’m all about saving damsels in distress” he smiles. His eyes roam over my face and down my body, only to settle on my face again.

“You sure you’re okay, babe?”

I am about to nod, when suddenly Ramon gets up from the ground.

“You fucking asshole. You’re going to regret that” he growls and the man turns his attention to Ramon. This is my cue. I start to move sideways away from the two hotspurs in front of me. Then I slowly back my way down the alley, still keeping an eye on the men so they can’t surprise me. But they seem to be focused on each other and the hits they’re both giving and receiving. Then I’m almost out of the alley, I turn around and start to run. I run as fast as I can and as far as I can without looking back once. I run from the second fight in less than ten minutes. I run so hard, that my entire body is screaming in pain and my lungs burn from the lack of oxygen. But as I keep running, I start to recognise a few stores and I soon find my way through a familiar neighbourhood. Yes. I’m very close to my apartment now. I slow down a bit as I look over my shoulder. No one is following me. There are a few people out and about as its Friday evening, but none of them pay any attention to me.

I reach my apartment and find my keys in the pocket of my jacket. I lock the front door behind me and put my back to it. My knees buckle and I sink down to the floor, my heart pumping so hard and fear mixed with adrenaline runs in my veins instead of blood. I feel my breath get faster and I hyperventilate from all the adrenaline. I’ve never ever experienced anything like this. My life has been more boring than boring and I’ve always stayed away from excitement and danger. Shit. Why the fuck didn’t I say no to Maritza when she asked me to meet her and the other girls for a drink? I bang my head against the door behind me. Me and my stupid desire to connect even though I’m terrified to do just that.

I get up on shaking legs and double check that the door is locked, before I let my clothes fall to the floor one piece at a time as I make my way down the hallway to the bathroom. I step into the ice cold stream of water without even flinching. Slowly the water heats up and steam rises to fill the entire room. No, I’m definitely not going to say yes to Maritza another time. No matter how hard I want to try to socialise, I might just have to realise that I’m the lonely type. Introvert and all. Being a foster kid my whole life, since my mum died when I was three months old, I’ve never had a true relationship to anyone. No parents as I moved from family to family and then from orphanage to another orphanage, I never felt at home and never stayed in one place long enough to form any kind of relationship. Not to parents, not to adoptive siblings, not to boys or girls my own age. The only one I ever really felt close to was a girl a few years younger than who lived in one of the last orphanages I was at. She was so sweet and so kind and I always felt a strong urge to protect her. Her parents had died too and we felt connected as two lonely girls not having anyone else to turn to.

I close my eyes and let the scolding water hit my face as the bad memories start to take me over. Shit. Lily. My sister; not by blood but by heart. I should have protected her better. I should have kept her safe. I promised to keep her safe. Why didn’t I save her? The tears are streaming down my cheeks and I have no control over myself. The events of tonight – both the danger and the men saving me – mixed with those horrible memories are too much. I’m overloaded. I sink down on the floor and let my tears mix with the water as I pour my soul out to no one but the burning water from above.

~

Danny

So that was quite interesting. This stranger, this woman, is intriguing me like I haven’t been in anyone before. I can’t really put my finger on it yet. She has an air of vulnerability that makes me wanna wrap her up in my arms and never let her go. I spotted her from the moment she came walking towards the bar and I was so fascinated by her even without having talked to her at all, that I followed her into the bar itself and became some creepy-ass-stalker watching her sit at the bar and chat with the bartender. My whole body went rigid when that Mexican kid went to sit next to her and began talking to her, even though she showed him no interest at all. And when that spic laid his creepy hand on her, I almost lost it. I barely managed to hold myself back and not rip his head off. All I wanted to do was scoop her up into my arms and growl to that bastard that she’s mine. Bloody Hell. I’ve never considered myself the possessive type before but having my arm around her felt so damned right. Like she was made for me. And she’s not even remotely close to the kind of women I usually go for. They probably only have their gender in common. She looks like a freaking nerd. All innocent and cute and naive. But those eyes. Her eyes are amazing. Like emeralds. From the first glimpse of them when she looked up at me with adoration after I saved her from being harassed, I was lost in them. I think I could stare into those eyes for hours and never get tired of them. But she’s probably scared shitless of me. Her face was marked by fear when I hit that spic in the bar the first time. But that doesn’t matter. She’ll learn not to be afraid of me. She’ll learn that I can protect her. She runs now, but I’ll let her run. Run as far as she wants. Because I intend to catch her. So just run, my little Rabbit. I will hunt you down, Jessica.

“Yo, bro! That most insane thing just happened!”

My brother Seth gets into my car as he slams the door behind him.

“What the Bloody Hell happened to you?” I ask suspicious, looking at the blood on Seth’s hands and clothes. “Did you get into a fight or something?”

“A fight is an understatement, bro” Seth grins at me, cracking his knuckles as I put the car in drive. “One of those nasty Snakes had a girl cornered in a back alley all ready to rape her and shit, when I happened to walk by. And when I saw this chick and man, she was gorgeous. Like classic beautiful or some shit. Anyway, I had to save her. I know it was a bad idea messing with those muds, but seriously, this girl needed my help. I couldn’t not help her.”

Seth is defending himself, because he knows it was a bad idea. We shouldn’t be starting a war with The Snakes. Not when things are as unstable as they are right now. But I can hardly blame him after what I did myself at the bar for the woman I saved from a spic.

“I hear you, mate. I just helped a woman back at that lousy Pit-hole who was being harassed by a spic. She was just so damned lost and innocent, and I couldn’t let her get ruined by someone like that.”

Seth jerks his head in my direction.

“So we both saved a girl from a creepy-ass Snake tonight?” Seth laughs a bit neurotic, “what are the odds?”

I shrug. “Don’t know. So tell me about your chick? You seem quite taken by her? Did she thank you on her knees afterwards?”

Seth laughs again.

“Naah bro, she’s not like that. This one is a keeper. All innocent and lost and helpless. But she’s feisty. Oh I think she’s a fighter when you get to know her. And she’s a looker. Like I said; classic beauty. Long blonde hair, curves all over, these amazing green eyes...” Seth sighs dramatically, but something is his description of this lass makes me look at him in disbelief.

“Long black skirt, purple jacket, calls herself Jessica?”

Now it’s Seth who stares in disbelief.

“Get out!” he yells at me and punches me on the shoulder again. “Don’t tell me we rescued the same damn girl?! Although she never gave me her name...”

I keep my eyes on the road as I ponder this new information.

“So you like her too?” I jerk my head up. Seth may have asked casually, but I know him too well. He wouldn’t ask something like that unless he had a personal interest. And like might be an understatement. Obsessed is probably the right term.

“Aye there’s something about her.” Seth nods intensely.

“Yeah there is. She feels like she’s ours. We need to protect her. Do you feel it too, bro?”

Ours? Bloody Hell. That’s so right. Ours. Aye, she definitely feels like she’s ours. And she seems like she need our protection too. I nod absentminded.

“So how about we take her?”

I jerk my head up again and look at Seth’s serious face. Take her? Like sexually? Fuck her in an Eiffel tower? Seth laughs and punches me on the shoulder. I hardly feel it.

“Not like that, you British pervert. Well, maybe later. But first we need her to be with us, you know. Make her ours. Because she is. I think. I don’t know, bro. She feels like a part of us. Like our... sister or something. It’s weird as-fuck. Do you feel it?”

Bloody Hell. I do feel it. Exactly like that. A sister. Not the blood kind, because that would be creepy as Hell. But the kindred spirit-kind. Like Seth is my brother. Not by blood, but because he’s part of me. This lass feels like a part of me too, even though I’ve seen her for freaking two minutes.

“Aye, I feel it. So how do we do it?”

Seth’s face lights up in victory, like he’s just won the freaking lottery. He pulls out something small and blue from his pocket. Is that a wallet? Aye, looks like one alright. He throws it up in the air and then catches it again.

“This is how we do it. This is how we find...” He opens the wallet and takes out a small plastic card. “... Miss Amelia Lily Blackburn.”

~

Amelia

I pull the towel closer to my wet, naked body as I leave the bathroom and head for my bedroom. I don’t even turn on the lights. My eyes hurt from all the tears I’ve cried over the last few hours of sitting in the hot water and I just want to sink into my bed and sleep for like a decade. Or at least the next 12 hours.

I open the door to my bedroom, but stop dead in the door opening. Something is wrong here. Goose bumps spread down my arms and chills run down my spine, as I slowly take a step inside the completely blackened room.

“Hello?” I call out and stand completely still awaiting a reply. Nothing. There’s no sound, no reply, no nothing. I sign in relief. I’m going paranoid here. Must be the after effects of the events earlier this evening. I breathe out in relief and reach for the light switch.

“Shit!” I scream in surprise as the lights come on and I see the bedroom clearly. I nearly drop the towel out of surprise, but I hug it tightly against me to make sure it doesn’t fall down. Because I’m not alone; a man is sitting on the edge of my bed. A stranger. He’s so still that he could have been a statue. Shit. Wait, is that...?

“Hello love” the man smiles at me and I sink hard. It’s the man from the bar; the blond Englishman who saved me from Ramon.

“Yeah that’s her alright.” I yelp in surprise again, and turn my head to see another man standing by the window with his arms crossed over his wide chest. Shit! That’s the other man; the dark haired man who saved me in the alley.

“What is going on here?” I ask astonished, terrified and with adrenaline pumping through me. What are they both doing here? How the Hell did they get in to my apartment? Do they know each other? The man at the window reaches down his pocket and I take a step back in fear, even though I shouldn’t, because he just saved me in the alley so why would he hurt me now? He pulls out a little blue leather casing and I stare at it, confused.

“Hey, that looks like my-“ I stop myself when I realise that it is my wallet.

“You dropped it in the alley when you ran” the man answers calmly and puts the wallet down on the small table next to the window.

“So you came to give it back to me?” I ask whispering. The blonde man crooks his head and draws my attention.

“Amongst other things.” I sink hard. Fear and excitement is rushing through my blood. Who are these guys? I know they kinda just saved me from Ramon, but these guys aren’t safe either. They scream danger. Their physical size alone is terrifying, but it’s so much more than that. It’s their whole attitude. But dammit if I’m not intrigued by them anyway. Never thought I’d be attracted to danger, but here I am. The blonde man gets up and his towering height forces me to look up as he approaches me with smooth moves.

“You’ve been crying. Did you get hurt?” he asks seriously and I shake my head slowly.

“Are you guys mad at me for running?” I breathe out, taking a step back in fear. The blonde man stops in front of me with a confused look in his blue eyes.

“What? No. Why would we be mad about that?” he asks baffled.

“If you hadn’t run yourself, I would have told you to, so nope” the dark haired one replies, popping the p in ‘nope’.

“Maybe we should introduce ourselves first. My name is Danny.” The blonde man reaches out a large palm to me and I slowly release my grip on the towel with one hand – still grabbing it hard with the other – so I can offer it to Danny. Oh shit. His hand is large and warm and it swallows mine completely. “And the annoying brute over there is my brother Seth.” I turn my head towards Seth, who smiles widely at me and winks. Yeah, he actually winks.

“I’m sorry we scared you, but we wanted to make sure you had made it home safely and that no one had followed you” Danny says calmly.

“Not that anyone of those nimrods could walk when we left them in the alley, but still. You can never be too careful when protecting a beautiful woman” Seth interjects. My cheeks burn from the compliment. He thinks I’m beautiful? Danny nods in agreement and looks at me again.

“So are you?”

I look up at him confused. What? Beautiful?

“Am I what?”

Danny smiles widely to me. “Safe?”

I nod slowly as I look from Danny to Seth and back to Danny again.

“I guess” I reply slowly, tucking the towel closer to my body. I’m naked, for fuck sake. I’m naked and alone in my bedroom with two very hot and very handsome guys. It’s not like I haven’t been with guys before, but I’ve never been with a guy like any of these men and I’ve never been with two guys at the same time either. Shit. Why am I even thinking like this? I look up at Danny. His smile is wide and radiant. Like he knows what I’m thinking.

“How about you put some clothes on and we’ll wait for you in the living room?”

“She doesn’t have to put clothes on for my benefit. I kinda like the wet-girl-in-a-towel look” Seth mumbles and Danny looks over at him with eyebrows pulled tight.

“It’s not for your benefit, jughead. She will probably feel more comfortable talking to us if she’s dressed, considering what happened earlier tonight, don’t you think?” Seth shrugs but then his eyes focus on me. His dark eyes are serious and intense. My cheeks are burning hot.

“Yeah, you should definitely get some clothes on” he mumbles. Then he leaves the bedroom and I can hear his heavy boots walk down to my living room. I look up at Danny, who’s smiling calmly to me.

“It’s okay, love, take your time. We’ll wait.” He follows Seth down the hallway. I stand frozen in the middle of my bedroom and can’t even think right now. What the Hell is going on? Who are these guys? What do they want from me? Are they really brothers? They certainly don’t look like brothers. But maybe most importantly: what are they going to do to me when I get to the living room too?

~

Seth

Holy Mary, mother of Jesus. She was naked. She was standing right in front of me, all wet from her shower and very fucking naked under that sorry excuse for a towel she so desperately tried to cover herself with. Amelia. Fuck me. She is be-a-u-ti-ful. I wanted to see her naked and on her back with me between her legs, all rigid and willing while she’s moaning my name. But then when she looked at me with those big green eyes I just wanted to cover her up so no one but me would ever fucking see her naked. Well, me and Danny. I don’t mind sharing with him. I know he likes her too. Fucking shit. Maybe this is a bad idea. I mean, who the fuck are we to condemn this poor innocent woman to a life in our crazy world? She could get hurt. Fuck that; she will get hurt. It’s just matter of time before someone finds out about her and tries to use her against us. This is exactly why we haven’t had any women in our lives, well, no one who mattered anyway. But this one will. I can feel it already. Hell, I even felt it earlier in that fucking alley. That’s why I needed to save her. That’s why I need to have her. She needs to be mine. She is mine. She’s ours. She’s always been ours. We just have to convince her about it too, don’t we? And how the fuck are we going to do that?

“You’re having second thoughts about this” Danny mumbles as he sits down next to me. Fucking Hell. He knows me too well.

“I don’t know, bro. She just looks so damn innocent and good. Are we fucking ego’s wanting her to be ours? Forcing her to be a part of our lives?”

Danny shrugs casually, but it’s just his way of responding when he doesn’t know what to say. He’s not indifferent. I know that for sure so I don’t let it get to me.

“Maybe we are. But tell me this; can you stay away from her?”

I force my eyes to look at my brother, my kindred spirit, my fucking soulmate. I force myself to remember how it was before I met him. My life was a fucking disaster. I was a reckless kid just waiting to die or get locked up for good. Danny saved me from that. And this chick... Damn, she feels like she’s about to save me too. I can’t exactly explain it. I focus on Danny again and shake my head.

“No I don’t think I can” I reply seriously.

“Me neither.”

~

Amelia

I put on a pair of grey pyjamas pants with little racoons on them and a black tank top. I quickly decide not to put on a cardigan like I normally would have, but won’t admit to myself why I leave it on the bed when I leave the bedroom. My hair is still wet, but I let it hang loose so it’s able to dry faster than if I’d put it up or braided it for bedtime.

The guys are sitting in my couch, completely comfortable as if it were their own. The two large men fill out the little couch to its maximum and if the poor thing has a weight-limit, they’re probably pushing that too. Danny straightens as I enter, but Seth keeps leaned back with both his arms over his head and his hands locked behind his neck. Ho-ly-shit. His arms look huge is that position. Seth smiles confident to me, as if he knows what I’m thinking or maybe he’s just that confident on his own good looks. I let my body sink down on the little stool at the end of my coffee table and look at the guys.

“So?” I ask expectantly as I look from one to the other. “Any one of you mind telling me why you’re here? I’m guessing you both don’t need to show up here like a force, just to return a lost wallet.”

Danny looks over at Seth, who looks back at him and nods. Danny sighs before looking at me again.

“We know who you really are” Danny says seriously. I stare at him, confused and baffled.

“What do you mean, who I really am? Who am I”?

“You’re Amelia” Seth throws out casually and I feel myself pull back a bit.

“What? How do you know? Are you guys like stalking me or something?” I snap out. Danny puts his hands up in surrender.

“No, no, it’s not like that, love. I heard you call yourself Jessica at the bar. But we saw your real name on your driver’s license in your wallet” Danny says quickly. He elbow punches Seth in the side and Seth groans in pain.

“Twat. You’re scaring her” Danny mumbles. Then he looks at me again and his smile is insecure.

“I’m sorry, Amelia, we didn’t mean to freak you out or anything.”

“Yeah because what we’re about to suggest now isn’t going to freak her out either.”

“Alright stop. Both of you. You guys are freaking me out. Just tell me what the Hell is going on” I snap hard and quickly. I cross my arms over my chest as I stare from one to the other.

“See, I told you she was feisty” Seth mumbles with an approving smile. Danny ignores him.

“So after we both encountered you earlier, we realised something; that we had saved the same girl and that both of us couldn’t get her out of our heads” Danny begins and I look at him as if he’s talking Russian. I shake my head.

“I don’t understand?” I reply confused. Danny puts a hand through his blonde hair in frustration.

“No, look, just hear us out first, okay? We’ll explain everything” he promises.

“And then you can run screaming out of here after we’re done explaining everything” Seth casually interjects.

“Shut up, dimwit, you’re not exactly helping” Danny growls.

Danny looks hard at Seth but when he turns his gaze to me, his eyes become calm and softer.

“Alright, look, I know this must be strange for you, love, but you can trust us. We won’t hurt you” Danny mumbles seriously and I look from his serious blue eyes to Seth’s brown eyes that are surprisingly serious as well.

“I believe you” I whisper calmly and focus on Danny again. I don’t know why, but I actually do. None of them will hurt me. I feel safe. Danny signs heavily.

“Good. Now let me explain, okay? Just hear me out before you reply or judge us. Promise?” I nod to him.

“So after we both saved you from that spic in the bar and in the back alley, we couldn’t really get you out of our heads. You just seemed so...”

“Strong and helpless at the same time” Seth interjects.

“... lost and we both felt an overwhelming urge to protect you. But we didn’t know anything about you. So when Seth found your wallet, I had my mom’s friend, who’s a detective downtown, run you through their system to learn a little more about you.”

“Actually, that does sound like stalking to me.” Seth smiles suspiciously. Danny ignores him and continues.

“Anyway, we learned that you’re an orphan, and that you’ve been moving around a lot since you left the last orphanage. What was it, like 17 times in three different countries in six years?”

I open my mouth to make a comment about how there’s nothing wrong with being a free spirit or something, when Danny holds up his hands in defence to stop me.

“But that’s not really what we cared about, love. We realised that you have no family and probably no real friends either, after having moved around so much. So we kinda just wanted to... well... that is... we wanted to know if you wanted to... ahm... ” Danny mumbles, looking for the right words.

“We want to be your big brothers” Seth finishes for him and looks at Danny while rolling his eyes. “How hard was that, bro?” Danny rolls his eyes back but a faint blush appears on his cheeks and damn if it doesn’t suit him perfectly.

“Big brothers?” I mumble back, looking at them both. “You want to be my big brothers?”

They both nod together. Danny moves out to sit on the edge of the couch and even Seth straightens a bit.

“Aye, we want to be your big brothers. You know, brothers protect their sister and keep her safe. Siblings treat each other good. We want to have that with you” Danny says, looking expectantly at me.

“Why?”

“Because we see something in you we haven’t seen in anyone but each other before” Seth says calmly, “When we first met, when my dad and Danny’s mom met, we hated each other. I though Danny was a stuck-up British asshole and he probably thought I was an American retard or something.”

“You are a ’tard” Danny mumbles and I can’t help myself; I smile weakly at the bickering. Seth rolls his eyes but even he smiles.

“Anyway. So yeah, when we met you, you felt like a kindred spirit, you know. Strong, but lost and out of place; like we’ve felt all our lives. We still do, but at least now we have each other. Plus we both want to protect you and we have a feeling you need us to. Considering you needed saving twice in less than 10 minutes tonight, we wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you go unprotected from now on. So if you want to be our little sister, we want to be your protective big brothers” Seth finishes and lean back in my couch again. Danny nods in agreement.

“So you guys aren’t really brothers? You’re more like step brothers?” I ask, trying to piece it all together. Danny smiles at me with a sparkle in those blue eyes.

“Out of everything that Seth just said that’s what you ask first?” he laughs and I nod seriously.

“I’m getting to the other part afterwards, thank you very much” I snap hard at him, earning an approving laugh from Seth and a raised eyebrow from Danny.

“I guess you really are feisty” Danny mumbles, “but yeah, we’re step brothers. My mum and his dad. We don’t have any other parents or siblings. It’s just the two of us.”

“And now you, hopefully” Seth says. I look from one to the other. Is this a joke or something? Do these guys really want to be my brothers? My protective brothers? I’ve never had such a thing before. I’ve never had anyone protect me before, actually.

“So you guys really want to be my big brothers?” I ask insecure, truly tasting the word ‘brothers’ for the first time ever.

“Your protective big brothers” Seth nods.

“We take care of you and you take care of us” Danny says, looking at me expectantly. I look down at my hands, suddenly very aware of how masculine these two men are and how small and feminine I am in contrast to them. Two large hands reach for mine at the same time and I lift my head in surprise as both Danny and Seth has reached for one of my hands each. I look from Danny’s sincere blue eyes to Seth’s confident brown eyes. It’s not a joke. It’s really true, isn’t it? These two complete strangers want to protect me and be in my life. They see something in me and if I am completely honest; I see something in them too. The thought of having them both as my protectors is suddenly not so crazy, because I can actually see myself putting my life in their hands without blinking. They will protect me. I’m confident about that. I squeeze both their hands in mine.

“Alright. I’ll be your little sister.”

~

“You guys are kidding me, right?” I exclaim, looking up at the huge mansion in front of me.

Danny and Seth left me to get some much needed rest last night after I had agreed to become their sister. They let me get 9 hours of beauty-sleep before they both stood in the middle of my apartment again. Danny had brought breakfast and we ate together sitting in my little kitchen. Then they ushered me to get some clothes on – again – and placed me on the back seat of a dark blue Honda Civic which turned out to be Danny’s. They drove me to another part of town where the houses turned into villas that turned into mansions and here we are.

“Nah it’s all good” Danny mumbles shyly as he pushes a little black remote. The huge wrought iron fence squeaks as it opens in front of us and Danny takes the Honda up through the gravel path to the huge, white marbled mansion at the end of the pathway. He parks the car just outside the front door, even though it doesn’t look like its parking spot, but I guess he doesn’t care. Seth pulls out a key and unlocks the door. I stare at him in confusion until I remember that he probably lives her too, being step-brothers and all.

“Nice place” I whistle as we enter the huge entre hall that looks like it’s something some an old King Arthur movie.

“Thanks, it’s my mum’s. But she lives with Seth’s dad in LA so we rarely see her” Danny replies as his eyes fixate on me looking around the huge entre hall with wide eyes. I look over at him and catch him staring at me. I smile at him. Danny quickly looks down and I see that hint of a blush on his cheeks again. I smile widely even though he can’t see it looking down.

“You shouldn’t do that to him” Seth whispers to me and I jerk in surprise over his closeness. He’s standing right behind me, so close that he’s actually touching my back with his broad chest and his breath is warm against my ear.

“What?” I whisper shocked and pull away from Seth as I turn towards him. Those brown eyes are intense and playful.

“Look at him like that. Danny’s a big boy and all but a smile from a pretty girl like you will make his face redder than a tomato” Seth laughs. I barely manage to step aside as a set of keys comes flying through the hall, hitting Seth right in the forehead.

“Half-wit” Danny mumbles as he pushes open a door to the left and leaves the hall. Seth laughs as he touches the red mark on his forehead and picks up the keys. He puts them down on the little table next to the closet.

“Come on, sis, let’s find mister cranky-pants and apologize or something” Seth laughs. He grabs my hands and pulls me in through the same door that Danny just went through.

“You’re going to apologise?” I ask surprised. Seth turns his head to me and winks. I shake my head. “I’m going to have to see that before I believe it.