Okay so I found these perfect pictures of Jack Greystone Who plays Aaron x'D I love it. He's a bun bun boy cuteee

It was really quiet as I sat in one of the smaller sitting rooms. It was on the other side of the house, and didnt have anything interesting in it, so no one really came in here.

Aaron was sat doing some kind of book work, frowning at it seriously as I sat on the sofa next to him.

Luca was also here, he'd come back earlier, and brushed off both mine and Aaron's attempts of asking him where he'd been. He was no longer typing furiously on his laptop however, and was somewhat relaxed as he sat in the seat on the other side of the small room.

I was kind of confused over the fact the two of them wouldn't leave me by myself. They were behaving like bodyguards, acting a bit off towards anyone that approached us.

Nate obviously found it a bit weird, but still ended up backing off without saying much about it.

I found it weird. Very weird.

I sighed and stared at the ceiling in utter boredom. Luca had given me back my phone when he returned, but it was completely out of charge, somehow.

"Have you even eaten something today?" Luca suddenly asked me and I blinked at him.

"Uh, no not much..." I trailed off and Aaron gave me a stern look as he put his book down.

"Not much as in nothing."

"Sorry, I just have no appetite right now." I excused, which was true, I wasn't hungry enough to eat at the moment.

He looked down at me with an upset expression. "You have to eat sometime." He said quietly, despite his frustrated demeanor.

"I will, I just don't want to eat at the moment."

"What if I make it for you? You don't have to worry about what's in it if I do." He encouraged and I just shook my head.

"No thanks, I'm fine."

He sat back and just stared at his book, looking... furious? Why is he so upset? He then just looked up at Luca and sighed.

After that, it was silent for a long while.

...

I'm going to die of boredom.

Luca suddenly stood up as his phone went off, rushing out of the room as he answered it and took one cautious look back before carrying on.

Seems important...

Aaron gave a heavy heavy sigh that caught my attention before turning to face me.

"Are you going to press charges?" He asked out of the blue and I frowned.

"No."

He glared at the table before sighing again.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to..." I paused. "... If I tell anyone Matias will tell the police about the money I stole, and that could get Erin in trouble. Besides, I can't. I don't want anyone knowing...or talking about it... I'm sorry." I sighed as he frowned at me sadly.

"I'm going to kill that fucking bastard." He spat harshly making me blink at him in surprise at his sudden hostility. He sighed again and grit his teeth as he stared out of the dark window. "Just look at what he's done to you, what, you can't even eat now?"  He complained and I shook my head.

"No it's not like that. I'm fine, it's just...my scars are aching is all." I said and he scoffed, sitting back and sighing as he actually began shaking.

"Aaron...it's okay, seriously." I reassured him quietly and he looked me in the eyes. "You really wear your heart on your sleeve don't you." I smiled as I noticed his eyes were teary, and his face was going red.

"I'm emotional okay." He defended while wiping his eyes and I chuckled.

"Look, this isn't the first time I've dealt with this, I'm fine." I reassured and he gave me a look.

"You never told anyone about the past times did you?" He asked quietly, staring down at his lap.

"No."

"Okay." He said and nodded to himself like he'd decided something. "I think you should see a psychologist." He suggested and I raised my brows.

"Um, no thanks. Besides there are people in this family that could use seeing a psychologist way more than me." I defended and he frowned.

"What do you mean?"

I hesitated; it wasn't my right to say anything.

"Alex already has treatment he's fine." He tried to guess what I meant and I shook my head.

"No... it's Caleb, he's suffering through something..and he's alone with it." I said and Aaron looked to be in deep thought.

"Um, anger issues?" He questioned and I sighed.

"He's usually much different to what you see him as...I think he has some kind of personality disorder...it's just...if you see him on his own you can tell how different he is... something's not right... he's told me himself about it." I explained and he frowned at the wall for a while.

"Okay... but why are you making this about someone else? That was a serious suggestion I made." He complained and I bit my lip.

"I don't need a psychologist." I said and he nodded at me.

"Okay..." He gave in and sat back again, sighing and rubbing a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry..." I apologised as I noticed how stressed he was.

"Don't be sorry about anything, you don't need to be sorry. I'm sorry, for not looking after you well enough." He said and I rolled my eyes.

"You're not my parent, it's not your responsibility to look after me. You've got to learn how to turn that parenting state of yours off. You'll go grey." I said and he just smiled at me.

"Sorry, I'll try my best, but I still should have kept you safer than I did...as your step-brother." He said and I cringed.

"Don't say step brother." I commented and he chuckled.

"You are my step brother though."

"Nope."

"But-"

"NOPE."

He chuckled and shook his head at me."Okay then..."

"Besides, I won't be for long." I said and he sighed.

"You know, we definitely won't win the case if they find even the slightest evidence to support that woman's police report." He informed me and I bit my lip.

"Yeah..."

"Filing a police report against Matias could turn it around..." He hinted but I shook my head.

"Not happening."

"You'll move away as soon as you can right?" He questioned and I sighed.

"My father seems to have other ideas. He has it in his head that he can force me to marry someone that'll run his company or something." I said and he raised a brow at me.

"WHAT?"

"Don't worry, I'll find a way of out of it."

"It definitely won't happen, he can't illegally keep you here, and you don't need his inheritance anyway, I can help you with that." He said and I smiled at him. "I'll hire you to help run my charity if you want." He suggested and I chuckled.

"Sounds great, but I wouldn't want to take advantage of you." I said and he gave me a look.

"I'll kidnap you before I let you stay here, that's for sure." He stated and I shook my head at him with a smile.

"How sweet."

"How about we go get something to eat, and I can show you my intense and exotic vegan cooking skills huh?" He encouraged with a playful smile  and I rolled my eyes at him while chuckling.

"Okay, sure."

-

We stayed in the kitchen a while after we had finished eating, Aaron had another coffee in his hands, sensing an addiction here, and I just sat on one of the stalls next to him.

Aaron was in the middle of passionately explaining to me the different rabbit breeds when Chance came walking in looking like death itself.

"Are you okay?" I asked him as Aaron just silently watched him, and he grunted in reply before pouring himself black coffee and drinking it.

"Just tired." He said before sighing, and I smiled at him guiltily.

"Sorry."

"It's fine, oh, you have to go down to the police station for an interview tomorrow by the way." He said and I sighed.

"Okay..."

"Are you going to cooperate with them?" He leaned on the counter and asked me quietly.

"Not really, I don't want them to investigate it, if it was my choice, and it will be in a few days, I wouldn't press charges anyway so there's no point in them doing this."

"This whole case has no point." Aaron commented grumpily.

"Well, that's good I guess, without evidence we have a better chance at winning the case." He said then paused when Aaron gave him an unimpressed look. "...Well I mean you should also think about yourself...and getting justice...I guess..." He trailed off awkwardly and stood up straight.

"I don't want 'justice'. It's not worth it." I said and Aaron sighed.

"Not worth what though?" He questioned and I sighed.

"It's not worth having to see his face again." I answered before glaring at the counter surface.

"We should go to bed, it's late." Aaron suggested and Chance grumbled to himself as he walked back into one of the sitting rooms.

...He's really trying his hardest to help me...I feel bad.

"Yeah, I'm really tired."

-

It took a while to convince him, but I eventually managed to get Aaron to go take a shower and go to bed in his own room.

I had reassured him that I'd be fine on my own, but now I am alone, I'm not so sure.

I couldn't sleep, and just sat on my windowsill staring out into the darkness. I wasn't really cold, but I was shaking, and I hated myself for acting so pathetic.

"Get a hold of yourself." I muttered quietly while glaring out the window, I felt so tired but so on edge at the same time, it was unbearable.

I wanted to go out and see the horses, but I was too scared of wondering around here by myself now, especially at night.

What the fuck is going on. I've never been this shaken by anything before, and I've been through a lot worse than this.

I guess it was because I thought that time in my life was over, and I was past all that. I thought I was strong enough to look after myself, and it'd never possibly happen again.

But it did, proving that I'm weak, and I'll never be able to stop people from taking advantage of me. Will this happen to me for the rest of my life?

"Fuck's sake." I complained and hugged my knees.

I sat in silence for a bit longer, before hearing a sigh behind me and some light footsteps. I turned my head to see Luca looking at me in worry, and raised a brow at him.

"Sneaking into rooms late at night isn't the most socially acceptable habit you know." I teased and he just shook his head at me.

"Are you okay?"

"...A complicated question, depends on the context in which you are asking." I answered strangely, probably due to sleep deprivation rather than a sense of wisdom, let's be honest here.

He sighed and put his hand on my shoulder. "You need to get some rest, seriously this is concerning."

"Everything I do is always concerning to you. People can stare at the moonlight sometimes if they want, it doesn't mean they're dying." I responded with a huff and he just raised a brow at me. "Sorry, I'm just tired."

"Then go to bed."

"Okay, fine." I responded in agitation before getting up and sitting on my bed.

There were a few moments where he just stared at me, before he crossed his arms and gave me a look. "You aren't going to sleep are you?" He sighed and I bit my lip.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" He asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed, and I shook my head before lying down and facing away from him.

"I'm fine..." I brushed him off quietly and he sighed again before leaning in close.

"You know what I've noticed..." He said gently as he started stroking my hair like he used to. "That every time you're actually alright, you use the word okay, or alright, but when you seriously aren't okay, you use the line 'I'm fine', without fail." He said and I turned my head slightly to frown at him.

"No I...okay, maybe I do." I admitted and then huffed and stared at the wall.

"So, what's wrong?...What happened?" He persisted and I bit down on my lip harshly.

I can't tell him, he gets stressed too easily, I hate it when people get angry.

I just closed my eyes and shook my head, curling up on the bed. I felt physically tired from shaking so much, but I still didn't stop.

He sighed again before he hugged me from behind and I felt his head buried against my back.

"I wish you'd tell me." He mumbled and I just made a quiet noise in reply. "What if I told you that I know what happened?" He said as he lifted his head and I turned to look at him.

"What?"

"I already know, I just wanted you to tell me yourself." He admitted, looking down at the covers sadly.

I stayed silent for a minute, processing.

So, he's not angry, or looking that stressed...

But in a way, how dare he? Why doesn't he care?

You think he wouldn't be disappearing off somewhere if he knew what happened, that he'd be there for me.

"Fine. I don't care that you know." I replied and turned back around, gripping the covers with my fingers.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly and I huffed.

"Did Aaron tell you?" I questioned with a frown.

"No, you told Aaron?"

Oh, oops.

"He was persistent." I excused, beginning to feel tired.

"I'm guessing you're not wanting to get justice?" He questioned calmly, but I could sense the tense undertone in his voice.

"No, I don't want to think about it, or talk about it. I have my reasons, no one must know. Do you understand?" I turned to face him and stare at him in the eyes.

He looked back at me, looking upset, guilty almost.

"I understand, and I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." He said and buried his head against my back again, gripping my waist harder.

I was confused as to what he was apologising for for a few moments, but then just assumed he was doing that useless thing where people apologise for bad things happening to you.

I sighed and lay my head back down on the pillow, slowly letting myself calm down and close my eyes. I felt warm and safe with him, being with someone I trusted made falling asleep so much easier.

I wrote this on my phone at college during a free period, while I should be doing coursework. I didn't realize life would get this hectic. Sigh.

I really do want to update a lot right now, not just this story, but I have no time, it's sad

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter