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Rowan's POV

"How did the meeting go?"

Dad and I had only just gotten home and Aaron was already asking how it went, not even giving us the chance to walk through the door and settle in first.

"It went as good as it possibly could've gone." Dad dumped the bag of McDonald's food on the kitchen island before slipping his jacket off.

"That's great!" Aaron seemed happy with dad's answer. "See Ro, I told you it would be fine."

"Melissa showed no remorse and still hates my guts." I sat down on one of the barstools and slumped my upper body over the island countertop.

"Dad just said it went well though?" I peeked up at Aaron to find him frowning back at me.

"That doesn't mean we're going to be leaving the meeting and holding hands like we're best friends, Aaron." I shot back with a snarky tone.

He looked over at dad with a questionable expression.

Dad sighed. "What I meant was, we all agreed to a reasonable solution, so Melissa will no longer be in any of Rowan's classes and hopefully will lay off."  Dad then looked down at me. "So, you shouldn't worry about her any more, Rowan." He gently squeezed my shoulder. "You've just got to stick with your friends at break and lunch. Okay?"

"But what if she starts saying stuff to me again or shoves me around in the corridors in between classes?"

"Then you tell a teacher or a friend." Aaron said.

"Or you call Aaron or Finn." Dad added.

"Or.." a third voice chimed in from behind me and I rolled my eyes at Hunter's sudden presence. I still wasn't 100% happy with him knowing he confronted Melissa yesterday. "You punch her in the face and fracture her eye socket."

He leaned his arms down on the surface next to me and I took this opportunity to punch him hard in the ribs.

"Damn Ro." He flinched back holding his side in pain. "Punch Melissa like that and she would for sure stop messing with you."

I ignored his unhelpful comments and instead traced the marble patterned countertop.

"Hunter." I couldn't avoid hearing the sigh in Dad's voice. "Why aren't you at work?"

Hunter jumped up to sit on top of the island. "When I got there, John told me all my appointments had been cancelled due to the snow."

"You left at nine o'clock this morning. What've you been doing since then?" Aaron questioned him.

"I made a pit stop on the way home."

I frowned up at my brother. Pit stop? What does he mean by pit stop- But that's when I noticed the scattered bruise like marks up his neck that definitely weren't there when I saw him before he left for work this morning. Oh god.

"You're disgusting." I shook my head at him.

"What? A guy can't have some fun?" Hunter defended himself.

"Yeah but come on, before noon?" Aaron questioned him. "You can't be that desperate to get some. Was she even any good?"

I slapped my hands over my ears. "I don't want to listen to this."

"I wasn't expecting much to be fair, I just had to let off some steam." Hunters voice was muffled through my covered ears, but I could still hear. "But I wouldn't mind going at it again with her because she was on fire the whole fucking time dude, honestly the best sex I've-"

"-Dad! Tell them to shut up!" I looked over at dad who had been distracted by something on his phone.

"Okay okay." Dad briefly looked up from the small device and interrupted Aaron and Hunter's gross conversation, allowing me to remove my hands from my ears. "You boys can finish your conversation elsewhere. Rowan needs to eat now."

At dad's words, Hunter immediately eyed up the McDonald's paper bag. "Ooh what've you got there?"

"What do you think it is?" I questioned back to him. God, what is up with this family asking stupidly obvious questions?

"It's McDonald's."

"Oh well done!" I sarcastically clapped my hands at him. "You can read what it says on the bag."

Hunter narrowed his eyes at me. "Do you realise how annoying your sarcasm is?"

"Don't ask pointless questions then." I shot back. I caught Aaron rolling his eyes at our bickering before proceeding to empty the dishwasher.

I flinched back as Hunter flicked his finger against my forehead, catching me off guard. "Ow! Did you just thump me?" I rubbed at the slight pain it caused.

"Now I'm not the only one asking obvious questions.."

"Dickhead." I whispered to him.

A smirk spread across Hunter's face. "Dad! Rowan called me a dickhead."

"Stop!" I pushed him, almost causing him to fall off the counter but he regained his balance. "You're being more annoying than Asher."

"Can you two pack it in?" Dad looked between the two of us. "Stop winding your sister up, Hunter."

"She started it!" Hunter laughed whilst gesturing to me; but dad had already turned his attention back to his phone once more. "Whats in here anyway?" Hunter snatched the paper bag and peered inside. "Ooh chicken nuggets, my favourite."

"You can have them." I said to him.

"Rowan, they're yours." Aaron chimed in.

"And because they're mine, I'm saying he can have them."

"You've eaten hardly anything in twenty-four hours." Aaron stated. "You're not getting away with not eating again." He looked over at dad. "Dad, tell her."

I rolled my eyes at my eldest brother.

"Shit." Dad stressfully sighed and slapped his phone down on the kitchen side.

"What's wrong?" Hunter asked him first.

"My flight tomorrow has been cancelled due to the snow.."

"Does that mean you won't be going to Canada for Christmas?" I felt my mood lift slightly at that thought.

Dad smiled sadly at me. "No, it just means I need to ask Axel for a favour."

Oh.

Dad picked his phone up before dialling for who I assumed was Axel, and held the device to his ear. "Aaron, make sure she eats something." He gestured to me before walking off. "Axel, how's it going?..." he left the room swiftly.

"What favour is he asking?" I looked to my two brothers.

"Axels got a private jet." Hunter said with a mouth full of McDonald's fries.

"Piss off, no he doesn't." There's no way that's true.

"It's true." Aaron said.

"So why didn't dad just have Axel's private jet to start with?"

"Because He's currently in Mexico. so now that dad's original flight is cancelled, it would mean Axel having to fly back here just so dad can fly to Canada tomorrow." Hunter explained.

"Why is Axel in Mexico?"

Hunter shrugged, but I didn't miss the sly look he and Aaron shared with each other. What even was that?

"Right..." I eyed my brothers suspiciously. "So how did Axel even afford a private jet? Doesn't he work for Dad, like you?" I gestured to Aaron. "Why don't we have a private jet?"

"Rowan, take into account that Axel is a single middle aged man with no kids, who travels a lot for work. And a lot of his travels are alongside dad anyway, so it just makes sense that they share it, if we had our own one it would be a waste. It's very rare that dad would have to fly commercial anyway."

"Besides it means dad buys us expensive cars." Hunter added. "And spoils you rotten."

"Spoils me how? I can't even remember the last time he bought me something."

"Don't give us that." Aaron laughed. "He gave you a hundred dollars last week to buy yourself some new clothes."

"And he bought you this?" Hunter shook the paper bag of food.

I blinked back at him with narrowed eyes. "Oh yeah because McDonald's really compares to a Mercedes Benz. So when do I get a car then?"

"When you can drive, dumbass." Hunter was about to thump my head again, but I was quick to shove his hand away.

"Okay, so technically speaking though, you could buy a jet?" I raised an eyebrow at Aaron.

"I guess." He shrugged.

"Damn, so we're rich-rich."

"We?" Hunter scoffed. "You wish! I don't see you doing any work for dad."

"I could do work for dad." I shrugged "Half the time Aaron's just typing on his laptop anyway. How hard could it be?"

This time Hunter snorted and shared a look with Aaron, who shook his head in amusement.

"What?" I looked between the two of them.

"You have no idea.." Hunter muttered under his breath.

I ignored his comment though and looked to Aaron. "What is it you even do to get paid so much then?"

"What's with all the questions?" Aaron laughed and lightly poked my side, making me flinch away from his touch.

"She's distracting us so she doesn't have to eat." Hunter winked at me.

I frowned at him and lightly punched his knee-cap. "Yeah and now thanks to you, you've ruined it."

"Love you baby-sis." Hunter hopped down from the counter and ruffled my hair.

"Stop." I slapped his hand away.

"I'm going for a shower, I stink of McDonald's fries and sex." He sniffed at his tshirt.

"You're so gross." I screwed my face up in disgust.

"Can I take this?" Hunter grabbed the McDonald's bag and reached his hand inside it. "You sure you don't want it?" He shoved a chicken nugget in my face.

"Just leave with it already!" I shoved his hand harshly away for me.

"Yeah just take them." Aaron sighed. "I'll make her something else for lunch."

Hunter put the whole nugget in his mouth and left the kitchen, leaving Aaron and I alone.

"Right, what am I making for you then?"

"I don't know.." I groaned and lay my head down on the side.

"I can make you some toast? Soup? Noodles?" Aaron turned his back on me and headed towards the fridge.

"I don't want any of that."

"Well pick something else then" Aaron turned back towards me and leaned against the fridge doors. "Either way, you're eating something."

I sat up straight and avoided eye contact with my brother, instead I found myself being distracted by the marble pattern on the surface in front of me again.

"Listen.." Aaron pulled a stool out from next to me and sat down on it. "I can understand that anxiety can make you not want to eat, and you've been feeling a lot of that over the past couple days, right?"

I silently nodded.

"But if you keep skipping out on meals, you're eventually going to make yourself feel so much worse. It's not healthy for you, Rowan."

The anxiety that's been eating away at me the past couple of days has been filling my stomach with too many nerves and scary butterflies that I feel like I could vomit anytime the mere thought of food springs to the front of my mind. But I know Aaron is a hundred percent right, I can't keep living like this, it will make me feel worse.

"I'm not saying you need to eat an entire meal right here, right now." Aaron continued. "Just take baby steps, so say I made you a sandwich, just eat as much as you can handle."

I turned to look up at my brother who, even sat down, still towered over me. He was looking down at me with concerned eyes.

"Okay. You can make me a sandwich." I sighed, leaning the side of my head in my hand.

"Yeah?" Aaron's expression brightened.

I nodded.

"You want a chicken Mayo?" Aaron stood up, ready to make my sandwich for me. "That's always your favourite."

"Yeah, put salad in it too."

"Yes your highness."

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A groggy feeling washed over me as my mind drifted back into a state of consciousness, but I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes, despite wanting to move from the uncomfortable couch beneath me.

After eating a quarter of the sandwich that Aaron made for me, I had fallen asleep;  The stress and anxiety of the past couple of days having worn me out.

I rolled over onto my other side, face planting a mountain of fur. Comet pressed himself further up against my front, keeping me warm from the slight draft in the house.

A groan escaped my lips as I stretched one of my legs out, but something blocked it from getting the stretch it needed. Blinking my eyes open, I turned my head and noticed a figure was sitting at the other end of the couch, their head was flopped to the side indicating that they were asleep. Once the blur from my sight had cleared, it was easier to see that the person in my presence was none other than Maddox.

I kicked his knee lightly with my foot, but he didn't stir. "Maddox." I nudged him again.

"Mhm?" He responded with his eyes closed.

"What's the time?"

Maddox rubbed at his tired eyes before looking down at his watch. "It's five o'clock." Damn, I had been asleep for hours.

I released a heavy sigh before laying my head back down against the arm of the couch.

"You feeling okay?" Maddox lightly squeezed my foot.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I closed my eyes again, hoping it would help get rid of the slight headache that was starting to form.

"You've been asleep for hours, is all. I only got home an hour ago and Aaron told me you'd been asleep for the past three before that."

"'M just tired." I wanted to drift back off into the land of sleep, but the distant echo of laughter coming from the kitchen caught my attention. "Who's here?" I questioned my brother.

"Finn, Dexter and Danny were already here when I got home earlier, so it's probably still them." Maddox replied.

I heavily sighed as I sat up from the uncomfortable position I was originally laying in, not helped by Comet giving me hardly any room to move. As much as I wanted to sleep the rest of the evening away, I knew I wouldn't be able to with other people in the house.

Both mine and Maddox's attention suddenly turned to the door as it clicked open. Finn and Asher both walked in carrying big, heavy-looking, cardboard boxes; Comet's ears pricked up at the two brother's presence.

"Oh good! You're finally awake." Finn aimed his statement towards me. He placed the box down on the floor, near the fireplace. "I see you ate all your food too, Aaron didn't think you would eat it all."

I looked to the now empty plate on the coffee table. I swear I only ate a quarter of it, there's no way I ate that whole sandwich?

The husky infront of me tilted his head round and gave me a quick side-eye look. That's where the sandwich went..

"Oh yeah...it was nice." I looked back up towards Finn who was smirking back at me.

"I know Comet ate it, Ro. I was just testing you."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You need to stop testing me all the time, it's annoying."

"We'll stop testing you when you stop lying to us." Asher placed his box down, taking the words straight from Finn's mouth; he was clearly thinking the same thing.

"Whatever, what're you doing with those anyway?" I nodded my head towards the boxes.

"We're going to put the Christmas decorations up tonight!" Asher announced. Smiles spread across both his and Finn's faces.

"I thought we were doing that tomorrow with dad, before he leaves for Canada?"

"Well..." Finn hesitated. Their smiles faltered. "There's been a slight change of plan.."

"What change of plan?" I looked between the two brothers who exchanged quick glances with each-other and then to Maddox who was rubbing lightly at my foot, avoiding my eye contact.

Finn sighed. "Dad has to leave earlier than we thought."

"How much earlier?"

"He'll be leaving at three in the morning rather than late tomorrow evening."

Without another word, I lightly nudged Comet to make him move from his spot next to me, so I could get off the couch.

"Rowan.." Asher tried to stop me from leaving the room but I blanked him, determined to go and find Dad.

"Just leave her." I heard Maddox say as the lounge door shut behind me.

I headed straight towards the kitchen but stopped dead in my tracks in the doorway as three pairs of eyes all turned to look at me; None of them being my dad's, instead, each belonging to Aaron, Dexter and Danny.

A chorus of "hi Rowan" from the three men, cut the silence. But all I did was throw a tight smile back in their direction.

"You okay, Ro?" Aaron's face turned into one of concern towards me.

"Yeah, where's dad?"

"He's upstairs."

I already fled the room before I could answer Aaron's "are you sure everything's okay?" question, my own feet taking me directly to my dad's bedroom; where he was packing his suitcases.

I watched him for a moment, his back slightly turned to me as he looked down at something in a small-ish box; it looked like one of those hard-surfaced first aid boxes, although this one was just plain black. I slowly crept up behind him, being nosy as to what was inside the case.

"What're you looking at?"

The grown man in front of me jumped at my sudden presence. I managed to catch a quick glance at what was in the briefcase just before he quickly flipped it shut... that could not have been what I thought I just saw. Guns?! My dad has a briefcase with guns in it. What the hell would he need them for?

"God, Rowan, you scared the crap out of me." He turned to look at me, his hand laying atop of the briefcase. "You shouldn't sneak up on me like that."

I couldn't seem to form any words - the flashback of the dream I had, where my father was pointing a gun at me, all came rushing back.

"You okay?" His whole demeanour relaxed as he took a step towards me. "I should be the one looking shaken up after the jump scare you caused, not you." He tried to joke.

"I Uh..." I couldn't take my eyes off the case. Was it definitely guns I saw? The glance was so quick, what if I had imagined it? what with the dream I had and all the anxiety I've been experiencing lately, maybe there wasn't any guns?

"W-What's in the briefcase?" I tried side stepping my dad to get closer to it but he was quick to place his hand on top of it again.

I tore my eyes away from the case and up towards dad. "It's private business stuff, sweetheart." He finished his reply off with a tight smile.

"Oh right, I just, I thought I saw something.." my voice trailed off as I found myself staring back down at the box again.

"It's important stuff that I need to take to Canada with me. I can't have you touching this or even looking at it, Ro."

Welp. Now I want to look at it. He's definitely hiding something and my guess is that I certainly wasn't hallucinating seeing guns in that case. But there's nothing I can do right now with him hovering near it.

I nodded and swallowed the small bit of salvia I had in my mouth, hoping it would help my dry throat. I decided to change the subject to the reason why I came up to see him in the first place. "Finn says you're leaving earlier now?"

Dad's gaze softened. "Yeah, it's the only time we're able to get the jet booked in for. I'll need to leave here by three for a take off at Six."

"Are you sure you have to go?"

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but I do." He smiled sadly back at my pouted face.

"Christmas won't be the same though." I slumped my shoulders as he pulled me in for a hug, allowing me to rest the side of my head against his chest.

"You can FaceTime me everyday if you need to, alright?"

I nodded, clinging my arms around his waist.

"You'll be in good hands with the boys and then I'll be back before you know it."

It didn't feel right that he was leaving. With the briefcase of guns