Annaliese

When I woke up, Sophia was gone.

At first I thought it was my tiredness that wasn't comprehending her presence, but as I got ready for the day in my room, I noticed her things missing. Sluggishly walking down the stairs, I hope to see her eating breakfast in the kitchen, but there are only masculine voices whispering and plotting.

I stand and stare at the breakfast table blankly. She really left. No texts, no notes, nothing. Did I really upset her to the point of just leaving last night? What did I do wrong? Is disagreeing with her that much of a crime?

"Anna," Marcie's concerned eyes abruptly come into view and I blink away the daze I was in. His curly hair was pulled back by a headband, showcasing his clear and freckled skin. "Are you alright?"

"Did Sophia leave?" I ask quietly, a rasp in my voice from having just woken up. A frown pulls at his lips as he nods his head. My shoulders droop in disappointment and guilt weighs on my chest. "I think I made her mad."

He crouches down so he's at my height. His eyebrows pull together as if he's in pain. "Anna, I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," I say, pursing my lips. His worry increases and I'm quick to try and reasure him. "But, later's good. I want to talk later."

Marcie nods his head and guides me to a seat at the table. It's just us as the others haven't woken up yet or they already went to work. Avacado toast is placed in front of me and I take small bites of it. Ignoring the planty taste in my mouth, I focus on trying to get food in my nauseous stomach.

It took about 20 minutes for me to finally walk away from the leftovers of my plate. Letting out a sigh, I grab a water from the kitchen and go back upstairs to my room. My right arm tingles with pain as I open the door.

My eyebrows pinch together in confusion. "I must've slept on it wrong," I mumble to myself, entering my room and softly shutting tbe door behind me. I place my water bottle on my nightstand and get back in the comfort of my bed.

I was planning on watching a new movie, despite how much I love Tangled, but sudden exhaustion swept me away in sleep.

——

"Tesoro?" Luca's voice sounds far away and too loud at the same time. His hand gently shakes me. "Hey, are you feeling alright?"

I watch him through half open eyes as my head is pounding. Hot. It's really, really hot.

I shakily push the bedding away from my face but his hands gently push mine away. His cool skin touches my forehead and instant relief follows. "Shit, you're burning up."

"I'm.. on fire?" I murmur. He uses the sleeve of his long, white button up to wipe away the sweat gathered on my face. His blurry face somewhat becomes clearer.

"No, no, Tesoro," He laughs nervously, pulling out his phone and tapping on it a few times. Luca turns and grabs my chair from the corner. He sits down and gently brushes my hair back from my face. "Have you been sleeping all day?"

"I dunno," I slur sleepily, turning on my side to face Luca. "It's hot."

"Hold on a sec," He says. He disappears to my bathroom and comes back with a small hand towel and a bowl of water. Gently placing the damp rag on my forehead, he wipes away the sweat building up. "Is that better?"

"Yeah, thank you," I tell him. My eyes begin to droop closed when pounding footsteps echo throughout the hall. My door slams open and Luca nearly snaps his neck trying to look over his shoulder.

"Oh my God, what's wrong with my baby?" Dad's voice exclaims loudly. A sluggish smile pulls at my lips as his worried face comes into view. With his lips pulled into a frown and his cheeks flushed, he drops to his knees to get a better look at me. "Oh, amore, what happened?"

"I dunno.." I begin but am quickly cut off by more grown men speeding into the room. Alley, Franny and Val enter in a rush with Marcie trailing behind them. "Oh.. hi."

Alley moves to kneel down beside Luca's chair. He awkwardly moves his hand to touch my face and his jaw clenches when he feels the heat coming off from my face. "We need to check her temperature. Valentino, get a thermometer. Fransesco, start running a warm bath. Not too hot or too cold. Luca, I want you to give her a check up and then get the appropriate medicine. Marcello, get her some comfortable clothes to change into."All of my brothers stall for a second, until Alley's glare and a sharp, "Now," gets them moving.

Alley stands and allows Luca to take his place. He grabs the chair and pulls it back, sitting in it with his arms crossed. Dad ordered a maid to bring another chair and sat on the other side of the bed.

Luca began asking questions. On a scale of 1-10, how much pain are you in? What's hurting specifically? How long have you been feeling nauseated? Have you been drinking water? Eating properly? Etc. Etc.

Val brought over the thermometer and Luca's doctor kit. Luca checked my stomach and my heart. I fought away the feeling of discomfort when his hands brushed against my body.

He's trying to help you. He's just your brother. It's okay.

I focused on Alley's face instead, hoping I wouldn't let as much emotion show as I felt. His eyebrow twitched and I knew I was transparent. A warm hand gripped my left hand and I look over to see Dad. He gently kisses my hand and I smile.

My support system.

Luca finished his check up and left the room to get some medicine. Marcello enters as he exits and brings over one of his black hoodies and a pair of basketball shorts. "I'm done in here," Fransesco yells from the bathroom.

I wince as the sound goes directly to my head and needle-like pains erupt on the right side of my scalp. I try to sit up but end up collapsing onto Alley's shoulder. He holds me tightly with one hand while the world fades between black and white.

"..ina? Bam..? Bambina?" His voice gently sounds in my ear. With blurry vision I squint up at Alley's strained expression. "Hey.. Can you hear me?"

"Mhmm..." I hum, fighting the urge to vomit.

"I'm going to pick you up and bring you to the bathroom, okay? Just focus on me bambina," He whispers as his arms wrap around my body. It felt as if my whole body was buzzing with a painful numbness.

Everything afterward was just a blur. I don't remember taking a bath or getting dressed. The faint voice of Flynn Ryder flowed in and out of my ears. Every now and then the murmur of my brothers would pique my interest.

Abruptly, a loud "Fuck!" broke the sleepy spell I was under and my body awakened from its' trance. I stare flatly at Fransesco wrestling Valentino on my floor. Mentally rolling their eyes at their behavior, I focus my attention on Alley, who despite all the work he had was still with me. He brought his laptop and was working from his chair.

He lets out a sigh and leans his head back, relaxing his arms on the sides of the chair. My lips tip downward at the obvious stress he was under. Instinctively, I reach towards him and grab his hand gently.

Alley's head snaps to the side and his eyes widen. "Bambina!" He exclaims. I chuckle slightly as the sound of my brothers wrestling comes to a halt. I doubt that they've ever heard Alley have so much emotion before. "How're you feeling?"

"It's weird," I say, sitting up from my bed and putting my pillows up behind me. "I don't know why I suddenly felt so bad.. I don't think any sickness has ever made me feel like that. I've been taking care of myself too... Like, I've been staying away from anything bad for me... I'm so confused."

"It is weird," Luca speaks up from the left side of me. I turn to face him, surprised that he was even in the room. He crosses his arms and leans against Dad's chair. "With the symptoms you had my first thought would be a virus, but viruses spread easily. None of us have shown even the slightest similarity to what you did."

I sigh and wrap my blankets tighter around me. Valentino and Fransesco had stood up and crowded around my bed. I stare into the lantern scene of Tangled. "I'm happy that you guys don't feel bad. I'm sorry for causing another problem."

"You didn't cause it," Fransesco grumbles, rolling his eyes as he collapses onto the foot of my bed. His hair looks extra fluffy today. His arms flex as he pulls himself further onto the bed and he turns his head to me. "You sure you feeling better monella?"

My eyebrows furrow as I tighten my grip on the blankets, completely disregarding his last question. "How could I have not caused it? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Don't mind that dumbass," Valentino answers before any of my authority figures spoke up. Fran shoots him a sharp glare and scowls. "He's just being a bitch. You can't control what your body reacts to so don't worry about it principessa. Just get better."

"But-"

"Stop," Alley states, his eyes narrowing sternly into mine. I purse my lips sourly but still obey him.

"Since Annaliese is sick can we get ice cream?" Val asks excitedly, wiggling his eyebrows in anticipation.

"Are you fucking five?" Fran snaps, shifting his body on the bed to get more comfortable. "'Can we get icecream cuz Annaliese is sick?' Shut the fuck up."

"Remember when I told my kids not to curse around her?" Dad grumbles tiredly, rubbing his forehead. Luca chuckles and I giggle softly as Valentino and Fransesco continue bickering. Confusion found me again. Where was Marcello?

A low groan came from next to me and I snap my head to the blankets on my left. A little puff of curly hair stuck out from the human sized lump under my covers. My smile widens when his blue eyes peep from underneath. "Hi Annie."

"Hi Marcie," I greet him back with the same softness.

His warm hand wraps around mine as he asks, "You feel any better?"

I nod my head. "Mhm. Lots better."

He smiles lightly. "That's good." Letting go of my hand, he rests his head on my lap.

Why is Marcie so cute when he's just woken up? He's like a little puppy.

The voices of my family drown out when I come to a realization; one that made my heart freeze and have a dance party all at once. I didn't feel uncomfortable. When Marcie touched me and laid in the same bed as me, I didn't want to run away or cry or throw up.

I made progress.

Progress.

With my smile widening into a grin, the atmosphere of the room became subtly more magical. The familiarity of my brothers and my Dad suddenly became too suffocating to ignore.

For some reason, they care about me.

For some reason, their care helped me heal, even the slightest bit.

Without a thought running through my head, I say to Alley, "I want to tell them."

He stiffens and closes his laptop, setting it on the nighstand. "Are you sure?" He asks quietly, delicately. "You don't want to rest for a little longer?"

"I just feel like it's time," I whisper back to him. Ignoring the anxiety that began to build in my stomach, I smile reasurringly to him. "They.. care about me and if they care, they deserve to know. If that makes sense."

Alley slowly nods his head. "Okay... If you start feeling anxious or sick, stop talking immediately. Don't force yourself to talk about it if it'll upset you."

"Thanks Alley," I gently mumble. He clenches his jaw in concern and forcibly nods again.

Another thing this experience helped me realize is throughout every bad occurance that's happened, everyone in my family has been there for me. They've never left me feeling uncared for. Even Franny, who I'm on thin ice with, is here.

It's about time I'm with them as well.

"Hey, guys," I speak up, catching the attention of everyone in the room. My fingers absentmindedly began playing with Marcello's curls. "There's something I want to tell you.."

Letting out a deep breath, they all turn to look at me. Their weight of their gaze felt exposing. This was not going to be easy.

"Um, as some of you already know, a few years ago something really bad happened to me, but I didn't realize until the past few months that it happened," I start off, my breath hitching when Fransesco's jaw clenches and Dad grips the arms of the chair. Valentino's smile drops and a neutrality I had never seen from him took it's place.

"When I was little, around the time I disappeared I think, I was put in a bad situation. Um," My voice wavers as my confidence slightly diminishes. "I.. I was all alone without any adults and it was winter.. a really hard time for a kid to survive, y'know."

Clearing my throat, I avoid the worried knit in Luca's eyebrows and the lack of air coming from Marcello. It's either now or never. They're my brothers. They deserve to know. They deserve to.

"I don't really know how it happened.. but I remember bits and pieces of a man.. touching me," I barely get out. The room feels smaller than it was before as the tension grows in the air. Naturally I close my eyes to avoid seeing the looks on their faces.

"I remember how.. how he ripped holes into the only shirt I had. I remember him smiling," I choke out emotionally. "Smiling as he.. he kept seeing more skin."

Letting out a shaky breath, I clench my fingers into a fist. "And honestly, the worst part wasn't.. It wasn't him touching me. It was the way he told me that it was loving of him.. to do that. He told me that he loved me so it was okay. The worst part is that I believed him. I believed him when he told me it was love. I believed him when he told me it was normal. I believed him whne he said I was a worthless b-a-s-t-a-r-d for letting him do it. The worst part is that, without him even telling me, I believed it was my fault and that I deserved everything that happened to me."

Marcello became so still on my lap I wondered if he was even still breathing, if his heart was still beating. Valentino's lack of emotion intimidated me, especially since he stood in silence, despite his usual responsive characteristics. Luca had sat down on the floor with his head in his hands, either too stunned or too overwhelmed. Fransesco, Alley, and Dad were a mixture of stoic, angry, and sick looking.

"I don't want to lie to you," I continue, forcing confidence in my speech at this point. "It's hard for me to believe that it wasn't my fault and that I didn't deserve it. It's a struggle everyday to look at myself and just be in this body, knowing everything that happened."

Someone lets out a shaky breath and my heart clenches at the sniffle that follows afterwards. "But I'm doing better now, I think. I'm able to be around you all and not feel uncomfy or gross. I'm trying to get better.. I want to get better. And, um, I just feel like you all deserve to know.. because we're family."

Silence fell over the room. The tension became more severe and the urge to dig myself into a hole increased. Letting out another shaky sigh, I take my hands off of Marcello and cover my face. Why did I think this was a good idea?

Strong arms wrapped around me so fast I nearly knocked back into the bed. Luca's sobs echoed in my ears. I barely had time to process it before tears sprung into my own eyes. "I'm so sorry baby. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," He kept repeating.

Why is he feeling guilty? He shouldn't be guilty. I'm the bad one. I let it happen to me.

"Luc-" I try to say, but my voice cracks with tears threatening to fall down my face. "Luc, it's not your fault. It's none of your faults."

I look past Luca to the rest of my brothers. Marcello still laid on my lap, almost like a statue. Fransesco had sat up into a criss-cross sitting position on the bed, his eyes shut and his jaw clenched. Alley and Dad were both quiet, their arms crossed and their faces neutral.

"You shouldn't have gone through that," Valentino whispered, his shaking fists wiping at his face aggresively. "It's not fair, principessa. You didn't fucking deserve that."

Dad sits up straighter and his arms drop to his sides. "Valentino," He says, his voice warning him.

"No, it's true. She goes through all this shit, and we say we're helping her but look at everything she's fucking gone through. For fuck's sake, she was kidnapped, attacked and now she's sick under our watch. How the fuck is she any better here than when she was on the streets?"

"Because," I speak up softly, before anyone else can. "You care enough to say something."

Luca's stiff posture relaxed and he pulled away from me. "What?"

"Whenever I was on the streets, no one cared enough to worry about me or to help me. People have come and gone. At first I thought it was sweet of them to even come in the first place. I was lonely and on the brink of death all the time. It made me so happy that they would talk to me and wish better for me. But, then they would leave. They all have their families to return to and they took time out of their day to talk to me, but it still hurt knowing that no matter what, I'd always be in the same place.

"You guys took me in and gave me a home, something I'd never known before. You fed me and helped me learn what it means to have a family. Yes, I've gotten hurt while staying here, but without you, I'd be dead. I prefer getting hurt every once and a while than wonder if I'll survive to the next morning."

Valentino sniffles and aggressively wipes his face again, but it's no use. He angrily stomps over to me and wraps me in a hug, sitting on top of Marcie in the process. "If anyone tries to hurt you ever, ever, ever again, it'll be worse than the ending of your princess movies."

I gasp, my jaw dropping. "No."

"Yes," He replies, kissing my forehead.

"Jesus Christ," Marcello wheezes, gasping for breath. He slaps Valentino's arms continuously. "Get off of me you mother-"

Fran opens his eyes to glare at him. "Don't fucking curse you adolescent."

"Tell this buffoon to get off of me and you won't have that problem," Marcie struggles, attempting to push off Valentino. Luca sighs and with one grand shove, Val is off the bed and onto the floor with a loud thump.

"That hurt you bitch," Valentino howls from the floor. Luca rolls his eyes.

"Not you playing the victim after you suffocated me," Marcie snaps, moving closer to me. He turns his head to face me innocently. "Can you believe him?"

I just giggle in response to his question. I'm happy I told them-

"Before, you said that some of us already knew.. Who did you already tell?" Luca asked me.

"Alley, Dad and.. Fran." I grumble.

"Well you don't have to sound so damn upset about it," Fran snaps, rolling his eyes and laying back down on his stomach.

"And you didn't have to act so mean after I told you," I bit back. Franny rolls his eyes again and I stick my tongue out at him angrily. Take that.

"What? Mean?" Dad questions, his eyes immediately narrowing to Fransesco. Fran lets out a loud sigh.

"She's pissed because when I went to pick her up from her friend's house, I found out it was actually a boy."

"No. I was actually upset because you then got so mad you thought it was totally fine to bring up what I just told everyone and use it against me in an argument."

A muscle ticks in his jaw as he looks at me from the corner of his eye. "That's not what I was saying. I don't give a shit if that kid is a fucking angel, I don't trust him