{Aspen's POV}
Sorin looks over to me and softens his expression when he sees the worry on my face. I tense in my seat in anticipation to find out which brother caught us. My best guess is Ambrose since he's the one who visits me the most. Despite whichever brother it is, We're in quite the predicament.
"Just shush and let me handle this." Sorin says calmly.
I nod in response and he picks up the phone.
"Hello"
"Yes, she's with me."
"Calm the f*ck down"
"She's perfectly fine, stop rambling on."
"Fine, you can talk to her."
Before Sorin puts the phone on speaker, he turns to look at me.
"He wants to talk to you. Don't mention the gun range, we'll figure out some excuse." He says quietly.
"Okay" I respond, still unaware which brother he's referring to.
Sorin presses a few buttons on his phone and sets it down in one of the cup holders of his car. I look at him and he gives me a nod, encouraging me to speak.
"Hello" I say in just above a whisper.
"Aspen?"
"Ambrose?" I let out a sigh of relief. At least its one of the more easy going ones.
"Why would you leave?! You're on bedrest!" He says frustrated.
"Technically, I'm not. The doctor said I was fine." I reply.
"We'll talk about this when you get back to the clinic." Ambrose says firmly.
"No, I don't want to go back there, please can I just go back to your house?!" I whine. At this point I don't care if I sound like a child, I just want to go back to their house.
"Ambrose just let her f*cking come home." Sorin chimes in.
"I'll have to talk to Cas first." Ambrose says annoyed.
"No, either she comes home, or we stay at Alani's. I'm not bringing her back to the clinic." Sorin says.
"Are you seriously kidnapping our little sister?" Ambrose asks, taken back.
"Damn right I am." Sorin replies.
"I wouldn't call it kidnapping if I'm going with him willingly." I chime in.
"I'll give you 30 minutes to convince Caspian, clock's ticking" Sorin says and hangs up the phone.
Sorin starts the car and pulls out of the gun range parking lot. I look out the window as we drive. I realize now, I haven't actually gotten a chance to explore California yet. Now that I live here it would be nice to actually see the area and get familiar with it. I might talk to Caspian about that after we get over this whole clinic mess.
After a few minutes of driving in silence, Sorin pulls into the driveway of a large, beautiful house. It is modern, with many large windows and it is on the coast of the ocean. I stare for a minute before Sorin grabs my attention.
"This is my best friend Alani's house. Even if they let you come home, Alani wanted to meet you so we'll wait for Ambrose's call here."
"Okay" I reply.
Sorin and I exit the car and approach the front door. Before we reach it, the door is suddenly opened by a boy who looks to be about Sorin's age, if not, a little younger. He has messy blonde hair and green eyes. He's quite tall but not as tall as Sorin and he clearly has muscle.
"You look like sh*t!" The boy shouts as we approach him, referring to Sorin's appearance.
Sorin reaches him first and is pulled into a bro hug, I trail behind him a little surprised by the boy's greeting. I suppose that's their kind of friendship? When they pull away, the boy gives me a grin and holds out his hand for me to shake.
"The famous Aspen" He says as I walk up to him and put my hand in his. I nod before replying.
"I take it you're Alani then" I reply and to my surprise, he brings my hand to his mouth and he places a gentle kiss on my knuckles.
"The one and only." he says as he releases my hand and gives me a childish grin. Alani's grin is quickly wiped away when Sorin smacks him upside the head and gives him a glare. Alani puts his hands up in mock surrender before turning back to the door.
"Come on inside." Alani says, ushering Sorin and I through the door.
Alani leads us to a living room and Sorin takes a seat on one of the black leather couches. I sit next to him and Alani takes a seat on the recliner next to the couch. It's silent for a moment before Alani decides to speak.
"Aspen how old are you?" He asks.
"15" I reply
"Mhmmmm, 2 years isn't much of a difference." Alani has a strange look in his eye and I notice Sorin giving him a deadly glare.
"Talk like that again and you wont live to see the next 2 seconds." My eyes widen at Sorin's words.
"Dude chill, its just a joke." Alani chuckles nervously.
Before Sorin has a chance to reply, his bland ringtone catches all of our attention. Sorin rolls his eyes and looks into my curious eyes.
"It's Caspian."
I nod and Sorin picks up the phone.
"Hello?"
"I think you're overreacting."
"I'm her brother, this is not a kidnapping."
"I understand it wasn't my call to make."
"You were being unreasonable."
"We're on our way."
Sorin hangs up the phone and looks over to me. We make eye contact for a moment before I glace at Alani who is reclining with an amused face, seemingly enjoying our family drama. The sudden sound of tire screeching outside draws all of our attention. Alani and Sorin exchange a look before they both jump up from the couch and slowly approaching the window. I tense when I notice both of their hands hovering over their waist bands.
"Sorin, w-what's going on?" I ask nervously.
"Shush and stay down." He says in a hushed tone.
Alani moves the curtain to expose two black SUVs parked in front of the house. Sorin and Alani both sigh in relief and relax, dropping their hands from their waistbands.
"F*ck Caspian." Sorin shakes his head and turns towards me. "Caspian sent his f*cking goons to escort us home."
"Why did you get so tense?" I ask, glancing back and forth between Sorin and Alani who are sharing a look.
"Just being cautious, lets go, we're going home." Sorin says making his way to the door.
"Yes!" I say with a little too much enthusiasm. Sorin looks over to me with a raised eyebrow and I just shrug.
We make our way outside and five guards get out of the two SUVs and approach us. I stand tall with my chin up, refusing to admit these intimidating men scare the crap out of me. For some reason I feel a hint of safety with Sorin standing next to me, which I'm sure is the source of my confidence boost. One guard steps in front of the rest and gives Sorin a nod of respect.
"The boss asked us to bring you home." He says and Sorin scoffs.
"We'll be driving my car." Sorin replies with a cold face.
"I'm sorry sir, the boss asked that we drive you home." The guard says, he has an emotionless demeanor and firm tone that leads me to think he is a higher ranking guard.
"Don't forget that I'm your boss too." Sorin replies in an authoritative tone. "One car will lead and the other will follow us, that's all I'm allowing."
"We were instructed to not allow you and Miss Karieo to be alone together. I must accompany you in the car." The guard says and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.
"Bullsh*t" Sorin replies, clearly annoyed by the guard's persistence.
"Sorry sir, this is the one rule I will not waver on. Boss was very clear." The guard says, not backing down. Sorin's face is filled with rage and by the way his fists are clenching, I can see this isn't going anywhere good.
"Sorin lets just go." I say, trying to divert Sorin's attention from the guard. When he looks at me, his face immediately softens and he's back to his emotionless self.
"Fine" He grunts.
Sorin, the guard and I drive in silence for almost an hour before arriving back at my brother's house. I've never been happier at the sight of this lavish mansion. I eagerly reach for the handle to open the door but I stop when Sorin grabs my other wrist. I tense at the physical contact and snap my head to look at his hand. I glance up at him and he's looking at the guard expectantly.
"Out" He says to the guard.
"I cant leave you alone with the girl." The guard says, not backing down.
"The f*ck you cant." Sorin snaps, giving the guard a deadly look.
"No disrespect to you sir, boss' orders." The guard says in a firm tone that makes Sorin roll his eyes.
"Fine" Sorin grunts before turning to me. "Aspen, I know you're excited to be home but Cas and Ambrose aren't happy with our actions. I'll likely get the worst of it, but we'll both be punished."
"Oh" Is all I manage to say. I'm sure the worry I'm feeling is clear on my face. What will Caspian do? His last punishment was guilt which I still feel to this day. Ronan and his family are often on my mind, plaguing it and bringing down my mood. What could his twisted punishment be this time?
"Don't worry, like I said, I'll get the worst of it." He says before releasing my wrist and opening his door. I believe that was his idea of comforting me, but it doesn't work very well. Still tense, I follow his actions and walk beside him to the grand door of the mansion. Sorin walks inside and I take a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for what comes next, before following him inside.
Sorin takes the lead and walks to Caspian's office. He knocks and Caspian's authoritative voice commands us to come in. Sorin walks in confidently but I find my confidence wavering as I cower behind him. We both sit in the seats across from Caspian's desk and look up to see Ambrose with a disappointed look which is like a punch to the gut. Caspian has on his signature emotionless face and we sit there in silence for a moment.
"Careless, immature, reckless, irresponsible, idiotic, these words and many similar colorful ones describe your actions today." Caspian says looking mostly to Sorin. "I could go on but let's just get right to it. Your keys for a month minimum, grounded for a month, no TV or gaming consoles and extra training. You will get up at 4:30 each morning and go to the gym where I will be waiting for you. Is your punishment clear?" Caspian asks Sorin.
"Clear" Sorin replies coldly.
Caspian nods in satisfaction from Sorin's compliance.
"Aspen, your phone for a month, no Rubik's cube for two weeks. Quest's travels here will be postponed until further notice and you will be starting school in two days, despite whatever reaction you may have. Is your punishment clear?" Caspian asks.
My eyes widen from the severity of Caspian's punishment. What does he mean by Quest's travels here? Was he bringing Quest here? AND SCHOOL? While I was at the clinic, we agreed to have me homeschooled because of my phonophobia and now he's forcing me to go?! This dude is crazy.
"I- um" Caspian gets impatient from my stuttering.
"Is it clear?" He asks.
"Clear" I reply in just above a whisper.
"One more thing." Caspian says, making Sorin roll his eyes. "You two are not to be left alone together until further notice. You are clearly bad influences on each other and cannot be trusted alone. If you try to make contact without someone else present I will know, I have eyes everywhere." Caspian threatens.
"I'm her f*cking brother, you cant do this!" Sorin demands with rage clear on his face.
"I'm her guardian and I can do whatever I want." Caspian replies.
With those words, Sorin gets up from the chair, pushing it back and knocking it over. He the proceeds to storm out of the office, making sure to slam the door on his way out. I sit there, staring at the chair that Sorin knocked over. I can feel the gazes of Ambrose and Caspian on me searching for a reaction to his decision, but I refuse to give them one. Instead, I emotionlessly get up from my chair and exit the office.
I retreat to my only safe place, the mini kitchen. Since I don't have my Rubik's cube or phone, this is the only thing I can do right now. Glancing through the fridge and cupboards, I decide on lemon, blueberry cheesecake bars.
While I gather the ingredients, I cant hold back the few tears that fall. I feel trapped once again and I cant even get the comfort of Sorin. I could go to Kohen but it's just not the same. I'm really going to miss our comfortable silences, in fact, I already miss them. I don't know why he's become my favorite, but he has and now I cant even hang out with him.
After a few hours of letting the tears fall and drowning in my thoughts, the cheesecake bars are finally done. I take a few and go to my room. When I enter, everything looks the same and I smile at the sight of my cloud. Gently placing the cheesecake bars on my bedside table, I throw myself onto my bed and cuddle into the fluffy blankets and pillows. Soon enough, I find myself falling into a deep sleep.
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