Chapter 14
"Lime and mint."
Rochelle Quinn's POV:
"Alec." I breathed out, staring at the the same boy who had spent hours reading to me. The same boy who had tended to my wounds while I cried in his arms. The same boy who taught me how to survive the streets without needing anybody but myself.
I didn't run up to him like I did with Ivan, but instead I walked slowly towards him. It all felt so surreal.
A lot had changed in 5 years and according to Kade, all them had been in Juvie.
At least we have that in common.
I didn't hug him straight away, but I stared into his soft eyes, trying to tell him everything with my unguarded gaze.
He opened his arms to me and I found myself falling in them. He felt warm and familiar, solid and safe. He was really here, it wasn't a dream. This was really happening.
I wanted to cling to his shirt, bury my face in the crook of his neck and never let him go again.
I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him.
I released him, joyfully looking over at Ivi and Sky.
The Jensen's all looked baffled at our actions, but frankly I didn't care.
"You've got some explaining to do." Keegan raised an eyebrows, looked at me humorously.
I shrugged nonchalantly, internally smiling to myself.
I never thought I'd see them again.
"I'll explain later." I half grinned, realising something.
"Shit, we need to sort out your knuckles. Come on." Taking Alec's hand, I pulled him out of the school building with Ivan and Sky following us to a car. I glanced back at the Jensen's through a window, smirking at Kace's pissed off facial expression.
"See you at home."
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"Ow. Ow. Ugh. OUCH." Alec complained as I cleaned his cuts with the rubbing alcohol, trying to move his hand out of my grasp.
"Shut up, I'm trying to clean them." I hissed, yanking his hand back into my grip and holding it tightly as I started cleaning it again.
"But it hurts." He moaned dramatically as I wrapped his hands in gauze. I tightened the knot and finally released his hands, rolling my eyes when he held his hand to his chest.
"Chill out. I just saw you knock someone unconscious and now you're crying over rubbing alcohol." I stuffed all the equipment into the first aid kid, mentally thanking God that Mrs and Mr Jensen were currently on a 'private' vacation. I heard Ivan smack the back of Alec's head and his moaning finally halted.
"MOTHERFUCKER." Ivan landed on the floor with his hand clutching his bruised check. Alec held his knees as he burst into a fit of laughter at his brother.
"Alec backhanded him." Sky shrugged, eating the chips that must've magically appeared out of nowhere. "Kitchen." He stated after seeing my curious and hungered expression, sitting down on the lovely, white couch, and then grabbing the TV remote and casually putting the TV on.
"I heard you got locked up, gonna tell me why?" I shouted into the next room, walking into the kitchen to grab a packet of chips.
"Drug Distribution." Skylar mumbled, his mouth stuffed to the limit with chips.
I almost vomited at the gruesome sight.
And it seemed that Ivan did too, seen as he smacked the back of his brothers neck. Ignoring the complaint from his brother, Ivan looked at me with empty eyes.
" Aggrivated assault."
My eyebrows furrowed, confusion lingering in my curious gaze. "Wait, what?"
Ivan was too smart to get caught for something as stupid as assault, so why did he get sent to Juvie because of it?
"Manic episode." He muttered, moving his hand away from his bruising face. I nodded in understanding, a soft 'Oh' escaping my mouth.
I turned my eyes onto Alec, studying his expression. He looked conflicted, hesitant..almost nervous.
Eventually he spoke, gulping hard as he did so, "Theft and Arson."
I stared at him, my eyes narrowing at his nervous face. It was almost worth laughing about....almost.
"You....fucking....what?" I paused, taking in the severity of the situation. "I'll kill you."
He gulped again, sweat started to pool on his forehead. "Look, I can explain." He held his hands up, desperate for me to see reason.
"YOU PROMISED." I jumped over the couch and faced the 21 year old, my fists clenching. "You promised that you wouldn't ever, ever, set fire to a place without me. That was our thing!"
"I'm sorry, Rock! I am. It was an accident, I swear by the Taco Gods!" My breathing halted, how dare he swear on them!
I didn't know which object I threw first but soon the room was covered in shattered fragments. A pair of hands gripped my waist harshly and held me back as I went to throw another vase at Alec. I screamed and thrashed against them as I desperately tried to reach for the boy.
A sudden scent hit my nostrils harshly, making me relax against the person restraining me.
Lime and mint.
Kenzie.
I calmed down almost instantly, knowing that the others were here too.
"What the fuck?!" Keegan held back a laugh as his brothers peered at the remains of their living room. In fact, all the brothers looked amused, disregarding Kace. Because Kace looked pissed off.
Kace always looks pissed off so it's okay.
It didn't take long for me to notice that Kenzie still had his arms around me and I, unintentionally of course, was relaxing into his embrace. Sky smiled at the scene, his mouth still full of chips.
"I got bored." I shrugged, shuffling out of Kenzie's hold and sitting down next to Sky, stealing some of his chips. He slapped my hand away but I giggled at his heartbroken expression. I had stolen all of his chips, and I still had a full packet left.
1 Rocky. 0 Sky.
"I don't remember saying you could bring three criminals in my house." Kace seethed through clenched teeth, narrowing his eyes at my relaxed composure.
"That's funny." I stated amusingly, eating each of the chips one by one while smirking at the brothers. "I don't remember either."
"If you weren't a girl, I swea...." Kace trailed off as each of the Rossi's stood up, cracking their knuckles and looking at him.
They wasn't glaring.
There was no hinted threats.
Just looking, gazing.
"I swear...?" Alec spoke slowly, his voice calm but rough. I held back a laugh at Alec's serious expression. His baby face always made him look so funny whenever he's angry, I guess its why we never could argue much. I would always end up laughing at his face and then he'd start laughing at my laugh and then we'd have forgotten by the end of it all. "I'm not a girl so why don't you finish that sentence?"
Kace didn't reply to Alec's response, only showing the brothers his fear. I could've smiled if the scene hadn't been so messed up.
"How are they your brothers, Rocky?" Kane questioned me, obviously trying to change the topic.
I grinned at that, biting my lip at all the crazy things we used to get up to. "They were in one of the group homes when I was younger. I've always seen them as my brothers."
"So you're not related by blood? You're not family?" Keegan asked confusingly, making my eyes hardened in annoyance.
Ivan rolled his eyes, glancing impassively at the younger teen, "Family doesn't always mean blood."
Kace scoffed, he seemed amused at the redhead. "Then what is it? Strangers?" He raised his eyebrows humorously, making me glare at Alec. I wanted to smack Mario but I knew Alec wouldn't let me.
He never liked me picking fights with people older than me, or the other gender.
Even when I could knock them all onto their ass.
Sky studied me as my eyes moved from Alec to Ivan, Ivan to Sky. A soft, rare smile grazed my lips.
I kept my gaze on the brothers as I spoke, my voice was quiet and calm. "It never mattered to me whose DNA had recombined with whose. When everything goes to hell, the people who are there, the people who have your back without flinching. They're your family."
Kace opened his mouth but no words came out.
"I wouldn't class you and Kade as family," I stated bluntly, shrugging my shoulders. "Sure, you're related. But you didn't have his back. In fact, you were the reason why he needed his back watched. That's the difference, you see. Blood makes you related. But the loyalty makes you family, every time." I looked straight into the twins eyes as I spoke, my unflinching gaze obviously make him uncomfortable. "I class them as my brothers. The fact that I'm not related to them by blood is irrelevant. We're still family."
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