seven souls seven sins - Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Natasha's pov:
Uh oh. OH SHIT. I completely forgot that I mentioned my business to him. I had to find a cover up now, quick and fast. He couldn't possibly know about it, I would be done for..
"I must've forgotten to mention it earlier, I owned a small business back in London and we are currently in the process of moving it here." I lie to Xavier and Xander. I knew that it was bad to lie to my biological brothers but they COULDN'T know the truth.
"That's really cool, what type of business is it?" Xavier asks back to me.
"It's an uh- bakery." I lie yet again to them.
"You have to let us try some pastries in the future. The croissant is my favourite." Xavier suggests.
"Uh yea, will do." I reply back to him.
I figured that I would actually build a bakery business as a cover up for here in Brazil. Back in London, we used a fast-food joint as our cover up but I guess a bakery could work too. It was called Binley's Mega Chippy.
I set myself a mental reminder to let Seb and Flynn know about the building preparations that are to be held for the new up and coming bakery. Maybe I could actually picture myself living here in Brazil for good.
Just maybe..
I wanted to direct all the attention away from me, and onto them so I ask the twins suddenly "Do you guys have a business too?"
They pause and look at each other for a moment, they make weird eye signals before Xander speaks up and says "Yea we do, it's family owned and Vincent is the CEO of it."
Damn, no wonder they were so rich.
"What's his business about anyways?" I ask back since they haven't specified the business to me yet and I was quite curious to say the least.
The twins share yet another look at each other before directing their attention back to me. What's with all the twin telepathy? This time Xavier says "He specifies in the real estate realm for as far as we know."
Ew real estate, lame as shit. I nod to show my understanding politely and question them again "Will you guys help the business in the future?"
"Possibly, it's usually up to Vincent to decide that for us." Xander replies back nonchalantly.
"Oh alright." I reply back dryly. I didn't know what else to say to be honest. Although, I did find it weird how the twins's futures were decided by Vincent and not themselves.
It was a bit old fashioned if you ask me.
All of a sudden, Xavier changes the subject. "On the topic of school, and I want you to listen very carefully to this, don't and I repeat don't make contact with Nico and his friends. They are nothing but bad for you and I would advise you to stay out of trouble with them." Xavier reminds me.
"What's so bad about them anyways?" I ask back after analysing the new information that I had just received.
"Just trust me when I say this, they aren't good boys. They will influence you to do bad things, especially Nico. Just take my word on this when I say that he is one heck of a trouble maker. He is associated with inappropriate things and I personally suggest that you stay as far away as you can from him, is that clear?"
"I second this." Xander buts in angrily after Xavier's long ass speech.
"Uh yeah, sure I guess." I reply back weirded out by their recent behaviour. Was this Nico really this bad? I was already intrigued by the man I had never met before. Why did my biological brothers hate him so much?
What did he do that was so bad?
"Are we almost there yet?" I ask randomly. Even though I was curious about Nico, I didn't want to bother my biological brothers anymore. I didn't want them to be even more pissed off at me then they already are.
"Yes, we will be home in a few minutes." Xavier responds back to my question.
For the rest of the car journey, I look out the window admiring the nearby forestry. I loved Brazil with all it's gorgeous scenery and nature. It was far better than the UK, thats for sure.
time passes
Xavier pulls into the garage at the house.
I wasn't quite used to calling it a home yet, but maybe I will eventually. I didn't really think that much of a future here. The amount of testosterone was unmatched, I was practically suffocating.
Xavier opens my car door before I could and he holds out his hand for me to use as I get out of the car. Even though he was my biological brother, he was quite the gentleman if I do say so myself.
He makes his way to the car trunk and take out my shopping bags whilst Xander tales out his. As a group we all make our way inside the house. Xander rushes up to his room. Xavier and I make our way up to my room and he helps to unload my new clothes into my wardrobe.
He was by far my favourite brother.
He actually treated me like a human being, unlike Xander. I felt that Xavier actually respected me as a person. He even agreed to not call me Tash after I asked him to. He respected my boundaries which meant a lot to me.
After he lays out my clothes onto the clothing racks in my wardrobe, he opens my bedroom door and begins to leave. "Wait." I say just barely above a whisper. He immediately turns his head to face me and shuts the door. He must've heard that.
"Stay, please." I ask him.
"Of course." He replies back to me calmly and he sits on the bed beside me.
I enjoyed his presence, I wanted it to last forever. Him being there felt as if Seb or Flynn was there. I could actually feel a brotherly connection with him.
Xavier's pov:
She asks me to stay and I was shocked to say the least.
"Of course." I respond back to her and I make my way to sit beside her on her soft bed. She then adjusts her body to face me more than before. My eyes could finally see her gorgeous face, I mean it was so beautiful.
I was so happy that we looked alike, that meant that I was as equally handsome. No wonder I pulled so many bitches. I push my thoughts to the side and focus more on Nat. I could see that she was fidgeting with her fingers again, I could tell that she was nervous. What did she want me to stay for? Why was she so nervous about it?
"Why are you so nice to me Xavier?" She asks me on the spot.
"What do you mean? You're my sister, of course I would be nice to you." I reply back with the truth. Why did she have doubts?
"I mean that I have been nothing but rude to you all, I may have been holding onto past grudges but after the past few days it feels different than before I left." She admits solemnly.
"Nat, you weren't rude at all. I know that moving all the way back to Brazil must've been challenging especially for you. Even I have to admit it's been difficult for us too. So I apologise on behalf of my brothers for their actions, mainly Xander. For the past few days we have found it a bit overwhelming with your sudden arrival but trust me when I say this, we love you to the moon and back. Even if sometimes we don't express it enough, we do." I assure her.
I desperately wanted her to properly acknowledge how much we adore and cherish her.
She pauses for a moment to digest my words. She then hugs me. At first I was taken back from her sudden gesture but after a quick moment I hug her back. I rub my hands up and down her back. She flinches a bit when I reach her lower back which causes me to stop instantly. I pause the hug and look at her in her bright, aqua coloured eyes.
"Nat, what was that?" I ask her.
"What was what?" She asks back confusingly.
"Why did you flinch?" I demand an answer from her.
"Oh. It was just a small bruise that's all." She replies back nonchalantly.
"May I have a look?" I ask her whilst hoping for a yes.
She nods affirmatively and lifts up the back of her hoodie. My eyes lay upon the huge blue almost black bruise on her lower back. No wonder she flinched when I rubbed her back. After I have a good look, I stop and return to my previous position. She then puts her hoodie back in place and we sit in silence.
"Who?" I asked her concerned.
"What do you mean who?" She counters back bewildered at my previous query.
"You know what I mean Nat. Who did that to you?" I ask her again.
"I- uhh.." She stutters while looking around the room, avoiding eye contact. I could sense her uncomfortableness. I knew that she didn't want to tell me but I wanted her to feel as safe as possible here and if that means I had to dig deeper then I would.
"Use your words, Nat." I order repeatedly.
"Xander." She manages to mumble out of her breath. My heart stops for a brief moment.
"Xander?" I ask again to make sure I hear correctly.
"Yes, him." She murmurs whilst looking down at her lap.
I'm going to fucking kill him. I couldn't believe that he would do something like that, especially to his own blood. I think that Nat could sense my anger and says "I saw his black eye today. Do you guys hurt each other as a punishment here?" Nat questions.
At first, I was startled by her question. I didn't expect her to acknowledge such detail about Xander.
I begin my explanation "No, no of course not. Xander just acted like a dick and got what he deserved. We haven't hit each other like that since we were kids. Trust me when I say that this was just a once off, alright? We would NEVER and I mean NEVER hit you."
She looks into my eyes for a hot minute and lets it go. " I believe you for now." She declares.
I felt a rush of relief through my veins. I hated the fact how for a mere moment thought that we would hit her, I would never in my wildest dreams. On the other hand, it felt good knowing that she semi-trusted me. I missed having lost my sister for such a long time and it felt even better having her back home.
I wished that it would stay like this forever.
"Nat, I want you to feel safe at home, I want you to feel safe here. Please let me know if anything makes you feel uncomfortable. I can promise you that I will try my very best to prevent it for you." I reassure her.
This time she leaps onto me and hugs me tighter than before. This time, I instantly hug her back. I loved her so much. I loved her more than anyone else before. She was my everything, she is my everything.
I made a promise to myself that I would always protect her no matter what. I will continue to fulfil this promise until the day of my death. She will be protected from everything and everyone as long as I'm around, that's for certain.
Flashback:
Nat was just only around seven years old whilst I was eight almost nine. This took place around a few months before Mary and Tash left. We had many lovely moments together as a proper family, before it all went downhill.
I vividly remember her getting into a small argument with Xander about who ate the last gummy bear. She began to vent to me about what just happened to her. She was so cute when she was mad. We were casually sitting on my bed whilst she was sitting on my lap.
Even though she was only a year younger than me, she was tiny. Usually girls mature faster than boys during puberty but Tash was never like this. She always remained small, she still is.
"Xander was such a bully! He took it, ate it, and blamed it on me! It's all his fault!" She complains loudly to me. Her voice beams throughout the room, echoing louder by the second.
"Is it now? Don't worry Tash, we can go ask him about it now. How does that sound?" I ask her. I see slight smirk appear in the corner of her small mouth. Her eyes squinted with glee. Something seems fishy.. She was definitely up to something cheeky.
"YAYAYAY! Thank you Xavy!" She says while smiling at me. I cant help but to smile back to my angel. I loved when she used that nickname for me. We hurriedly make our way over towards Xander's room and we barge in without knocking. We a lonely Xander sitting in his chair finishing off some stupid maths homework. I let go of Tash from my tight grasp and she runs up to Xander and hits him on the shoulder playfully.
"Just admit it! You ate the last gummy bear, didn't you?" She asks her rhetorical question directed at Xander.
Xander switches his attention from his notebook to Tash's face. He looks her directly in the eye. They maintain eye control a while. I thought to myself that this was some weird staring contest but it wasn't, it was a death glare.
Xander takes some time to ponder his final response and says "I did, you caught me red handed. But how will anyone believe you Nat?" He gets up off his chair and steps closer towards her with a massive smirk plastered all over his face.
Xander begins again "Everyone in the house knows that gummy bears are your favourite snacks. They won't dare to think that I ate it. I'm sure they won't even believe you even if Xavier vouches either. Just except the fact that I won and you lost." He grins at the end. In that moment, he definitely thought that he won the argument.
Little did he know that Tash liked to get violent when pissed off..
Tash's eyes enlarged with more and more fury within them. I could almost see smoke. Before I could batt my eyelids again, I saw what it looks like Tash on top of Xander, strangling his neck viscously. At the start he started to laugh at Tash's attempt to choke him but then he actually looked like he was in pain. He makes several attempts to run her off of him but fails miserably. After about 3 or 4 minutes, Xander taps Tash's shoulder as a time out and she stops unwillingly. I could tell that she wanted more.
"FINE! FINE! I'll turn myself in as the official 'Gummy Bear Thief' if that's what you want princess." Xander puffs out as he's out of breath. Tash then grins ear to ear and says..
"Perfect! Now I don't want to waste anymore of my precious time in this shithole of your room." She then turns away from a distraught Xander and onto me.
"Let's go Xavier!" She giggles and I pick her up flipping her small body over my shoulder and we walk out of Xander's room.
As we walk further away from Xander's room I ask her "Why did you want me there anyways? It looked like you were going to get what you wanted even if Xander didn't comply with you."
"I wanted my big brother to see how grown up I am! I want you to stop treating me like a small baby!" She demands.
"We both know that it will never happen." I chuckle as a response while I walk into my room.
She lets out a silly annoyed face and I throw her onto my massive bed. I start to tickle her starting at her neck, then her armpits, then all the way to her feet, her most ticklish part. She tried resisting the tickles, it was so cute watching her try and fail. Her laughter soon engulfed the room along with various "Stop Xavier!" and "You're tickling me too much!"
Our lives peaked back then. Nobody knows how much I would sacrifice to go back. I would give anything.
End of Flashback:
In the end, it truly was precious time, I wish that I valued it more wisely. She was gone shortly after and I truly missed every living moment that I had shared with her. I wish that I could change the past but deep down I knew that I couldn't.
I enjoyed that previous memory of her and I, I did want to try tickle her again but she was a woman now. I didn't want her to feel weird even though I am her brother. I had to constantly remind myself that she wasn't a little girl anymore.
She isn't my little girl anymore..
We laid on her bed chatting and cuddling for the next few hours until it's time for dinner. Although I wished that she opened up to me, I knew that all I had to do was give her time and we could go back to the old days. We start making our way down to the dining table where we met the others.