Being safe was an entirely new thing for Alex.
He didn't know what it meant to be safe. He didn't know how it was suppose to feel.
For as long as he could remember he had never been safe. He had to always protect his siblings. He spent his days in a cold damp basement taking beatings and at night he was forced to sell drugs to their clients. The buyers were always almost just as bad as them. They would beat him and do just about anything to hurt him.
He wanted to believe Lorenzo and maybe a small part of him did.
Because believing in something that was practically impossible was better then facing reality. And the reality was, he was terrified. He was terrified that one wrong move would result in pain, more so for James and Skye. He was terrified that they were playing a sick game on them and they would end up being beaten and thrown in the basement.
For tonight though he felt a little better, the hug they had shared meant alot to him and just for a while he decided to allow himself to believe they were going to be okay, that they were safe.
Lorenzo seemed to have that effect on all three of the triplets. His cold demeanor that had all of his siblings obeying him was not as scary to them as they first thought however for Skye it was more to do with the fact that as long as Lorenzo was around Marco couldn't hurt her.
The rest of the evening was uneventful until it wasn't. Until everything went wrong.
After having dinner which was mostly in a comfortable silence, Rafael had convinced them to spend time as a family so they were flicking through the channels looking for something to watch.
However the news station had a breaking news headline causing Rafael to stop.
The report was on a drug gang that had been prosecuted and locked up but sources say their main drug dealer was still out there.
Alex felt himself tense. His siblings didn't know. He never told them. But the men keeping them hostage were the drug gang shown on tv.
James and Skye figured it out rather quickly and tensed to when the news showed a picture of some of the gang members, their captors.
"Thank god you are out of that state"Â Rafael mumbled as he continued to listen to the crimes the drug gang were facing.
"You three okay, you seem on edge" Rafael picked up on their behaviour instantly.
"We are fine. When we were at the station giving a statement we saw one or two of them that's all" Alex lied with ease. He had lied all his life at first the men could always tell he was lying but after a while he mastered lying, it rarely helped but sometimes it did save him from a beating.
Alex and James were sat at either side of Skye and both of them looked at her with concern. On Alex's other side Lorenzo was sat. As soon as Lorenzo heard about them being in the same building as the drug gang he put his arm around Alex. Alex would never admit it but he felt sort of comforted by his actions.
Lorenzo was a little shocked by his own actions but as much as he didn't want to admit it that hug they shared meant alot to him. From the moment he met Alex in the social workers office he thought him to be annoying and wanted to put him in his place. Mostly due to the fact he reminded Lorenzo of his younger self. But what pissed him off the most was how protective Alex had been on the plane, it was like Alex thought he would end up hurting them. And that pissed Lorenzo off.
But now he understood why.
The hug had been something Lorenzo had wanted to do for 10 years. He wanted to hug his mini me. And from that hug he grew even more protective of the boy.
With Skye she needed the reassurance, she needed someone and so he openly gave it
But with Alex, Lorenzo recognised the boy didn't want to be seen as weak so he didn't show how protective he was of him, he made sure to do it in little gestures.
Now James was another story, he was just as protective but he knew he needed to talk to James more and he would. Lorenzo was still trying to figure James out. He was protective like Alex but was vunerable like Skye althouh he didn't like to show it. He was incredibley smart and would have scored higher than Skye if he had more confidence and didn't cross his anwsers out. Lorenzo saw he wasn't as outgoing as Alex but when he needed to be, he was just as fierce.
"I bet living with a stupid drug gang like them would have done them good" Marco said as the news continued.
"Marco how dare you...." Rafael snapped in a dark tone but was cut off by Alex before he could actually scold Marco.
Alex had shrugged Lorenzo off him "what the fuck did you just say" Alex was pissed, not because of the pain he suffered but the pain he saw his siblings face. The torture and suffering. Skye and what they did to her.
Alex didn't get any further though because what shocked everyone in the room was James who had quickly got up and in seconds hit Marco.
One hit turned into several and Marco who was shocked at the outburst ended up on the floor taking hits.
"Shut up. You are such a shitty person. Just shut up" James shouted.
"Enough James" Rafael said although he wasn't in a hurry to stop him after the awful comment Marco made.
"James stop" Alex tried not wanting Rafael to get angry at how James disobeyed him.
James kept hitting, letting out all his anger throughout the years.
Marco snapped out of the shock and in an instant he grabbed James and switched their position he was now on top of James, he only managed to hit him once he had been too quick for Rafael who had remained seated to get up and stop him.
Rafael had grabbed Marco before he could hit James again. He pushed Marco off James with ease.
"I'm going to make you regret that, you stupid fucker" Marco snapped trying to get to James.
"Not another word out of you. Marco go to your room. Right now" Rafael ordered.
His first priority was James. He would deal with Marco later.
Marco didn't dare disobey his father with the tone he used so he headed upstairs.
"Are you okay James" Rafael asked his son as he lifted the boy up and placed him on the sofa. James had curled himself up and was shaking in fear.
Alex wanted to jump in front of James and protect him but instead he decided to watch and see what Rafael would do. He wanted to see if Rafael could be trusted.
"Nico go upstairs" Leo muttered. Nico quickly left not wanting to get told off by their father.
"James it's okay, I'm not mad, can you sit up if not it's okay" Rafael calmly stated.
Alex and Skye took this moment and went and sat next to him on the sofa Rafael had placed James on.
James sat up knowing his siblings were next to him. Knowing they would jump in if something happened and not wanting them to get hurt.
"Good. Now I know you know hitting is wrong but I want to know what triggered that outburst" Rafael asked.
James was not going to admit it so he looked to Alex.
"We grew up in Ohio as you know and we have heard so many nasty rumours about them and as you know they have just been arrested as they are a drug gang but also some of them are facing murder charges. I believe James got angry at the thought of living with such criminals especially because of the rumours, sir"Â Alex again lied like a pro.
Lorenzo and Rafael shared a look due to their profession.
"Its true I got angry at the fact he wanted us to be with them " James didn't exactly lie.
"That's understandable. What Marco said was wrong and that's why Im not going to do anything about your outburst however try not to do it again. Leo is going to take you and get some ice, Skye can go with you"
The triplets noticed how he never said Alex. Alex had to stay behind and that worried them.
"Come on you two" Leo said.
"But Alex" James said.
"He will join you later" Rafael said.
Skye and James had no choice but to leave Alex, James grabbed hold of Skye's hand to comfort her. He knew she was probably lost in thought and so he squeezed her hand for reassurance.
Now Alex was alone with Rafael and Lorenzo.
He found himself looking at Lorenzo for any sort of help or comfort but Lorenzo had an emotionaless expression like most of the time.
"I'm truly sorry for my words and James outburst. It will never happen again sir" Alex quickly said.
"That is not why you are here. Please don't call me sir" Rafael said.
Lorenzo remained quiet, he didn't know why his father had kept Alex behind.
"You mentioned going to the station to make a statement and seeing them. I would like to know more about that" Rafael stated.
"We just crossed paths on the way to the room it was nothing and I believe my statement was made confidential"
"Why were you making a statement"
"Because it was a car accident. They wanted to know things"
"What happened"
"We crashed, it was a necessary to give a statement"
"Was it your foster parents fault. Did they endanger you" Rafael asked. Just the thought made him angry.
"No. Why did you keep me behind just to ask questions like this"
"Well its obvious you speak for the three of you. I saw the reaction you three had to the news. I just wanted to make sure nothing happened in your brief interaction and you mentioned the car accident so I wanted to check on that "Â Rafael said.
Alex was suspicious of Rafael's motives. He didn't understand why he cared.
Why did any of them care.
" Nothing happened please may I be excused sir"
Rafael sighed and nodded "of course son"
Alex paused.
Son.
Rafael had called him son and he only just managed to suppress a smile.
Maybe he wasn't alone. Maybe he could have a childhood afterall.
No way would James have gotten away with beating Marco like he did if they were like the men. Maybe they were different.
Okay so Marco is going to have a little redemption next chapter. Sorry it took so long to publish not felt like writing and didn't know how to end the chapter.
What Marco said was truly awful but it will only add to the guilt he's going to feel.
I'm going to add some new characters soon I have a few in mind but is there any characters you would like to see and it doesn't matter if they haven't been mentioned.