Despite me walking out of the kitchen, Elias' sharp voice still carried through the door. "Mom, we've talked about this."
Pamela sounded exhausted. "How many times do I need to tell youâ"
"The doctor said to take it easy, ma. Could you please just..."
I was curious to hear more, but as nosy as I was, even I knew my limits.
Their voices faded away as I walked further from the kitchen and deeper into the grand foyer. A crystal chandelier cast its beaming light over the hallway, which extended so far I had to squint to see the end of it. In fact, the entire house was magnificently large. For someone who seemed to be quite cold and indifferent, Elias was certainly living comfortably.
It wasn't the size of the house that intrigued me though. It was the huge family portrait hung up in the middle of the wall that caused me to stop in my tracks. The photo must've been taken years ago, as Pamela looked a lot healthier in it. She had a thick head of blonde hair, her complexion was not nearly as pale as it was now, and she sported a radiant smile that reached all the way up to her ocean blue eyes. What had happened to her?
The twins were in the photo as well, although they were just babies. Alex was sat in her mother's lap, meanwhile Rocky was being cradled by a tall man standing behind them. The formal suit, the pursed lips, the jutted chin, the gelled hairâthe man simply exuded power. He looked handsome, yet I oddly found myself frowning when I stared at him for too long.
I knew the man had to be Elias and the twins' father, for they all had his dark brown eyes.
It was no wonder Elias was so good lookingâhe'd won the genetic lottery. Speaking of, Elias looked much younger in the photo. His face was rounder, his figure was shorter, and his usually messy hair was slicked backâno doubt the works of his mother.
It was strange. While everyone else in the photo was smiling, Elias and his father remained straight faced. Why was that?
"I suppose you've got some questions," a deep voice caused me to jump and turn around.
"Goodness, Ellie, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" I placed a hand over my chest as his tall figure emerged from the shadows. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough." He resumed a position next to me, staring at the family portrait with a far off look. His eyes eventually followed my line of sight over to the man in the photo. "That's my father."
"I figured as much. You guys look alike."
"Yeah, unfortunately. He's dead, by the way," Elias bluntly said.
I gasped, utterly taken aback. "O-Oh! I'm so sorry, Elias."
"Why?"
"I don't know," I admitted, hesitant to say the next part. "That's just what people usually tell me when they find out my father's dead."
Elias looked a bit surprised, which was quite rare. "You meanâ"
"Yes, he passed away a few years back."
His dark eyes softened. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Car crash," I lied.
"Oh shit."
"Yeah."
We shared a glance. Only a second passed before the pair of us burst into roaring laughter. Perhaps it was the unexpected trauma bonding, or maybe it was just easier to laugh about it than to cry. I wasn't exactly sure why we were laughing like a pair of lunatics, and yet here we were.
"I'm sorry, D," Elias attempted to simmer down, wiping at his eye. "You just told me that your father died in a car crash, and here I am laughing. I must seem like a horrible person."
"That's because you are one."
He gave me a blank look. "Not funny."
"I wasn't joking."
The corners of his lips twitched.
"You can ask, you know," he said after a moment.
"Ask what?"
"Ask what's happened to my mother," he spoke with a forced air of casualty, although his jaw was clenched.
My cheeks heated as I looked up at him. "I'll admit, I was a bit curious, but you don't have to tell me anything."
"It's alright, I want to," he said. "She got diagnosed with lung cancer a few years back. It's usually on and offâshe's beat it before, y'knowâbut the doctor said it's getting worse. She can hardly muster the energy to walk, she's constantly in pain, hell, she can barely even say a sentence without coughing."
He angrily ran a hand through his disheveled hair and took a deep breath.
"Elias," I sadly whispered, "I can't possibly know how you feel, butâ"
"But nothing," he cut me off, face stony. "I shouldn't have said anything."
My heart ached.
"So this is why you do boxing," I quietly realized. "This whole time, I thought you just loved the glamour of itâthe attention the crowd gives you, the power you feel as you beat your opponent."
"I don't give a fuck about those things," he scoffed. "Y'know, our house wasn't always this big. A few years back when Mom got sick again, things were pretty rough for us. She couldn't muster the strength to go to work every day, so she eventually got fired. Without her having a job, it was impossible to afford to pay the bills, and we nearly got evicted. I was only thirteen at the timeâtoo young to get a job. Eventually, I started boxing as a way to release my anger. As the months passed and my ability to fight only improved, scouts began reaching out to me. Next thing you know, I'm making thousands of dollars per match. My mom knows about itâshe hates it. But, it's not like I've got much of a choice, is it? Someone's gotta pay off her medical bills, and someone's gotta take care of the kids."
I realized that Elias and I had more in common than we both thought. For one, we both had dead fathersâit wasn't just that, though. We both had mothers that were incapable of taking care of us. The situation wasn't entirely the same, considering his mother was sick, whereas mine was just a deadbeat. But still, we both had to step up and take care of ourselves, because no one else was, that was for sure.
"Wow, Ellie. It's incredible that you're doing so much to take care of your family, but... who's taking care of you?" I softly questioned.
His voice lowered as he slightly bowed his head. "I don't need taking care of, darling."
Goosebumps arose on my arms as I suddenly took note of our close proximity. A bit of a smirk crept its way onto Elias' lips before he suddenly brushed past me. Slightly frazzled, I tucked my big hair behind my ears before slowly following after him.
We eventually made our way over to one of the living rooms in the grand house (yes, they had multiple). The dark room was dimly lit by the warm fireplace, and above it was a massive flat screen with which the twins watched a movie. Speaking of, Alex and Rocky were sitting on the plush couch in the middle of the room, looking quite cozy as they were surrounded by expensive throw pillows and a sherpa blanket. At the sound of our entrance, the twins looked up.
"Daisy!" they simultaneously exclaimed, immediately scooting over for me.
"What am I, chopped liver?" Elias playfully scowled, messing up the twins' hair. They both squealed and giggled at their older brother's antics. A warm smile made its way over to my face, for it was clear that Elias adored his little siblings, and vice versa.
I resumed a position on the couch next to Elias, before glancing at the twins. "What movie are you guys watching?"
"The Princess and the Frog!" Alex chirped, her big eyes twinkling in excitement.
"Good choice, that's my favorite Disney movie!" I beamed, reaching over to give her a high five.
"Mine too," Rocky eagerly spoke up.
"Liar, you're just saying that to impress Daisy," Alex intervened.
"Not true," Rocky said, blushing. He then glanced up at me thoughtfully. "Daisy, you look just like Princess Tiana."
I playfully clutched my heart. "I'm flattered, Rocky! Although, I'm certainly no princess."
"We know," Elias snorted. I kicked his shin, causing him to grunt.
A peaceful silence ensued as the four of us became engrossed in the animated movie. A month ago, if someone had told me that I'd be sitting on Elias' couch watching a Disney movie with him and his little siblings, I would've laughed in their face. After all, I vividly remembered calling him a buffoon the first time we'd met.
Occasional comments and giggles escaped all of our lips as we watched the movie. Towards the end, I found myself softly yawning.
"You sleepy?" Elias asked.
"Well, considering a yawn typically indicates that one is tiredâ"
He cut off my sarcastic remark by shoving a pillow onto my face.
"I'm too exhausted to deal with your sassiness right now," he dramatically rolled his eyes.
"And so you decide to smother me?" I yelped.
"Shh, lower your voice, the twins are sleeping!"
"Don't shush me, you murderer!"
"If I murdered you, how the fuck are you still talking?"
"Fineâattempted murderer!"
We both froze when Alex slightly shifted on the couch. When we realized that she was still sound asleep, we cast each other murderous glares before focusing on the television again.
As I was too exhausted to sit upright, I found myself gently resting my head on Elias' broad shoulder. I felt as his muscles tensed for a moment, before he released a breath and relaxed once more.
A few minutes passed. I wasn't sure he'd even realized he was doing it, but his hand was softly playing with the tips of my curly hair. It was strange. Usually, I hated when people touched my hair. However, I didn't mind when Elias did it. In fact, I quite liked it.
*****
We finally got to learn more about Elias' history! Sit tight though because there's still a lot more to the story...
Today was a snow day so there was no school! Also the new season of outer banks came out so me and my younger sister are about to binge it, I can't wait.
QOTD: fav movie?
AOTD: all of the harry potter movies!
Thank you so much for over 50k reads you guys are truly amazing I love each and every one of you!!
Love, Emmanuela
02/23/2023