Seven

I had come to start loving mornings, before I used to wish for just a little bit more sleep. Of course, I still followed Ella on her morning ventures, but not quite with the same spirit as I do now. Recently I've found solace in them, away from the dozen curious eyes that seem to watch Ella and I with the same amount of caution and awe. We've been here less than a week and I'm already sick of the rules and lack of freedom I've always been used to.

I've never had to ask for permission to leave the house, or to buy something. I've never had my daily activities more monitored, I've hardly had any alone time with my girlfriend, there is always someone coming to join us, or calling us down when we're alone in the other's bedroom.

From spending almost all hours of the day with someone pressed against me to getting looks of shame for holding her hand to not something I'm used to.

"Steady Ella." I remind her, ready to catch the weight if she happens to drop it. I know she's too stubborn to give up on it even if she's struggling with it but I'm glad she calls me to spot her when she's doing weight lifting, it puts my mind at ease. She eventually places the weight back and sits up on the bench press. Her cheeks are flushed red and the half-hearted ponytail she had thrown her hair into was now sagging from where it had been sitting on the top of her head earlier letting a halo of curly fly-aways to sit atop of her head, looking golden from the light shining through them from the window outside.

We had finally decided to use the police gym we had been invited to and we were pretty impressed. It wasn't as fancy as the gyms we were used to but it was pretty nice, and all the people working out in here were polite but ultimately left us to our own needs. The police force of this town and the neighbouring ones that had pretty high ranks were all pulled into the dilemma we had been brought in on. They didn't know the details because I was pretty sure NITE had at least a couple corrupt cops working for him.

They had been told of our reputation but I think most were wary of our age. We kept getting glances from across the gym, especially when we changed equipment. I think to make sure we could actually use it correctly, but once they saw we knew what we were doing they left us alone to finish our workout. I watched as Ella stretched out her shoulders and arms, catching the water bottle easily as I chucked it at her, taking small sips from it as we watched the cop that had picked us up from the airport walk towards us.

"Good morning Cody." Ella greets politely and I repeat it. The man grins at us with a goofy smile taking a seat on the floor where I was.

"Good morning you two, how have you been settling in?" He had a southern accent like almost everyone seemed to, and it worked for him. It matched his vibe as Ella would say and seemed to pull his look together.

"It's been okay." I answered this time, with a shrug taking sips from the bottle Ella had handed back to me. "We haven't done too much."

"And you guys are starting school today, that's exciting." He sounded like a parent when he said that and laughed as Ella and I both let out soft groans at the reminder. "Come on guys, schools are important."

"Not when you've graduated and are repeating the work." Ella argues her point, a light pout on her lips.

"Didn't you guys used to go to that fancy school back in England, that's school?" Cody asks, he was very good friends with Phoenix, having done missions with him while Nix was in America. Phoenix trusted him and so we extended the same politeness.

"What do you know about RCA?"

"The Reinhart Charter Academy, founded and still run by the Reinhart family, is a school to the most elite of the elite, and has super expensive school fees. It only admits five thousand children per age group, which is an extremely small number considering that it has fifty locations worldwide."

"Uh Uh." Ella confirms. "And do you know anything about the syllabus?" This time he shook his head. "You know why they say age group and not grade, because they encourage children to work at their own pace. You have classes compared to your level and not your age. Sometimes a class can have people ranging from eleven to twenty-three. We graduated high school level work a long time ago and both have multiple degrees. The only reason we still go to school is that we are bound by contract to go until we at least turn eighteen."

"So you've finished school?" Is all he got from Ella's rant making us both blink at him before I stand up, Ella following suit.

"Well as you've said, we've got to get to school." I stand up, grabbing both gym bags and putting them over one shoulder and grab Ella's hand with the other.

"Wait, I wanted you to meet my partners." Cody Evans rushes out. "They've been begging me to introduce them."

Ella subtly glances at me from the corner of her eye and squeezes my hand just once which I return before she speaks up. "Sorry, we'll have to meet them another day, otherwise we'll be late and I still need to shower and pick an outfit." Ella lists our tasks. Ella owns a fashion company, she sees an outfit and knows how to style it instantly. She's not super into make-up, not liking the feeling of it on her face and she's never long in the shower, a habit from our trapped days she never grew out of. She's not outright lying to him but she's definitely exaggerating.

Auriella doesn't wait for him to reply before spinning on her heels and pulling me with her, not stopping when we hear Cody's now familiar voice from behind us.

"You can't hide your dismissal in your British accent, you forget I know Phoenix really well and have spent an excessive amount of time with him." That gets a soft giggle out of Ella. We had gotten used to people not understanding the tone of our voices, we had been getting away with what wouldn't fly back home, and it had become a game for Ella to find out how far she could push before someone realised she wasn't being nice, they were just mesmerised with the way she talked.

"Your mouth might get you in trouble one day, baby." I tell her, opening her door and then tossing the bags in the back seat. "Seat belt please."

Ella does what I ask, reclining her seat a little, laying her head back and closing her eyes. "What's on your mind, love?"

She doesn't answer me for a few moments, seemingly putting her thoughts in order before answering me. "We have a lot of things to do today. I was given clearance to use my laptop in class so at least I can work while relearning useless information. I need to go over the outfits for the winter collection that's coming out in a few months. We also need to get updates on the manufacturing of the prototypes we sent through, we need to get them in so we can start reviewing them. I also need to call Adelina for a consultation for the dress she needs for an event coming up so I can start drawing it up and last thing for today I need to have a meeting with team AGB 12."

"Okay." I let her words sink in. "First, CAI, please list everything Auriella just said and put it into a checklist and send it to all first-priority devices." First priority devices were the ones we used everyday, our phones, laptops, tablets and smart watches. All devices are interconnected so when we check off a task it crosses off on all devices.

I wait for the automated voice to reply to me before continuing.

Requesting identification before continuing

"Alexander Nathaniel Rozzi." I also place my fingerprint on the steering wheel for it to register and when it does the voice continues.

Task completed, is there anything else I can do for you Mr. Rozzi."

"Please add to the list if anything new is added." I say to the tech then face Ella for a second when I stop at a light. "Now, what do you need me to do?"

We hold eye contact and I see her scanning me, my eyes doing the best to reassure her before she slumps back in her seat with a sigh but I can see the pressure dissipation from her shoulders. Some days the pressure gets to one of us, I mean we're teenagers doing more than a lot more than most people could dream of, and that's the reason we started it together. Alas, we struggle and squash under the weight of our immeasurable pressure but together we can take on the world.

"I need you to get in contact with the part suppliers we have in Southern Asia." She speaks. "I have a couple contracts I've reviewed but I want you to go through them with the notes I've added before we send them to Scarlett for her to go through them."

"I also need to go through blueprints and do a ton of paperwork for Optimum." I grumble with dread. "For Ambivalent I have to call the suppliers like you said and call up a couple of other people that are potential chain clients for some countries that we haven't made direct links to by putting our products in their stores."

I dealt with business outside of our company more, going to meetings with potential partners, suppliers and contracts while Ella deals with our employees and all the internal contact.

Ella's lips purse as the houses come into view.

"Ella." I breathe out, driving a lot slower so I can finish talking to her. "Are you uncomfortable in that home?" I never want to hear in a situation she doesn't like, even if that means dropping the mission, it's still not too late to back out.

"It's not that." She blows a stray piece of hair out of her face. "It's just a bit tense, the parents, Emmeline and Gabriel got back last night. I had fun hanging out with the others yesterday but then the parents, Emmeline and Gabriel get back and it's like a switch is flipped and suddenly all life is drained out of every single one of those boys, they have all yearned for their parents love and have never been showed it, now all that's left is resentment and a whole lot of awkwardness. And you want to know what the worst part is, Nicholas and Lilliana don't even realise how much they've tossed their kids aside, they don't realise how they favour only two of their children, they don't even realise they've included me into the equation as well. They know I exist but I'm not at the forefront of their mind like the other two are."

Auriella doesn't care that she's not getting acknowledged, in fact I know she prefers it. I can read it on her face so it takes me a second to understand why she's upset about it.

"You feel sorry for the boys?" A single nod.

"Crew and Nolan did everything to support those boys, monetarily especially. They worked all the time they could to pay for basketball for Grayson, getting instruments for Ezra and car parts for Elijah. Grayson though is the one who meets Elijah and Ezra's emotional needs, especially. He's the one who makes sure they eat, have enough sleep, he sits with Ezra for hours while he's struggling through his school work, and listens to Elijah while he drones on about cars even though he doesn't seem to have the slightest interest in them." Her face is one of pity, for the boys who never got a proper childhood. "I love Papa and I wish everyone had even one parent who loves them more than anything else on earth."

Auriella knew the horrors of the world, as well as most people did. But that didn't mean she hoped that it would change, that everyone would have the life they dreamed of. But this was one of those things she needed to do on her own. She knew I was in her corner ready if she needed something from me but this is something she needed to personally do.

"You know I've got your back right." She knows this but I know she likes the reassurance.

"Yeah, I know." She breathes out and we both sit in the car for a second parked in front of the Taylor House. Ella grabs my head turning me to face her and presses a light kiss onto my lips before letting go but keeping our faces close enough that we could feel each other's breaths brushing our skin. "I love you Lex. And I would kiss you more but I'm not into having an audience."

As she said that I caught a glimpse of long blonde hair in a window, Ella had a talent for spotting things no one seems. She was scarily observant and most of the time that's a blessing.

"Go get dressed, baby. I'll see you just now." I tell her and she nods, jumping out of the car with her bag and I wait until she's in the house before I leave driving a few seconds to the Walker house.

"Good morning." I greet, it was Eleanor, Madison and Liam sitting in the kitchen, both teens looking half-asleep and from the few days I had lived here I had gathered that neither were morning people, Harper on the other hand was. I had met her the day before, only for a brief lunch before her and Nolan had to head back to their college which was an hour and a half by car. We didn't talk to them too much other than formal greetings, because Nolan stuck to Crew and Harper and Olivia seem to be really close friends.

"Damn, you have muscles." Liam states, looking wide eyes at my arms which were on display with the sleeveless gym top I had on.

"I do a lot of weight and strength training." I will explain. "I have since I started going through puberty. Anyways I need to grab a quick shower, I'll be down soon."

It was said that girls took forever choosing an outfit, but in mine and Ella's relationship it was the opposite. Ella can look at her closet, choose one thing she wants to wear and knows how to style it in seconds and she always looks nice. My hardest task was trying to match her aesthetic because I know what we wear in our daily lives, even if we think it doesn't, reflects back on her brand. If I don't look my best yet I'm wearing clothes from her company then it doesn't shine back good on her.

So I took a gamble with a crew neck sweater and some jeans and breathed out a sigh of relief when Ella came out wearing basically the same thing, except her sweater was from Chanel rather than from her company like my own.

"Are you sure wearing designer clothes to school is a good idea?" Emmeline asks, scanning us both from head to toe but ultimately settling her gaze on Ella who acts once again oblivious to the hidden hostility in her tone. "It might get ruined."

"If it does, it doesn't really matter. It's only a sweater." Ella shrugged.

"The money could have gone to someone who needed it rather than someone spending it on you who seems ungrateful." Emmeline muttered and Ella's eyes narrowed on her sister.

Ella made her face look confused as she answered. "I'm ungrateful because I'm wearing an outfit I bought with my own money rather than letting it sit in my closet without being used for its purpose."

Emmeline looked a bit embarrassed and angry but walked off with Gabriel, Madi and Liam.

"Why didn't you stand up for her?" Elijah asks as we walk over to the car and I shrug.

"Ev doesn't need or want me to fight her battles, and I won't insult her by interfering."

"Insult her?"

"She knows I want to protect her but she also knows I trust her enough to know how much she can handle. I won't underestimate her, that doesn't get anyone anywhere."

"I don't get it."

"You will one day." I shrug easily, slipping into the driver's seat. Ezra and Elijah had asked to drive with Elle and I so they both sat in the backseat while Ella took the passenger seat.

"Sorry about Em, Everleigh." Ezra apologises for his twin, Elle looks up from her phone and turns and shoots him a smile.

"Don't apologise for things that aren't your fault or weren't in your control." The car ride is silent until Ella's phone starts ringing. She glances at the caller ID and lets out a soft 'finally' before answering the Facetime. And by the look Ella was giving to the other person on the side of the screen it wasn't going to end well for them.

So how were your guys weeks, aren't you glad it's almost Friday.

I've gotten a couple people asking me for the old version of Perilous Intelligence and I've been emailing out but would you like me to put up another book with the old version?

I told my dad he had an RBF the other day, him and my little brother's didn't know what that meant but my mom found it really funny and they all did when I told them what it was.

For the past few months my families love language has been to bully on another and honestly this is the healthiest our relationship has ever been.

Please don't forget to leave a vote and comment

Ara <3