“I think he likes his present,” says Leah giggling, and I duck my head to try and meet his eyes.
“Thank you,” he says as he brushes his thumb over my bottom lip, and I smile in return before climbing off his lap and returning to my seat once more.
It wasn’t much, not really. Noah had mentioned once before that Amias may throw himself into his fighting programmes, but he had a fascination with art and secretly wanted to be an architect. So, I brought him an easel, charcoal pencils and everything else an artist could want, as well as a chance to have a top artist visit the school and give him a few private lessons.
“Have you opened the one I left in your room?” Amias asks, and I shake my head before pulling it out of my pocket.
I could tell it was jewellery but didn’t have a clue what type it could be.
“It’s from all of us, Noah got the bits we needed, I planned it and Elijah designed it. Ivy is impossible to get hold of when she leaves the school, so she doesn’t get any credit for it.” He says it all so quickly, barely stopping for a breath. I think he’s nervous about what my reaction may be.
“Amias, your rambling, calm down,” I say as I open it gently and come up short.
I don’t know what to think, it’s a dog tag with an engraving of my brother’s face and our initials on the back. Damn it I really want to cry and find out how they got the picture, but mainly cry.
“How, why?” My words have abandoned me, I can’t even string a sentence together.
“I can’t speak for Noah, but Elijah and I both like you and this is our way of saying that we’ll find a way of dealing with that, and we want you to be happy. At least this way you can keep him close to your heart.” His words make my heart sing. “As for how, Noah convinced Mattias to help him get your brother’s photo. He would have done it himself, but he’s not been able to get on his computer while he’s at home.”
“You hacked my emails?” Looking at Mattias I can tell he doesn’t know how to react, but he does nod his head and admit to it.
“I would have asked but they wanted it to be a surprise, I’m sorry,” he says, and I can’t have him feeling guilty over this.
“Hey, don’t be sorry. But I do think you need to stop being my knight, it could turn into a full time job.” Saying this with a wink brings a smile to his face, and even though he’s not my type, I can’t understand why he would be all alone at Christmas, he’s a freaking catch.
Eleven
Break ends tomorrow and I still haven’t opened the gift from my dad, Amias is holding me hostage until I man up and do it. I just don’t know if I can, I have no idea what to expect.
“Do you want me to open it?” Amias asks and instantly regrets it when I jump at the offer.
“Fine, give it here.” I hand it over willingly and turn my back to him as he opens it.
“Little cub, I think you’re going to want to see this. There’s a couple of things here, and I can tell they are going to mean a hell of a lot more to you than they do me.”
He lays his hand on my shoulder as he pl
aces the box on my bed in front of me and I instantly break. He doesn’t hesitate to pull me into his arms and I’m crying so hard I don’t even hear my door open or someone come in. The only thing that gives it away is another pair of arms wrapping around me and I look up in shock as I see Elijah standing at my side.
“I got back earlier than expected, are you okay? What did he do?” Elijah asks, shooting daggers at Amias.
“It wasn’t me, it was a gift from her dad that caused this,” Amias says darkly, sounding thoroughly offended
“What’s the matter foxy?” Elijah has his usual jovial smile in place, but he’s worried, that’s as clear as day to see.
“You need a new nickname, her new friend is called Roxie,” comes from Amias as he brushes my hair away from my face.
“It’s okay, it’s just that the ring on the chain was Elliott’s and my dad has given it to me, along with plenty of pictures and a Christmas card he wrote when I was a kid. I’ve been ignoring him since I got here, and I don’t know how to make it right.” My voice is thick and clogged with too many emotions to name, but shame is definitely among them.
“Just talk to him, clearly something went down to make you cut yourself off from him. I think he’ll understand,” Elijah says, and I pull away from both of them, putting the chain around my neck with the dog tag the guys got me.
“Is everyone else back?” I ask, and Elijah confirms that Noah is, but Ivy won’t be back till later tonight.
I ask the guys to give me some privacy so I can ring my dad and we arrange to meet up in a couple of hours for lunch, I really don’t want to make this call.
It didn’t go as badly as I thought it would, but I couldn’t talk to my mum. Too much bad blood to work through at the moment. I’m more than willing to own up to my mistakes but she won’t.
School is now back in session and we all fall back into our roles as students and teachers. I keep to my word and spend time with Bella, but I can’t ignore the feeling that there’s something she wants to say, even if she won’t come out and actually say it.