The Ones Who Failed Us

Chapter 27

Teddy and I were in the library, enjoying the rare moments of solitude we had together ever since Alessandro and Sophia had decided we were "too dependent" on one another. The past three days had been unbearable for the both of us, but our brothers were too stubborn to change their decision.

It didn't affect Teddy as much as me since the only time we were completely separated was at night. At least he had Elijah to help him through the nightmares, but me? I was too angry at Alessandro to accept any help from him, and I wouldn't forgive him until he realized how damaging this was to me.

I was struggling to pay attention to my little brother as he read The Lightning Thief to me. Rubbing my eyes, I fought the urge to fall asleep, hoping that I hadn't wiped away the makeup covering the dark bags under my eyes.

Teddy noticed my movement and shot me a concerned look. "When was the last time you slept?"

I dismissed his question with a wave of my hand. "Don't worry about it, Teds. I'm surviving."

Knowing I wouldn't listen to advice, he entangled his hand in mine and gave a reassuring squeeze. "They'll understand soon."

"And if they don't?"

Teddy smirked at me. "We'll have to sneak you into my room every night. They'll never know."

"What did you say?"

Our necks snapped to the source of the voice and saw Alessandro eyeing us with a speculative glance. Teddy's smile quickly faltered upon seeing our brother. This boy really knows how to hold a grudge. I taught him well.

Teddy turned his attention back to the book in hand and continued reading in silence, giving Alessandro the cold shoulder. I was about to follow suit when Alessandro said, "I came to tell you that Peyton is here. She wanted to spend some time and get to know the both of you. She's waiting by the front door."

Nodding to Teddy, I took his hand and shoved past Alessandro as we made our way to the front door. We soon saw Peyton standing at the front door talking to Elijah. Their conversation stopped upon seeing us, and they sent a smile in our direction.

"Hey, honey! It's good to see you again," Peyton said.

"Hey, Peyton," I said, ignoring Elijah as we walked towards them.

When we reached them, Peyton bent down towards Teddy. "And this must be the youngest Russo. It's nice to meet you, Teddy," she said, extending her hand to him.

Teddy shook Peyton's hand and smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, too."

Straightening up from her position, Peyton said, "We should probably get going."

"Wait." Alessandro pulled out a wallet from his pocket and held out a credit card towards me. "In case you two want to buy anything while you're out."

I glared at my oldest brother and said, "I'll accept this, but only because I don't want Peyton spending any money on us. Just remember that this doesn't change a single thing between us."

Alessandro's head lowered as I took the credit card from his hand and walked out the door with Teddy in tow. Peyton soon caught up to us as we got closer to the driveway.

As we got closer to Peyton's car, I noticed a young boy with short blond hair sitting in the back. Confusion swept over my face as I turned back to Peyton and raised an eyebrow. "That's my nephew. He's in town for Christmas, and since him and Teddy are the same age, I thought it would be nice for them to have some fun together."

Opening up the back door, she introduced the two of us to him. "Hey, Nick. This is Ava and Teddy."

He shyly waved his hand at us before whispering, "Hi." Teddy and I greeted him back and sat down in the car.