Page 35 of Protector

Rolling my eyes, I head over to the window and look out at the driveway, watching a car pull up, and a man, who I recognise by now as Kennedy Harlow, leader of the Second District, exit the car and walk up the steps to the house.

A few minutes later, just as I go to walk away, the rear passenger door opens and a girl with dark hair like mine, who looks like she could be the same age as me, steps out. She wipes her forehead with the back of her hand like she’s hot, and then looks around her, studying the building I call my home.

I disappear half behind the curtain, scared she’ll see me watching her, although maybe it would be a good thing for a stranger to spot me.

For someone to finally see me.

After a few more seconds of her curious gaze over the mansion, she turns, walking to the fountain where the car is parked and dipping her hand in to wet her face, then perching on the edge of it.

The longer she looks at the brick wall, the more I build up the courage to step out from behind the curtain. To wave, to make myself known.

She looks kind, and I imagine for a second what it would be like to have a girlfriend. Someone I can talk to about stuff. Stuff I can’t talk to King or Dax about, to Puck and Maria.

Just as I go to step out from the curtain, King walks up to the girl, making her jump and lose her balance, but King reaches out to stop her from falling.

My heart stutters, and although I have been envious of King all my life for the freedom he has, it’s only now, in this moment, that I feel resentful towards him.

I can’t stop the bitter acid taste on my tongue, seeing King have another thing that I want first.

They talk for a few minutes and it’s then that I see the smile on King’s face and what looks like him to be laughing.

King, laughing. It’s something none of us get to see much anymore now that our dad’s got to him.

They both sit back down on the edge of the fountain, and moments after that, the girl's arm reaches out and pushes King into the water. My jaw drops open, and a little laugh falls from my lips. Damn, I wish I had filmed that.

The girl laughs, King surprisingly still smiling, and seconds later, he’s pulling her in behind him.

They look so carefree and happy, when King swipes some of her hair behind her ear, leaning in.

They look like how kids our age should feel. Like how I feel when I’m with Puck.

But the moment is broken for them when Kennedy comes storming up to them from the mansion steps, his shout so loud I can hear it through the closed window.

“Theodora Harlow!”

So the girl must be his daughter. I take note of the way she reacts to him, how she flinches away from my brother instantly, how her eyes widen in a slight panic at the presence of her father.

I instantly want to call out to her. To tell her that our fathers don’t mean a thing. That we can be so much more than they expect of us.

She goes to run to the car, when King stops her, holding on to her hand. After whatever he said, returning the smile back onto her face, she runs to the car, climbing into the back seat again.

And just like all rom-coms, the moment ends, and the car is flying down the driveway and out of the gates.

I don’t hear my door unlocking. I don’t even hear Puck entering the room and apologising for not being here when my door got locked.

I just watch King, watching the car peel out of the driveway, a look of longing on his face before the sad expression returns that we’ve all become familiar with.

I’ve always been so selfish and self-centred around the hand life dealt me that I’ve never taken into account how hard it must be for my brother.

Whilst I don’t have a single ounce of attention from Carlo, King has it all. But it’s not in the way a father should love a son. It’s the way a lieutenant would command a soldier.

King has always done what he can for me, to be there for me. Maybe I should start being there for him a little more.

Later that day, I try to find Puck, King, and Dax, but they’re nowhere to be found. Not in their rooms, not in the gym or outside. The only conclusion I have is that they have left the house, and my heart sinks a little that they’ve left without saying goodbye, but that they also won’t be here to ring in my birthday. Not that it’s ever something we’ve done before, but I was hoping that, because it’s my sixteenth, we could all stay up till midnight.

The fact I can’t find Puck is crushing. I thought he would want to be with me, at least.

Walking through the hallway back from checking the boys’ rooms, I pass Maria, and she dips her head in. Instantly, I know something is off.

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