Jude groaned as he opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing his head before he realized he was on the couch. Looking around a little dazed he wondered how that happened, before last night's memories washed into his mind, making him blush a dark, dark red. Milla had stayed overnight at the apartment, they had talked, watched TV before Jude allowed her to take his bed since he was a kind person. Wondering if she was awake, Jude got up, walked to his room and opened the door; seeing her still fast asleep on the bed. Jude smiled and looked at the clock on the bedside table, it was six in the morning, so he still had time to make breakfast and get ready for school as school started at eight.
Sighing in relief, he was about to close the door when he felt someone behind him. "You got some serious explaining to do mister." A voice whispered harshly in his ear and Jude went pale and spun around. "Alvin!" Jude whispered harshly, quickly closing the door. "W-w-what're you doing back already? You weren't supposed to be back until noon!" Jude exclaimed, hoping to slip off the hook easy. "Ludger showed up and helped out with the job I took, he's currently at Elle's place to assure the little girl that he ain't hurt." Alvin explained before eyeing the room, and then looking at Jude suspicious. "What I want to know is why is there a woman in your room?" Alvin said with a 'I-am-not-amused' look. "L-listen, I c-can explain, you see…" Jude recounted what happened yesterday and last night, letting Alvin know that nothing bad went on last night.
"We watched a movie that she fell asleep halfway through, so I let her take the bed. She's a guest, I'm not going to let her take the couch." Jude explained afterwards, watching Alvin's reaction. Alvin hummed a bit seemingly lost in thought; he knew Milla slightly as he always saw her at the school whenever he helped out. Not to mention the odd jobs he did for the Maxwell family; not like he'd tell Jude that though. He knew very little about the Maxwell's, though he did know things weren't good between Milla and her Uncle; after Manah died and Muzet got engaged, he heard things went downhill for Milla and her Uncle. Though she seemed okay with her father, it seemed Manah's passing hit Milla's Uncle worse than it did her father, which was odd and he suspected Milla's Uncle blamed Milla for it. Truth be told, he was concerned about Milla's welfare; during one of his odd jobs there he had seen first hand how bad their relationship was.
-Flashback- Alvin was walking through the main hall of the mansion, making sure he memorized where everything would need to be and where to go when he finished. He heard footsteps far off behind him and turned around before he hid behind a pillar, he knew Maxwell expected him to be gone already, no need to alarm the Senator. He saw Milla Maxwell walking on the second floor, eyes downcast as she kept her head down, not meeting any of the maid's or butler's gazes. As her Uncle approached her she stopped, keeping her gaze firmly on the ground.
He noticed them speak but couldn't hear them; then he saw her Uncle smack her, sending her to the ground. Alvin's eyes widened as Milla grunted and the maid's and butler's backed up...all except one who quickly ran to her side and helped her sit up. "WORTHLESS CHILD! HOW CAN MY BROTHER STAND YOU?!" Her Uncle shouted before storming off, and the butler who helped Milla sit up helped her off the ground and down the stairs where he saw Alvin. He allowed Milla to walk to the medical wing, then made his way over to Alvin, keeping in the shadow's. "I take it you saw that?" The elder man questioned, in which Alvin nodded. "Yes, and you are?" Alvin asked, being polite.
"My name is Rowen, I'm Milla's personal butler; I've watched her since she was young." Rowen replied before looking around and lowered his voice. "Please don't speak to anyone about what you have seen here today, Milla's Uncle truly loves Milla but he doesn't know how to show it. Plus Milla doesn't wish to alarm anyone; please don't tell anyone, I'll handle things." Rowen stated and though Alvin gritted his teeth in anger, he agreed...though he felt a bitter taste in his mouth. -Flashback end.-
Alvin kept true to his agreement since that fateful day three months ago, no one knew what went on behind closed doors but him, Milla and her butler, Rowen. So lost in his thoughts he hadn't noticed Jude had gone to make breakfast until he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Huh?" Alvin looked up, seeing the curious look of red-purple eyes from the beautiful blonde, Milla. "Are you okay?" Milla asked, holding a hand close to her chest in worry. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm okay, don't worry." Alvin responded and stood up. "Anyways, let me introduce myself, names Alvin Mathis." Alvin said, giving Milla a handsome smile. "Nice to meet you Alvin, Milla Maxwell is my name." Milla responded in greeting, shaking his hand when he held it out. "I knew Jude might have family but I hadn't expected it to be Ms. Yamano's assistant." Milla responded and Alvin chuckled.
"Yeah, we get that a lot actually." Alvin responded and Milla smiled. "Food's ready!" Jude called from the kitchen and Milla immediately ran in when she smelt something good. 'Best way to worm yourself into someone's heart is to feed them.' Alvin thought with an amused sigh and an amused roll of his eyes. As they all sat down to eat, Alvin told Jude he'd let Ludger know of the situation so the older brother wouldn't flip out, Jude thanked him for that. Milla questioned Jude about the other older brother, asking if Alvin and Ludger were twins. "Nah, me and Ludger aren't twins, I come from Jude's dad's side of the family." Alvin started, deciding it'd be best to explain to Milla the family.
"My mother died when I was young and during that time Jude's mother had Ludger. Ludger's dad died around the same time my mother did; and the two meet during the funeral's as they were the same day." Alvin explained with a smile as he remembered the meeting. "They kept meeting, one thing lead to another where my dad married Ludger's mother, then Jude was born. Me and Ludger are related through marriage, there's no blood relation between us aside from Jude but we still consider each other brother's." Alvin explained and Milla hummed.
"I see, so even though you two aren't related by blood you are still very close. I admire things in family like that, it shows tight bonds." Milla beamed a smile at Alvin, who chuckled. "Yeah, I guess one could consider that." Alvin said before looking at his watch, and going pale. "You two better hurry up to school if you don't wanna be late. It's already seven!" Alvin shouted and Jude panicked as did Milla. "Alright, glad we're already done eating. Let's go Milla!" Jude said grabbing everything he needed as did Milla. After they were sure they had everything, Jude grabbed her hand before running out the door and down the street, keeping a tight hold on Milla's hand.
As they entered the school courtyard they both stopped to catch their breath, still holding the other's hand before they looked at one another and laughed. "I've never ran so fast in my life!" Milla exclaimed with a beaming smile that Jude returned. "Same here, I've forgotten I live closer to the school than I thought." Jude said and they shared another laugh. They soon felt eyes on them and looked around, noticing many were talking and whispering to one another staring at them. They looked at each other before they looked down, realizing they were still holding the other's hand. Jude quickly removed his hand and scratched the back of his neck, even as Milla rubbed her cheek. "S-sorry." Jude said and Milla looked at him, before smiling. "It's okay, come; class will begin shortly." Milla said and walked on in, Jude right behind her.
Jude didn't understand, he was able to focus for once in class...but his hand felt unusually empty, like it needed to have something in it. Then his mind started to drift off as he imagined Milla's hand in his and his cheeks flushed before he rubbed his neck, trying to distract himself from that thought. The day passed by slowly before school was out and Milla was waiting by Jude's locker for him, her stuff already in her bag and when he appeared, she smiled. "There you are." Milla said softly and Jude gave a nervous smile. "Sorry, did I make you wait?" Jude asked, but Milla shook her head. "Not really, took me awhile to find your locker but thanks to a girl called Leia, I knew where to wait for you." Milla said softly and Jude chuckled nervously.
His childhood friend Leia showed Milla where his locker was...great...hopefully she didn't know the combination either or that would be embarrassing. If Leia knew, then she'd see the picture's Jude had in there that he believed was time to take out...as a precautionary measure. "Alright, well let me grab what I need, then we'll go." Jude said and Milla nodded before Jude opened his locker, grabbed his stuff, taking the picture's as well and they left. "Wait!" A voice said, stopping Jude and Milla and they saw a girl with short brown hair, green eyes, wearing the female outfit running toward them.
"Hold on you two!" She said as she stopped by them to catch her breath. "Leia, what is it?" Jude asked and Leia smiled up at him. "Where are you two headed?" Leia asked, green eyes showing excitement. "I was about to head back to Jude's place to grab my stuff, then maybe go see my sister." Milla said and Leia hummed. "Is that all?" She questioned and they nodded. "Boring! I think we all should do something else!" Leia said and Milla rose a brow. "We?" Milla questioned, Leia nodded excitedly.
"Yeah, you know; like go hang out at the park, go out to eat, do something together!" She said excitedly as her green eyes sparkled. "I know you and Jude have hung out, but I haven't been able to hang out with Jude at all. And-!" Leia pointed and finger at Milla, making the woman jerk back a bit. "I've really been wanting to get to know you for a while now!" Leia said and Milla rose a brow. "If you've wanted to get to know me, then you could've just spoken to me." Milla stated and Leia sweat-dropped while Jude chuckled. "Well, now that we have time; let's go!" Leia said before grabbed their wrists and dragged them off. "WAIT!" Jude shouted in protest while Milla only laughed with Leia.
[~~~~~*~~~~~]
Jude sighed as Leia recounted tales of her working with him at a volunteer clinic to Milla, who listened with an attentiveness that Jude had never seen before. It was odd, in Jude's opinion, that Milla would be so interested to learn about him; but he guessed it was because she was genuinely curious about him. He suddenly felt eyes on him and looked up, seeing Milla looking at him curiously. "Did you really cure patient's on your own?" Milla questioned and while Jude seemed shocked, he nodded.
"Yeah, my parents found it shocking that I knew what they were sick with, so I quickly treated them when I noticed the symptoms. It's one of the reasons I'm at Fenmont, to learn how to be a professional doctor." Jude explained with a smile, he had always wanted to help people. Milla smiled at that, he had a natural feeling to help people; maybe it was that 'need to help people' that lead them to one another. When she needed help against Ivar who was trying to do something to her, Jude stepped right in and pushed him back...but now Milla was curious.
How did he know how to fight? "Jude, if you're trying to be a doctor, how come you know how to fight?" Milla asked and Jude seemed shocked at first. "How to fight?" He repeated before he completely registered her question. "Oh! Well, you see Ludger and Alvin both taught me hand-to-hand combat so I could protect myself should something not go right." Jude explained and Milla nodded in understanding. "Me and Jude did a lot of practising when Alvin and Ludger started training him as I was also learning martial arts at the time." Leia interjected, and Milla nodded
"I know very little fighting but it's required within the Maxwell family to learn all one can about fighting techniques." Milla explained as she tapped a finger against her chin. "My father always said: 'You never know when you will need to fight, so keep the lessons learned in mind.' He taught me mainly about using a sword." Milla said, before her smile slowly faded. "Though my Uncle wishes he would stop with the silly nonsense of having me in school." she said softly afterwards, making Leia and Jude frown at this.
"I take it you and your Uncle don't get along well?" Leia questioned and Milla gave a slow nod. "Yes...ever since my mother, Manah, died when me and Muzet were young; my Uncle has never been the same." Milla said but would explain no further; she didn't want them to worry. "I'm sorry to hear-!" Jude jumped as Milla's cellphone rang who jumped a little as well. "Sorry." Milla apologized and answered her phone. "Hello?" She questioned when her eyes suddenly widened. "Uncle!" Milla shouted in surprise, making the two jump.
"N-no, I'm with my-! Uncle please, understand that-!" Milla jerked away from the phone and they heard shouting, though they couldn't really understand. "Uncle, I swear I am fine. Enough with the nonsense; you are not my father, so stop acting like it!" Milla shouted as she shot from her chair, reddish/purple eyes burning in anger. "I've never seen Milla so angry before." Leia spoke softly to Jude, who nodded. "Same here, I hope everything's okay." Jude responded before they heard Milla growl. "No thanks, I can walk home myself!" Milla shouted before slamming her phone shut, cutting off any response from her Uncle. "Your Uncle calls you more than your father?" Leia questioned, a little unnerved.
Milla scoffed, glaring at her phone. "That's what he does, says he's checking in on me in place of father as he has duties to attend to." Milla responded as she grabbed her bag. "I should probably get going so my Uncle doesn't send anyone to find me. I really don't want to have to deal with him today." She stated with a sigh and Jude quickly stood up. "I'll go with you." Jude offered and Leia nodded with a bright smile. "Same here, no need for you to be by yourself." Leia reasoned and Milla seemed shocked, before she smiled. Maybe this was what she needed...a reason to keep living, a reason to deal with what she's been taking lately. She nodded, allowing them to accompany her to her estate, all three laughing and talking along the way. Though they did stop at Jude's place to grab her stuff before heading back to the Maxwell Estate.