INVALID MOVE

"You're disgusting."

I was forced to make a choice - agree to take up on Aleistor's offer to drive me home or wait until Claude and Sebastian finished their club practices and drove me home in either a tense silence or drilling me about what happened at lunch earlier; which they had surely heard all about.

It was a hard choice to make.

"So…" Aleistor began. "Not to look a gift horse in the mouth but… you only let me drive you when you don't really want to go home." I gazed uninterestedly out of the window, watching the boring scenery pass by. It had begun to rain and the small drops steadily hit the window of the car.

Aleistor continued when I failed to respond. "So, do you want to go... eat something?"

As much I wanted to say no, I really, really didn't want to go home. My brothers wouldn't be home for a while and it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to spend a bit more of my time with Aleistor.

As much as it pained me to admit.

"I guess..." I mumbled. "But if you call it a date, I'm screaming bloody murder and leaving. And I'm paying for myself."

"Agreed," Aleistor quickly replied.

With that settled, Aleistor drove us to a cafe that I frequented. I hadn't had a chance to go to the cafe recently since I couldn't drive myself without my car.

It was pretty far away from the school so the only people I usually saw in here were regulars, older couples, a single mother that was always typing on her computer, and a lone teenage boy that was always reading a book.

I walked to the spot I always sat in when I came here; against the window at the furthest corner of the small cafe. Aleistor sat down across from me. I decided to ignore the fact that he knew where this place was or that I would want to come here at all.

"Aren't you supposed to be having practice today, too?" I asked, although I couldn't really care less about the answer.

Aleistor scowled. "Well… Seeing as I am no longer team captain, I don't necessarily have to be there. Sebastian will scold me for it later, but I couldn't live with myself knowing that I missed a rare opportunity to be at your service."

Before I could produce a response to his disgusting ideas of romanticism, one of the employees approached us.

"Hey, Aria. Been awhile since I've seen you around here," Alan said, cheerfully. He was the teenage son of the owners, so he worked here every day after school. Though, I didn't know what school he went to since I'd never seen him at ours.

When I had first began coming here, he was taken aback by me, not drooling over me as I would expect. It was almost as if I was extremely interesting to him but over time, he's seemed to have gotten used to me.

He sent a curious glance towards Aleistor who was glaring at him but said nothing about it.

"Driving is hard sometimes," I stated nonchalantly. Alan frowned in confusion but after a moment, he chuckled and shook his head.

"So, your usual, I'm guessing?" I nodded.

"And for Mr. Chamber?" Aleistor cocked an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"I don't live under a rock," Alan scoffed.

"Do you have Earl Grey tea?" There were no menus at this cafe. The owners claimed it's a lot easier for a customer to ask for what they wanted and then decide whether or not they had the ingredients to make it.

"I believe we do," Alan replied after a second of thought.

"Then I'll have that. No cream. One sugar."

"Alright. Back in a minute." Alan left for the kitchen and left me alone with Aleistor again.

"So, are you going to that 'Back to School' party?" Aleistor asked after a moment of silence. I hadn't heard anything about that party since those idiots were talking by my locker.

"No. But if you're going, you should take Freckles with you. She'll appreciate it."

"Why don't you ever go to any parties? Your brothers always go. I'd think that they would drag you along with them."

"Claude doesn't want me to go. Sebastian always tries to drag me with him, although I'm pretty sure I'll be under house arrest after today. Not that I want to go anyways; parties aren't my thing."

"I still don't understand why they're so overprotective of you. I guess I can understand Claude, but Sebastian doesn't really make any sense."

"Well, if you weren't yelling in front of the entire student body that Ciel Phantomhive 'caressed my face', maybe I'd be in less danger of house arrest," I replied sardonically, rolling my eyes at him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Alan bringing our drinks over to us.

"Black coffee and an Earl Grey with one sugar," he calls out respectively as he put our drinks down. "Anything else I can get for you? We have some muffins and coffee cake in the back," he offers. Alan knows that I don't ever get food here, so I assume he's asking Aleistor and stay silent.

"No, thank you," Aleistor answers.

"Okay. Well, give me a call if you need anything," Alan says and after shooting me a small smile, goes over to another customer, notepad in hand. Aleistor scowls at his back and then immediately continues our conversation.

"He did caress your face and I apologize if my ranting about it has gotten you into trouble. But, speaking of parties, don't you turn seventeen in April? The twenty-second right? Are you going to be doing anything?" I put the cup of coffee back down before I can get a sip of it. I was completely taken aback by the question and even more surprised that he knew when my birthday was. My eyes narrowed suspiciously at him.

"How do you even know when my birthday is? I've never told you it." Aleistor drank his tea with a cheerful smile on his face.

"You've told me it before." I frowned at him. There was absolutely no way that I consciously told him information about myself like that.

"No. I didn't." Aleistor sighed, realizing I wasn't going to fall for his terrible lie.

"Very well. I won't lie to my precious bird. I was in the attendance office once and I saw a file with your name on it, so I looked through it."

"You're disgusting," I spat before finally taking a sip of my coffee. Aleistor leaned towards me and swept a stray piece of hair back behind my ear.

"But that's what you love about me, right?" I immediately started to regret my decision of coming here with him. Maybe I should have taken a lecture from Claude. He was being disgusting and it was really starting to piss me off.

"My mother is planning on throwing me a birthday party,-" If it could even be called that. "-So I'll be celebrating it in London."

"Ooh, London? My third favorite place to be besides Paris and next to you, of course!"

"Shut up," I snapped, beginning to regret my decision more with each second that passed.

"Am I invited?" he asked excitedly and I couldn't stop the annoyance from appearing on my face.

"Of course not. Claude and Sebastian barely got an invitation."

"What?!" Aleistor whined. "How come?"

"Because I don't want you there." I answered tiredly, taking a long drink of my coffee.

"There's no need to be shy! Of course you want me to be there!" he bounced back quickly. "You should ask your mother if I can attend, but I was referring to your brothers. Surely a mother would want her own children to celebrate each other's birthdays?"

Why must people ask so many unnecessary questions? There was absolutely no way that my answer could affect his life in any way at all. Yet, he still wanted to know.

"If I tell you, you are going to swear to me that you won't ask any more questions," I acquiesced, sighing deeply.

Aleistor looked delighted. "See? Wasn't that easy? I always tell you that there's no reason to be so difficult."

"Swear," I repeat.

"I swear!"

"We all have different mothers," I explained in between sips of coffee. "My mother, in particular, is not fond of Claude or Sebastian and her family is even less fond of them."

Aleistor looked deep in thought for a minute, gently stirring his tea.

"I can't really say that I'm surprised…not only do you all have different last names, but you all are very… different. But if your mother dislikes your brothers so much, why do you live with them instead of her? And you said once that you only live with them. What about their mothers? What about your father? Where are all of them at?" I raised an eyebrow at him in extreme annoyance.

He noticed my change of expression and immediately stopped talking. "Oh. I did just swear, didn't I? I apologize. I was so overcome with wanting to know more about you I couldn't stop myself!"

I sighed heavily and reached into my tote bag, grabbing my wallet. I pulled out a five dollar bill and slapped it down on the table. Annoyance bordering on anger directed my movement and I was nearly to the door before Aleistor could react.

"Bye, Alan!" I called out before letting the door slam behind me.

"Aria?! Wait- Wait a second!" Aleister yelled behind me.

I waited impatiently by his car for him to finish. After a few seconds, he rushed out of the door and looked extremely relieved that I hadn't decided to walk home before he got to me. Taking the hint, he hurried to unlock the car and open the door for me then scrambled to the other side.

"Don't talk" was all I said.

Aleistor, for once in his life, listened to me and the ride back to my house was in complete silence.

Dread pooled in my stomach at the site of Claude's BMW in the driveway. I had completely forgotten about the argument I was about to have due to Aleistor. As much as I wanted to keep ignoring him, I wasn't raised to be completely rude. After I let myself out of the car I slowly turned around.

"Thanks… for the ride," I said, reluctantly. Just as I was about to turn and walk away, I remembered something.

"Oh, and I never told you that the three of us were living alone. Stay out of my files." Aleistor looked like he wanted to say something but before he could, the sound of a door banging open behind us cut him off. I groaned internally.

"Aria Tamburlaine! Where in the hell have you been?!" It was Claude. Though I hadn't turned around yet, I would recognize his voice anywhere.

Aleistor's face soured. "Nice to see you too, Faustus," he called, ice biting at his tone.

Claude, who was marching towards me, stopped in his tracks and adjusted his glasses. It was almost as if he just noticed the car behind me.

Almost as if to spite Aleistor, Claude simply glanced at him before focusing his angry glare on me.

"What were you doing? Don't tell me you were hanging out with the likes of him. Don't you hate him?"

"Oh, don't be so cruel, Aria! You don't have to lie to even your dear brothers about our relationship!" Aleistor squealed from the car. My eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"What?" Claude asked suspiciously, his eyes darting from me to Aleistor.

"Wow, she really didn't tell you? Yes! Your dear little Aria has extremely deep feelings for me. We just came back from a date just now!" Rage boiled my blood. It took everything in me to not turn around and send him straight to Hell myself. Honestly, was he trying to get us both killed?! And he called it a date!

Claude did not look impressed.

I sent the accumulation of my rage in the form of a glare to Aleistor and quickly took hold on Claude's arm.

"Don't listen to that idiot. Let's just go inside," I muttered, pulling Claude with all my might until he finally relented and let himself be pulled along.

"Get lost, Aleistor! And stay out of my damn files!" I yell over my shoulder. I just barely catch him grin and wave happily before I turn back around.

I dragged Claude inside and slammed the door shut behind us. Sebastian, whom I could see from the living room, peeked over the couch to see what the ruckus was about.

"Oh. Aria's home." He grinned at me, but his face quickly changed into a disapproving glare.

I let go of Claude and walked tiredly into the living room. Claude followed behind me and I could feel his anger radiating from his body. It felt like I was being sent to a guillotine.

I sat in the chair across from Sebastian but Claude remained standing ominously behind him. I made myself comfortable in the chair, all the while bracing myself for the lecture that was bound to happen.

"Alright. I'm ready." I muttered after I had made myself comfortable.

"Sebastian." Claude's tone was pure ice. "You would never guess who she just came home with."

"Ooh! Can I guess?!" Sebastian asked excitedly. "Let's see… it wasn't that Phantomh-" Claude cut him off immediately. Apparently his question was rhetorical.

"Aleistor Chambers." Sebastian frowned.

"What? Why were you hanging out with that loser? Don't you hate him?" he asked.

"Apparently, they were on a date."

"A date?!" Sebastian spat in shock. "That's what he ditched practice for? What a slacker."

I sighed heavily. "It was not a date! I didn't feel like dealing with you two and he offered to drive me home. We went to Cafe au Lait because I hadn't been there in a while and he annoyed the hell out of me and I only regret it even more now." Sebastian looked satisfied with my answer. After all, he was aware of how much Aleistor pestered me, but Claude continued to glare at me.

"We called you about seven times because you didn't tell us where you were going. We searched the entire school for you and because of all these rumors about something happening to you at lunch, I feared the worst might have happened."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, whose fault is that? Are you now blaming me that you worry unnecessarily about something that will never happen again?" I snapped.

Sebastian's eyes widened. "Well, I'm getting out of here. Don't kill each other. I don't feel like cleaning up a mess," he interrupted before he slunk off into the kitchen.

Secretly, I wanted nothing more than to go and hide in the kitchen myself. I spoke without thinking and as a result of that indiscretion, the eyes of the person in front of me had begun to glow gold in rage. I almost thought I saw myself having my throat ripped out in the reflection of them.

"Worry unnecessarily? Something that will never happen again?" Claude laughed coldly under his breath.

"ARE YOU STUPID?! TELL ME, ARE YOU HONESTLY AN IDIOT!?" he exploded. "YOU ARE SO GODDAMN UNGRATEFUL! AFTER ALL I'VE DONE FOR YOU, THIS IS WHAT I GET IN RETURN?! THIS?!" His hand gripped the couch violently, almost as if he was physically stopping himself from moving towards me. I've only made Claude this angry a handful of times and every time, I nearly trembled in fear. The worst time was when he had nothing to hold himself back and Sebastian had to physically pull him away from me and it was almost two days before he could look at me without becoming enraged enough to kill me.

"YOU ARE A DANGER TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS! WHAT PART OF THAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?! I AM DOING MY BEST TO PROTECT YOU FROM YOURSELF, YET YOU STAND THERE AND TELL ME WITH THIS ANNOYED LOOK ON YOUR FACE THAT I'M WORRYING UNNECESSARILY AND THAT I'M BOTHERING YOU!" The muscles in his arm have begun to visibly strain and the veins running along his hand have started to protrude out. If I don't calm him down soon, Sebastian's going to need to step in.

"I'm sorry." I finally manage to say in as firm a tone as possible. If I said it flippantly I would probably be murdered on the spot.

"What," Claude bit, so snappy it almost didn't sound like a question.

"I'm sorry," I repeated. "I said something stupid so I'm apologizing. Thank you for worrying about me." Claude removed his hand from the couch and a hand shaped indention was left on the cushion. Although he had seemed to calm down, he was still glaring at me.

"About that rumor you heard… Most of it's probably not true. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and bumped into somebody who was paying even less attention. He knocked me over and then helped me up and apologized. He didn't do anything, he just plucked a piece of garbage out of my hair. That's all that happened, I swear."

"Oh, that's all?" Sebastian asked, leaning in the doorway of the kitchen. Apparently he had deemed it safe to return.

"The way everyone was going on about it, they made it seem like he jumped on you, groped you, and then you made out." He poked out his tongue and pointed to it. "With tongue."

"What?" The rumors got that crazy so quickly? Sebastian nodded his head, then smiled in amusement.

"This one over here-" He motioned towards Claude with his thumb. "-Was about ready to hunt him down and rip him to pieces. Poor kid's probably too scared to come to school tomorrow. Ah well, if I see him, I'll let him know he's alright. What does he look like again?"

"His hair is dark blue, almost black, and his eyes are really blue. He has this weird air about him. You'll know him if you see him."

Sebastian smirked, though I wasn't sure why. "Weird air about him, huh? Alright, I guess I'll have to see for myself," he muttered, rubbing his chin.

Although the tense atmosphere is settling, it's still odd to be having this light hearted conversation. As if realizing that, Sebastian spoke up again.

"Hey, Claude. I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat." Claude clears his throat and noticeably avoids eye contact with me. He didn't respond to Sebastian but went straight to door, threw on his coat, and left immediately.

Sebastian and I watched the door shut behind him.

"Do you have a death wish, Aria?" Sebastian asks tiredly. "Honestly, talking to Claude like that, not even I can get him that angry and this is the fourth time you've done it!" I nibble on my lip silently. Sebastian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Try not to do it again, alright? There's some stuff for you in the fridge if you get hungry." He started for the door.

"Oh, and answer your phone sometimes, alright? Claude's not the only one who worries," he said over his shoulder before leaving and locking the door behind him.

I breathe out a sigh.

This day has been exhausting.

Thanks for reading! I don't have much to say this time- thank you guys for your continued support! If you're enjoying the story be sure to let me know! See you all next time! x Things are really starting to kick off!