The next morning, Jason sits in the living room, deep in thought, while his brother walks in. “Good morning, bro,” Oren greets his older brother. “Are you alright?” he adds and as he doesn’t get a reply, “Jason?”

Jason shakes his head before standing up, “Sorry, I zoned out.”

“What were you thinking about?” Oren asks.

“Nothing,” Jason murmurs.

“You know that I know that that’s not true.” Jason rolls his eyes at Oren’s curiosity.

“I got some information out of Roja yesterday,” he mumbles.

“So, you finally trust her?”

“You’re so exhausting with your questions, Oren.”

“Just tell me what you want to tell me!” Oren begs.

“Roja knows that Dexter’s a gang leader. She had a… rough time there, but to her, he was just a halt in between two foster families. However, her next foster father was Ric, one of Dexter’s gang members. Now she thinks all gang leaders are like them,” Jason explains, not noticing his sister sneaking up behind him.

He’s startled as she cuts him off, “Well, you don’t give her any option to think differently with your behaviour!” Lola walks to her twin brother and without waiting for Jason to recover from this shock, she asks, “Did you tell her who we are?”

“No, I didn’t even tell her that I know Dexter very well. Nobody will tell her who we are!” The twins roll their eyes. Oren asks for a reason, but Jason stays silent.

“Why not, Jason? You are the leader so she would only hate you, not us. Why not just tell her? She can’t leave anyway since the Smiths are probably looking for her,” Lola questions her brother.

It gets silent for a few seconds between the three siblings until Oren gets an idea, “Unless you don’t want her to hate you…”

“What are you trying to say?” Jason asks while crossing his arms, ready to defend himself.

Lola picks up Oren’s idea, “You don’t want her to hate you. She is so different from the girls you usually take home with you, you need to figure her out.”

“Sorry, bro, we can read you like a book,” Oren mentions before starting to chuckle.

“That’s not true. I don’t want her to be afraid of you two, nothing else,” Jason tries to explain.

“Yeah, keep lying to yourself,” Lola concludes before joining in on her brother’s laughter.

“Just let me be,” Jason spits out before leaving the room and, eventually, the house. He leaves his siblings behind who can’t stop laughing about the big bad gang leader.

***

At the gang’s hideout, the place Jason goes to feel in control of everything again, he’s greeted by many of his gang members. The blonde girl from the night before is already waiting in front of Jason’s office. “Who was she?” she asks as soon as he gets close.

“None of your business,” Jason replies, clearly annoyed.

“Clarissa, stop bothering the boss,” Rover shouts from the other side of the room. Clarissa backs off immediately as Rover heads over. Once she’s gone, Jason sighs before thanking Rover. “It’s my job to take care of such things, no need to thank me,” Rover answers.

“It’s your job to take care of my mess?” Jason asks.

“As your best friend, yes, it is,” Rover says before both guys start laughing.

“You’re a great best friend,” Jason admits.

“Just doing my best. However, who was she talking about? She told some girls about a mysterious girl in your guest room. A good friend would have told me about that!” Rover complains playfully. Jason looks around before pulling Rover into his office to tell him everything he knows. Just as he wants to close the door, he sees Oren running inside. Of course, Oren wouldn’t give up another chance to make fun of his brother. The only perk of having his brother here as well that Jason can see right now is that he doesn’t have to tell the whole story to his best friend alone.

***

Later that day, Roja and Lucia meet for a quick afternoon snack in the kitchen. Anne made some cookies for the family. “These cookies are really delicious,” Roja comments in admiration.

Lucia chuckles, “Right? I could easily say they’re what I missed most about this place.” Roja notices the slight sarcasm in the mother’s voice, however, she’s also interested in the real reason why Lucia is back here now.

“You’re just visiting, right?” she asks.

“Well, I’ve lived here until last summer when Jason bought me a house in another city. It’s great there, but I missed my children and this house,” Lucia explains while looking around. As she looks at the little lines on the doorframe with her kids’ names and the dates next to them, she adds, “This place is my real home.” Roja nods and a short silence gives Lucia time to think back at the times when there were still four children running around in this big house.

Then she looks at Roja, “You’ve never had a real home, have you?”

“I’m not sure, I don’t remember much about my home where I lived with my parents. I just know that it was a small house in a little village. But ever since my parents died, there’s no place that I call home.”

“You’ll find your home like I found mine in my children’s father and this house. What happened to you is unfair. You don’t deserve it. Nobody does, but I’m sure you’ll work your way through this,” Lucia says, trying to reassure Roja. However, the girl doesn’t reply. For her, this feels like the time when Lola tried to tell her what she deserves. They don’t know her, how could they possibly know what she deserves?

Lucia tries to change the topic, “Let’s talk about our little shopping trip tonight! We need to get you something for your birthday party. What do you think about a dress?” Roja looks down at herself. A few hours ago, the doctor told her that her bruises are healing just fine and won’t be visible anymore soon, but she still has some scars that she doesn’t want anybody to see.

“I often feel uncomfortable in dresses,” Roja mentions, trying not to sound rude.

“I get that. With the attention of everyone on you, you might want to wear something that you feel comfortable in,” Lucia agrees.

Roja’s reply is almost inaudible, “I don’t want the attention on me.”

“It’s your birthday! It’s up to you how you’ll dress for that but, no matter what, you’ll stand out because it’s your special day. It doesn’t have to be a dress though,” Lucia explains.

At that moment, her phone beeps and she excuses herself while getting it out of her pocket and reading a new message on her phone. A slightly mischievous smile forms on her face. Now that she knows what her twins are up to, she says, “I’ll make sure you get something that's comfortable but also makes you look amazing on that day.” With that, she heads to her room. Roja, slightly irritated, finishes eating a few more cookies before leaving for the library. Another book is waiting to be read!