Chapter 4

Max's POV

"So you're the leader?" Stella asks me, as I'm sitting on the edge of her bed as every night.

"Future leader," I say.

She smiles a little, "So I never have to do that?" she asks.

"If you want to, princess, you can," I say.

She sighs "Don't call me that," she says.

"And why is that, princess?" I smirk, wanting to annoy her.

"Just don't," she says madly.

"Why not?" I chuckle.

She turns her back at me. I sigh, "Okay fine. But why not?" I ask.

I hear her sniffle, meaning that she's probably holding her tears back.

"Hey," I say softly and put my hand on her hair, "What's wrong? I'm sorry I'm annoying you," I say.

She keeps sniffling, so I guess she's crying, "What's wrong?" I ask sadly.

She pulls the duvet over her head, wanting to be alone. Usually I do leave her alone but I can't right now.

"Stelle, talk to me," I say, seeing that she's shaking a little. She keeps ignoring me.

I gently pull the duvet down to her neck and kiss her cheek from the back.

"I'm sorry," I say.

She lets out a quiet sob, "The sisters used raping as a punishment," she says quietly, making my eyes widen, "They brought some men and gave them money for raping us. Every girl had a name," she says and turns around. Her eyes are filled with so many tears.

"They called me princess," she says and I sigh.

"I'm SO sorry," I say sadly, "I just think you're beautiful and kind and amazing and don't know another word to describe you," I say.

She smiles sadly and sits up, "Thank you," she says really quietly.

I wipe her tears away and kiss her forehead for a second, "You should get some sleep," I say, not wanting to annoy her.

I get up, still leaving the light on. She smiles sadly and closes her eyes, tears still falling from her eyes.

I sigh, feeling guilty as I lie down and keep looking at her beautiful face.

*4AM*

I wake up, hearing sobs. My eyes go open and I sit up to see if it's Stella. It is.

She's crying and shaking. I sigh and sit up. She's been doing that every night but not that bad.

I sit on the bed, "Stella," I whisper and start fondling her hair.

She turns to me, face full of tears. "What's wrong?" I ask softly.

She sniffles and sits up. I look at her confused, but she does something that she has never done before. She climbs onto my lap and hugs me tightly.

I smile and hug her back. I love the feeling, "Not that I'm not enjoying it," I say quietly, against her hair, making her smile against my neck, "What's wrong?" I ask and tilt my head a little to see her face.

She sniffles, "Cuddle with me," she says and looks up at me carefully.

"You sure?" I ask with a little smile.

She squeezes her eyes shut, dropping many more tears, and making my heart break. She nods rapidly and squeezes me more tightly.

I sigh, seeing that she's like really scared this time, "Okay," I say and lift her back into the bed.

I stand up, but she rapidly grabs my hand again, "Don't go," she cries.

"Baby, I'm not going anywhere, I just wanna get on the other side of the bed," I say, noticing my nickname.

She keeps holding on to me, so I sigh, "Okay move," I say, making her smile a little while she's crying.

She moves on the middle of the bed and I climb under the sheets next to her, not caring that I'm not wearing a shirt.

She looks at me, scared. I sigh, "Don't be scared," I say.

She sniffles and climbs totally against me as I wrap my arms around her. She snuggles her face into my chest, making chills go through my whole body. I think I'm hard and I think she can feel it.

She looks up at me with a little smirk. I smirk back, "Shut up," I say.

She giggles quietly and snuggles her face back into my chest. I hold her head securely against me and feel her smile a little, but still keep crying.

I don't know, what this was about, but she is still really scared. She just wants to be safe probably. And she wants for me to hold her.. Does that mean that I make her feel safe?

I start to fondle her hair softly and tighten my arms around her, just needing for her to be safe. I don't know what I would do if something happened to her again. I kiss her forehead and leave my lips there, enjoying her scent.

In a few minutes, she has calmed down, so I pull my lips away, making her to look at me. She still looks scared as I'm staring into her eyes and she's doing the same.

"Now.. What's wrong?" I ask.

She sighs and snuggles her face back into my chest. I sigh as well, "Stelle, I need to know, what's bothering you," I say.

She shakes her head a little and I feel new tears on my chest. I kiss her hair and she looks up at me.

"Please," I say quietly.

She sniffles and puts her head back onto my chest, "Just a nightmare," she says.

"Yeah right," I say.

Stella sighs, "About the Sisters," she says.

"Stelle.." I say, keeping fondling her hair.

"Just everything they did to me," she says quietly.

"You haven't told us what they did to you exactly," I say.

She snuggles her cheek further into my chest. I smile, knowing that I make her feel safe.

"I tried to escape that place. Many times," she starts quietly, "Usually I failed, sometimes I almost succeeded.. But I wasn't good enough," she says sadly.

"Stella.." I say and she looks up at me with tears, "You're amazing. That place is impossible to escape. You're so brave to even try it," I say.

She starts smiling a little and I kiss her forehead. "Anyways," she sniffles, "They made me sleep basically in a cage, when I tried to do that... It was cold and alone.. And dark," she whispers and snuggles closer to me.

"Why are you afraid of the dark?" I ask.

"It's scary," she says quietly.

I sigh and kiss her hair, "Try to sleep," I say.

She looks up at me, "You can stay here, right?" she asks.

"I mean.. If you want to," I say.

She kisses my cheek, "Thank you," she says.

I can't.. I close my eyes and lean in and she does the same. I feel her move a little, towards me, but then some loud voice comes and we jump apart.

The voice doesn't stop. We're looking at each other with widened eyes. It seems like someone is here with their motorcycle.

Yup.. The doorbell. I sigh and Stella smirks a little. "I'm gonna go and get it," I say to her, but she clings onto my shirt.

I smirk and she hits me, "I know you're enjoying it, but I'm really scared," she says.

"Okay," I sigh, "Come on," I say and the person rings the doorbell again.

We both get up from the bed and I take her hand, pulling her out of our room and towards the front door. Dad is not home or he would do it himself.

I unlock the door as Stella stands a little behind me, holding my hand and arm with her hands.

"Dude," I say, seeing Weston and Nolan, "It's like 5AM, what are you doing here?" I ask.

"4," Nolan says and they press themselves into the trailer.

I roll my eyes and Stella chuckles quietly. I push the door close and lock it, what I wouldn't normally do, but she's scared as always.

Nolan and Weston come out of the kitchen with some food and sit down on the couch.

I look at Stella, who's still clinging onto my arm. I raise my eyebrows. She smirks and lets go of my arm, but still holds my hand.

I pull her towards the other couch and sit down. She sits down next to me, like really close and rests her head on my shoulder.

Weston and Nolan smirk at us and I roll my eyes, "Why are you here?" I ask.

"Just siblings, huh?" Weston asks, smirking at her head on my shoulder and hand in my hand.

"The fact that you're lonely doesn't mean that he has to be too," Stella mumbles tiredly, making us laugh.

"Why are you both up anyways?" Nolan asks.

"Um.. You rang," I say with raised eyebrows.

"Oh yeah.. We were just hungry," Weston says, making Stella giggle.

"It's 4AM. Why didn't you go home or anything?" she asks tiredly, her eyes already closed.

"We can't. We're drunk," Nolan says.

I furrow my eyebrows, "Where did you get alcohol? You're 16," I say.

"The bar," they say in unison.

"You're 16?" Stella asks me in confusion.

"Soon," I say.

She smiles tiredly and closes her eyes again.

"And you?" Nolan asks Stella.

"15. Soon," she says.

"When?" I ask.

"None of your concern," she smirks and I roll my eyes again.

"Wait are you a junior now?" Stella asks me sadly.

I nod and she sighs, "Great," she says sarcastically and closes her eyes again.

We all chuckle at her, "You're going to Fallfield High anyways," Weston says and we all nod.

"What? Where are you going then?" she asks.

"Norfille high," we say in unison.

"Seriously?" she groans, "Why can't I?" she asks.

"Fallfield high gives you a good education, what we're not getting. And Norfille high is full," I say.

She sighs and I can tell that she's almost asleep now. I smile, staring at her while the other two are eating.

In a few minutes, I feel eyes on me, so I tear my eyes off of Stella and look at the guys. They're smirking at me.

"Just siblings.. Yeah yeah," Nolan says.

I sigh, "Stay out of it," I say.

"Dude.. I get it. She's living on the Norfille and stuff, but she's still a Willer," Weston whispers.

"How is she a Willer?" I whisper, "Her mom was the Hawk queen," I say quietly and look at Stella for a moment. She's sleeping now, as I'm fondling her hair.

"She's gonna go to Fallfield High in a month. Meaning that no one is gonna know that she's a Hawk by blood... Meaning, that she has to act as a Willer to fit in. Meaning, that she'll become one," Weston says.

I roll my eyes, "She has to get 15 in a month.. She's just a girl. Why does she have to pretend to be someone she's not?" I ask.

"Why are you? Pretending with Tyler and Paisley and Miles..? I mean of course they know that the future Hawk King is Maxwell Richardson Collins, but you haven't told them your real name. And you never wear the jean jacket with them. They don't know, who you are. The whole Fallfield doesn't know, what the king's son looks like. They know you as a Willer. Max Collins," Nolan says.

I sigh, "That's safer for me as dad says.. But I'm gonna show them who I am. I'm tired of pretending. But you're right about her. She has to pretend to be a Willer. I can't let her get more hurt," I say quietly.

They chuckle, "Our Max is in love," Nolan says.

"Oh shut up," I whisper, making them laugh.

Stella moves a little, bringing her shoulders up to her chin and burying her face further inside me.

"She's cute," Nolan says and I smile while looking at Stella.

"She is," I sigh, "Now if you two don't mind, I'm taking her to bed and you both stay out of it," I say. They ignore me and keep eating.

I roll my eyes and look back at Stella. She looks so cozy like this but I'm not sleeping in front of these two idiots. Especially not tonight.

I carefully stand up, lifting her up bridal style, and walk into our room. I place her on the bed and put the duvet on her.

I'm not sure if I should... She grabs my hand and I look at her. She's looking at me really tiredly.

"Stay," she says quietly.

I smile and climb under the duvet next to her and pull her close to me. She snuggles her head into my chest and I wrap my arms around her and kiss her hair.

"Night Stelle," I whisper, but she's already asleep.

She mumbles something and I chuckle quietly and kiss her cheek, "Right," I say and fall asleep, feeling like I'm the luckiest guy in the world.