3. Eli??

"Nonno why is that you have five bags and I have only two" a voice came from the top of the staircase and they all turned to look at her. There she came. Their happiness, their soul, their light. Their princess has returned. Now, this feels like homecoming, like thanksgiving and this surely feels like the best Christmas ever.

She slowly descended the steps and took careful steps towards the crowd infront of her. She gave all of them a smile and looked at her Nonno. "Little girl, it is because you hate buying clothes and I love buying clothes" Franco said ruffling her hair. She rolled her eyes in response and turned towards Val.

"Oh so is this how you are gonna receive me after not seeing me for what like 12 years?" she asked raising  eyebrow at him. He took a step towards her and lifted his hand slowly dreading in the thought that this all would be a dream when he wakes up. He slowly placed his hand on her cheek and she leaned into his hand.

"I missed you daddy" she said and took another step forward to hug him. Val hugged her back and he shed all the tears he has been holding for years. He had kept his emotions bottled up and he is now taking this as a chance to let them go. 

They slowly pulled back and she gave him a bright smile.

"Oh oh fratello, can someone be more handsome" she said looking at her brother who is still looking at her like he is in a dream and if he wakes up, she would disappear. 

"Well hello I am true and I am not going anywhere. So come out of that trance and give me a hug" she said snapping her fingers infront of him. He came out of his daze and gave her a bone crushing hug. They both were crying. She held up better when Val cried but lost it when she saw her brother crying. He held her closer and he peppered kisses all over her face.

"I missed you Arius" she said pulling back and wiping her tears. "I missed you sooo fucking much Izzy. I missed you" Arius said pulling her back into another bone crushing hug. They pulled back and smiled at each other. "Look at your puffy eyes. You look like a sick cat" Iris said scrunching up her nose. They all chuckled and she finally turned to look at the boys.

"Well hello there boys. And yeah I missed you too" she said cooing in baby voice. Can she get more cuter. She took small strides towards them and finally stood infront of them. They all stared at her with teary eyes. One more word from her, they would break down and cry like little babies. But before they had the chance to speak, she ran past them.

"Well look who decided to show up" A voice spoke from behind and they all turned to look at the person.

Eli?

What is he doing here and why is she blushing? "Eli, yeah I know I should have told you before but you know it was planned in the last minute. I didn't even have time to pack all my belongings" she said and hugged him. All were dumbstruck at their interaction. Iris with Eli Russo, Skylar's brother. 

When did they become so close to the point of being happy to see each other, hug and then apologize for not mentioning things to each other. The boys were looking at Eli with confused yet pissed of expressions. They are not liking this interaction even for the slightest.

"Oh about that, Eli has bee around her for long. He used to visit her and she loved having him around. He was the only one she saw close to family apart from me in all these years after her nonna died" Franco said answering their unasked question. And that pissed them off even more.

Not even Arius and Val visited her in all these years, while Eli visited her and they never knew about it. Val cleared his throat and Iris pulled back from her hug with Eli. She pulled Eli along with her for which the boys were glaring at him.

"Looks like I stole you from them. Go greet them properly" he said pushing her towards the boys.

"Oh oh sorry" she said hugging each one and they returned her hug. They all held her close to them and took their time to take in this moment. They missed her like hell.

"Okay so we will be taking Franco home. You boys decide on who is going to bring her home" Val said winking at the boys and they nodded in agreement. Eli gave her a side hug and kissed her cheek to which the boys snarled at him making him and Iris chuckle. 

"Okay soo my dear Roro baby how have you been" she asked pulling Rowan's cheeks and squishing them. He scrunched her face and narrowed his eyes at him. "You know I am way past that age to be called Roro baby and for squishing my cheeks right Ris" he said pouting. All broke into fits of laughter to which she just smiled and turned to Ryan. 

"No don't use that name now. We can use it when we are alone. Okay. Please" he pleaded to which she smirked before saying "aww that hurt Rypie rhino" she said placing her hand on her chest in fake pain and Ryan shook his head. 

"Okay so Skybear skyly Skittles now I know you wouldn't hurt me right?" she asked raising her eyebrow to which Skylar's cheeks flushed red. "Don't go there Ris. It's not fair" he said shaking his head.

"Owie look at you Lee, damn you look good" she said punching his arm playfully to which he smiled and wriggled his eyebrows at others. "You look cute as always Ris" he said ruffling her hair a bit. The one thing he loves soo much is playing with her hair.

"Lan I missed you the most out of all these" she said swaying her hands at them and turned to Wylan and gave him a hug which he returned with pleasure. "I missed you too baby doll" he said kissing her forehead.

"Okay so why is that they all have only one nickname while I have three" Skylar asked narrowing his eyes at her. "Coz I love your expression when I calk you those names and admit that you love hearing me call you that" she said wriggling her eyebrows and they all chuckled.

"Okay so where is Nicholas" she asked to which they all stayed silent and their expressions changed from those carefree and playful to a dreaded and serious one.

"Is everything okay?" she asked looking at their serious faces. "We need to go. It is  getting late. Wylan would drop you while we go finish our work" Leo said and they all scattered in different directions. Wylan was happy to take her, but he is fuming at the boys for leaving him with her after she asked about Nick. Should he tell or no?

"Well Lan, I know something is wrong and I know that you boys would never come to a decision related to me without a fight. So, tell me about Nick" she asked folding her arms and Wylan sighed.

"Well he had been sent on a mission and it would take some time for him to return. So, yeah we can't tell you why and when" he said scratching his head.

She nodded and walked towards the car and Wylan followed her. The whole ride back home, she spoke to him about all these years and how life was for her.

Maybe what she wanted them to know. She never want them to know the dark phases. 

Get over them Iris. Now that you are here everything is going to be alright. 

Nick will come home soon and you can have some quality time with him. She thought to herself and blushed at her thoughts.

Her feeling for him will never go and she would never ever get over him.

"Umm Wylan, do anyone of you have a girlfriend?" she asked turning to look at him. "Noo. Ryan just flirts around but nothing serious. We didn't have time nor the interest" he said looking at her. She nodded and looked out of the window.

"What about you?" he asked after a few minutes of silence. "Huh?"

"What about you? Do you have someone that we should worry about or had someone?" he asked to which she chuckled. "Possessive males" she said and chuckled to which he snarled.

"Okay mister grumpy. None. I have none and I had none" she said plopping back into the seat and pouted. 

"And what's the thing with Eli?" he asked to which she looked at him with raised eyebrow. "You both looked close and Franco said he visited you often which is surprising to all of us coz we were never even allowed to ask about you" he said looking back at the road.

"Yeah he visited me secretly once every year and that was refreshing after nonna passed away. We became close and he used to help me with everything when he visited. He used to take me out, buy gifts and flowers for me. He had been soo sweet. He loves me and I love him. That's it" she said shrugging her shoulders to which he just nodded but inside, he was fuming. 

He could have put her in danger. All these years, she had been kept away to keep her safe and she returned now coz we got rid of all the possible threats. But Eli could have led someone to her and may have put her in danger.