"It's snowing," I said quietly, eyes growing wide as I stared out the window.

I watched as the small white flakes fell soundly as the sun set behind the mountains, mindlessly setting down my sketchbook and sitting up onto my knees.

It had been so long since I had seen this sight, I had forgotten how much I loved it.

It was just so calming, watching each snowflake slowly fall to the earth.

"Really? Already?" I heard Nico say behind me.

He was beside me within seconds, setting his hands on the window sill near me as he leaned forward towards the window.

I put my hands near the window, feeling the cold air that came through it as Nico's eyes scanned the outside.

"Winter came early this year." He muttered, sounding kind of disappointed.

His disappointment caught me off guard, causing my braided hair to hit my back as I turned my head towards him.

What about winter could he be so upset about?

Winter was by far my favorite of the seasons.

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked.

He just shrugged.

"Not really, it just means that the blood collection is going to be cold which also means that the humans are going to be that much more unwilling to cooperate." He explained.

I was silent the for a moment before responding with a simple "Huh."

I had forgotten that the blood collection was tomorrow. That I was going to have to return to my city again and see a lot of the people that I had formerly known.

And now with the added variable that it was going to be cold.

I didn't really mind that aspect as much as the fact that people might recognize me.

Even so, I had decided that I would rather risk that than stay here alone most of the day tomorrow.

I have changed a lot since I was twelve so maybe they wouldn't be able to recognize me so easily.

My thoughts were cut short once I felt Nico's fingers slowly slide behind my neck, his thumb lightly skimming over the healing skin on my neck.

I turned towards him, goosebumps rising on my arms from his soft touch.

He was just looking at where he had bitten me two nights before, thinking about something that I couldn't quite decipher by just looking at his face.

But he almost looked guilty.

"H-how does it look?" I asked, the nervousness in my voice causing me to shift my eyes down out of embarrassment.

He pulled back his hand back.

"Fine." He began, "If the medicine works as its supposed to, it shouldn't leave a scar."

I gave him a silent nod, unsure of how else to respond.

For some reason, he really didn't want this bite to leave any sort of mark.

It was strange but I didn't question his actions.

A knock on his door sent both of our heads turning towards it.

Nico didn't tell me that anyone would be stopping by.

I looked towards him to see his tense stance mixed with his slightly confused expression.

Another knock came to the door, more frantically this time, telling that it wasn't one of the castle slaves.

"Oh." He sighed, his body relaxing as he headed towards the door despite the still annoyed look on his face.

He pat the couch as he passed it, silently telling me to sit there.

I quickly followed his instructions, still feeling a bit uneasy about someone being here.

But I guess that if Nico was fine with it then it wasn't that bad right?

I sat criss-cross on the far left side of the couch facing the door, watching as Nico reluctantly opened the door.

"You have to go to the ball!" Xander frantically said as he let himself into the room, Doe following quickly behind him.

Her eyes met with mine for a brief moment before she looked to the ground, obviously very uncomfortable that she was in this room again.

That was understandable, but I was less concerned about what happened between us and more so concerned about the two large bruises that she had on her upper arms.

That must have been where Xander grabbed her during the blood moon.

I absentmindedly rubbed my wrists, thankful that I didn't get the same thing from Nico.

"No, I insist, come on in." He said with a mix of annoyance and sarcasm as he threw the door shut.

Xander, on the other hand, looked like he was about to lose his mind.

"Cut the shit Nicolas this is important!" He hissed.

His tone made me feel a little less safe. Not to mention that he called Nico by his full name.

Nico seemed unaffected by what Xander had said, he just crossed his arms and rose a brow

"Well, Alexander, I take it that your little date with Layla didn't go too well?" He asked, showing little interest in the subject.

Apparently, that question struck a tender nerve judging by the loud growl that resonated from Xanders throat.

The sound of it caused both me and Doe to shrink back.

Nico's eyes met with mine for a brief moment before returning to Xanders.

He sighed before he began making his way over towards me.

"Come tell me about it then." He said.

He probably had to force himself to say those words.

Xander took that invitation with full force, blowing into a tangent as he followed Nico to the couches.

"It started out fine! We were having a grand old time looking at pets until I asked her if she would accompany me to the ball!"

He practically threw himself onto the couch facing me as Nico calmly Sat right beside me, easing my stress.

Doe just stood silently next to Xander.

"Okay? Then what did she say?" Nico asked.

"She said that she wouldn't go with me unless I convinced you to go and give her a dance!"

Even with Nico sitting right beside me, Xanders outrage was terrifying.

Nico on the other hand still looked completely disinterested.

"So you came here just to convince me to go to the ball?"

"I'll get on my knees and beg if I have to," Xander replied without missing a beat.

Nico seemed to take that into consideration, a small smirk appearing on his face for a brief moment.

Still, he didn't give Xander any kind of answer. So he took that as his cue to try another persuasion technique.

"Come on Dude it'll be fun! Food, Girls, Music, Blood slaves, you just leave your pet in your room so she won't get in the way of anything! It's stress-free! Come on Nico live a little!"

That last part threw me off a little.

The pets were just left in the room the whole night?

Nico leaned back against the couch, his eyes telling me that he was pondering Xander's request.

"Fine. Tell Layla that I'll go if she allows the pets and slaves to attend like she did a couple years back."

Xanders' eyes lit up as mine widened.

"Hell yea-" He paused for a moment, his brows furrowing, " wait why do you want the pets and slaves to be able to come?"

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have the same question.

Nico just simply shrugged.

"It'll give them something to do and might be less boring that way." Is all he said.

I guess Xander didn't want to push it any further in fear of Nico changing his mind.

"OK. That was easier than I thought. I'll let her know." Xander stood from the couch, his signature smirk now returning to his face.

He took a single step towards the door before Nico spoke up again.

"You know she's using you right," He asked.

Xander paused at his words before turning his head.

He almost looked offended by what Nico said.

"How so?"

I too turned my head up to hear his answer.

"She's using you to get to me." He said.

"And?"

Nico rolled his eyes.

"And she only wants me for the title and the power she would get if she convinced me to marry her."

I rose a brow at that while Xander turned his entire body towards us.

His anger had partially returned.

This whole thing was beginning to be very confusing.

"So because of your stance in the family you think you have a better chance with her?"

Nico sighed, rubbing his forehead with his palm.

"No, all I'm saying is that she's a gold digger and knows about our father. By all means, go for her I won't stop you. I have absolutely no interest in her, but keep in mind what she wants."

Wait...

"Well then, if you're not interested in her then your worries about her playing me don't even matter right?" His mood had obviously lightened from Nico's words, "Even if she does want you for the power and you don't want her then she'd probably just get with me anyways so..." He finished with a shrug.

"Wait you're brothers?!" I quickly intervened, too shocked to hold myself back.

Three sets of eyes fell on me as the room silenced. I didn't even care, I was just trying to piece everything together as my mind ran wild.

Instead of getting scolded for talking out of turn, Xander just laughed.

"You didn't tell her?" He asked Nico.

"It's not really something I'm proud of," Nico mumbled.

My mind was going crazy, thinking back to every interaction they've had, trying to understand everything with this new found information.

Nico and Xander are brothers.

That... Actually explained a lot...

But still... That was so weird to get through my head.

By looking at Doe I could tell that even she already knew.

Was I just missing something?

"I thought she would have just figured it out. I mean we don't look that different from each other."

Nico's eyes furrowed.

"Your hair is blonde and mine is pitch black how the hell does that share any similarity?"

Xander shrugged.

"Don't hate just because I got mom's hair. But ignoring that were pretty similar."

"How the hell?" Nico questioned quietly.

I honestly didn't see that much of a similarity between them.

"We both have green eyes." Xander pointed out.

"Mine are prettier," Nico added.

Well, he had a point.

Xander just scoffed, "K well whatever. I didn't come here to talk about my relationship with you. I'll tell Layla to allow the pets and slaves attend and you'll come to the ball. Deal?"

"Deal."