The House of Angels

...make me feel like home...

Josh was very curious about that girl. As soon as he entered the kitchen earlier, he noticed that Sister M was telling the truth about her beauty. She had long wavy brown hair tied in a messy ponytail, two big, green, lively eyes that showed a gentle soul and heart-shaped sweet plump lips under a small perfect nose. She had impressively long and thick lashes and the image of her biting her soft lips gave him goosebumps.

And he knew Daniel felt exactly like him. They had always had the same taste in women, and he also knew his best friend very well and recognized the signs that showed his interest in Moon; when he was in predator mode he used to take a cheeky, provocative, arrogant attitude: he was just testing the waters, and based on how she was reacting Daniel would soon begin the hunt, he could not resist the idea of ​​capturing and taming such a rare and wild beauty. Well it wasn't a problem, he wasn't jealous of Daniel, he was his best friend and they had been sharing everything for six years now. A girl wouldn't change that.

"Sister M told me about her situation. Did you look at her legs?" Josh said after a few moments of silence.

"I've spent the whole afternoon staring at her legs. What about her legs?" Daniel said, putting the j**nt in the ashtray.

"She's full of scars. Her father and her stepmom abused her. The neighbours told the police that almost every night they could hear her screaming for help while they beat her up... they suspect that something even worse may have happened, but they're not sure, because she closed herself and won't say a word to anyone. She just keeps telling that everything is fine and shows a worrying stoic attitude towards all the f*****g situation. Sister M hopes Mr Johnson will be able to help her tomorrow morning. In the meantime we will look after her." He said standing up.

"Fuck." Daniel muttered under his breath. "It's alright, she needs friends and support right now and we can provide them both." He said frowning. He had gone through a lot of bad stuff himself, so he empathized with her.

"Good, D. I need a shower too, see you later". Josh said walking out of the room.

Daniel felt sorry for Moon. Josh's words echoed in his head: the f*****g neighbours could hear desperate screams yet they weren't sensitive enough to help her. He felt so angry and so sad at the same time. He had noticed something was wrong as soon as he looked into her eyes... there was something stormy, burning wildly. Those eyes held a lot of sorrow, not to talk about her smile...melancholyc, dull, joyless. Yet she was the most beautiful and pure creature he had never laid eyes on.

Moon took a long, hot, relaxing shower, washing off the tension, the sweat and the dust.

It was still august and it was quite hot but she had never been able to take cold showers, she needed warm water.

When she stepped out from the shower she immediately dried her hair and applied her body lotion, then went back to her room, looking for something to wear for dinner. Her suitcase was still on her bed, she couldn't unpack in the end, since the afternoon had been unexpectedly busy. She would think about it tommorrow.

She pulled out a simple black tank top and a pair of black jean shorts, wearing them with black converse. She combed her hair again before hearing a soft knock at her door.

"Moon, are you ready? We need to start cooking." Helena said from the hallway.

"Sure, Helena, I'm coming." Moon said, grabbing her phone and going outside her room to join Helena and the others.

As they reached the kitchen, Charlie and Lucas were already there, wearing aprons and hair nets.

"Hi Moon!" They greeted in unison.

"Hi guys!" Moon smiled.

"So Moon, I love your hair but inside this kitchen you need to wear hair nets. And try to keep everything tidy and clean. Don't worry I will help you step by step." Helena said, handing her an apron and a hair net.

"Alright, Charlie! The onions. Lucas you wash the baby spinach. Moon, how about you start peeling the potatoes? I will think about the meat." She said starting to put minced meat into a bowl, along with eggs, grated cheese and other ingredients.

Charlie smiled at Moon who clearly needed help finding the necessary to start working, Miss Helly The Perfect didn't even notice, he thought.

"Here, Moon..." he said, handing her a chopping board with a knife and showing her where to find the potatoes.

Lucas cuckled, immediately sensing his brother's thoughts about Helly's oversight.

They cooked meatballs with vegetable sauce, spinach, baked potatoes with onions and a salad.

"Why don't we cook a cake or something? We should spoil Moon a little, don't you think?" Helena said, after washing her hands.

"Oh, it's fine, don't worry... you did enough... I had fun... it's ok." Moon said, shrugging dismissively.

"Oh no, Moon! It is actually a great idea, and I find it quite shocking it came from Hell... erm... Helena." Lucas said clapping his hands excitedly.

"Yeah, Moon. We know how hard it is for you. We don't know you or your story yet, but we are all on the same ship here, and we will support you and help you go through all this. We are family." Charlie said in a serious tone. He walked around the large kitchen island and reached the sink where she was washing the dishes they had used for cooking and put a hand on her shoulder. He squeezed gently, a simple but at the same time significant gesture that showed all his support.

"Yeah, so let's make this f**king cake!" Lucas exclaimed in a cheerful tone, earning a glare from Helena.

Moon had a lot of fun in the kitchen with Helena and the brothers, and finally they were all around the dining table, waiting for Sister Mary to come.

"Good evening kids, sorry for being late. Oh, I'm glad you finally decided to join us this evening, Mr St Vincent." She said, entering the dining room along with Daniel and taking a seat .

They all prayed and started eating. The dinner was pleasant and Moon found herself enjoying the company. There were other kids, Sister Mary explained that the missing ones were spending their holidays with their relatives.

Lucy insisted to sit beside Moon, she actually liked her a lot, and Moon was very happy to be able to give love to that young beautiful child. She knew what it was like to be left alone at a young age and she didn't want Lucy to become like her.

Moon woke up early next morning. She had to unpack and then find something to do until her training at ten o'clock.

After taking an invigorating shower she began to put her clothes in the closet and to fill the desk and the bookshelves with her belongings.

It was half past eight when she was done, so she decided to go downstairs to have something to eat.

When she entered the kitchen she was greeted by Sister Mary seated at the counter with Josh, sipping a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, Moon. How are you?" Sister Mary patted the stool beside hers.

" Good morning." Moon just replied, taking a seat beside the nun.

"Good morning, Moon." Josh smiled, offering her a cup.

"Thank you, Josh." Moon smiled shyly.

"So, you're awake early, it's perfect, Doctor Johnson will be here in two hours to talk to you." She changed the subject, looking at Moon.

"Oh, I was hoping I could join my team at ten... we usually train every morning and I didn't go yesterday..." she frowned. She was the captain and her teammates counted on her, she couldn't let them down.

"Oh, dear... it's ok, I can ask Dr Johnson to postpone the session to this afternoon." Sister Mary smiled gently.

"Oh, it would be great!" Moon beamed.

"I will give you a ride Moon." Josh smiled at her, refilling Sister Mary's cup.

"Oh, I don't wanna bother you. I can go by myself, don't worry Josh." She smiled.

"Oh, it's ok, I have to go out anyway, Sister Mary asked me to run some errands. So, go get ready, Miss. I will be your driver for the day!" He theatrically bowed and winked at her, a gorgeus smile on his face that showed his perfect, white teeth.

"Alright, then." She smiled, while Sister Mary stood up from her seat and disappeared behind the door, smiling at them.

"I will be in my office... please remember not to be late for lunch, at half past twelve. Bye."

"Later Sis!" Josh smiled.

"I will be ready in ten minutes!" Moon said, before grabbing an apple and running upstairs.

She wore her sportswear and soccer shoes and tied her hair in a messy bun, before grabbing her bag with her phone and putting a sweatshirt on.

She exited her room and, putting her ear phones on, she started walking down the hallway, scrolling through her playlist to find the perfect song to start the day. She was very excited to see her friends and she was always happy when playing soccer. It was her only source of joy.

"Morning person, uh?" A voice on her right startled her. She turned her head and saw Daniel wearing only a pair of boxers, leaning on the doorframe of his room with his tattooed arms folded on his bare chest. His raven hair was disheveled and his gray eyes were slumberous.

"You scared the hell out of me, Daniel! Che problemi hai, scemo?!" ("What's wrong with you, jerk?!") Moon said glaring at him.

"I love the way you swear in italian when you're upset, Moon." He let out a low, amused chuckle.

He was enjoying pissing her off, the i***t.

"Yeah, well, if you don't mind I'll go my way... and put some clothes on, for God's sake, you share this house with like twenty other people!" She said rolling her eyes.

"I wouldn't even be awake if a certain someone hadn't started moving furniture at six in the morning." He simply answered, unfazed by her sudden outburst.

"I wasn't moving furniture, I was cleaning up my room and unpacking. And I wasn't being loud at all." She said, exasperated.

"You were!" He glared at her. "But I will forgive you just this once... were are you going at nine in the morning?"

"None of your business." She said turning around to leave.

"I was just curious but, ok, be like this." He shrugged entering his room and closing the door.

"What a weirdo." Moon whispered before going down the stairs.