The First Flight ❀ COLIFER

Chapter 21 ❀ Sweet escape

I was expecting anyone to be under that hood. I was expecting Alex, or Jamie, or Rose, heck, I would be less surprised if it were Adam or Eddy to tell me that the show had been canceled after all.

Anyone... except for my brother.

A grin crept onto his face as he scrambled to his feet. He took a few big steps and attacked me in a hug, but I was too surprised to do anything but let it happen. It felt like my brain was refusing to accept what my eyes were showing me.

"Daniel? What are you doing here?" I asked again when he was squishing me so tightly that I had no air left in my lungs.

He was laughing as he let go. "Jeez, you can show some signs of happiness, Jenny. If it's really that terrible to see me—"

"No, no, of course I'm happy to see you, but... I wasn't expecting you here."

He raised his eyebrows, a cheeky sparkle in his eyes. "You weren't expecting me or... you were expecting someone else?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "You haven't answered my question yet," I said, pulling the hood of my jacket over my head. "What are you doing in New York? Aren't you supposed to be in LA?"

"I know when you're avoiding a question too, Jen." He grinned. "Who were you expecting?"

"No one, okay?"

I wasn't supposed to feel annoyed after seeing my brother for the first time in a few months, but I just couldn't help it. Maybe it was the rain, or my period that was coming up, or just the fact that I didn't have my key and still had to face Alex to get them back. But he interpreted it wrongly.

"Is there a guy?" He poked in my side with his fingers. "A special guy? You know you can tell me if—"

"Okay, can we just skip the part where you avoid my questions and go straight to the part where you tell me what you're doing in front of my house in New York?"

He observed the look on my face for a moment, which obviously led him to believe that there was no guy. When he came to that conclusion, he sighed dramatically and buried his hands in his pockets.

"We couldn't miss your last show."

I shook my head, still confused. "What do you mea—"

"Mom, dad and Julia are arriving tomorrow. We're all going to watch you on stage. If you'll let us, that is."

My jaw dropped when I realized what he meant, and I forgot about everything as I jumped forward to wrap my arms around his neck. He laughed, lifting me off the ground.

"Are you freaking serious?!" I screamed in his ear.

"I'm dead serious."

The smile on my face got even bigger. It felt surreal to know that my parents and Julia were traveling to New York tomorrow, and they would be watching me on stage. Somehow my family always showed up when I needed them most. 

I let go of Daniel and walked up the steps until I was out of the rain. "Why didn't you call me to tell me you were coming? I would've prepared some—"

"I wanted to surprise you." He grinned and walked over to me, but I blocked his way to the door. 

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're not letting me in now?"

"No." 

I smirked. Telling him I spent the night at Alex's apartment was the last thing I wanted to do, but I knew there was no way around it. 

"Well... I kind of forgot my key. At the theater," I added, making sure he didn't see me blushing.

"Really? It's nothing like you to forge—"