Birth Rights ((BH6 fanfic))

Chapter 7: Now or Never

Bianca's POV

I closed the door to the bathroom and set my clean clothes on the edge of the sink, careful to balance them so they wouldn't fall. Then I hung my towel on the hook on the back of the door. I unbuttoned and took off my denim shorts and then slipped out of my t-shirt and the rest of my clothes. I threw them into the laundry basket to wash later.

I opened the shower door and turned it on hot then turned up the cold so I could get a coldish-warmish temperature. Once the water was the right temperature, I stepped into the shower and closed the door. I faced away from the shower head, allowing the fast-sprinkling water to burst onto my hair and back. I grabbed the shampoo and began to rub it into my hair, rinsing it as I went along. Then I picked up some face wash and rubbed the thin soap all over my face, closing my eyes then facing the shower head so it would fall directly on my face.

I picked up the body wash and squirted some onto my washcloth and scrubbed my entire body, rinsing afterwards. Then I turn the water off and step out, taking the towel and drying myself. I felt fresher and new. I had begun to get dressed when I heard a knock on the door.
"I'm in here!" I called to the person outside.
"Bianca, Aunt Cass wants to talk to you," Hiro's voice called back at me. He sounded bored.

I wrapped my hair in the towel and pulled Tadashi's shirt back to cover up to my collarbone. That was the last thing I needed--for the shirt to slip down too far. I wish I had brought pajamas, but I had never needed them. I always wore the shirt I had worn that day with sweats. I could continue my habit, but Aunt Cass and Tadashi insisted that I wore something other than that. So I did. I wore Tadashi's oversized t-shirts.

I pulled the towel off of my head and put it on the hook to dry. Then I walked downstairs, not bothering to use the hairdryer, I preferred to let it air dry. Aunt Cass pulled me over to the counter and took someone's order of a eucalyptus tea with honey mixed in. Someone must have a hurting throat. She told me to boil the tea leaves and get the cup and honey. I raced to complete the order as quickly as I could, but boiling tea leaves takes a little bit of time. Finally, I poured the hot tea into a cup and taking a spoon, I mixed in a few drops of honey, sweetening the taste.

Cass took the tea and gave it to the man who had ordered it. He thanked her and sipped some. Then she returned to the counter where she turned to me.

"B, can I call you that? B? Well anyways, it's 5:00 in the afternoon and I think it's time I should ask you this: do you want to take up a part time job here while you stay? I mean you don't have to, but since you're staying and all I wondered because..." her words become quick. "Because I need help around here. Tadashi and Hiro are both busy at SFIT and so is the gang. I'm running this place full time by myself, except on the weekends when Honey and Tadashi come to help."

I looked at her tired face. She had smile wrinkles and slight bags under her eyes. She seemed overworked. "Of course I'll help. I'm not taking classes. I'm homeschooled and since I'm not home, well I might as well help out."

She smiles, which softens all of her features. Then she hugs me. "Thank you so much, B."

I headed upstairs after deciding that I could cook breakfast and then take over in the mornings and for lunch. She would take over the afternoon and dinner shifts. I bump into Tadashi on my way to my side of his side of the room.

"B.B., wait. About the box...I just....can we...you know," he sighed. "You know....can we just talk about it?"

I looked up at him. Literally I had to since he was about a foot taller than me.
"Fine. What part of the box do you want to talk about?" I hissed.
"Let's go out for a walk."

He pulled me downstairs and out the door. The San Fransokyo sky was covered with pink and purple clouds that dotted a darkening blue sky. The sun was beginning to set, bringing a fierce red and orange to counter the blue and purple. After quite a walk through the city, we arrived at a park. It was quiet because it was getting darker by the minute. He pulled me up onto a small hill where we could see the final rays of the sun drowned out by a navy blue sky.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"
He sighed,"Everything."
"What part of everything?"
"The box, first of all."
"Ahh, yes. The box. That small mahogany box which ruined my life."
"Ruined it?"
"Yes."
"How so?"
"I've got a boyfriend and my parents want me to marry you!"
"I feel hurt."
"No offense."
"None taken," he looked over and gave a half-smile. "So what are you going to do about it? They gave us everything we needed in that one small box."
"I don't....I don't know. I mean, I have a life back home. Mrs.Stephens wants me to take over the orphanage and Michael....well let's just say I'm happy with him and vice versa."

He wrapped his arm around me in a hug. I hugged him back. It felt like old times, before the crash. I felt like I was five and he was six, turning seven in a few weeks. I had skinned my knee and he had come over with some Neosporin and a bandage. He hugged me while I cried a little and then helped me stand up.

"B.B., you're gonna have to make up your mind though," he pulled back from the hug and spoke softly, yet seriously. "It's now or never."