𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚎 || 𝐅𝟒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 (editing)

forty

chapter forty:

"I'm stealing your kneecaps"
———

Thyme was lounging on the couch in his personal sitting room. His feet were propped up on a small, leather ottoman. He was eating cookies and enjoying the calming morning. Well, actually, he was looking at the box of cookies. He hadn't actually tried one yet. It was the box of cookies that Gorya had given him for his birthday a few days prior. He practically bragged to every single person he knew about the gift. Ren was even smacked around a couple of times by Thyme after he "accidentally" ate one of the cookies.

The sound of chatter outside of the room disturbed his peace. Quickly, he hid the box of cookies under one of the pillows nearby. The wooden door swung open to reveal Lita. Technically, Lita fell and accidentally opened the doors. She was carrying a couple shopping bags in her hand and worse a sheepish smile. "Haha... your door is very easy to open."

"Didn't someone tell you I wanted to be left alone?"

"They did!," she whined, "Aunt Yu told me. Everyone did. They told me that girls are not allowed here, especially at night. But I got something special for you and for everyone. You've all seemed a bit depressed."

He let out a frustrated sigh, "Fine, do whatever you want,".

Lita didn't have to be told twice — she instantly jumped on the couch and made herself at home.

"If you do that again I swear on everything good and holy that I'm stealing your kneecaps," Liliana threatened.

Currently, she was sitting at a table in the courtyard of the Genovese house in Italy. She was accompanied by Vincent and his older brother, Nico, who kept bothering the poor girl. More specifically, he kept trying to tease her about her newfound love that she had to leave behind in Thailand. "Lia you are quite literally the size of my thumb. I could sneeze and you would be knocked out," Nico responded. He had a confident smirk that was beginning to get on her nerves.

Aside from the insufferable teasing from Nico, Lia really liked Italy. Everything in the country seemed picturesque. The food was incredible and the scenery was amazing. Plus, it was a lot less humid in Sicily than it was in Bangkok. Liliana bounced around different countries often. She never really stayed in a single place for too long. It never really bothered her nor did she feel homesick. After all, how can you feel homesick when there's multiple places you call home?

Though, it would be a lie if she said she didn't miss Thailand.

Sure, she had hundreds of friends all over the world but she never quite felt too attached to them. The members of F4 and Gorya gave her a sense of longing. Although they all knew who she was and where she stood in the world, after they became friends they couldn't give less of a shit about her parents. Perhaps it was because they all had a unique understanding of the world and their relationship with their families. After all, the boys of F4 rarely spoke about their parents. It was only really brought up when there was an issue that disturbed their peaceful lives — which lately the problem seemed to be Thyme's mother.

Liliana felt guilty. She felt guilty for leaving her friends behind when they was such chaos occurring in their lives. She mostly felt guilty for leaving Ren behind.

Ren. Just thinking about his name made her want to cry. The boy was an absolute dream. He was respectful towards her and profusely showed his interest. He did everything possible to make her feel comfortable. Ren was just perfect. His scent, his hair, his face, the way he laced his fingers into hers, the taste of his chapstick, the way he whispered sweet nothings into her ear, his loving gaze — everything about him was just perfect.

And yet she couldn't help but worry if his feelings were real or if he was just trying to forget Mira.

"You need to shut up," MJ said whilst shoving a snack into Kavin's mouth. Kavin chewed the snack and sent him a glare before sitting back down in the brown leather sofas. Ren, MJ, and Kavin were at their signature spot on the second floor of the cafeteria. They were discussing — well, more like gossiping — about Thymes predicament with his two love interests: Lita and Gorya. Though, Kavin and MJ were doing most of the arguing. Ren was just eating his chips and sketching without saying much like usual.

"What's going on with Thyme and Gorya anyway? They were flirting and then suddenly stopped seeing each other," Kavin said, "Ren, have you spoken to Thyme lately?".

Ren stared off into space in an attempt to recall if he had. "No," he responded with a sigh, "I'm way too confused as well. He didn't say anything,". His attention went back to his sketchbook.

"Why would you ask him that, you know he's been depressed lately because of Lia," MJ whispered to Kavin.

"Shit I forgot."

"If you keep whispering about me I'm stealing your kneecaps," Ren said with a huff. He abruptly got up from the couch and walked away from his two best friends to go to his next class... or where've the hell Ren goes.

"That gave me chills," MJ said, fake shivering, "It was almost like he got possessed by Lia for a second,".

———a/n

I'm going to start leaving pictures of cats doing funky little things at the end of chapters bc they bring me joy. :D

here's one for today: