Bonded by Blood

T W E N T Y E I G H T

"Give me that! You don't deserve that shit!" The first person to start eating the brownies was Atalia, coming out of nowhere as she unapologetically confronted Nikolai for his. "I said give it! It's way too good to be put to waste!"

Nikolai effortlessly lifted up his container into the air and out of her reach. "Who said it would go to waste?" He suppressed his smile as he opened the lid, popping a piece right into his mouth as he humorously proceeded to twist and turn in order to keep his container away from Atalia's desperate hands.

Everyone was eventually swept away into a lighthearted mood after that as the sun dipped towards the horizon, casting an explosion of fiery hues across the sky. We seized the remaining hours of the day skateboarding. We soared right past countless ramps and navigated through an endless maze of railings. Amidst all the adrenaline-charged atmosphere, Leone's enthusiastic cheers for us adorably resounded, personally fueling my passion to impress him even further.

After awhile, we took a break by sitting on the edge of a high ramp. "Hey, can I ask you something?" Miya tucked her hair back before zipping her hoodie up in response to the approaching breeze.

"What is it?" I nodded, letting my feet sway from side to side.

"When are you going to tell Leone that you're in love with him?" She blurts out with a teasing smile.

"Woah-hey-what the-shut up!" My eyes almost popped out of their sockets as I frantically looked around with my hands waving all over the place.

Miya laughed out loud. "Relax, he's over there in the corner with Nikolai."

"Yeah but still." I spoke right past my pounding heart. "You can't just say stuff like that out loud, are you crazy?"

Atalia eventually sat on the other side of me, sandwiching me right into a pressure panini. "What's crazy is the way you always look at him, you also circle him a lot like some horny ass shark." She fueled the humor, causing the both of them to simultaneously laugh except for me.

"That's not true!" I couldn't help but sound defensive as I felt cornered with every passing second. "I just so happen to be looking at the same direction as him sometimes!"

"You're full of shit." Atalia rolled her eyes back with a click of her mouth.

"It's okay to admit it, Dydan." Miya let out gently before landing a comforting hand on my lap. "No one's judging you."

I nervously bit my lips and shot my attention back down at my swaying feet. "Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe not to him, but to us, most definitely." Her voice softened as her words began to melt into my mind. "You always stare at him, listen to what he has to say, do things that always makes him feel loved and cared for-I think it's cute."

"Yeah, but that's all you do." Atalia interjected without a single trace of filter per usual. "You don't have any plans of ever asking him out or making it clear just how much you like him. You're still even in denial about everything. It's like you're voluntarily putting yourself in the friend zone, it's weird as fuck."

"I'll tell him today." I blurted out before realizing what I had just said. My eyes remained frantically widened as I quickly cupped my mouth, as if trying to catch the words before they escaped into the air.

I couldn't believe what just came over me. It was as if my heart had hijacked my brain, making me finally say what I had held back for so long. Was I losing my mind? Or was this just a sign that I couldn't keep my feelings bottled up anymore?

"Woah, how were you guys able to get so high up there?" My thoughts were instantly interrupted by Leone's light, airy laugh.

My breath hitched at his unexpected presence. "Dydan has something he wants to tell you." Atalia started, causing my heart to pound instantly.