EMMALINE LEILA WARNER
"Okay, I have given you a two-day 'I have a boyfriend and everything is beautiful' grace period, but that is over and done with now because you need to tell me every. Single. Detail," Jett said, linking her arm in mine once she saw me getting out of my school building.
"It's been one day," I corrected as we walked towards the benches, "and there's nothing to tell."
"What do you mean?" She snapped, "there is a lot to tell. What did he tell you when he came by our house? What happened afterwards? Did you tell your parents? How is he like?"
"He told me a lot of things and no we didn't tell our parents yet and what does the last question even mean?"
"I mean I want to know what is dating Kai like. The same person we've known since the moment we were born. The annoying arrogant nerd—"
"He's not all that!"
"He is, but that's not our point," she said as she sat on the bench, "but for real, tell me what is he like?"
"Well—" I was cut off by hands slid around to my stomach spiking my adrenaline and wretched away pulling at their wrists, my finger running over a silver ring on their thumb. Spinning around Kai's toothy grin blinded my vision and pushed against his chest involuntarily being taken by surprise, "what—"
"Hey, sunshine," he tilted his head to the side, his hands going to my waist, "missed me?"
"Hey," I sighed, my eyes darting around still not used to this happening in front of anyone to see. Yesterday was crazy. Just when I thought the most outrageous thing I would do was climb that building with Kai, which it was, this turned out to be the most normal thing to have happened last night.
I can give you way more than nice, do you want that?
I didn't know what happened, I wasn't even aware of my tongue pronouncing the word 'yes' when he asked that until I felt myself kissing him back. When we were just friends, I'd be lying if I said I didn't wonder how Kai would be like with a girl, how he'd be like with me. But the thought of actually witnessing it, feeling it, was unreal. Him touching me like he did yesterday, like he's doing now, in front of anyone to see was something I don't think I'll be getting used to anytime soon.
"Yeah, no," Jett's voice snapped me out of my daydream, looking back at her to see her giving us a disgusted expression, her eyes darting between our faces and Kai's hands still on my waist, "I don't want to know. I changed my mind."
"You're just jealous," Kai said, and I felt his arms curl around me more, "don't worry, even though it's unlikely to happen, someone out there may actually find you... interesting."
"You don't even know what we were talking about," Jett said in a flat voice even when her eyes shoot daggers at him.
"Me," he shrugged, "what more interesting subject could anyone talk about in this family?"
"Literally anything—" a very dramatic gasp cut Jett off, snapping all three of our heads to the direction of Amelia with her jaw on the ground, staring right at us, and Rio standing on a bench next to her, his hands holding a branch of a tree, seemingly try to get something that was stuck up there while Amelia held the bench still for him not to fall.
"Amelia," Rio warned, "don't. Don't you dare let go of that— Amelia!"
I saw his knuckles turn white around the wood just as Amelia let go, slamming her hands on her mouth, the bench shaking underneath Rio's feet in the process, "oh my god! Oh. My. God!"
"Amelia, come back here!" Rio shouted as Amelia moved towards us with an unexplained excitement, "I was getting that for you! You asked me to do that—"
"Not now Rio," she waved a hand before taking mine, pulling me away from Kai and moving so quickly I didn't have time to process as I grabbed Jett's wrist taking her with us until Amelia finally stopped when we were out of earshot, "girl, what? When? How? What?"
"But, you—" I pointed behind us at Rio about to seriously fall and get hurt, "he's.."
"He'll be fine," she waved a hand, "this is more important now, please tell me everything. Girl, what the hell?"
"Calm down," I huffed out a laugh, eyes darting between her and Rio until Kai took Amelia's role, holding the bench still for him, "it's only been one day."
"But how?"
"All thanks to me," Jett smiled and crossed her arms, "they both were complete fools."
"Tell me. Tell me," Amelia tugged on Jett's arms.
"Okay, so she liked him, but he didn't like her back, right?" Jett started until Amelia nodded, "or that's what we thought, including Kai. Emma got upset one day and left to come over at my house without telling anyone, and Kai thought it was his fault and kind of freaked out because Emma wasn't even answering his calls."
"Poor guy," Amelia sighed, but her face gave away anything but sympathy as she looked towards Kai taking his hands off of the wood just as Rio jumped to the ground.
"He called me and said he's not doing great and that he needs to see her, so I decided to help since I knew she felt the same way. I told him I can convince her, or not tell her you're coming so that she'll have no choice in talking to you, but he knew she'd somehow not talk unless... we made her a little jealous."
"What did you do?" Amelia widened her eyes in excitement.
"They told me that he was hanging out with Clara," I rolled my eyes, "so I called him and kind of yelled at him, but he was—"
"Not with Clara," Amelia finished my sentence with a smile, "he was already at your house?"
"Well, Jett's house but yeah, you get the point," I waved a hand before exhaling, "so yeah, he told me he liked me too and one thing led to another."
"And it rained," Jett wiggled her eyebrows, "so, you're not going to tell me about that kiss?"
"Stop," I looked away when I felt my cheeks heat up, "let me live, please."
"You guys are adorable, I'm really happy for you!" Amelia squealed, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing for a few seconds as I let out a chuckle until she leaned back, "I can tell he really likes you too, girl."
"What do you mean?" I tilted my head back to her.
"He doesn't let you out of his sight," Amelia shrugged, I probably gave her a confused expression because she sighed, explaining, "if you stare at him for a full minute he'll glance over to see if you're still standing here."
"You're overemphasizing."
"Just watch," she suggested and I did it out of spite to prove her wrong, getting no farther than thirty seconds before Kai shifted his eyes to me, his small smile not helping my case and looked away abruptly.
"That was just a coincidence."
"You don't pay attention enough," Amelia smiled through a shake of her head, "he looks pretty smitten."
"That is never a word I would associate with Kai," Jett remarked through a quick scoff, "Kai is a total jerk, like, 99% of the time—"
"Hey!" I smacked her arm, seeing her eyes widening in surprise as she looked at me, "I'm serious, stop calling him names like that. He's very subtle and understanding, okay? He's not like half of the boys we see at school everyday, Kai is far from a jerk, he's too mature for that."
"With you," Amelia clarified, "Kai is with me all day in classes and trust me, that guy can be a jerk even if he doesn't mean to. He doesn't really talk to anyone, glares at people when they do something he doesn't like, ignores most of the girls who start up conversations with him, even before you guys dated. One time, I saw him actually yawn when some girl kept ranting about something to him like he would rather be anywhere else, and all he replied with was 'that sounds nice' and left. I'm sure this was one time of many, he can pretty much be arrogant sometimes. That's why I know he doesn't really care about us being his friends or whatever."
I felt myself blink at Amelia as I held my breath with each word she said. I always knew Kai acted differently with me, even when we were only friends. I always knew he was careful and calm when he talked to me, I saw how he acts with Jett and Zade, his friends too at the lake party, but that's just Kai. He sometimes joked with me like that too, but what Amelia was saying was different. Kai always listens to me when I rant about anything, actually listens. He asks about and answers me when I talk nonsense.
I wondered what to make of this, and if it was a good thing or not. I wanted him to be nice and understanding with everyone, but there was something about me being the only one who knew his gentle side that I liked. It made me feel special and close to him, and I liked knowing that we shared something that was just between us. Actually, I loved it. I loved how much he cared only about me, about my opinion, my feelings. Maybe that was selfish, but I couldn't control the small smile that was drawn on my face.
"Hey, guys," a familiar voice snapped my head up, seeing Zade putting an arm around Jett with a smile, "how was your day?"
"Exhausting," Jett groaned, tilting her head back, making me laugh, "where were you?"
"Stayed a little late in French class," he shrugged before his eyes found Amelia, smiling again, "hey."
"Hi," she smiled back, "I'm Amelia, in Kai's class."
"Zade," he extended his hand for her to shake.
"I know," she nodded, and I watched his eyebrows lower a fraction before she shook her head, motioning at Jett, "I know you're Jett's brother, I mean."
"Oh," he grinned, and Jett and I exchanged looks as she mouthed to me 'typical Zade' making me roll my eyes. Zade had a habit of flirting without even realizing it, or realizing it but denying that this was what he was trying to do. However, if he wasn't trying to flirt then why was he still holding her hand, and why was Amelia smiling this hard. I could feel my own cheeks hurt just by looking at her, "I've never seen you around."
"I just met Emma lately, and saw Jett a few times here," she waved a hand, finally letting go of Zade's, "you're in Emma's year, right?"
"Yeah, I—" his phone rang cutting him off as he slid his arm off of Jett, checking it, "it's my dad, sorry."
"It's okay," Amelia tilted her head as we watched him take a few steps away, answering before I felt her squeeze my arm, "oh my god. He's so cute."
"He's my cousin," I reminded her with a blank expression.
"Oh, right," she looked at Jett who only shook her head.
"Brother, remember?"
"Yeah... I really need to find someone to talk to about this family," Amelia shook her head.
"Don't you like Rio?" I gave her a confused look.
"Yes, but he still didn't make a damn move," she groaned, "I'm so tired. And don't worry for all of you who are fully team Amelia + Rio," she pointed at herself then u, "I'm still in love with him, I'm just appreciating beauty, okay?"
"Sure," Jett laughed, "but you might need to check on your man because if looks could kill, my brother would be buried where he's standing right now."
Amelia and I followed Jett's gaze to Rio's eyes narrowed on Zade's direction, his hands squeezing whatever it was he took from the tree in his hands, "oh, he definitely likes you."
"You don't know that," Amelia rushed, "Rio sometimes just zones out."
"Well, I think you have a chance to actually show him you like him," I shrugged, "every time I see you guys interact you're either making fun of him or almost killing him."
Amelia laughed nervously, and I took a step back with a smile, "anyway, I should go now, Kai is going to the academy today, and he's driving us home so— oh, sorry, I..."
I trailed off as I turned to see who I accidentally bumped into, being met by short blond hair and brown eyes staring into my soul, "you should be more careful."
"Yeah," I sighed, "sorry, are you okay?"
"Yeah," Clara smiled, but it didn't meet her eyes, "are you?"
"Mhm," my eyes gazed over her shoulder the same second Kai looked towards me, "thanks. I should go though."
"Okay," she shrugged, "bye, Emmaline."
My movements halted at the sound of my name coming out of her mouth. She always called me that since the first time she ever saw me, I hated that. I didn't know why then, I only thought it was weird, but now I know. It was weird because I was used to only one person calling me that, and now I realized I wanted it to stay that way. Only him calls me that. That's what he wanted, and I don't want her to share this habit with him.
"Hey," I turned back to her with a smile, "you can just call me Emma, you know? I told you guys that this is okay."
"I know," she said flatly, "but it's okay calling you by your name right? I mean, does Kai call you that?"
"Yeah," I nodded, flashing my teeth in a smile, "Kai does, but I'd appreciate it if you just called me Emma, alright?"
"Does it matter?" She tilted her head, her tone still giving away nothing which made me even more angry at her. Drop the act.
"Yeah, it does," I decided to keep my kind tone despite the urge to just snap at her, "not that I have to explain myself, but I only like it when my boyfriend calls me that. So as long as you're obviously not him, would you please stick to calling me Emma like everyone else?"
"Your— wait what?" She shook her head, her eyes finally giving away an emotion, "Kai's your boyfriend?"
"Yeah," I gave her a soft smile before dropping my eyebrows as if confused, "what? Wasn't it obvious that he liked me?"
No it's wasn't, I didn't even know that he liked me, but she doesn't need to know that. I waited for her to reply, but she just stared at me, her lips slightly parting before I saw her jaw clenching.
"Okay," I sighed, "I really need to go now. See you around, Clara!"
I brushed past her, walking to Kai who was still rooted in place until I linked my fingers with his as he looked down at me, "you ready to go?"
"Yeah," he said but stayed in place, squeezing my hand tighter when I moved, "what happened over there?"
"Nothing," I shrugged, but he just narrowed his eyes at me, "I'm serious. I was just apologizing because I bumped into her by accident."
"Okay," he gave me an unconvinced look as he walked us towards the gate, "but just so you know if you were calling her out, I am fully supportive because Emmaline Leila Warner is finally talking back and I'm here for it."
"Please," I scoffed, taking the helmet he handed me.
"I'm serious," he insisted, "you have no idea how proud I'll be seeing this."
"You know I don't do that," I said, "I don't like it."
I'm usually unbothered by anyone around me, I don't know how much I have to repeat that I don't care about people's opinions. However, Clara wasn't simply someone with an opinion about me. Clara liked my boyfriend, even when he wasn't yet, he was still the boy I liked. Wether or not she knew that, I didn't care. I've been acting out of character lately because of him, but I wasn't sure I hated it, I actually kind of felt so good right now giving Clara the same smiles she gave me. I don't even know why I act like this, I've never felt like that before, never felt this urge of possessiveness about anything or anyone. Until it came to him.
x-x-x-x-x-x
"I'm serious. We know you're taller now, big boy. Round of applause," I clapped my hands lightly before placing them on my hips, "you don't need to have this polaroid in your room forever to prove it."
"I find it cute," he shrugged with a smug smile, and I grabbed a pillow from the bed, throwing it at him, hearing him laugh. After school, I found mum and dad were at Kai's and that we'll grab dinner together today, so Kai and I headed to his room until they called us down, "what's wrong with you?"
"Me?" I snapped then pointed at the polaroid of him resting his arm on my head as I frowned, "this is not funny anymore, take it down— wait. You know what, replace it."
"Replace it?" He cocked his head to the side.
"Yeah!" I smiled and walked to the dresser, opening the first drawer and finding the polaroid we took yesterday at the construction building, "this one is definitely cuter."
I went to snatch the polaroid tucked on the side of the mirror but was suddenly span around, hands restraining my upper arms, "this polaroid is staying here forever."
"Why?" I whined, "I have cute pictures of us in my room, why are you doing this to me?"
"I told you I fined it cute," he said calmly and smiled with a tilt of his head, his thumbs brushing agains my skin that made me hold my breath for a second. He's so gorgeous. Not now, pull yourself together.
"Fine," I managed to say, pushing his chest away and hiding the polaroid of us kissing behind my back, "do as you wish, but just so you know, you're not getting this picture back until you take that one down."
"What? No, give this back," he extended his hand, but I just shook my head, "Emmaline, you already have your own."
"I don't care. If you want it so much all you have to do is— kai! No!" I felt his fingers tickling my sides and jumped out of my place. I hated when he pulled that move, "stop this!"
"You're a thief," he shrugged before brushing his fingers on my skin again, a laugh breaking out of me without meaning to as I moved away again, "give it."
"No," I extended my arm behind my back, "I'm asking you, as your girlfriend who you love and respect, take that down and I'll give it to you. I think it's a done deal— wha—"
He cut me off by sliding his arm around my back, pulling me to him until he took my lips with his, leaning down to deepen the kiss as I sighed into his mouth. I felt my arm lower as my other one went around his neck, kissing him back. I don't know when or how I'll get used to this feeling I get when he kisses me, but I really don't mind it. I never imagined how it'd feel like to just lose yourself when someone kisses you, but I know now that I would love to stay like this for however long he wanted.
"Hah!" He pulled away and I blinked rapidly, seeing him holding up the polaroid of us and lowered my eyebrows, looking at my own hand to see it empty.
"You tricked me," I frowned, trying to push him away, but he tightened his grip on my lower back.
"Tricked you?" He gave me shocked expression, "no, no, I would never trick or take advantage of a woman."
"Yeah, right," I nodded with disappointment.
"Believe me," he lowered his voice, leaning back in, and I couldn't help the gasp I let out, "I have a lot of moves other than playing tricks on women."
"A lot of moves...?"
"Yeah," he whispered, brushing my hair out of my face, with the hand holding the polaroid, "like a whole lot."
I was already leaning in again, my eyes on his lips as he talked. I felt his hand go up my back to pull me in more and—
"Emma," a very familiar voice came muffled through the door, causing Kai to literally push me as I stumbled back until my back hit the mattress. Leaning up with my elbows just in time to see dad cracking the door open, "Nazeera is saying that... what's happening?"
Kai and I looked at each other with what I suppose was the same horrified look then back at Dad whose eyes left us and dropped to the ground, blinking once. What was he looking at? I sat down straight to follow his gaze, finding... oh. The polaroid that was on Kai's hand was now on the floor for some reason, face up. With our picture as we kissed each other. Cool. Great. Kai is so dead.
I looked up at Dad tilting his head to the side, his eyes pinned on Kai, his face shifting from a flabbergasted expression I've never seen before on him to an expression that I also never seen on him before, but this time it was darker, threatening. Oh bloody hell.
"Um," Kai rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and huffed out a shaky scoff, "well... um... it was fun hanging out with you guys today, but I uhh, I should go home right now."
"This is your home," Dad answered with a low voice, that actually made Kai swallow and me to grit my teeth, my heart beating faster. Kai was stuttering. Kai. Well, damn.
"Oh... yeah, right," Kai laughed, taking a step back, "well, um, there is a secret that nobody knows about me that you are going to be the first to find out about because you two are my favorite Warners, don't Jello that, I actually have a secret lake house that nobody knows about and—" what was he doing? Oh my god, this is bad, "so, I need to check it because yeah, bye!"
One second Kai was in front of me the second there was a blur and I was left staring at my dad, the room empty. Kai just ran in a flash.
"Dad—"
"Not now," he said before turning and walking out.
"Dad, wait!" I got up running after him downstairs. I saw Kai grabbing Kenji and standing behind him, using him as a human shield.
"What? What's happening?" Kenji asked, trying to look behind him but Kai held his upper arms still.
"You peccable coward," Dad said, walking towards them as I shook my head, "how dare you?"
Before anyone could say anything Dad grabbed a knife off of the counter, making me gasp, "dad!"
"Woah, woah!" Kenji snapped, extending his arms now, Kai fading from view, "why so furious, man? Take it easy. What did he do? What did you do, bro!"
"Just don't move, please!" I heard Kai say in a voice I haven't heard before coming out of him, "please, dad!"
"Wha— hey!" Kenji yelled when Dad pushed Kenji by his chest, making him stumble half a step backwards, "can you please calm down, dude?"
"Calm down?" Dad's grip on the knife tightened as I quickly moved towards them, "your son kissed my daughter, and you're asking me calm down?"
"My son— what?" Kenji jerked his head back, "you did what? Are you for real? Did he actually? What?"
"He's dead," Dad took a step forward, and I quickly placed my hand on his forearm until he turned his head to me, "stay out of this, Emmaline."
Emmaline. Damn. That meant that he was going to have a talk with me afterwards, "Dad, can we just sit down and—"
"No," he cut me off and grabbed Kenji by the collar, "get out of my way."
"So you could murder my son? I don't think so—" Dad's hold tightened on his collar, chocking him. Oh my god, "hey, dude, this feels a little personal now, I'm getting flashbacks."
Flashbacks? Was this how their friendship was years ago?, "speaking of flashbacks and fond memories," Dad cocked his head to the side, rising the knife until it was in front of Kenji's face, his eyes widening so hard I felt like he was going to explode, "would you like a haircut while we're at it?"
"No!" Kenji yelled so loud, pushing Dad off and grabbed Kai, "he's all yours."
"Dad!" Kai snapped the same time I shouted, "Kenji! No!"
Dad shoved Kenji to the side, but Kai took off, using his powers to run across the room, standing behind a couch, causing my dad to close his eyes and take a deep breath.
"What are you doing?" Naz's voice came from behind Dad as she walked from the next room towards us, asking me, "why do you look terrified?"
"Well... I... we," I stuttered looking around at dad walking towards Kai before stopping, looking down and grabbing something before throwing it at Kai. Was that a shoe? Kai went behind the couch before coming into view again looking behind him as the shoe hit the wall and fell down.
"Phew, that was close. I— ahh," another shoe came with full force, hitting his abdomen, "what the hell mum?"
"I'm just showing Warner how it's done to prove that I'm better than him," Naz shrugged and looked at Dad, "now why are we hitting my son?"
"He kissed my daughter."
"Oh," Naz looked at me before looking back at Kai, giving him a thumbs up and mouthing 'good for you.'
I turned to Kai seeing him mouth back, 'thanks, mum.' Before Dad moved again, and Kai literally jumped out of his place running away, "wait! Wait! Please, let me tell you something first! Uncle, hear me out!"
"I hate it when you call me that," Dad gritted out, his movements quickening as he walked towards Kai, me following him, I'm actually losing my breath, "I'm just Warner."
"Okay, okay, Warner—"
"No, in fact, don't address me at all, you exquisitely incomprehensible idiot," Dad threatened, "you're dead to me."
"No," Kai shook his head, walking backwards around the room, "please, just let me explain. Emmaline! Please."
I saw Dad run the last steps, standing less than a feet away from Kai taking him by surprise, and I felt my legs taking off without thinking until I was between them, extending my arms, "wait! Wait, please! Stop!"
Dad wasn't even glancing at me, just death staring me as I felt Kai's heavy breathing behind me, I could hear his heart thud against his chest, "don't hurt him. We haven't even done anything yet."
"Yet?" He looked at me then, and I wish he hadn't because his eyes shifted to just pure fury. Rage.
"We haven't done anything!" I corrected, "full stop."
"Yeah," I heard Kai breath, feeling his hands come to my shoulders as if I'm actually a barrier. Dad's eyes went to Kai's hands on me before looking up again towards him with the same expression, "I'm taking my hands off."
He pulled his hands away, and I was about to open my mouth when I heard mum coming down the stairs, "Kenji, Nazeera! Look what I found!"
She was holding a small white square shaped thing that I had a very good idea about what it is. She looked up with a smile that quickly faded as her eyes roamed around all five of us, "oh... I guess Aaron beat me to it then."
x-x-x-x-x-x
"So you're dating?" Dad asked from the couch. After a lot of trials, Mum and I finally convinced Dad to sit down, so we could talk. So here we are, Kai and I on a small couch sitting across Mum, Dad, Kenji, and Naz as if we are in an interrogation room.
"Yeah," Kai and I said in union.
"Dating dating?" Dad repeated.
"Yeah."
"And there is no chance you want to break up any time soon?" Dad wondered, "you have no intention to do so whatsoever?"
"Not really no, I think I'm pretty much in love with her— dad you're going to explode," Kai said, and I looked at Kenji, tapping the floor with his feet, a smile he thought he was hiding on this face.
"I'm so happy!" Kenji grinned, fisting his hands in the air above his legs, "oh my god! I knew something was happening, but I needed this confirmation. This is, like, my biggest dream come true— J, how are you not freaking out about this?"
"Oh, I already knew," Mum shrugged, and Kai and I snapped our heads to her, "what? I saw you guys kiss in front of our house when Kai brought you home from Adam's house."
"What?" Kai, Kenji, Dad, and I snapped. Naz simply just observing with a knowing smile on her face.
"That wasn't the first time you kissed Emmaline?" Dad turned to Kai again, "when did you become a deviant? You—"
"I'm not a deviant," Kai broke with a quick shake of his head, "I'm just dating her. This is a normal girlfriend and boyfriend activity to do. Plus, what's so surprising to you? I thought you wanted this to happen. You told me to go to her."
"He did?" I asked then looked at my dad, "you did?"
"I told you to fix whatever you did wrong. I wasn't giving you my blessing to go date my daughter!" Dad's sound went higher an octave at the last sentence.
"What? You literally told me she would forgive me and that she can't stay mad at me for too long. That she cares about me just as much as I care about her. What was that supposed to mean?"
"I was just trying to calm you down because you were having a panic attack and—"
"Panic atta— what?" Naz finally spoke for the first time, her eyes going to Kai in alarm, me doing the same. Panic attack? Kai had a panic attack... because of me?
"I was? You said you didn't know what that was," Kai replied calmly, his shoulders tensing, and I fought the urge to reach out to him. Panic attack was news. Because of me even made me feel more guilty about how he was feeling.
"If I told you you were having a panic attack, you would have been more panicked and probably would have died," Dad crossed his arms leaning back, "maybe I should have let you."
"Hey! Dude, you were going fine, don't ruin it," Kenji said before smiling, "thank you for returning the favor though."
"What favor?" Mum asked.
"Oh, J, your man was a wreck when I walked in on him after you broke up with him."
"You guys broke up?!" Kai and I asked in a shocked voice
"Oh..." Mum looked between us, and I saw Kenji quickly shake his head, standing up.
"Okay, okay, I feel like we're getting off topic here, so everybody calm down. I can't believe I'm the one saying this," he sighed and pointed at Mum, "first of all, how dare you not tell me that our kids were together for two days while I was losing it trying to get Kai to confess something happened?"
"They seemed like they didn't want anyone to know," she said softly and lifted her shoulders, "you would have not kept your mouth shut."
"We're going to have a talk about how best friends work later, princess," he warned and looked at Kai with a grin even when it was obvious he had it as a form of disbelief more than happiness, "okay, second of all, what the hell, bro? You having panic attacks now? That's new, I am so freaking out right now. We three," he pointed at both of them and Naz, "are going to have a sit down later, okay?"
"Dad, I'm fine—"
"No," Naz held her palm up, "he's right. How could you not tell us about this? How could you just act fine—"
"Because I am fine, mum—"
"Third of all," Kenji interrupted and looked at Dad, "dude, one, I'm really grateful you helped Kai, like seriously impressed. Two, how the hell couldn't you tell me my son is having panic attacks?"
"It was just one," Dad shrugged, "he's fine. It's normal."
"It's not normal, man," Kenji laughed with a slight shake of his head, "you are not normal. Do not transfer your energy, character, and persona into my child, please. He's my boy. He can't end up being like you, and you know why."
"I don't know why actually, I think I am incredible and astonishing," Dad held his chin up, "it would be much better if he didn't end up like you."
"Hello? Guys, I'n right here," Kai waved a hand in front of his face, "why do I seem invisible once I get into this house?"
"You're a psychopath, Warner," Kenji fired back at Dad, ignoring Kai.
"Hey!" Mum said, tugging on Kenji's arm from her seat, "stop calling him that!"
"Well, he is! He—"
"Okay, guys!" Kai finally snapped, standing up and pushing Kenji down by his shoulders making him sit back down, "enough. You guys can go back to your normal routine but please hear Emmaline and I out first?" He sighed before shaking his head, looking specifically at Dad, "no, no actually just hear me out."
I straightened as he moved between the two seats, standing at the ends of the couches as we turned to all look at him, "I didn't prepare what I was going to actually say once you found out, I was going to, but, well, today happened," he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
He was trying to keep it together, Kai didn't work well with being overwhelmed. He hated it, hated when things got out of hand, when arguments would get messy, real. But he was still trying, I saw him crack his fingers and clenched my jaw. He did this when he was nervous or anxious. I wanted to get up, he told me to help him out when we got together, and that's what I wanted to do, but he just shook his head at me, motioning for me with his eyes to just stay in place, to listen.
"Emmaline and I are dating, we've been together for only two days, but I know I love her, alright? There's a lot of reasons why you should let me date your daughter. I've loved her this entire time, always loved her. I like her and she likes me too."
"You don't know that she likes you," Dad shook his head, and I let out a breath to fight the roll of my eyes.
"Actually, she does like him a lot," Mum said quietly, "I heard her talking to herself on thanksgiving, trying to soothe herself."
"Mum?" I let out with a jerk of my head.
"Talk to herself? Thanksgiving?" Dad blurted out.
"I have a feeling that every time I talk, things get progressively worse," Mum looked at me with an apologetic expression.
"You think?" I whispered, and she held her palm up.
"I'm just going to be quiet and observe now," she motioned for Kai to continue until he sighed.
"So back to reasons why I'm good enough for Emmaline. First, I know her, I know her better than anyone who could possibly think of being her boyfriend. I'll always know her best. I know what she likes and what she dislikes. I know what would make her happy and what would annoy her so I'll avoid doing it. I know that she likes extra tomatoes on her taco sandwiches, I know that she absolutely hates the taste of lemon on anything. I know that she always gets cold drinks even when it makes her freeze that she has to drink a hot one afterwards. I know that she loves the rain," he threw a small smile my way that I really wanted to return but couldn't. I could just feel my insides tightening with every word he let out.
"Second," oh there was a second, "I'm a very great listener. I listen to her talk all the time. About anything, I know that's the bare minimum for you," he pointed when Dad opened his mouth to speak, "but I also know how much it means to her. Emmaline loves to talk, even if it was about a candy she found so sweet, she couldn't stop describing how it tasted to me," that was years ago, how does he remember that? I didn't even remember that until he said it now, "I don't just nod my head and pretend to listen, I pay attention to her. To everything she does and says. I don't think I'll ever get bored. I want to keep doing that because I love her. I'm in love with her."
I could feel my jaw dropping with each sentence, with each confession, "third, and not last, I could go on forever, but I just wanted to get the point across. So, third, I'm ready to do anything Emmaline asks for, anything she wants, okay? Without even questioning, I trust her. I know she does too, I know you do," he didn't break eye contact with Dad, "so please, I want you to not only trust me but trust that I can be good to her."
I could feel my heart beating fast, so fast I thought it's going to burst out of my chest, I could hear my breathing, my hands curling on my lap as I stared at him, still looking at my dad. I felt like his eyes were genuinely asking for his permission, for his trust. I saw his fingers twitching as if he was trying to keep himself from cracking his fingers again, trying to seem serious, confident.
"Dad?" I heard myself ask when nobody replied to Kai. I knew Dad would do whatever I asked for, but that wasn't what I was asking him now. I was asking him to answer Kai. To trust him, to believe him. To do what Kai wants, not me.
"Come on, Warner," Naz nudged him, "cut it out with the suspense. The boy just poured his heart out to us. A side note though, you better not break his heart because I will seriously hurt your health."
"Naz, who is that?" Kenji asked still looking at Kai, "do you know who that is and why does he look identical to the boy we gave birth to? Most importantly, how did he get into our house?"
"Aaron," Mum whispered, "say something because I feel like Kai is going to turn purple from holding his breath."
Each second stretched into the next, the deafening silence filling up the room nothing in comparison to the shield lifting from Kai's eyes revealing a vulnerability that had her own heart twisting until Dad stood up. I saw everyone, except for Naz who still had her arms crossed with her eyes turning into slits at every move he made, straighten along with me as Dad walked to Kai.
"I know you care about Emmaline. I know you love her, and I know that for some unfortunate, unexplained reason, Emmaline loves you too, but," he held up his index finger, "make her even shed one tear, and you're not only dead to me, you're just dead. Brutally murdered with parts of your body splattered across the world. Deal?"
"Deal," Kai said before Dad could even finish. I let out a huge sigh of relief just when Kenji and mum shot out of their seats with grins on their faces.
"Yes!" Mum clapped her hands and turned to Kenji, holding her palms up, "they did it!"
"They did it!" He gave her a high five with both hands before hugging her. No, not just hugging her, he lifted her off of the ground, walking with her still in his embrace, making Dad and Kai move back to not bump into them as Naz stood up, walking next to Dad.
"We're going to be related! For real this time!" Mum jumped in her place once Kenji placed her down, holding onto his hands.
"Oh my god J I have been waiting for this for years and years and— you get it," he said in excitement before hugging her again.
"They have gone mad," Dad said with a flat voice as he nodded.
"Yup," Naz agreed with a similar nod of her head but smiled anyway.
"You're smiling aren't you?" Dad asked still not prying his eyes off of Kenji and Mum.
"Yup," Naz's grin widened, her voice becoming more excited, "yeah, no, I can't take this anymore. Guys, let me join! This guy's a bore."
She pushed my Dad lightly jumping into Mum's arms as Kenji pulled them into a group hug, all three laughing, bringing a smile to my face as I looked at them. We were a very chaotic family. In the span of 48 hours, I dated my childhood best friend, Kai got grounded and ungrounded, I made his dream of when he was six come true, Dad chased Kai around with a knife, gave him his blessing in the same hour, and now we were all in a happy mood again. Just like that. I loved us.
"God, I love this family," I heard Kai say next to me as if he heard my thoughts and looked up at him looking at his parents and Mum, having a similar smile to mine.
"Hey, Kai," Mum said with a smile, walking towards us after the three of them took a breath and broke apart, "Since we're one family now—"
"We're not," Kai interrupted with a shake of his head, still grinning.
"Basically, we are. In 10 years whatever," she waved a hand, "how about we find me a new nickname you can use? Maybe J, like your dad calls me, he also calls me princess, aren't they all so pretty? You can—"
"No I don't think so. I'm sticking with Jello," he said in a serious tone, his expression shifting to slightly normal again, "I've been calling you that since I was seven. It's locked up in my head."
"Okay," Mum chuckled, but her eyes didn't seam that happy as she lightly hit Kai's shoulder with her fist.
"Aw. My shoulder," Kai blinked, his smile completely dropping as his hand went to his shoulder.
"What?" I asked, my hand moving to his arm.
"It's stuck," he tried to massage it but groaned, "Emmaline, it hurts."
"Mum!" I snapped, moving around him, lifting my hands to his shoulder, she had her powers on? "guys, stop trying to hurt him, oh my god. What's wrong with you?"
"Hey, J remember when you would lose it when any of us treated Warner that way?" Kenji put an arm on Mum's shoulder.
"Well you guys were comfortable bullying him," she crossed her arms in defense, "and I didn't mean to hit him hard, I didn't know my powers were on."
"Yeah, right," I threw at her as my fingers pressed on Kai's shoulder until I felt him relax and whispered, "better?"
"Yeah," he huffed, looking down at me, "thanks, sunshine."
"Sun— what?" Dad raised his eyebrows, eyes darting between us.
"Emmaline," Kai corrected, "thank you for your service, Emmaline."
"Sure thing," I smiled then looked at dad with a glare, mouthing 'stop it.'
"Hey!" Naz beamed, and I looked at her holding a camera, "let's give you an official 'dating announcement' photo."
I giggled but moved with Kai so our back was to the empty room, and I tiled my head towards him with a grin, ready for her to snap the picture.
"Wait, wait!" Mum said with a have of her hand as she and Kenji walked towards us, Kenji's hands suddenly hugging me as Mum went to do the same with Kai but he quickly took a step back, raising his hands up, and she raised her in innocence, "no powers, promise."
I saw him relax just as she stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his chest, restraining his arms to his sides, making me let out a laugh as his eyes widened.
"Okay, 1...2...3!" Naz snapped the photo, the flash blinding my eyes before it went back to normal, watching her take the polaroid, studying it as Dad tried, and failed, to seem uninterested, squinting his eyes in order to see it properly before looking away at the wall that became suddenly interesting when Naz looked back at him and shook her head, handing me the polaroid.
I felt something brushing against my leg and looked down at Pascal who I didn't even notice was here in this chaos, he was probably hiding all this time when he saw two people chasing each other around the house like maniacs. I smiled and looked down at the polaroid in my hand. Kenji had a grin in his face that his eyes disappeared as he squeezed me in his hug while I was mid laughing, holding Kenji's forearms and looking at Kai who was smiling too, but clearly in pain from how hard my mum was squeezing him, smiling with her teeth visible, leaning her head on Kai's shoulder.
"Hey, let's put it with the rest upstairs," I said when I felt Kai move next to me.
"Okay," he took the polaroid from me and I went to follow him when Dad's voice pulled me back.
"yeah?" I looked at him, feeling Kai already going up the stairs.
"How are you feeling?" He stepped towards me and I gave him a confused look, "I mean, are you happy?"
"Yeah," I said with a nod, my eyebrows still lowered.
"Are you happy with him? Do you really feel like you want to be with Kai?"
Oh. I didn't even have anything to think or doubt as I said, "yeah. I am happy with him, Dad. Really happy."
"Okay," he nodded before smiling, our matching dimples on his face showing, "that's all I want, sweetheart."
I smiled back and hugged him before turning and heading upstairs. I was at Kai's door when I heard Dad's voice from downstairs, "door stays open!"
"Yup!" I replied to the already opened door, pushing it farther open, "wide open! Hitting the wall open!"
I heard Kai huff out a laugh and rolled my eyes, walking to him as he leaned his back against the window, "hey."
"Hi," I looked at the dresser to find the two new polaroids already there, "Jello gave me yesterday's one when you were checking out how handsome I looked in today's photo."
"One thing I love about you is how modest you are," I said sarcastically and stopped moving when I was right in front of him.
He smiled to himself and pushed off of the wall, my head tilting back to look him in the eye. My mind went back to moments ago when he was talking to my dad, to all of us, about why he should be enough for me. He knows me. He listens to me. He trusts me. All that, and he was still anxious about being with me because he was scared he'll hurt me. I didn't see how can this man ever make my heart hurt. All he seamed to do was make it beat faster just by being close to him, just by hearing him talk about me, by looking at him while he gave me that look, like he couldn't look away just like me.
"I really am so in love with you, Kai," I felt myself say, "I just need you to know that."
He just blinked at me, not saying anything. Then his hands came to both sides of my face, pulling me in until my mouth was on his, urging it open with his tongue as he angled my head to deepen the kiss. I loved how he kissed me, not just how his lips moved on mine, or how I would feel how good he tasted with my tongue, but how he always took my face with both his hands like he was blocking me from the entire world around us, always rubbed his thumbs on my cheeks when he felt my freeze for a second, how he was so gentle with the way he kissed me even when I could feel his hold on me tighten as if he was holding himself back, going with whatever he thought I was comfortable with.
I stood on my tiptoes to be closer, my own hands moving to the sides of his neck, kissing him back before we finally broke apart, our foreheads touching, his breath against mine, "you're fucking addictive, Emmaline."
My breath caught in my throat at the sudden confession, the way he said it like he has been dying to let me know it, to let me see the hold I have on him. I looked at him and I couldn't even see brown left in his eyes, looking at me as if he couldn't think or see anything else, and I wondered if I had a similar look in my eyes, but I knew I did. Because right now I couldn't possibly think of anything I wanted more than him. Anything other than this.
Well, I was so far gone. And I didn't even want it any way else.
———————
A/N:
Why was this actually so hard to write but then I felt my fingers moving in their own? Anyway, I hope yall liked it and that it was accurate enough lmao.
Side note that has nothing to do with anything: Today I was told that I came first place on my grade for three years in a row.💃🏻💃🏻
My academic rival is flaming right now, can't wait to see the look on his face when I take my certificate with #1 on it and shove it in his face with his own having #2 for the millionth times🤭🤭🤭(I utterly despise this dude)