Kylie's POV
"What is going on here, Kylie?" My father asked, eyeing Josh curiously.
After I asked my parents if we can keep Josh here, they immediately looked at my brother sharply.
"What? I don't know anything!" He defended himself.
My parents turned to me. Before I can speak, my father said, "Let's get inside first, then we'll talk."
Oh, before I forget. My father is a lawyer and my mother is a professor in a school. The places they are working at are near to each other, so they go and leave together. Since it's Saturday, I guess they went out for a date.
Aw, aren't they sweet? Yeah, right. (-_-)
Anyway, back to the present. They sat down on the couch, looked at Josh, and turned to me.
"What's going on here, Kylie?"
"Uh.." I looked at my friends to help me explain, but none of them really knew what's going on.
"Well," I don't want to beat around the bush, so let's do it.
"I want him to be my, uh, brother." I hooked my arm into Josh's.
They stared at me blankly.
"What?" They all asked simultaneously.
"I'm asking you if we can, maybe, adopt him?" I smiled sheepishly.
"What?!" Jake bursted out. "I thought he'll just be staying here for a few days? And why would you want them to adopt him?! Am I not a good brother to you? Am I not good enough?!"
I was shocked at his outburst that I couldn't respond immediately. And Jake took my silence as a yes. His face fell, and he looked devastated.
"Why didn't you tell me? I could have been a better-"
"Shut up, Jake!" I dropped Josh's arm and looked at Jake irritatedly. "You don't have to be better because you're the best brother anyone could have! I would not wish for you to change yourself! Do you understand me?"
He gaped at me and blinked twice. He then grinned at me, "Best brother, you say?"
My face heated up because of embarrassment. "Shut up, Jake." I groaned.
He skipped towards me. Yeah, he skipped, his background turning into a blinding light with glittering things everywhere.
He skidded to a stop in front of me. My eyes widened when he suddenly grabbed my arms and pulled me into a brotherly hug.
"You're the best baby sister too, Kyles. I love you." He whispered tenderly.
I smiled softly. "Yeah, I love myself too, Jake."
"Kylie~" He whined.
I chuckled. "Okay, okay. I love you too, Jake."
I could see my friends, including Kris and Josh, and my parents smile with teary eyes. You could almost hear the 'awws' in the background.
Jake pulled away, grinning ear-to-ear.
"She said she loves me~ She loves me~ My baby sister loves me~ Oooh~ ooh~" He sang while skipping back to his seat.
I didn't know if I should be proud or be embarrassed of him acting like a five-year old in front of everyone. My mother is still teary-eyed after the drama scene while my father shook his head sideways but with smile on his face.
I cleared my throat. "So, about adopting him."
"Well, we can't just adopt him right away, Kylie." My father sighed.
"We need to know what happened and also, did he agree with you about adopting him?" My mother raised her eyebrows.
My courage soon died down, and I realized that I didn't even think about Josh's opinion.
One word. Shit!
I turned around to go to a private place. I paused and turned to tell them, "I'll be back."
I dragged Josh towards my room upstairs. Upon entering my room, I bursted out an apology.
"I'm sorry!"
He flinched in shock, staring at me with wide eyes.
"W-what are you apologizing for?" He frowned at me in confusion.
Aw, he's so adorable.
Snap out of it, Kylie!
"Josh," I whimpered.
His eyes widened even more.
"W-what...did I..Did I say something wrong?" He asked in a worried tone.
"No, it's just that I'm so stupid and selfish! I didn't even think about your feelings!"
"It's-"
"I'm very sorry! I was not thinking straight! I got carried away, thinking that it must be fun and exciting to have as a younger brother." I rambled.
"You want me to be your adopted brother?" He asked in shock and curiosity.
"Why not? I mean, you're cute and all." I reasoned out.
He looked down and blushed deep red.
I guess he's not used to compliments being thrown at him.
"I'm still not ready to replace my parents, Kylie. I just found out that they're gone last night." He reasoned out.
"I understand," I looked down and smiled at him. "but you can stay here for the meantime."
He glanced at me timidly.
"What?" I chuckled at his shyness.
"After what I did to you last night, you still want to be near me?"
I stiffened, remembering what happened last night. The smell of alcohol, the dangerous glint in the eyes of those bastards, the feeling of the cold metal pressing against my neck. All of these came back and made me shudder involuntarily.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked with a slight panic in his voice.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked back at Josh who was staring at me with concern.
Why do I feel like this? I wasn't this scared last night.
Maybe because Kris was there with me? Because he has this aura that makes you feel secured?
I merely smiled and mouthed, "I'm okay."
I put a hand on my chest. I couldn't seem to find my voice, and all I could hear was the pounding of my heart against my chest. My breathing was becoming shallow.
I blinked and saw one of those bastards in front of me with creepy eyes and mischievous smirk. I stepped back, but hit something or someone.
"Where do you think you're going, girly?" Tom, the asshole who had the knife pressed against my neck, whispered.
I closed my eyes tightly and shook my head.
Breathe, Kylie. This is not real.
I could hear Josh's voice, but he couldn't reach me.
I released a shaky breath when I opened my eyes, and the bastards were still there, laughing evilly. My eyes darted everywhere, desperate to find an escape.
Tears stung my eyes. I felt hopeless. I couldn't find an escape. I couldn't find him.
I gasped, trying to fill my lungs with air.
"Haha. Come on now, girly. Let's have some fun."
I covered my ears and shut my eyes. Fear. That's what I was feeling, knowing that I could not find him.
No, no, no. This isn't real, Kylie! You're taught to face your fears!
I swallowed a sob that was trying to escape from my mouth when I felt them tease me with their knives. I gritted my teeth, mad at myself for being weak.
'Be brave, Kylie.' A part of my mind said.
I'm trying, okay?!
"Kylie!"
I could feel someone shaking me lightly. Before I knew it, someone was holding me firmly against their chest.
"You're safe now, Kylie."
I know this voice. Somehow, his voice reached me.
"I got you. I'm here, Kylie. I won't leave you." He whispered soothingly in my ear. He ran his hand through my hair, calming me down a bit.
I sighed in relief and opened my eyes to see those pair of grey eyes staring at me with concern. He smiled at me. I was about to smile back when he brought his face closer and kissed my forehead. I stared at him in shock when he pulled away.
He just grinned at me and sat on the bed, pulling me down to sit on his lap. Since I'm in the state of shock to protest and I kinda like it, I just let him. Hehe.
I didn't know where the courage came from when I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on the crook of his neck.
I felt Kris stiffened and relaxed afterwards. I inhaled his masculine scent, and I couldn't help but snuggle and graze my nose against his neck. And I think he's ticklish on his neck.
"Stop it, Kylie." He chuckled, leaning away from me. I grinned at him.
I always love the sound of his laugh.
"Thank you, Kris," I said sincerely, looking him straight in the eyes.
He met my gaze, and his signature smirk appeared on his face.
"No problem."
I blinked. "Wait, how did you know I was having a panic attack?" I furrowed my eyebrows.
Or was it a panic attack? It's my first time experiencing that.
"I didn't know you were having a panic attack." He stated. I threw him a questioning look.
"I just felt what I guess is your fear." He continued.
"How the hell did that happen?" I asked, looking away from him.
"I don't know." He shrugged. "We were patiently waiting for you guys then suddenly, I felt fear suffocating me. I didn't know where it came from, so I came to check up on you."
He made me look at him by raising my chin with his fingers. He frowned at me and clenched his jaw. I almost thought that he's angry with me.
"I felt your hopelessness. It's like you're trying to reach for someone, but you can't." He paused and stared at me like he could see through me. "I don't want you to feel that way ever again. I'm always here for you. Remember that."
"I don't want you to feel like you're alone, okay? I'm always here for you. Remember that." Someone said.
I blinked and shook my head. What was that?
"You okay? Are you having it again?" He said with slight panic in his voice, his eyes widening.
"No, I just..." I trailed off, wondering what just happened. Before I could speak, someone cleared their throat.
That's when I remember Josh.
Oh, shit. He's probably thinking that I'm crazy because I'm hugging the air.
We turned our heads to see Jake leaning against the doorframe with Josh behind him, peeking over Jake's shoulder to see what's happening.
Did Josh asked Jake to come here?
"Who is he?" Josh asked curiously, referring to Kris.
He can see Kris?
I looked at Kris and realized that he was in his human form.
Oh. He probably turned before he came in here.
"He's Kris." Jake replied before his eyes widened and turned to Josh. "Wait, why the heck are you here?"
Jake looked at Josh behind him with a stern look.
"This is Rated R, kid. This is inappropriate for you to watch." Jake scolded and pushed Josh away.
I blushed deep red and quickly scrambled away from Kris.
"Hey! I'm not a kid! I'm 16!" Josh pouted and glared at Jake.
"Not a kid, huh? What kind of adult would make that face? And you're a kid not until you're 18." Jake said with a scowl.
Josh jutted his bottom lip even more to annoy Jake. "But you acted like a kid earlier, skipping like you got a gift from Santa Claus."
I saw Jake's lips twitch in irritation.
"Want me to cut that lips of yours?" Jake threatened with a very serious face.
Josh looked down and glanced at him like an abused puppy. "I'm just joking, man. I'm sorry."
I saw Jake's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, swallowing his guilt probably. He just huffed and looked at us watching them with amusement.
He narrowed his eyes at us. "You know, even though I totally ship you guys, I won't let you do those lovey-dovey shit in front of me. I want to keep my eyes virgin, you understand?"
I ignored the ship thing and glanced at Kris who also glanced at me. We both turned to Jake.
"We're not so sure about your eyes being virgin." I grinned mischievously.
"Yeah, those eyes probably saw more..." Kris trailed off. He smirked at Jake who was blushing furiously.
"I was raised by my parents to be a good guy, and I will remain that way. I'm not like those horny idiots out there." He defended, his whole face turning red, even his neck.
We were silenced by his outburst for a few seconds before we laughed out loud.
"We know that, Jake. We were just teasing you." I said, wiping a tear from my eyes.
"Yeah, you just took it seriously." Kris snickered.
"Pfft," Josh stifled a laugh behind Jake.
Jake turned to glare at Josh. Josh immediately looked away and whistled innocently.
"Anyway, what are you doing here, Jake?" I asked.
"Well, this kid told me to come up here and that you were having some sort of panic attack, so I came to help you, but it seems that it's taken care of." He explained.
"This is your first time having a panic attack." He furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes at Josh.
"Did you do something to her?! I knew it. I shouldn't have trusted you!" He grabbed Josh's collar.
I ran towards them and pulled Josh away from Jake while Kris held Jake in place.
"Calm down, Jake." Kris held Jake's arms to restrain him. "Let him explain what happened."
Jake stopped struggling and exhaled roughly. "Fine."
Josh let out a soft sigh and eyed Jake warily. "I was just asking Kylie if she still wants to be near me after what I did to her."
Jake stood straight. "Oh. I, myself, am surprise that I could stand you being near her. However, since you did it not because you want to but because you have to, I guess it's alright to let you stay here with us."
Jake made this gesture that tells us, "I'm watching you."
He then stared at me and Kris like a hawk. "Are you guys together?"
I was surprised at how fast he could change the subject.
"What?! No! Why would you think that?!" The both of us sputtered.
"Well, I saw you doing what couples do, so I just assumed." He shrugged.
"Anyway, about the adopting thing." Jake turned to me.
Change topic again.
"I think we should give CJ time to think about this. The kid needs time to grieve." Jake glanced at Josh and ruffled his hair before walking away.
What? Just a moment ago he was so ready to punch the daylight out of Josh and now he's acting like they're super close? That bipolar idiot.
I turned to Josh who was looking down at his feet, probably stopping himself from crying. My eyes softened at the sight of him.
I'm so ashamed of myself, letting myself get carried away and shouting to the world that we should adopt him. I didn't even think about his feelings.
I sighed and wrapped my arms around his waist.
"It's okay to cry, Josh." I said softly, trying to tell him that he's not alone. I felt him hug me back.
"Thank you, Kylie." He sniffled. "I don't know what to do if it weren't for you guys."
"It's nothing. You can stay in that room there." I pointed at the room at the end of the hallway.
"You can rest for the day. I bet you didn't sleep a wink last night." I smiled encouragingly.
"Thanks," he smiled wearily then turned to go to the room.
"Josh!" I called out.
He turned around. "Hmm?"
"Can I tell my parents about what happened last night, including what happened to your parents? I just couldn't stand lying to them. I'm sure they'll understand and let you stay here."
"It's okay." He smiled tightly and turned to walk to his room.
I pursed my lips in worry if my parents would not take this well.
"I'm sure they'll understand why he did that." Someone said behind me.
"Aah!" I jumped two feet in the air.
"Oh, it's only you. You scared me." I said upon seeing that it was Kris. His expression darkened when he saw my surprised face.
"What? You forgot about me when you hugged Josh?" He asked bitterly.
Is that jealousy I hear?
"Aw, ish my wittle Kwissy jealoush?" I cooed.
He scowled and narrowed his eyes at me before turning to walk away. My eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Did he just ignore me?
"Hey!" I ran to catch up to him.
"Are you ignoring me?" I asked him, but he just stared right ahead.
"You are!" I confirmed.
"Come on, Kris! I was just joking!" I waved my hands in the air.
He snapped his head in my direction. He slowly walked towards me like a predator while I slowly walked backwards.
"Well, your joke kinda pissed me off." He said when my back hit the wall.
I laughed nervously. "Sorry?"
My eyes widened when he put his hands on either side of my head. "Sorry won't cut it."
"What do you want me to do?" I asked.
He started bringing his face closer, still having that pissed off look. My eyes widened in panic. "I'll do anything! I'll bake you cookies! I'll play with you anytime! I won't accuse you of being gay ever again."
The last one came out as a squeak when his face was just an inch away from me. I instinctively put my hands on his chest in an attempt to give us more distance, but the electrifying shock happened.
I gasped as the sparks traveled throughout my body. I saw Kris' eyes traveled down to my lips, his eyes darkening slightly.
Is he going to kiss me?!
'No, he's going to headbutt you.' My subconscious said sarcastically.
His eyes went back to my eyes, as if trying to tell me that I wouldn't like what he's going to do.
Oh, I will like it, alright. You just don't know it.
I just swallowed the lump in my throat and couldn't help but look at his lips just an inch away from mine. He took that as a 'okay, you can do whatever you want' sign because he leaned forward.
My heart was pounding against my chest as he slowly leaned forward.
Our eyes automatically closed as our lips brushed. But we pulled away a second later because we heard a gasp and something dropped.
Kris and I stared at each other with a horrified look on our face.
Did we just- Oh, my God! I can't believe this!!!
My face heated up as I imagined the scene.
Waaah! He's my first kiss! Or was it considered a kiss? It was just a brush, wasn't it? Mother Earth, swallow me now!!
"Y-you..." Jake stuttered as he picked up his cookie that he dropped.
He suddenly shouted, "Father! Kylie-"
I quickly ran towards Jake and clamped my hand on his mouth as Kris stood in front of him and held him in his place.
"Shut up, Jake!" I widened my eyes to somehow look intimidating.
"You did not see anything, got it?" Kris said in a threatening voice.
Jake vigorously nodded his head.
"You're not just saying yes, so we'll release you, right?" Kris asked, narrowing his eyes at Jake.
Jake shook his head sideways. I slowly removed my hand that was on his mouth. As soon as my hand was off of him, he spoke, "Not together, huh?"
I bet my face looked like I was slapped a million times because of how red it was. I glanced at Kris to see if he had the same reaction.
His face was normal, but his ears and neck were beet red. I almost cooed at how cute he was.
"We're not together, Jake." He said through gritted teeth. "And we will never be together." The last one was probably meant to himself, but I heard it anyways.
I felt like someone squeezed my heart painfully, but I just forced out a smile. "Yeah, Jake. You must be delusional to even think that."
"But I saw you two kissing!" He argued.
"I guess you were just seeing things. Kris was just telling me a secret that's why we were so close." I lied, but I doubt that he would believe me.
"He was telling you a secret with your eyes closed?" He deadpanned.
Oh, why did he have to be so smart right now?
I looked away. I couldn't think of any more excuses.
"Well," Kris started. "The secret is this." He leaned forward and said, "If you close your eyes, you only see darkness, don't you?"
"Obviously," Jake said in a 'duh' tone.
"If you roll your eyes a hundred times with your eyelids closed, you'll be able to see a tiny bit of light." Kris lied swiftly. I threw him a weird look surreptitiously.
What? I bet if you do that, your eyes will be forever rolling.
Jake stared at us for a long time that I started to squirm under his gaze.
He finally spoke, "Really? That's cool. Lemme try it."
I mentally cheered.
Oh, he's so easy to fool.
"You're going to feel dizzy, Jake. Even I couldn't make it to 20." I said even though I didn't try it.
He was about to argue, but mom decided to enter the scene.
"Hey, I baked cookies. You guys wanna eat?" Mom smiled warmly at us.
Well, no one could ever refuse to that smile, so we just nodded our heads.
While walking towards the kitchen, I saw Jake behind me watching me and Kris like a hawk.
Okay, maybe he didn't believe us at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey, guys!!! I'm so sorry for the late update. I know I said I was going to update this April, but I was so busy and had a writer's block, so I couldn't update earlier.
Also, I intend to write longer than this, but I couldn't really focus on writing further because my dog, my cute little dog was attacked by three dogs bigger than him. We already know that dogs are very territorial, right?
Those dogs were my neighbor's dogs and also my cousins' dogs. I couldn't even bear to look at my dog because he looked so traumatized. His toe was barely hanging on his paw. (Remind me to torture my cousin. Just kidding!!!)
I hope those dogs don't have rabies. I don't wanna end up killing my dog like what I saw in a movie where their dog was bitten by a wolf(?) and they killed their dog a few days later because their dog had gone crazy.
Okay, sorry for the long story about my dog...I just love my dog, and I just hope that he will not end up like that dog in a movie.
Hope you like this chapter! Yay! Finally, Kris and Kylie kissed! Or brushed their lips or whatever! Anyway, sorry for the wrong grammars if there are any. Bye~ I shall return!