FIRST OF ALL GUYS SORRY FOR THE DELAY IN UPDATE, SECOND OF ALL TO ALL THE PEOPLE CELEBRATING HAPPY DIWALI, I DON'T KNOW IF I AM A LITTLE LATE OR WHAT BUT STILL HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE DIWALI. I REALLY HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY/NIGHT.
The puppies were now fed and playing around with themselves, nipping their parents and sometimes me and Jason. I was sitting between Jason's legs as one of them come one by one to play or sit on my lap. Me and Jason were being ourselves cooing at their cuteness, this is probably the first time for me to see this side of Jason. I know he was always a softy in front of me but he never cooed or awed me.
"You know I have always wanted a puppy. They say puppy makes the best friend for growing up kid."
"So, what happened?"
"My Nana happened. She had different thoughts about it. In fact she always has dissimilar thoughts in compare to majority. She thought animals were just waste of time, energy and money. Her definition of pet is a nuisance that are born to freeload on human."
"That's rude. I am a gang leader but I don't feel that way."
"I know right. I always opposed her but in my mind because voicing out against elders is rude." I mimicked the last part the way nana recites to me.
"Nope that's not true." I looked at Jason with a confused look. "If you think someone is wrong and want to point out their mistake, it's never rude. You are just being nice and correcting them."
"But nana said---
"Nana! Nana! Nana! It's always nana. Haven't you ever given a thought that maybe whatever your nana is teaching isn't really adequate?" He tightened his jaw and looked other way. Just a moment ago we were fine and suddenly now he is getting hostile.
"Nope." I shook my head without an hesitation. He looked my way with a baffled expression.
"Why?"
"Because it makes my dad happy. I am the only family he has and as the only family it's my duty to keep him happy. Even if it means following the path blindly wherever my Nana guides to than I have no complaints." He looks at me in disbelief before letting out a humorless smile.
"You know I always look at you and yelled at myself for kidnapping such an innocent angel and taking you away from your family. Then you talk about your family and I am like nope. I think this is the most nicest thing I have ever done for anybody."
"Why would you think that? Keeping someone away from their family is never a nice thing."
"Well it is a nice thing when you have a family like yours and kidnapper like me. I think I treat you better than any of your family."
"It's not. You are saying this because you just don't know them like I do."
"You just can never see bad in a person, can you?" He tilted his head in a frown.
"What do you mean?"
"I've been observing you for a while, every time we talk about your family or more precisely your nana. The way you describe your nana everyone will come to the conclusion that she is an ignorant and terrible lady who doesn't much care about your feeling/ well being. And when any of us try to get it in your head, you just wave it away saying she has her own reasons or something it's because we don't know her. We don't have to know a person personally to understand what kind of individual they actually are. With the way people describe about them in every day life, it is enough to know what kind of person they are. So why can't you get in your head that your nana isn't the nicest person you make out her to be?" Jason sounded pretty annoyed as he rubbed his face.
"I don't believe that." Jason faced me with a baffled look and scoffed.
"Of course you won't. It's your nana we are talking about. The one who had fill this kind of stupid conception that thinking ill of someone older; even if he is freaking delinquent who abuses people is a sin. No matter who they are or what they do, if they are even a year older you never disrespect them. Isn't that right?"
"Why are you so angry? I said you---"
"We don't know her the way you do, I know." He snapped before I could complete my sentence. He is angry and it is pretty scary. I have never been yelled before or been talked with a loud tone because I tend to cry easily. My dad knew that pretty well so whenever he was angry or anyone in the house; he would not let them stay in the house. Anger and violence was something that was always kept out of the house, no one was allowed to get angry, violent or aggressive inside the house, to be exact in my presence.
Without knowing I had tears streaming down my face and a sob escaped out of mouth. The change in my behavior caught his attention and soon his annoyed expression changed into concerned one.
"I am sorry princess, please forgive me. I didn't mean to yell at you." He hugged me close cradling my head until I calmed down. I pulled away from the hug and wiped my tear stained cheeks.
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry, princess?" I didn't dare look up in his eyes but the tone in his voice told me he was confused with my apology.
"For being a crybaby. I'm such a baby for crying over even the smallest thing. There are girls younger than me bravely getting into cat fights and than there is me crying over a little anger tone." I felt my chin tilted so I could face Jason properly.
"Never feel sorry for what you are princess. You are perfectly amazing just the way you are."
I closed my eyes as I felt his soft lips on my forehead. He looked at me with this adoration I have never seen except from my father. I looked at his every feature as he gave me all his attention, caressing my cheeks. We were on our own world when someone thought about interrupting it.
"Boss!" We look towards James who was panting hardly. "You have a call."
"I'm busy right now."
"It's important." Suddenly James demeanor changed into a more serious one. "I'll be with Abigail until you are done with your call." Jason heaved out a stressed sigh before getting up from his position and patting my head.
"I'll be right back, OK! James and you can be here." I nodded and let out a small noise inside my mouth as a sign of 'alright'.
Once Jason was gone, it was just me and James. There was something I have wanted to ask him since the moment I have notice his changed persona after we came to this house but I never got an alone time with him. But now that I have finally found a space with him I am afraid... No more like I am confused to how should I ask him, from where should I start.
"Something on your mind? You look stressed." I was so deep in my own world, I didn't notice when James had sat beside me and a pup was biting and yanking my thumb.
"I can ask you the same thing. You alright?"
"Yeah, I am. Why would you ask that?"
"You sure about that. I have seen some differences about you after we came here. Especially when Dr. Gemma is near you." He face felt but he was quick to recover it and smile my way.
"There's nothing for you to worried about, it is nothing that important." He ruffled my hair causing me to huff in annoyance.
"Why am I not convinced? James you said I am your sister, right? So, Why don't you treat me as one and tell me what's troubling you?"
"Should I really tell?" He replied in a teasing manner but my super glare ended all his fun. "It really isn't something little girls like you should stress about."
"Stop calling me little and FYI little girls can be more helpful in love stuffs than mature buffed men."
"Love?" He let out a bemused laugh. "There is no love." I raised my eyebrow with a 'you really wanna test me' look. "This goes a long time back." He started out with a big sigh as I held on his hand.
"You probably know how me and the boys have to struggle after the whole assassination of our parents. We had to start from the bottom; us five, the last members of the family, fighting with death every breathing minute. That's what most people think but it wasn't five, it was seven. Gemma and Gavin were one of us, we have been together all those tough times. We have been fighting together to avenge our family, just the difference is that we five went out in the open dealing with gangs while those two stayed in the shadows doing everything they could for the family. It was really hard for us but we never gave up on each other. Gemma was the oldest out of all, she was always there caring and giving us hope like mother and sister. She was the light and rock of our family. Some way along the way, I started getting drawn to her."
"I know it was wrong of me to think of her that way, she was literally a mother to us. Plus our age gap was also big but besides all that I tried and confessed to her. She thought I was too young to think about love and it was just me mixing my emotion and getting confused with appreciation to love. I believed her and tried to distract myself but the crush grew up into something more bigger and earnest. So, I made it my mission to turn into the man she wanted. I thought maybe if I grow up and turn into a man she will like me but nope, she still was going by the idea how wrong it was, us being together." I felt his grip on my hand tightened but I didn't complaint because I knew he was going through much worse than what I was feeling right now. His whole demeanor had changed; his face had gone dark, jaws clenched and crease lines visible.
"I tried everything I could, but NO! NO! NO! She was still persistent about the fact that whatever I had for her was wrong and I should give up on the thought of us together. Day by day I was getting hopeless, so I asked the guys for some tips. They told me the best way to get a girl open up her heart is by making her jealous and so I did. I brought different girls home, did things with them in front of her to make her show any kind of emotion but guess what? I failed in that too. I'm such a failure when it comes to love. Honestly, why would she even want me in the first place? I am just a heartless beast who goes around slaughtering and causing terror in people lives." I saw a flash of hurt in his eyes so I knelt in front of him and cupped his face.
"James, first of all you are not just a heartless beast; you are one of the most nicest, funniest and caring person. I have seen how you care about your brothers and the members of the gang. Whenever you sense someone going through hard times you are the first person to move forward to help them. You are always there to help the boys in their lowest times. You are not a heartless beast, James. You might be in a gang and oblige to do frightening stuff for your survival but it doesn't make you heartless."
"Thank you for those words, Abigail but it still doesn't change the fact I won't ever get the girl of my dreams. Happy endings and fairy tale love are just not for beast like me."
"James, don't say that maybe it is not you that lacks something but the way you have been trying to pursue her."
"What do you mean?" He knitted his eyebrows and tilted his head.
"I get that whatever you did was for the sake of getting your love but can I ask you what gave you the idea that, you sleeping with other girls will finally make her realize her love and come to you."
"Why? Did I do it wrong?"
"Maybe, you might have been a little wrong." I tried saying a little nicely so he won't feel his work all went in vain.
"Really? But how can that happen? Johnathan said it was a full proof plan and it'd work perfectly."
"Who, did you say?"
"Johnathan."
"Johnathan as in your brother, my sworn enemy who ate my cookies without my permission." James nodded wearily. In that moment I felt my body coursed through some kind of unknown devil power as I screamed out that one particular man-boy's name.
"Johnathan Singleton!!!!!!!!!!!"