As the sun sets, my heart rises more for you
"Shamu!" She hugged him tightly as soon as she saw him. He arrived back yesterday but decided to meet him the next day so he could have all the time to rest. Three weeks were definitely long and it seemed like forever. She missed him so much and she's glad that he's now here.
A smile formed on his lips when he felt her warmth again. They didn't miss a day without face timing or messaging each other while he was away, but it's completely different when it's the real thing that's in front of him.
"So how's it living without the best person in the world?" He jokingly asked on the top of her head, gently kissing it, hoping she won't notice.
She looked up on Sean, her arms still around him. "Mm... It was better actually."
Sean slightly and playfully pushed her away. "Meanie!" He pouted. Kaycee bit the insides of her cheeks to restrain herself from smiling. Can he be not cute? "Stop pouting. It doesn't suit you. You look like a duck." She joked, followed by her uncontrollable and contagious laugh which made Sean laugh too, despite of wanting to pretend upset.
"I'm a cute duck though." He said.
"Yeah whatever, Donald Duck. Let's get inside."
He followed her inside their house. He really missed everything. He treated their home as also his, and her mom and dad, his non-biological parents. But he's certain that he missed a certain person so much. Her curly brown hair, her earth soil colored eyes, her rainbow smile, his home.
He got cut off from his thoughts when he heard Kaycee's parents' voices.
"Hey, son. How was the trip?" It was Brad, giving him a quick hug.
"It was fun. Amazing actually." He politely answered.
"You gotta teach me some little moves now." Brad said, trying to dance but he's just doing his signature dance move again that made them all laugh.
"Well, Kaycee could teach you better moves." He pointed at Kaycee but she just rolled her eyes. "I tried. I ended up giving up."
Brad jokingly furrowed his eyebrows while looking both Sean and his daughter. "You guys are pretty mean. You know that you got your dance skills from me." He pertained to Kaycee.
"I don't disagree, Dad. Thank you for this skill that I inherited from you." Kaycee sarcastically said.
"No worries." Brad answered, looking really proud while Sean kept on grinning.
Laura came in, with a phone in her hand. "Schedule has been set. Tomorrow, we're going at the lake house. Sean, you can come with us if you want to."
"That's cool!" He excitedly responded.
"You got extra clothes with you?— Oh, I shouldn't have asked I know that the Sean Lew always has a pair of clothes in his magic back pack." Kaycee smirked.
He shrugged, "Well, it's always better to be ready!"
She chuckled, before picking her phone from her pocket. "I texted Tahani. She's also going with us." Kaycee reminded.
While waiting for the dinner, they decided to watch TV which got interrupted when they heard Tahani's voice echoing around the house.
"What's Gucciii?!" She yelled, running towards them. Kaycee squealed, running to meet her bestfriend and enclosed her in her arms. Sean followed her, smiling.
"Ooh, the boyfriend's here." Tahani whispered, teasing Kaycee which made her widen her eyes on her.
"Tahani, please. He might get the wrong idea." Kaycee whispered back before pulling back from the hug.
"Teacher Lew!" Tahani jokingly said before hugging him, that made him chuckle. "How was the choreographing experience?" She asked.
"Well, tiring and stressful yet enjoying. I met a lot of people and students, but you're still my favorite!"
"Aww."
"Never forget me when a million people line up for your autograph and picture and teach huge number of students around the world." Kaycee said.
"How will I forget a face like this? And believe me, I should be the one saying that to you." Sean gently caressed his thumb on her cheek, making them both flinch mentally and cheeks burn. Tahani fake coughed, making them look at her.
"I believe that this isn't what I signed for. I'm not here to be a thirdweel between you two, you know?" Tahani said, making their faces redder than ever.
"W-We have to go at the kitchen now and eat something for dinner." Kaycee said, trying to change the topic and luckily, they both agreed.
They walked into the kitchen and ate some dinner that Laura made and had little jokes and conversations.
It was 10 in the evening and they're still awake. After getting tired of watching some tv shows, they decided to scroll through their instagram. Tahani and Kaycee sat beside each other on the couch while Sean was lying alone on the cold floor.
Suddenly, he heard the two girls laughing loudly. He gets up, getting confused with whatsoever is entertaining enough to make them burst out laughing.
"What's that?" Sean asked confusingly. He saw Kaycee, trying to show Tahani something from her phone.
"Nothing," Kaycee said, still couldn't contain her laughter like Tahani.
"Come on, guys. Share it." He said, trying to peek but they kept it from him then Kaycee accidentally pulled the earphones from her phone, making Sean hear the video they're watching.
"Sshhh, sandwich! We're trying to have a moment here, and so is Wayne!"
Their laugh became hysterical as they all heard the video of a young Sean, acting in an OMG episode from Dream Works. He couldn't help but be as red as tomatoes because of embarrassment, while Tahani and Kaycee still couldn't get over it.
"Margo!" Tahani stood up and mocked the video "What are you doing?"
Kaycee stood up as well. "Yelling! Like what we're doing now, right?!" They both successfully mocked, despite of Sean, trying to cover their mouths.
"I said stop it!" Sean said but they laughed instead and started to run away as he tries to chase them.
They were like children, playing Tag around the house. Tahani hurriedly climed upstairs, making Sean lose hope of catching her so he went for Kaycee instead, who's not so good at running. He immediately caught her and tried to lift her up and carry her back to the living room, but she was trying to escape, causing the both of them to fall heavily on the floor. Their stomachs hurt because of laughing, but Sean managed to get up and tickle her. Their faces are both red because of too much cackling.
"I told you guys that I. don't. want. to. be. a. THIRDWHEEL!" Tahani said making them stop and hold back their laughter.
They soon decided to kill time and play cards and Kaycee won as usual. They watched more shows until they completely fell asleep.
The next day, Tahani first woke up, then Kaycee followed, who slept on the bed beside her while Sean was on the guest room. They greeted each other a good morning before getting off the bed.
"I bet, Sean is still in the middle of his dreams." Tahani said.
"Oh, you don't have to bet. I'm on your side." They both chuckled.
While fixing the bed, they both heard Tahani's phone ring.
"It's mom." She said.
"Go ahead, I'll just wake the sleepy head up." Kaycee said before leaving the room and walk her way to the guest's.
"Another challenging wake up session with Shamu." She murmured to herself, slightly shaking her head while smiling. She twisted the silver door knob and pushed it open.
But the next thing that she saw just made her want to just disappear into thin air.
"Oh my... OH MY GOD!"
She quickly covered her eyes with both of her hands and turned around, after seeing Sean with wearing almost nothing but his boxers. And she never saw him like that before! She felt her heart racing like crazy and felt the flush of heat on her cheeks.
"Oh, geez!"
Sean panicking grabbed a pair of clothes and immediately and wore them and now, his face is a tomato.
"I-I'm fully clothed now." He trembled, feeling the awkwardness uprising in the atmosphere.
Kaycee slowly turned around, face still flushed.
"You should've knocked," Sean said, still not meeting each other's eyes.
"W-Well, I thought you're still asleep. I'm sorry." Kaycee said, looking at the floor.
"Well, I'm not. I woke up earlier and was changing my clothes."
"Well, I thought you were! I'm always used to wake up first in the morning and wake your sleepy butt off!" She yelled, finally looking at him.
"Well, either way, privacy still exists so you still should've knocked... unless you did it on purpose." He said smirking. The image of mad Kaycee in front of him is his own definition of cute and if it takes annoying her just to see that face, he's willing make her explode.
Kaycee scoffed. "Wow, never thought you're that full of yourself, Shamu." She said sarcastically.
"Or I might be just stating the truth, ricebowl."
She widened her mouth in disbelief and felt her cheeks burn, not understandable if it because of embarrassment or annoyance with the boy in front of her whilst Sean is holding back the grin.
"Oh, are you?" Kaycee asked with the sarcastic tone while slowly walking towards him.
"Uhuh." Sean said grinning at her.
"Really?" She cut all the distance between them, now he's looking down to her up close. He wants to continue teasing her, but he suddenly felt dizzy, looking deep into her brown eyes that look green from afar. His smile slowly fades, and change into a serious yet admiring look. He's so impressed that she could easily change his mood just with that and he's certain that she has no idea about it.
"Ow!" He's suddenly back to himself when Kaycee, who's now giggling, hit him with a pillow.
Now, she wants a pillow fight.
He grabbed a pillow from the bed and started a pillow war. He's bigger than Kaycee, but the girl has more strength, making him close to losing. He couldn't think of any choice so he threw his pillow away and grabbed her wrists before pinning her on the bed. They were both laughing but it died, realizing how close they are now.
'God, why does it always have to be awkward?' Kaycee thought, while still staring into his eyes. They were both breathing heavily, sweats running down their temples. Their chests are connected, making them feel each other's loud heartbeat. He's heavy on top of her, finding it harder to breathe but there's this little—not little. Huge. This huge part of her heart and brain that want them to stay like this even just for a while. She examined all his features from his hypnotizing dark brown eyes, down to his soft-looking lips. He's beautiful.
The pounding of her heart suddenly went above normal when Sean slowly leans in, his eyes pinned on her lips. She didn't know what to do as her insides began to go crazy so she closed her eyes instead, waiting to feel something on her lips, when...
"Kiddos! Hurry up now! We must be there before 10!"
She immediately moved away from him.
What the hell did just happen?
"I—I'll just go p-prepare." She said before leaving the room.
~Inside the car~
Tahani is loudly jamming with the song playing on the radio, while sitting in the backseat, between Sean and Kaycee while Laura is sitting on front seat, beside Brad, who's driving.
Suddenly, she stopped and turned at the persons beside her.
"Why are you guys so quiet? You've been acting like stones ever since this morning. Did something happen?" She asked, but making sure would not catch Kaycee's parents' attention. Sean is just looking down on his phone, pretending to be busy and Kaycee's just quietly staring at the road.
"Oh, okay. It's nice talking to you guys." Tahani said sarcastically, a little bit louder this time, making Laura check on them.
"Something's up?" Laura asked.
"No, Laura. We're just too excited. Right, Kaycee? Kaycee!"
Kaycee almost jumped when she heard Tahani's voice, cutting her from her thoughts.
"Y-yeah.." she answered quietly.
"See?" Tahani said.
"I could tell." Laura said, obviously just playing it off. She knew something's off between the two teens. But whatever it could be, she knows she shouldn't meddle and just let the two fix whatever it is.
The two stayed like that for the rest of the trip. Feeling frustrated and curious, Tahani just slept it off. Meanwhile, Kaycee is drowning in too many thoughts and questions.
'Sean is my bestfriend. But what was that strange feeling that I felt a while ago? And wait. What would happen if Mom didn't call us? Would he kiss me? What?! No! No! It won't happen! There's no way Sean would do that. I know he doesn't like me like that. Stop it, Kaycee! There's a lot of girls who admires him and obviously are better than you. You better stop thinking like that before it gets awkward... oh, not really. It's already awkward. But if you don't stop thinking like that, you might lose him.' She carefully looked at Sean, who's busy with his phone. 'See? He looks completely normal and unaffected, as if what happened earlier is nothing. That just means it's just you who's jumping into conclusions. Don't be like that, Kaycee.'
But little did she know, is Sean's trying to distract himself from the thoughts of earlier and is mentally scolding himself from the actions he did. He's been scrolling through instagram for the longest time, yet his mind is somewhere else. You almost lost her... or maybe you already did. He looked at Kaycee, whose eyes still focused on the road. Have I lost you, Kaycee Rice?
****
Few hours later, they reached the Lake house.
She felt like finally getting the relieving air as she stepped out of the car which was filled with tensing awkwardness.
They all went inside, the two of them still not saying a word with each other.
It's time for lunch and they all enjoyed the food, except for Sean and Kaycee. The tension between them grew thicker and it was obvious with the other people they're with. They can't tell the exact reason why the two were suddenly uncomfortably quiet yet no one initiated to open up and ask what's wrong. Instead, they tried to talk about some random topics and tried to crack some jokes to lighten up the mood... It didn't work.
1:00 pm
They were quietly minding their own businesses when Kaycee stood up.
"I'll just go and take a nap." She didn't wait for their response and left to sleep in her room.
That's when Tahani took the chance and talked to Sean.
"Can you please just tell me what's going on? We all know that something is up and I wish you'd care to tell me the reason." Tahani asked, really annoyed. She's their friend, yet she's being torn between the tension of her friends and she doesn't even know the reason why.
"Did you guys had a fight?"
"No. We did not."
"Then what's up with all these tensions? I'm sure that something happened this morning. What is it?"
Sean took a huge amount of air in his lungs, thinking if he should tell it to her or not, before letting it go.
"I was being stupid with my action and w-we almost kissed this morning."
Tahani's eyes widened together with her mouth.
"Are you guys dating and I have no idea about it?!" Tahani asked, but making sure only Sean could hear it.
"No, we're not! And that's why it's awkward. We're not dating, but that happened and to make it more awkward, we're bestfriends." He explained.
Tahani sighed. "Look. I hope you guys know that every one of us knows that you two like each other."
"Two? I don't think she does."
Tahani rolled her eyes at him. "Seriously, Sean Lew? I thought you're genius. Only fool can't tell that you like each other. And it's harder for us, seeing you trying to run away from your own feelings. We're just waiting to hear you guys announce that you're dating to cut off the awkwardness. If you do, then it will okay for me to be a thirdwheeler in this outing." She chuckled.
"But I don't know what to do! I'm afraid to tell her. No one knows where this is going and I can't take risks of losing her and what we have."
"Okay. If that's what you want. But just so you know, I know a lot of guys, even from our friends who are interested with Kaycee. And they have more guts to tell her their feelings. And you do know that Kaycee won't wait until you're ready to tell her the truth. So, good luck with that. It's now or never, Sean. But whatever your decision is, I'll be your number one supporter. I could even be the president of Seaycee fansclub if you want to." She said, chuckling at the last sentence. Sean shook his head, smiling. "Thanks, Tahani."
Tahani's right. It's now or never.
5:00 pm
Kaycee woke up from the disturbing movement of her bed. She looked down and saw Tahani, tugging her covers down.
"Wake up, Kaycee Rice! We came here to have fun and not to sleep the day away!"
She chuckled but not realizing that she's close to the edge of the bed.
"Tahani! Stop— OW!" It's too late when she fell on her butt. They couldn't stop laughing.
"Come on, stand up!" Tahani helped her to get on her feet.
They went out of her room and met Sean's gaze. She's worried about the awkward feeling again, but when the boy gave her a smile, showing his adorable dimples, it somehow made everything alright at the moment. She smiled back at him as she felt calmness in her heart.
"Let's go and change." Tahani said before pulling her hand and going inside the bathroom.
After changing into their swim suits, they went outside and met Sean, who's also changed into his swimming shorts.
She quickly diverted her eyes away as she had a déjà vu of what she's looking at now.
"I'm just gonna go get something." Sean said before going back inside.
He went to grab his camera and to hide his crimson cheeks from her. He couldn't help but admire Kaycee. Everyday, she just gets prettier and he can't deny it to himself.
After getting everything in a stable state, he went out and saw the two girls having a conversation. Tahani was the first to notice his presence.
"Woah, you brought your camera?!" She said, grabbing it from his hands as Kaycee just grinned, watching what Tahani did.
"I hope it's obvious." Sean said smiling, while scratching his head with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Yeah, right." Tahani rolled her eyes. She started taking photos of the lake. "Here, let me take a picture of you two." She said, then the two had this nervous and awkward look in their faces. 'Oh. Okay. I guess, the tension's still there.' Tahani thought to herself.
Kaycee grabbed the camera from Tahani's hands. "I'll take the photos instead." She said, trying to stop the slowly building awkwardness.
Tahani sighed in frustration and replied a weak 'Okay.'
Sean and Tahani just went along with it and posed for the picture then later on, she gave Sean back his camera.
"I'll go for a swim." She said, shortly before leaving them.
Tahani smirked as she saw Sean, low-key checking out her friend. She nudged him. "Stop quacking in your head, Sean Lew." She chuckled as he got startled, maybe forgetting that she's still there.
"You know how I badly want to enjoy the scenery and watch the sunset. But I'm giving you the chance to talk to her alone and say everything you must." Tahani said, gently patting his shoulders.
"Thank you, Tahani." He said gratefully, giving her a genuine smile. If there was a 'Best Supportive Bestfriend Award', it definitely belongs to her.
He took his steps towards the lake. There, he found the most beautiful girl he has ever laid his eyes on. She's peacefully watching the sunset.
He slowly soaked himself in the water, walking close to her. Kaycee is still unconscious of his presence as he took a picture of her, watching sunset from behind. He swears, it's the most beautiful picture he took.
The clicking sound from camera made her notice his presence. She slightly jumped in surprise.
"H-hey." She awkwardly greeted. Sean smiled at her and greeted her back. "Hey."
He walked back to put his camera on a dry surface and went back to her.
He gathered all the courage and tried to kill the awkwardness to speak again. "About that m-morning... I'm sorry that it made everything awkward."
'What the fuck was that Sean? This is not what you planned to say to her earlier! Are you just gonna be a coward forever?' He mentally scolded himself. And he wished he didn't say that when the silence stayed for a couple of minutes, none of them saying a word. Then Kaycee exhaled roughly and gave him a serious look.
"I want you to be completely honest, Sean. Let's just pretend that this is just a dream and you could tell me everything so you could wake up and just forget about this dream." She said in a pleading voice. "How exactly do you feel about me?" She wanted to appear brave in front of him, but her insides are slowly dying and regretting every word that she let go. Sean didn't respond but just looked in her eyes as if he's itching to tell her something.
She suddenly felt sad and disappointed.
"Forget that I asked you that." She said before turning her back at him and started to walk away. But before she could go farther, Sean pulled her and pressed their lips.
An overwhelming feeling took over her body. She felt a romantic volt of electricity running through her veins. She burried her fingers in his silky hair while his palms are gently pressed against her face as their lips were still connected, moving passionately.
My first kiss. She thought. She couldn't explain how happy she felt inside. It's a feeling that is new to her.
They gathered all their courage to pull back from the kiss but his hands are still not letting go of her face and their foreheads are still touching each other.
"I hope that's enough for an answer." He said, almost whispering, making her giggle. She shook her head. "Can I hear more?"
He smiled at her. "I love you so much, Kaycee. And I'm sorry if it took me years before I could finally confess. Believe when I say that I mean what I said. That you mean the world to me. And I'm not the Sean that I am right now if it's not for you."
She smiled at his as his words filled her heart with so much love and joy.
"I love you too, Lewser. And I can't be happier than falling in love with my bestfriend. I thought I was just hallucinating when I felt that we could be something more. I'll forever be your light you'll forever be mine." She said, her cheeks burning red.
"Can I ask a favor?" Sean asked.
"Anything."
"If this is just a dream, can I not wake up and just stay here forever?"
Kaycee chuckled, making her want to kiss him again. She shook her head at him. "No, you have to wake up and face the reality...that we could be like this," she interwined their fingers. "and build more dreams with me."
And just like that, Sean didn't hesitate to kiss her again. This time, it's much more filled with love, promises and desire.
They both watched the sunset which was the witness of the beginning of their love and romance.
The day ended. They went home with the mood, completely opposite this morning. Kaycee told Tahani everything and she couldn't believe how great it turned out. She can't be more happy for her two bestfriends.
The next day, Kaycee decided to post the picture of her that Sean took, on her instagram.
They both agreed to keep their relationship private, temporarily and only their close friends and families could know. For now, they have to keep it in a professional state and will surely make it public when the right time comes.
She didn't tag Sean so that no one would be suspicious. But she's wrong. The comment section started to fill with a lot of suspicions. And she panicked even more when Tahani left a comment, saying: 'I wonder who took this photo.'
She texted her bestfriend immediately.
Kaycee:Tahani, what are you doing?! It would make people suspect more that Sean took it!
Tahani: Dumbo! I'm helping you out! Just reply on that comment and pretend that I took that photo. Lol. You, interracial couple!
Kaycee: Oh. Okay. BUT WHERE DID THAT WORD 'INTERRACIAL COUPLE' CAME FROM?!
Tahani: lol, chill! It came from Josh Kilacky. Don't blame me. You two told him about your relationship. Oh, speaking of that devil, he said that he'll be attending Jojo's class with her girlfriend. Are you and Sean going?
Kaycee: I don't know. He hasn't said a word about it yet.
Tahani: Okay, just go and ask him.
Kaycee: I will. Thanks, T.
She followed what Tahani said. She replied on her comment from her post. She also received a message from JoJo, asking if Sean and her would attend her partnering dance class so she decided to text Sean.
Kaycee: Shamu, are we going to attend Jojo and Donovan's class the next day?
She waited a couple of minutes before he replied back.
Sean: Meet me at the park
She suddenly got nervous. For what reason? She doesn't even know. She's just not used to him taking a couple of minutes before replying back and he didn't even answered her question yet, she decided to meet him at the park.
It only took her few minutes before reaching the destination. There were no people at the park. It's already 6pm and the sun is setting so maybe they all went home. But she saw the familiar back of the person that makes her heart jump with joy.
She run up to him as she saw him, quietly watching the sunset. Her heart is racing so fast because of nervousness.
When he noticed her presence, he stood up immediately with a smile on his face. She doesn't know what to feel, she's like happy and nervous at the same time.
"Wh-why did you ask me to meet you up h—" In a fast speed of time, she felt his lips against her, kissing her with full passion.
As they pulled back from each other's lips, she looked at Sean with both amusement and confusion in her eyes.
"What was that for?" She asked, trying not to smile.
"I'm just making sure that what happened yesterday was not a dream." He said in a pure sincerity. She couldn't help but smile at this man.
"Good thing, you did a confirmation. I also thought it was." She smirked, "But we just both found out that it's not." They both chuckled heartily as he kissed her once more.
"JoJo texted me about the class and told me that I must bring the person that means the world to me. So... would you mind going with me?" He asked.
"I don't mind going with you, Shamu. And I'd love to." She responded with a smile. Sean's dimple appeared and kissed her on her forehead.
"I love you so much, Kaycee Caitlin Rice." He whispered.
"I love you too, Sean Charles Lew." She replied.
Sitting together on the bench, she laid her head on his shoulder, their fingers still intertwined. They both watch the beautiful sunset, remembering how beautiful it also was when they first watched it together.