"Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes."
~Roy T. Bennett
Ken entered the room with two trays of food, freezing for a few seconds to take in the two's position before further advancing to place the trays on the small coffee table.
He walked over to the side of the bed, tapping gently on Grace's shoulder. He wondered if he should wake Shawn up too, but he really didn't feel like it.
Grace stirred in Shawn's arms, eyes fluttering open. she rolled off the boy, which only woke him up in the process. "Your food is ready." Ken stated bluntly, eyes fixed on Grace.
Shawn sat up and drew his fingers through his rough hair, pushing aside the bangs that clung to his forehead and revealing the dried up blood that once held his bangs to his forehead.
Grace sat up as well, gently rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Smells good." She hummed pleasurably, taking in a long breath through her nose.
"Eat up." Ken mumbled, sauntering over to the couch that sat against the wall opposite from the bed. "You two need it." He finished stretching out on the sofa, resting his forearm over his eyes.
Grace hopped off the bed, rushing over to the food yet waiting for Shawn to join her before eating. The two settled beside each other and started to devour their meal, in the end Ken had to go get them more food since they weren't satisfied with their first meal.
"What does the tattoo on your arm mean?" Grace pointed at the exposed tattoo on Ken's arm, descending from the fold of his arm to his wrist, 卑劣な恐怖.
"Hiretsuna kyōfu, sneaky fear. My cousin chose it for me when I was in eighth grade back in Japan, the year I started becoming a part of the family Yakuza. Last year, though, I got to choose a tattoo of my own. It's on my back, wanna see?" He smiled at Grace, enjoying the private time he got with her- since Shawn was taking a shower.
Grace nodded, being unable to subdue her curiosity. Ken smiled at her and removed his shirt, turning 'round to show her the tattoo that he had on his back.
On his back was a perfectly drawn tiger, eyes blazing with red flames and teeth stained red. Above it were a variety of Japanese Kanji, 火, 愛, 嫌い and finally 恵み.
"What does this one mean?" She touched the first kanji, her fingers tracing the strokes on his back. "Fire." He answered smoothly, closing his eyes to savour the feeling of her skin against his. She then moved her finger to the next one, tracing all the many strokes. "Love."
After tracing that kanji, she moved on to the next, more complicated one. "Hate." He replied her unspoken question, eyes parting as her fingers moved onto the last one. He grinned a wide grin, his cheeks heating up slightly. "It means Grace, but I swear I got that Kanji before I even knew you, I'm not being weird or anything like that." He chuckled softly.
"So you got my name tattooed on your back in Japanese, but you didn't know me when you got the tattoo?" She narrowed her eyes questioningly as he turned around, her eyebrow arched.
"Yeah. I didn't know you last year. I got this on my sixteenth birthday, I swear it had nothing to do with you." He smiled at her, crossing his legs in front of her.
After Shawn and Grace's second meal, Grace had taken a shower first, leaving the two males in a deathly awkward silence. Neither of them made a move to talk to the other, Shawn didn't really mind but Ken found it extremely awkward.
After that, Shawn was the next to take his shower, leaving Grace with Ken. Grace wasn't as hostile as Shawn was, she was quick to make conversation with Ken and he didn't hesitate to respond.
What weirded him out though, was the fact that both Grace and Shawn opted to sit on the floor even though there was plenty of space off the floor.
At first he had just stared at Shawn, not bothering to join him on the floor, but when it came to Grace, he found himself seated on the floor as well.
He noticed a lot of things that Shawn had picked up from Grace, which only verified Ken's suspicion that the two were living together. He knew that Shawn wasn't deliberately copying the girl, but he had replicated such actions unconsciously.
For instance, Grace would always scrunch her nose up while chewing. She wouldn't always do it, but she did it more frequently than she thought she did. Ken had noticed this many times before, seeing Shawn do it as well just threw him off completely.
He had yet to ask whether or not the two were living together, but he planned on asking her. "Do you and Shawn live together?" He gushed out, watching as she smiled a sheepish smile and scratched the back of her neck.
"Not alone though. We will live with our older brothers." She answered truthfully, a look of disappointment passing over her face for a brief moment.
"But you spend a lot of time together, don't you?" He looked at the door that led to the bathroom which Shawn was currently in.
"More than necessary." She whispered, her hands clasping in front of her as she fiddled with her fingers.
The door opened and Shawn walked in, looking fresh and slightly more healthy. His hair was still dripping wet, the drops soaking his shirt.
"You look lively." Grace commented, welcoming Shawn to sit beside her and across from Ken who didn't at all welcome the proximity.
"Thanks, I guess." Shawn rested his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes and attempting to fall asleep once more.
"Hey, wake up." Grace pushed him off her, but he refused and ended up laying his head on her thighs.
"Why do you like him?" Ken asked, absolutely perplexed as to why Shawn was chosen over him.
Ken was sure he treated her better, he talked to her more than Shawn talked to anyone, he was sure that he gave her more of his attention than Shawn could ever.
What exactly was he missing?
Shawn opened a single eye, looking at Ken briefly before closing it again. He folded his arms over his chest as he laid flat on his back, using Grace's thighs as pillow.
"Because he's a good friend?" Grace stated in more of a questioning manner, arching her eyebrow and looking down at the peaceful face of Shawn.
"I'm a good friend too. I need a more convincing reason than that." Ken narrowed his eyes at Grace, watching as she caressed Shawn's unshaven cheeks.
Shawn opened a single eye, staring up at Grace who stared back at him. Ken could tell that they were having a silent conversation, and it irked him that he couldn't hear those unspoken words.
"It'll sound weird but," She paused looking up at Ken as Shawn shut his eye again. "I feel as though I've known him for years. He's, he's my best friend and the best I've ever had, I- I don't know how to explain it."
"I don't get it Grace! I'm your best friend! Why him and not me?" Ken demanded, only having more questions than answers.
"I don't know Ken! Leave me alone!" Grace shouted back, hitting Shawn's stomach in the process.
"Ace! Hit him, not me!" Shawn sat up, moving away from Grace and Ken.
"The fuck do you have that I don't?" Ken turned to glare at Shawn, speedily getting angry with said anger rising by the second.
"Grace." Shawn answered, stretching out her name and narrowing his eyes at Ken. Ken jumped to his feet, snatching his shirt off the floor and storming out of the room.
"You did that on purpose!" Grace accused, folding her arms under her breasts. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You wanted him to leave, that's why you were on me like that! What is wrong with you Shawn?" Grace stood, throwing her arms in the air exasperatedly.
"Ace, how do you suppose we get out of this situation?" He too stood, following her to the right side of the bed. "It's not like we can contact our brothers. He took my phone and I suppose he took yours too, right?"
Grace plopped down on the bed, covering her face with her palms.
She knew they were in a dire situation, "He did. How are we getting out of here?"
"We aren't, Ace. The Yakuza have, in their clutches, the daughter of an FBI agent and the son of their biggest rival. We're too precious to be let off so easily." Shawn sat beside her, looking on ahead of him at the blank wall.
"If we manage to get Ken on our side, do you think he'd be willing enough to help us out?" Grace asked, looking over at Shawn and into his ever distant eyes.
"It's worth a shot, but I can't guarantee for sure that I won't hurt him. He killed Kevin, I know he did, I can't ever forgive him for that. The only reason I haven't killed him yet is because you still value him as a friend." Shawn growled then moved to lay on the other side of the bed, facing away from Grace.
Grace sighed as an uncomfortable silence fell between them, a kind of silence they hardly ever had. "Shawn-" She paused, not knowing what to say to him.
"Leave it Ace. It's not important. Forget I said anything." He said bitterly, a deep scowl behind his words. The same uncomfortable silence impregnated itself right there and then, making Grace frown.
She sat with her legs crossed on the bed, facing Shawn's back side. She stared at his back for a while, frown still pressed down on her face.
She had forgotten about the boy's best friend, she had forgotten about the boy that died an unfair death. Shawn's best friend, the only person that really understood Shawn- that could make Shawn laugh even when angry. Shawn told her all about him, the only person Shawn was really attached to, the person that Grace had become in Shawn's life. Kevin was once that person.
Grace reached out to him, reassuringly squeezing his arm to let him know that she was there if he needed to talk. He swiftly maneuvered his body so that his legs were crossed on the bed between Grace's crossed legs and him.
His head was bowed and his hair fell over his face, but Grace could see the glistening of tears stream down his cheeks. Her eyes stung at the sight of him, her chest ached as well.
"Everyone I love leaves me. First it was my brother, then Kevin, they'll take you away from me too. They'll-" A soft whimper left his lips as his hands clenched tightly onto his legs. "I'll lose you too, they'll take you away from me. Because of me, it's my fault, just, just because- just because I love you."
He laughed softly, a sad and heartbreaking laugh. "Yeah, I love you. I can't believe I actually said it." He lifted his head, looking straight into Grace's dark eyes. "I have a cursed heart."
He held a lot of things in that heart of his, most of which he had kept locked up and buried, but ever since the mosquito entered his life, he had found more and more of those things escaping through the locks of his heart.
He'd only ever cared for a hand full of people, but he learnt that he could actually give a damn about more people than he thought he could. His heart was capable, she taught him that, but it was oh so very cursed.
He had made the dumbest mistake by letting such an innocent creature into the trap people called a heart, he should've known better. He was scared that something bad would happen to her because he was part of her life, he should've taken that as a sign to leave.
He just couldn't, she was the sanity he was clinging to- he couldn't just let her go. She became his everything, and because of him she would have nothing. She would just end up like Kevin, all because of his stoupid heart.
"I love you too." Grace smiled at him, tears slipping down her cheeks. "I can be the cure to your cursed heart."
He chuckled and rested his forehead against hers, the both of them grinning like idiots with tears staining their cheeks.