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“Brent? Brent?! Answer me!” I was panicking, but Brent wasn’t answering. I became really worried. What happened to him? Why isn’t he answering?
“Drew, what’s wrong? Who was that? What happened?” Nico asked as he stepped on the break. He must’ve seen how shocked I was, I mean it was impossible to miss since I was trembling all over. “You’re shaking…” Nico said and then moved closer. He held my back with one hand while he held my hand with the other.
The warmth of his hands calmed me down a bit. I couldn’t explain to Nico what happened just yet, I was still pretty shaken. “Please, let me hold your hand for a while.” I said as I tried calming myself down.
After a few minutes, I was finally able to calm down. I told Nico everything that I saw in the video call, and like me, he was speechless. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say…”
“Do you think Brent is alright?” I asked. I know Nico doesn’t have the answer, but I just needed to ask someone, I needed someone to tell me that my best friend is alright. I was simply that desperate.
“He’ll be alright, you just have to believe that he’s fine.” Nico said and then squeezed my hand tighter.
Nico played music after that and that helped me to stop thinking about what happened, we didn’t talk about the incident anymore, either. It was better that way, because the more we talk about it, the more rattled I become. I don’t want to think about it further either, since no matter how hard I try, I couldn’t comprehend what happened.
It was unnatural.
It wasn’t logical.
It simply was impossible.
I was still worried about Brent, though he sent me a message that he was fine and that he’ll call me in the morning after he thinks things through.
The whole time that Nico drove me home, I was quiet. After what I saw, I couldn’t even think straight. If only there was something to take my mind off that unimaginable scene. I was very grateful that Nico was there with me, at that time, because if he wasn’t, then I don’t know what would become of me.
His mere presence calmed me down, it made me feel a lot calmer, a lot more composed.
We reached my home and I took my seatbelt off. I was about to step out of the car but Nico held my hand. “Are you sure you’re alright now?” He asked. He looked at me with very worried eyes, his touch burned on my skin. I felt like he didn’t want to let me go, as I didn’t want him to let me go.
“I don’t know…” I replied honestly. “Hopefully, I could just sleep this thing through.”
“I could stay with you, if you want.” Nico offered in a very comforting tone.
“No, your family is waiting for you. I’m a grown up now, I can pretty much handle myself.” I said and tried to force myself to laugh, but an awkward chuckle came out instead.
“You don’t have to act strong in front me.” Nico said. “I am more than happy to give you strength, if you need, so, you don’t have to force yourself.” He said and then pulled me closer to a hug.
I embraced Nico back. “Thank you… thank you…” I said. Nico coming into my life is probably the greatest thing that ever happened in my life.
Our embraced ended and I moved away from Nico, my foot was already on the road when Nico said. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Nico asked seriously.
I looked around my body, looked inside the car, checked my pockets, and thought for a while. “I don’t think so…” I said innocently.
Nico sighed heavily. “Really, how can you be so clueless?” He asked rhetorically. “Come here, I’ll show you what you forgot.”
Like an innocent little child, I did as Nico said. I moved closer to him and then Nico grabbed my hand and the back of my head. Then he pressed his lips gently against mine. Shocked, I pushed Nico gently away. “Wait… ehhh… what…?” I was a bit confused, although I really liked what happened. I must say, the sensation of our lips touching is very addicting to me.
“Goodnight kiss.” Nico said with a grin. “You forgot to give me a goodnight kiss. Now, come here, we’re not done yet.” He said and then pulled me closer again.
Like in the elevator, the kiss started as an innocent and sweet one, and after a while, Nico initiated a more deep and passionate kiss. The sensation was simply intoxicating and exciting. Nico skillfully drove me into a frenzy.
When he finally moved away, Nico had a wide and proud grin on his face. He pulled me closer, without saying anything, and then embraced me tightly. I hugged Nico back, as tightly as I could. I never wanted that moment to end, because at the back of my head I was afraid; afraid that everything was just a wonderful dream, and that I would wake up in the morning.
Finally, I was able to step out of the car. Nico opened the window after I took my first few steps towards the door of my home. “Drew!” He called in his sweet voice.
“What now? Did I forget anything else?” I asked with a little devious smile.
“No. I just wanted to say, goodnight. Sweet dreams!” He said and then smiled at me.
“You too, have a very sweet dream.” I replied.
“I will.” He replied confidently. “I’ll be dreaming of you, that’s why.” I blushed at his words and Nico chuckled.
“Go home now.” I complained shyly. “Drive safely, okay.” I said and then waved at him.
Nico smiled and chuckled. “I will. Good night!” He said before waving at me, closing the window of his car, and driving away.
I walked into the house with a bright smile on my face. I was just so happy that I couldn’t stop smiling. I was on cloud nine, and I didn’t want to come down at all. It was a good thing that Mom was already asleep, or else she would badger me with questions until she squeezes out the answer why I was smiling like that.
The ringing of my phone woke me up the next morning. I groggily tried to find my phone and answered the call. It was Brent. “Hello… ahhh…” I yawned. My eyes were still half closed.
“Sorry, did I wake you up?” Brent said, he sounded troubled.
“Its fine, it’s almost time for me to get up anyway.” I replied as I sat up on the bed. “It’s surprising that you’re up this early… What’s wrong?”
“About last night…” Brent said. Last night? What about last night? What happened last night? “We tried to find the boy, we dove in the lake, but the part he disappeared to was too deep, so we couldn’t find anything.” He said.
“Ahh… so that wasn’t dream…” I was so hanged up with my happiness that I almost forgot about that. It was simply so unfathomable that my brain automatically considered it as nothing more than a weird dream. I sighed in disbelief. “It would’ve been better if it was just a dream…”
“I know…” Brent sighed as well.
“Brent, I think it’s better if you stop swimming in that lake for the mean time.” I was worried that something like that might happen to Brent as well.
“You don’t have to worry about that, after last night’s incident, the police cordon-off the lake. No one is allowed near it for now.” He said.
“Really? That’s a relief.” I said.
“But, Kyle, just a heads up. I’ll find out what really happened last night. I’ll do everything to find out.” That again. Brent is a very curious and head strong guy, once he gets his mind into something, he’ll never stop until he achieves it. No one can stop it.
“It’s not like I can stop you, just be careful, we don’t know what might happen next. No matter what, just stay away from the lake for the time being, please.” I said in a firm tone.
“I’ll try.” Brent replied.
“Hey…” I Complained.
“I’ll call again later, I’m still a bit sleepy.” Brent said and then hanged up. He really knows me all too well, he knew that I wouldn’t stop nagging him to stay away from the lake. Why does he have to be that stubborn of all times?
The smell of bacon and eggs greeted me when I walked down the stairs.
“Oh, you’re up!” Perry said. He was watching TV on our living room and I was really surprised to see him there that early.
“What are you doing here so early?” I asked.
“My sister is visiting us today with my nephew, Mom and Dad picked them up. I didn’t want to join them in the long drive so I told them that I would stay at home, but apparently, they don’t trust me enough to be alone in our house.” Perry complained.
“Well, you can’t blame them, now can you?” I said teasingly.
“Not you too…” Perry sighed.
“Maybe if you stop causing trouble all the time, they would trust you more.” I added.
“And live like an old man like you, no thanks.” Perry retorted back.
There was an instance during breakfast that I suddenly looked at my glass and saw the reflection of the pin-light on it. It reminded me of what I saw the night before and it made me worry about Brent. Why can’t he just leave that incident alone?
I was doing the dishes while Mom got ready for work, meanwhile Perry was busy flipping through the channels. “How boring… there’s nothing to watch…”
“It’s still early, that’s why.” I said as I walked through the living room.
“That’s why I don’t like waking up early, there’s nothing to do at all.”
“Right… that’s why you wake up late every time…” I said sarcastically as I took the remote form his hands and turned off the TV.
“So, what happened at the party last night?”
“What do you mean what happened?” I said defensively. I felt nervous and my heart raced. I need to be careful. No matter what, Perry should never know that Nico and I kissed. Twice.
“Why are you acting so defensive…? Something happened…” Perry said.
“Nothing really.” I tried to stand up but Perry pulled me back on my seat.
“You better tell me now… I’ll figure it out anyway…”
“I wonder about that… I think there’s a slight chance of you figuring it out…”
“Wanna bet on it?” Perry challenged.
“Look, nothing happened last night. It was a pretty normal party. Levi and Evan were there, a lot of people were there.” I said, trying to convince Perry to stop questioning me.
“Mmm… So, nothing happened between Nico and you?” He asked.
“What can happen between the two of us? Why would anything even happen between the two of us?” I said defensively once again.
“Because you like him.” Perry said as-a-matter-of-factly.
“You said so yourself; Nico is straight. Nothing can happen between us. Besides, it’s true I like him, but it doesn’t mean that I would do something, anything.” Well, it’s not like I was lying. I really didn’t plan on doing anything, it was Nico who took the initiative, not me.
Lying to Perry didn’t feel good, but it’s not like I can freely tell him that Nico and I kissed. I mean, it’s fine with me, but I don’t know if Nico would be fine with anyone knowing what happened. Nico is the school heartthrob, he’s every girls dream, he’s popular, and he has a reputation to protect. As for me… it’s not like I have anything more to lose.
“Why are you so hanged-up on that? So what if he’s straight? You like him, and that’s all that matter. One way or another that feeling of yours will pent up, and there would come a time that you would have to do something about that feeling. It’s either you forget about it or do something about it.”
“And what made you think that I would choose to do something about it instead?”
“Because you’re a stubborn old man.” Perry said. I don’t really have to do anything about it anymore, since Nico already made the move.
My Mom left the house to me and Perry, but instead of having someone to look over the house with, I feel like I was babysitting Perry. He was relentless the whole time, he had the attention span of six year old.
I was on the living room typing on my laptop while Perry watched TV. I was starting to have a headache because he kept on changing the channel every five minutes.
“Can’t you just stay on one channel, for goodness sake?” I finally said.
“If I find a good show to watch, then I will.” He replied. “Why don’t you even have gaming console?” He complained.
“Because I don’t play games.” I replied shortly.
Perry sighed. “Yeah, I almost forgot that old men don’t play computer games.”
“Yeah? At least I don’t have the attention span of a six year old boy.” I retorted.
“Wow, is it me or are you slowly becoming a smartass nowadays?” Perry replied.
“No, I was already a smartass before, I’m only starting to show my true colors now.” I replied back.
“I see… tsk… I like you better when you’re a bit depressed. At least you don’t talk back then.” He said jokingly and then chuckled. “Kyle, let’s go to the mall. I’m really bored…” Perry said as he slumped back on the sofa.
“If that would make you stop complaining, then fine.” I said and then sighed.
I just finished changing my clothes when the doorbell rang. “Perry, can you answer that for me!” I shouted through the door of my room.
I walked down the stairs and my heart almost stopped when I saw Nico standing on the doorway. What made me hesitate though, was the look on his face. His brows were furrowed and his eyes looked very sharp. He looked at me and it made my hair rise in fear. He’s angry.
“Where are you going?” Nico asked in a very firm tone.
“We’re going to the mall.” Perry, who was standing by the door answered. He sounded like he was trying to provoke Nico.
“I don’t remember asking you.” Nico said coldly to Perry. He looked back at me and raised his brows.
“We’re going to the mall.” I repeated Perry’s answer. I was really scared for some reason, it’s just that Nico looks really scary when he’s mad. I stayed on the stairs.
“What did I tell you?” Perry commented.
“Why?” Nico asked.
“Because I’m bored.” Perry replied.
Nico just looked at me, I figured that he was waiting for me to reply. “Because he’s acting like a six-year old and it was really annoying, so to shut him up I agreed to go to the mall with him.”
“I see…” Nico replied. I somehow think that Nico liked that answer better. “Too bad, Drew is not going anywhere today.” Nico said and grinned at Perry. He passed by Perry and walked towards the bottom of the staircase. “Can we talk? Alone?” He asked me.
I sighed. I somehow feel that a tiring day is ahead of me.
I brought Nico to my room, while Perry waited in the living room. “Wow… so this is your room…” Nico said with a smile as he looked around my room. Somehow, Nico looked really happy to be inside my room.
“Hey, what’s with that smile?” I asked.
“Nothing really…” He replied deviously.
“How suspicious…” I said, not knowing what’s running on his mind at all. “So, what do you want to talk about?” I asked as I sat on the edge of my bed.
“Is this…?” Nico asked as he walked closer to the vase containing the white Calla Lily he gave me.
“Yes…” I replied shyly. The flower was not as beautiful as it was when he gave it to me, but I still managed to prolong its life thanks to Mom. You could say I’m being too over sentimental, but I didn’t want to throw the flower away.
Nico smiled as he looked at the flower. He must’ve been really happy to see that I was taking care of his gift.
“So, what do you want to talk about?” I asked.
“How close are you with Perry?” Nico asked in a serious tone.
“Pretty close.” I replied.
“How close is pretty close?”
“Well…” I thought for a while, but I couldn’t think of any way to answer his question. “I really don’t know how to answer that. Why do you ask?”
“I just want to know how close you are with him. What kind of things do you do together, did he already see you naked? Have he slept here in your room? Does he always visit you? Do you always go to the mall alone with him?”
“Hey, slow down…” I said, not knowing what to answer first. “What’s with all the questions? Why do I feel like you don’t like Perry at all?”
“It’s not like I don’t like him, I just don’t like the fact that you’re hanging out with him more than me.” Nico said childishly as he pout. Seeing and hearing Nico complain like that sent an inexplicable satisfying sensation throughout my body. It made me feel really special, for some reason. The way Nico’s acting made me think that he was being jealous of Perry. I wanted to ask him if he really was, but I was afraid that he might think that I was being presumptuous. I mean, yeah, he asked me the same question the night before, but still it’s different. “So, how close are you two? Are you closer to him than me?”
“Well, there was this one time that he slept over and it was really hot, so I ended up sleeping half naked…” I answered truthfully. I saw Nico’s fowl expression and froze. Maybe it was a wrong idea to tell him that.
“Where did he sleep?” Nico asked in a very serious tone. It was scary.
“Huh?”
“I’m asking you where he slept?!” He sounded impatient.
“Well…” Should I tell him? I’ll get in trouble for sure…
“Don’t tell me…”
“Well…” This is dangerous, he looks really angry.
“Unbelievable!” Nico said and looked fiercely at me. “How can you let him sleep on the same bed while you’re half naked?! Are you crazy?!”
“It’s not like we did anything, besides I don’t see anything wrong with that. He’s a very close friend and…”
“I know that, I know you didn’t do anything, and I know there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just frustrating that he gets to sleep in the same bed with you before I do, and you’re half naked on top of that!” Nico complained.
Actually, he looked really adorable that moment. The way he complained was really childish, and it was really cute. I never even thought before that Nico had an adorably childish side on him. He was like a little boy getting jealous over his Mom giving attention to other kids.
I tried my best to hold the feeling, but it proved to be difficult. Suddenly I broke into laughter as I fell on my back on the bed.
“You’re laughing…? Hey, are you laughing at me right now?!” Nico complained.
“I’m sorry… It’s just that, the way you get jealous is just too damn cute.” I said in between laughs.
“Who says anything about being jealous?” He denied.
“Then…” I said as I sat back up. “It’s fine if I go to the mall with Perry today.”
“What?”
“We’ll probably end up watching a scary movie, since he likes it best, but I’m not really good with scary movies…” I said and then looked at him meaningfully. “We’ll order some popcorn, but since I don’t eat that much, we’ll end up sharing a tub of it…” I said teasingly.
“No!” Nico protested. He shook his head a bit. “Just the mere thought of it really irritates me. Hey, from now on, you can’t go to the movies alone with Perry anymore, you get it, or any other person, for that matter.” He said strictly.
“Ehhh? What about my Mom?” I asked teasingly.
“Tsk!” Nico clicked his tongue as he looked sharply at me. “Stop being a smartass…” He warned.
“I understand…” I said and then chuckled.
Nico sighed and then sat down beside me. “Am I being too much?” Nico asked. “I know I tend to be possessive, but I can’t help it, I can’t help but want to monopolize you. If it bothers you, just tell me, I’ll try my best to change.” Nico said.
I smiled and then moved closer to Nico. “Nico.” I called his name. Nico turned his head and I took a chance. For the second time, I stole a kiss from him.
Nico’s eyes widened and his cheeks became red. It was my first time to see that expression on him. It was really adorable. Who knew that a handsome face like Nico’s could make such an adorable expression like that? I felt really lucky, really special to be able to see such an expression from the cold prince.
The kiss I stole from Nico was a sweet and quick one. I moved away and chuckled at Nico’s surprised expression. It took me a few seconds to realize that I dug my own grave. I was about to stand up when Nico suddenly pulled my hand and then engaged me in a deep and passionate kiss.
I managed to push Nico gently away. “Hey, Perry is just downstairs.” I complained.
“So? We already kissed in the elevator and inside my car in front of your house, inside your room is probably the most decent place we can do it.” Nico said with a devious smile and then pushed me down on the bed. “Don’t even try to fight back, you won’t win.” He said as he pinned me down on the bed.
Slowly, Nico moved closer to me, he licked his lips and grinned at me. He, once again, attacked me with another vigorous kiss, but then the door of my room suddenly opened. “Wow…” I heard Perry’s voice.
My heart sunk and raced. What should I do? How would I explain everything to Perry? My whole body was sent into a state of panic, my mind went blank and I started shaking. To make things worse, Nico doesn’t seem surprised at all, if anything, he looked really pleased, really proud.
For the very first time in my life, I was caught doing something I’m trying so hard to hide. It’s the very first time, so why do I have to be caught in such a compromising situation. I was planning on telling Perry everything, but not in that way!
I never thought that being caught in love could be this stressful.
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