Misha shifted in his seat like an overly excited child, stretching his neck to take a look through the window. While gazing at the empty driveway, he unconsciously chewed on his lower lip, his mind seemingly elsewhere. He appeared to have forgotten that his sister was also sitting on the sofa, just beside him.
A laugh resounded, and then Masha asked teasingly, "Is the movie that boring?"
"No, of course not," Misha cleared his throat, quickly focusing back his attention on the television. "It's super interesting."
"Oh? I didn't know you liked soapy romance movies."
"Well, I do, sometimes. What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, nothing, but it's too bad that that's an action movie."
"…" Misha choked on his spit, staring at his sister's mischievous smile with incredulity. A playful light glinted in her gorgeous eyes, and he understood at once that she was teasing him. "…Are you having fun?"
"Yup. A lot."
Burying his flushed face in his hands, Misha curled up into a ball, trying to become one with the sofa. Even he realized that he was acting out of character, but what could he do? Today was Gabriel's day off, meaning that he could finally leave his golden cage and come to their house. They had been talking on the phone once or twice a week, but it wasn't the same as meeting in person.
Gabriel had told them on the phone that he would arrive before noon, and right now, 10 o'clock was about to strike. So, Gabriel was likely to pop up any time soon. Misha couldn't help but peek at the window or the front door now and then, verifying if Gabriel hadn't arrived while he wasn't paying attention. Just in case.
Obviously, staring at the window or the front door wouldn't make the man appear sooner, much less out of thin air, but Misha couldn't help it. It had already been a month since the last time they had seen each other, so naturally, he was over the moon at the idea of meeting up again.
For two weeks now, Misha had been looking forward to reporting Masha's breakup to Gabriel, hoping he would feel as proud of his sister as he was. But it wasn't something they could talk about on the phone, not with Angela eavesdropping on Gabriel, so Misha could only wait until they met face to face to boast about how Masha rendered that bitch speechless.
All right. His sister's awesomeness wasn't the only thing they had to discuss. There was also the matter of Stephan's father, whose life was in danger, to tackle. But Stephan probably already had something in mind to prevent his death, whatever it could be, so Misha wasn't that concerned about it. He just knew Stephan wouldn't let it happen.
Anyway, all that to say that Misha had been unusually jittery since the early morning. Even Masha felt her head spinning as she watched her brother pace back and forth in the living room, circling the low table. At one point, Masha couldn't stand it anymore and grabbed the boy's thin shoulders, gently pushing him toward the sofa.
"Let's watch a movie while we wait for Gabriel, ok?"
"What? Oh, yeah, sure. Why not…"
But even with the movie playing, Misha's attention was always drawn to the front door or the window. His antics made Masha smile and chuckle softly, her eyes becoming tender.
Pinching her brother's cheeks, she commented with a hearty laugh, "What are you nervous about? I'm the one who's going to meet her supposed fated lover today, so why are you the one who cannot stay still? Hm?"
"I'm not nervous…." Misha paused, pushing his sister's hands aside to rub his painful cheeks. "I'm just a little excited for today's dinner. I mean, for you and Yuki."
"Uh-huh."
"…."
His survival instinct kicked in, and Misha wisely decided not to further comment on the matter. Instead, he shifted his eyes toward the television. He adopted a serious demeanor as if he was genuinely engrossed in the movie, even though he had no idea what it was about.
It didn't take long before his thoughts wandered elsewhere, and once again, the movie became background noise.
As his sister had said, they would meet Yuki today. Last time, when they were loitering at Stephan's, Gabriel had called Yuki with the excuse of organizing a dinner to thank her for her help at the hospital. It was a few months late, but it was always better than never. He also told her that he would bring Masha and Misha, who, too, wanted to thank her.
Gabriel had given Yuki an approximate date and asked Masha to confirm the day after his next day off was scheduled, knowing he couldn't call the nurse while being locked up in the house. It was too difficult to contact Yuki without his stepmother finding out, and things would get troublesome if she were to catch wind of it. Angela would never allow the dinner to happen, even if it meant grounding him.
For obvious reasons, she didn't want Gabriel to be in touch with the people of the hospital, lest he found out about the first time he was admitted. It would be problematic if he were to learn about his first coma. The lesser Gabriel knew about his past, the better it was.
Meeting with Yuki thus had two purposes: the first one was to allow Masha and the nurse to bond, and the second was to ask about the first incident that had plunged Gabriel into a coma. Although he remembered most of it, he was only thirteen years old at the time, and his mind had been quite muddled because of the drugs.
Several details were unclear and needed to be clarified.
During his hospitalization, Yuki had been the nurse in charge of him, so she was the best witness he could have asked for. There was also the doctor who had taken care of him, but his stepmother had most likely bribed him, and his mouth was, therefore, shut tight. If he were to contact him, it would certainly travel to Angela's ears at lighting speed.
Honestly, Gabriel could have investigated the incident in the second timeline; however, he hadn't. He had given up on his revenge to take care of Masha and help out Misha. So, as not to get tempted, Gabriel discarded the idea of conducting his own investigation, thinking that he could always wait until the situation was more stable. Maybe then he could try to find out the whole truth.
Also, Harold, Stephan's father, needed extra attention in his past life, that guy being painfully naïve. He refused to believe his son no matter how many times he warned him about the dangers and still wanted to meet Matthew face-to-face. To put it bluntly, they had had their hands full, trying to keep Harold alive and well.
Gabriel hadn't had the mindset to interrogate Yuki back then, even though she was always near. But now was different; putting Angela behind bars was one of his top priorities. He would use whatever means he could to attain this goal, even if he had to dig up past skeletons like his mother's death and his first coma.
However, there was one small detail: Gabriel still hadn't talked to Misha about that bloody incident. It was something difficult to bring up, even more so when knowing Misha would be furious on his behalf after hearing about his past. And more likely, distressed beyond belief. Gabriel didn't want to see any more tears running down the boy's cheeks, and it made him hesitate.
He also hadn't found the right opportunity to tell him. Even Masha only knew a little about the incident, just enough to understand the gist of what had happened. And that mostly was because she had been there for him afterward, following him everywhere at school like a duckling.
Even if Gabriel didn't like the idea of bringing up the matter, he was aware he had to. He had decided not to fight alone this time around, and hiding some facts for fear of hurting Misha was nothing but counterproductive.
Thus, Gabriel made up his mind to take the siblings aside and resume the events before meeting Yuki. This way, he also wouldn't startle them with his, let's say, unusual questions.
But his plans were doomed to go down the drain, like always.
Just as he had feared, Angela assigned him a chaperon for today's day off. She had pushed Tristan toward him, saying things like no one else would be at home today and someone needed to babysit him. In her case, she was off to work, whereas Jake left for a place not appropriate for kids, meaning that Tristan couldn't come with either of them.
If Gabriel didn't bring his little brother along with him, he would have to stay home. They couldn't let such a young child alone, after all. And as the big brother, he had the responsibility to take care of him—Angela had conveniently forgotten that Jake was the oldest and always dodged such responsibilities.
At any rate, his plans were thus dashed, thanks to the kid's presence. Whether Gabriel liked it or not, he couldn't talk about his mother's murder in front of Tristan. Although the boy listened to him and wouldn't purposely sell him out, there was still a possibility he would blurt out what he had heard today before Angela. He was just a little boy, not an adult who knew what to say and not say.
That being said, the discussion with Misha would have to be postponed again, and Gabriel could do nothing about it. And here he had finally found the resolve to talk about it….
Sighing, Gabriel prepared to ring the doorbell, but before his fingertip could even touch the button, the door was flung open, and Misha grabbed his wrist to drag him inside. By extension, Tristan, glued to his brother's leg, was also brought in, stumbling on the carpet.
"What took you so long?!" Misha giggled, flashing them a bright smile that warmed the heart. "Come in, come in!"
'Oh well, the discussion being postponed isn't so bad, after all,' Gabriel thought as he instinctively smiled back at the child, closing the door behind him. 'We can always talk about it another day. Yeah… It can wait.'
The boy's current sunny expression was much more to his taste than any gloomy one, and Gabriel wanted it to last a bit longer. Because the moment he told him about the incident, he knew the light in his eyes would dim, and his smile would be nowhere in sight for a long time.
__________________________
Chapter revised on 2022-06-04
Edited by Clozed! ♥
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