Macy and Adam have always been the one holding off any kinds of argument when we were in highschool. Either they bring it up before it happens, or they address it immediately it happens. They were goofy, and the only blind people that didn't know they were in love until I played Cupid.
So it definitely came as a surprise when I saw them yelling at the top of their voices this morning at each other.
The first thing I think of to do is to get in between them with a bag of chips. They both pause before Adam storms out and Macy looks like she's about to cry. She slumps on the couch, holding her head in her hands.
"Hey, what happened?" I ask and sit close to her. I put the bag of chips down and rub her back to control her hiccups.
Macy crying is awkward, she was the strongest one in our group, even Temi has major respect for her. She never showed hurt or pain, she was the glue that held our friendship, she was the one that made us settle whatever argument we ever had and now, to see her crying, it's so heartbreaking.
She doesn't answer, just turns so her face is in my shoulder and she just sobs. I rub her back, just staring ahead and thinking what might have made them argue.
Adam walks in and his scowl drops when he sees Macy crying. He slowly walks to us, crouching down in front of me and silently asking if I could give her to him.
I detach myself from her and when she looks up, she tries to get away but he holds her to his chest, rubbing her back as she hits his chest continuously.
I awkwardly stand up and leave the couple behind. I'm the only single one in my own house and there's so much relationship drama, even though I've witnessed only one since they all came here but it's too much for me to handle. I need to cool off.
Tomorrow's a new month. And I can't wait to be normal again.
My phone vibrates on the table and I pick it up. My eyes widen as I remember that Mario is throwing a party this night and Mia wants us there.
There goes my plans that I haven't planned yet.
I walk to the patio and open the slide door. The warm air greets my skin and I lay on the patio chair, crossing my legs and closing my eyes.
"Chilling in my spot huh?" Chase asks and I smile at him.
"You know me, the spot jerker." He rolls his eyes and sits next to me, placing his hands behinds his head.
"So writer guy stayed over last night, Macy got a picture of you two cuddling before he left, Ad had to restrain me from pulverizing the guy." He growls and I feel my face heating up.
Last night had been the first I've ever been so close with a guy on the same bed other than my brothers, Storm and Adam. It was almost abnormal. And when I woke up and found out that he left, I was somehow disappointed, but what would I have said if I'd woken up to him watching me with those striking bluer than the sky blue eyes, legs tangled together in the sheets, his arm draped around my waist.
Yes, like I didn't think of all those possibilities when I'd woken up in the bed alone, hehe.
It's not like I expected him to stay till I woke up or something, but I guess my imagination just ran wild.
"Really? I thought I told you I'm okay with him?" I sit up, staring at him with a raised brow. He shrugs, closing his eyes and sighing out loud.
"It doesn't matter, I'll always hate all your boyfriends, even though I secretly admire them." He mumbled the last part and I feel a smile tugging at the edges of my lips.
"Hey guys, you wanna head out for a while? Me and Adam are going to get something for the party." Macy says and I look at her.
"Shopping?" she nods and I groan. She smiles when I finally stand up, glaring at her.
"You know you don't have to come." She says but I see right through it. She's just like a mom, she tells you that you don't have to do something, but don't so it, and you're dead.
"Yeah right." I scoff and walk past her, pulling my scrunchie off my hand. I grab the hair and forcefully pull it into the scrunchie, walking down the stairs as I do so.
Adam looks up at me, smiling aftertastes caught you in her trap huh?" I roll my eyes at him and punch his shoulder, he winces, glaring at me as he clutches it.
"Alright fam, to the store!"
°•°•°|°•°•°
Ever been to a party where there are two goofs on that dance floor arguing over a game of tic tac toe?
Well, introducing Mario Gonzalez, and his best friend, Pedro Lopez, no relation to the legendary Jennifer Lopez though.
Chase watches them with amusement, playing with the dog tag around his neck. Someone nudges my arm and I see Austin holding two cups in his hand. I smile and take one, looking into it.
"What's in it?" I ask and he looks up at Mario and Pedro.
"Coca cola, Adam told me you're trying to stay sober for Chase." I smile gratefully at him and take a sip of the coke. Chase chugs down his water, bending sideways to hear whatever Fayette was saying. Adam and Macy are busy dancing, or rather gyrating and grinding on each other.
Cue the puking.
"Hey, we're gonna be out back by the pool." Chase tells me and I nod, silently telling Fayette to watch him. She nods and holds his hand, interwining their fingers as he leads her out of sight.
I turn to face Austin, resting my hand on the table. He takes a long sip of his beer, staring at me as he does so.
"So, what now?" I ask, looking out to the crowd on the dance floor dancing to something of Drake. When I look back at him, he's biting his lip and staring at me with thought in his eyes.
"I don't really know, I hardly go to party's because of my best friend, bad memory and such, and overall, I don't really like parties." He says and I sigh, downing the rest of my coke. I stand up and he furrows his brows.
"If you need me, I'll be on the dance floor." I say and walk towards the crowd of people, shoving my way through.
The sweaty bodies hit against mine and the loud music blocks out any other sound, I close my eyes, losing myself to the music and letting it guide me.
Soon enough, warm hands grab at my hips, pulling me close until my back hits a hard chest. The familiar cologne hits me and I find myself breathing it in. The warmth of his hands against my exposed skin has me leaning into his frame. Those hands that form characters running up my body, moving with me to the beat.
My breath runs out and I gasp as his hands make a firm grip on my waist, clutching my skin. My hands wrap around his neck as he breathes against mine, warm skin, warm breath, burning flame.
"Who knew you could dance like this?" His deep and hoarse voice whispers in my ear. Is it even possible for all other sounds to be forgotten once I heard his voice? Is it possible for everything else to stop once I looked into his eyes? The heat from his body and the flames from his fingertips slowly consuming me as his eyes numb me, drawing me into the depths of those blues.
Our bodies slowly come to a halt and we just stare into each others eyes. My fingers graze against his nape as his eyes travel all over my face.
These moments last longer than time itself, in our memories, in our skin wherever may have been graced with the feel of the flames. But when these moments are ruined, it's like a downpour of ice cold water on you from head to toe. It snaps you out of whatever magical trance you were in. So I'm not that surprised when I jump away from Austin when someone bumps into us.
He looks like he's about to murder someone though and I think my heart races faster in it's one man marathon than it did when we were so close. The thought that he didn't want to be interrupted makes my skin tingle more.
We struggle our way off the dance floor through the sweaty people. The air feels so much better when we leave the crowd, my lungs finally suck in the air that isn't contaminated with sweat and cologne, a smile makes it's way to my face and I lean against the wall.
"Hey, you okay?" I nod and slowly open my eyes, straightening myself.
"I'm gonna go grab something, want anything?" I ask him and he shrugs. I push myself off the wall, walking directly to the kitchen and trying to ignore Austin that's following me closely behind.
I pass the people downing bottles of vodka and my heart clenches. I grab two bottles of water and turn to Austin, seeing that he already has a bottle of beer in his hands.
"I'm gonna go check on Chase, wanna come?" He nods and I dash out of the kitchen and out back to the pool. My heart starts racing when I hear commotion and hear Fayette screaming at people to back away.
I push through the flood of people standing over a body and my heart stops and drops to my stomach as I stare at my brother wheezing and clutching his throat. He starts coughing and gasping for breath and I push everyone away.
"Someone get help! Someone call the ambulance!" I cry and hold his face that's red. Adam and Macy come into view just as Austin grabs Chase. Adam grabs his other arm and they both rush into the house with me clutching Fayette's hand and pulling her with me.
Macy right in front of us kept shouting at people to make way. When we finally reach the outer door, Mia is by my side asking what's wrong just as the ambulance pulls up. They take Chase from Adam and Austin, putting him in the ambulance, Fayette rushes after him as he's placed on a stretcher. They shut the door with Fayette and Chase inside before zooming away, leaving me with a teary face and Macy clutching my hand tightly.
Oh my brother!
°•°|°•°
Fayette is clutching Mia, tears streaming down her face and her soft sobs is the only thing that's keeping me from spacing out into the deep dark depths of my mind.
Adam and Austin are talking to the nurse and Macy is beside me, her pinkie finger twitching like it always does when she's scared.
The doctor comes out and Macy jumps up, I follow, standing next to the doctor. She looks down at us, before breathing out.
"The patient is fine for now, that was a severe case of anaphylaxis, if you brought him in any later he might have died. We've connected him to IV, he'll need to stay in the hospital for four to eight hours more." She says, pausing to look us over.
Adam and Austin come back and she eyes them. "Who do I need to speak to concerning his condition?" I'm about to reply but Adam beats me to it, walking with her.
"Do you want to go in first?" Fayette asks and I shake my head. "You go first, I'll-"
"Miss?" I hear a voice call and I turn to face the officer staring down at me.
"Yes officer?" I ask, turning to face them. I don't understand why they're still here, Fayette explained to them that he was spiked and that she was the one watching him. Even after all the alcohol test, and all the results showing that he is very allergic to alcohol and that the level of alcohol he consumed was really low, they're still here?
"Look, your brother isn't going to jail, he might get a ticket or something, just be careful next time. We searched the whole party but everyone was already twenty one, just your brother and his girlfriend and since she also didn't have any alcohol, he isn't in any trouble." He says and I smile in relief.
"Thank you, goodnight." I say to the officer and he nods, walking off.
"Alright, he'll be discharged tomorrow since it's already late, we'll get his medicine tomorrow, and I managed to convince the doctor there's no need to contact your parents." Adam says as he returns and I find myself wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug.
One moment, everything is fine and slow, and the next, your heart is racing in panic and you're covered in tears, clutching your chest from the pain.
°•°•°|°•°•°
I walk into the room after everyone else had gone in, seeing my brother breathing through an oxygen mask with an IV drip connected to his arm.
I close my eyes once I sit in the small chair, folding my legs and hugging them to my chest as I watch him.
Macy and Adam had gone home since all the chaos caused Macy to get dizzy and we had to send her home so it doesn't affect her baby. Mia and Fayette went home after yawning a total of twenty times.
Austin is outside, he insisted on taking me home after I've see Chase and he wouldn't budge. Chase's sleeping figure has me thinking of why he didn't bring his epinephrine kit with him.
The doors open and a nurse comes in, eyes widening when she sees me sitting there.
"Visiting hours are over!" she exclaims and I raise my brows.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll be on my way, thank you." I say quietly and stand up, glancing at Chase one more time before leaving the room. Austin smiles tiredly at me and I don't even have the strength to return it so I just rub my arm.
I'm going to sleep so light that a pin dropping would wake me up.
So goodnight Chase, because from tomorrow, I'm going to be all over you like white on rice.
°•°•°|°•°•°
Family, family, family.
They can be tiring sometimes, they can be clingy and overbearing. It's just who they are.
It's just who I am.
Chase glares at me as I check his eyes again, holding his cheeks in my hands.
"Can you please, stop fawning over me like I just had a heart attack?" He grumbles and I place my hands on my hip.
"You should be lucky I'm not whooping you right now, it's a party and you didn't carry your epinephrine kit! What did you expect, not to have any alcohol? You know it's Mario, everything is spiked! You didn't tell Fayette to get your bottle from the car, how could you be so stupid?" I screech and he winces, looking down.
"It's not his fault, it's mine." A quiet voice says and I narrow my eyes at her.
"No, it's both your fault! You're his girlfriend, you should know what goes on, you should have made sure he didn't have anything apart from water, his water to be exact!" She looks down and Chase is about to say something but the glare I give him has him shutting up.
"I'm not going to take back what I said about both of you, I just want you to be more careful, and don't get hurt, and Fay, please make sure he doesn't have anything alcohol, he can be really careless sometimes, I don't want what happened yesterday to repeat itself." I say and she nods while Chase just grumbles, crossing his arms like a child.
"Now you guys, go on your date before it gets too dark, and Chase I want you home by eleven, latest." He nods and grabs the keys, standing up and helping Fayette up. He looks at me once more before walking out the door.
Leaving me with a random guy named Austin watching me with amusement. How did he get here I don't know!
"Who knew you could be so over protective?" He smirks, eyeing me with mischief in those eyes.
"Well, what can I say? I am full of surprises." I reply, walking into the kitchen. I grab a pan and onions, handing it to Austin, he arcs a brow, grabbing them.
"Slice them, you're gonna learn how to cook Jollof rice today." I say and he looks surprised.
"What's Jollof rice?" I smile.
"You'll find out!"
°•°|°•°
"Are you still crying? It's been thirty minutes since I took he onions from you, are you seriously still crying?" I ask with wide eyes when he sniffs and cleans his eyes.
"Of course I am, those onions are from hell!" He exclaims, rubbing his nose. I roll my eyes and shake my head, adding the rice to the sauce.
"Come on." I say as I cover the pot. He stops rubbing his eyes for a minute and blinks at me, he looks so cute, like a baby just waking up.
Wait! Where did all that just come from?
He silently follows me as I lead him to the bathroom, turning on the faucet. He puts his hand under and bends over, washing his face.
I hand him the small towel, crossing my arms and focusing on him. He wipes his face, running his hand through his hair.
He smiles at me, hanging the towel back and I walk out, heading straight for the living room. I grab the remote and turn on the TV, landing right on Cartoon Network where they're showing Teen Titans Go!
My favorite!
"You act like a kid sometimes, it's cute." Austin says beside me and I feel my face heating up.
"No, no! You don't have the right to say things like that! I won't know how to respond!" I complain and he chuckles, twisting some of my locks around his fingers.
"What shampoo do you use?" He asks and I look at him.
"I don't know, it's something that Lola got for me, some peachy scent." I reply and laugh as Starfire does something stupid.
He doesn't reply, just keeps playing with my hair and as I watch the cartoon.
My phone starts blasting the theme song of Naruto and I sigh, knowing that it's my mom.
"Temari!"
Oh boy.
°•°•°•°|°•°•°•°
"Hello to you to, Lady Tsunade!" I nervously laugh and she growls into the phone.
"What happened to my baby? Is he okay? I expected more from you Temari! Not even Sakura or Hinata would do this! You!" She screams and I start sulking.
"I'm sorry mom, it was the party and I was distracted and-"
"No excuses! I just want to know if he's fine now. Is he there?" she asks and I shake my head but remember that she can't see me.
"No Lady Tsunade, I'll call you when he gets here." I say and the line goes dead.
For a twenty one year old, you'll think that my parents have no control over me, well haha I'm your faces, mother still rules the world. She nearly beat up Ethan when he came back home drunk last year on Thanksgiving. It was not a sight to behold.
I drop the phone and exhale loudly, running my hand down my face.
"So, your mom calls you Temari?" I look at him, trying to figure if that's the only question he'll ask.
"Yes, we're all named after a Naruto character and Ethan takes the cake since he's Naruto himself." I say and stand up, heading for the kitchen.
"Wow, I wish my parents were that creative, I'm just plain old Luke." He says and I laugh, taking a small napkin to open the pot. My fingers are still very tender.
I turn off the heat and leave the rice to cool for some time. When I turn back, I see Austin trying to balance a spoon on his nose and I close my eyes, pinching my nose bridge.
"Austin, what are you doing?" I ask once he gets to balance the spoon. It clatters onto the counter and he pouts. Sniffing as he looks up at me.
"That was the first time I got it right." He whispers and I find myself smiling at him.
"Alright, if I get to balance it, would you stop being a baby?" I ask as I grab the spoon. He nods enthusiastically and I put the spoon on my nose and hold.
Cue the screaming please.
°•°|°•°
"Where'd you learn how to do that?" He asks when I remove the spoon.
"Had a lot of free time in highschool." I shrug and he smiles. His phone pings and he pulls it out, reading whatever text must have come in.
His brows start to furrow deep and for the second time, my heart starts to slowly sink.
"I have to go." He says abruptly and starts walking away.
"Hey, Austin, wait!" I call but he doesn't stop, just walking out and leaving me staring at the shut door with my jaw hanging.
What the heck just happened?