I raised an eyebrow at him, wanting an explanation as to why they were together. I let him enter my house and place my sister on the couch. Tasha heavily snored as the three of us sat at the dinner table.
"I met her on my way home. She seemed tired so I offered to tag her along." Vlad explained, looking over my sister who slept peacefully.
I sighed. "She's always working hard..."
"I think you should try to help your sister. You two live alone so Nik shouldn't be the only one working."
"Yeah, I get your point... I tried to help but she just doesn't want me working alongside her. " My lips curved downward. I glanced at Luna who was eating a doughnut that her brother bought for her.
"Then you should figure something out. Help her... Take care of each other." Vlad sounds like a dad at this point so I just nodded in response. "I heard Jax's coming home tomorrow... What time are you gonna be picking him up?"
"Around seven in the morning," Luna answered. "Don't worry, I'll wake you up just in case you oversleep."
Vlad groaned, taking a piece of doughnut then stuffed it into his mouth.
I took the initiative to bring my sister upstairs so she can rest. I stood up and walked up to our couch where Tasha played. I slowly placed my hands on her back then carried her. Vlad asked if I needed assistance and I said I was fine. I made my way upstairs as I left the siblings to talk privately.
When I got to the last step of the stairs, I fixed Tasha's position and rested her head on my chest.
I resumed my journey to her room. I opened the door with my free hand as I walked and placed her on the bed. I carefully grabbed some pillows and placed them in her arms since she's a big hugger. I grabbed her blanket and threw it all over her body.
"Always working hard..." I smiled. "Good night." I then close the door to her room as I made my way downstairs.
"Yo!" Luna called. I turn to see her sitting on the chair. I looked for his brother around and found him sitting on the couch.
"We're about to head out. Thanks for the coffee earlier." A tender smile grew on her face.
"I can whip out some ramen before you guys go, let's have dinner here." I invited them, Luna's eye's sparkled as if gold reflected before her.
"No thanks, I'm full." Vlad refused.
"Come on... Let's eat here already," Luna whined. "The dinner at the house is probably shit anyway."
I sat near Vlad on the couch as I let the two of them argue. It took them a while but Luna managed to get her brother to eat with us.
The two siblings watched some videos on our television as I started preparing the ingredients for the ramen. I began boiling the water and grabbed some eggs and meat from the fridge. I sliced up the meat and placed the noodles in the water because it already finished boiling.
I continued with my work and I finished cooking after a while. I grabbed three bowls from the cupboard and filled each with ramen. I placed them on the counter and called the two.
This is the first time Luna and her brother gets to taste my cooking, so I hope I make a good impression. I'm not a professional when it comes to cooking, but I do know a bit of a thing in the kitchen since I always help my sister whenever mom and dad would tell us to prepare food.
I handed the two some sporks and they began their first sip. I crossed my fingers on my back, hoping that they get a good taste. Luna gulped down and savoured the flavour. She turned to Vlad who had the same expression. Then, they turn to me with a shocked expression.
"This tastes good!" Luna cheered. Vlad nodded in agreement. I let out a deep sigh of relaxation, I'm really glad they liked it.
I smiled at the two as I began eating with them.
~~~
"Thank you for the dinner, Dash." Vlad thanked. "We're going home now, take care of your sister." I waved them goodbye as I watch the two of them get in Vlad's car. Luna seemed to be tired because of the things we did earlier on the beach. She smiled faintly at me as she rolled the car windows up.
I watched them drove off. The backlights of their car became a tiny ball as they got farther and farther. After stretching my arms, I headed back inside our house and locked the door. I checked the small paper bag resting on the pillows of the couch. I grabbed it and sat down to open the bag. The rattling sound of the paper bag filled the room as I got the item out. It was the cookies I had asked Tasha to bring me.
I smiled at it as I tear it open and stuff one into my mouth. "Thank you."
I spent the rest of the night on the couch. I didn't realize that I must have fallen asleep because I kept on binge-watching my favourite T.V show.
When I awoke, Tasha left a letter. She left breakfast on the counter and a message. She told me that we would be celebrating Jax's return later this evening at Luna's house.
I decided to waste my time by continuing the series I've been watching last night, spending the entire afternoon watching the entire show.
When I caught up with everything, Luna sent me a photo of him with Jax. It seemed that they already got him off the airport. I didn't bother replying since I want to make my appearance a surprise to him. I want to make that man bawl his eyes out.
I began cleaning the entire house while I waited for Tasha. I started with the living room, after that, I went to the kitchen, then to our small bathroom downstairs. It took me an hour to clean everything downstairs. I took a small break as I prepare myself to clean our rooms. It was my job to clean the house, Tasha is the one to cook dinner and provide everything else.
After I was done cleaning the whole house, I sat down and panted. Cleaning the entire house is really tiring, but it's better than letting it become all dusty. I want our house to be shiny and clean. I guess you could say I'm a clean freak...
Tasha arrived at around five in the afternoon. By the time she arrived, Luna had already begun barraging me with texts asking where was I.
"Get ready. I'll be out in seven." Tasha said as she made her way up to her room to take a bath. And of course, I took twenty minutes in the bathroom.
I wore my plain black t-shirt and brown pants with black and blue rubber shoes. I did not want to stand out to others for I don't want too many attention to myself. My sister, on the other hand, wore a red button-up shirt under her magenta tank top. She had a skirt and thigh highs and her favourite doll shoes.
The diversity between us two is so noticeable. I chuckled in my mind. My sister is the cheery outgoing girl, while I'm the ultimate edgy clean freak guy.
As we made our way outside our home, Tasha locked the door behind. We proceeded to find a cab. There's a new cab station near our place so we went there to try it out. Our place, Lascice is far away from the main city of Solemn. It's a five-hour train ride from here to there. Since Luna's place is near the border of Lascice and Solemn, it's only an hour ride.
"I'm surprised you got to take an early leave for your work today," I said to my sister as we crossed the streets.
"I personally know my boss so it's all good. Besides, I'm taking a Saturday shift this week." She replied smiling nonchalantly.
"I was thinking," She glanced at me. "Next week, I'll try to look for a part-time job."
"You don't need to." She frowned.
"I need to work my butt off. I hate seeing you work hard just for me. Your classes will start next month, right? That way we can share our money and manage all the stuff together." I explained. I just can't let her do all the work. I need to help her in the house too.
"Alright, let's talk about this when your classes start." She sighed.
When we arrived at the cab station, Tasha called for a driver. The car parked in front of us. I let her go in first, went next and closed the door on my side. We were greeted by the smell of the cab's air conditioning system. Personally, the scent of cabs is very addicting.
"Where to?" The driver asked, looking at us from the mirror.
"Neigher. Just by CenterPoint mall please." Tasha sheepishly said. The driver nodded and stepped on the gas. We now drove off, I felt a surge of excitement inside as I looked at the messages Luna sent me. The three of us are finally getting together after a long time.
My thoughts then flew to the caterings... I wonder what cuisines will I be tasting? Knowing Luna's family, they seem to be decent when it comes to food and alcohol so I'm pretty excited about what we'll be having tonight. If only Luna's like her parents, not that I have any problems with her but it's just that Luna is on a way different level than her family. Another surge of excitement as I remember me and Jax's old journeys. It's going to be a fun week before I start my classes again, so I figured I'll be wasting time around with those two.
"Hey, why are we going to the mall?" I asked Tasha, remembering that she told the driver to drop us at the CenterPoint mall. She could've told him to drop at Luna's house but why there?
"You haven't gotten Jax any presents. Don't you think you're being rude? Just greeting your friend without any homecoming gifts?" She ran her hands on her short hair, adjusting her glasses and crossing her arms. I looked at her in awe.
"Oh come on, I'm enough as a gift." I chuckled.
"I'm also buying a gift for Vlad," I saw her smile as she stared into nothingness. "A small thanks for last night."
"What 'did' happen last night?" I raised an eyebrow.
"You don't need to know." She looked away.
The rest of our ride became quite. When we were dropped off, we went inside to buy some gifts. I got Jax a crop top since he likes fashion and stuff. It took me a bit of time to choose from a variety of colours since I want him to look good in it. Tasha bought some doughnuts and pizza for us to eat. She also got Luna's brother a small paper bag with something inside it. I tried to peek, but she didn't let me see it. And as usual, the mall was crowded just like yesterday at the beach. It was summer so it's normal for malls to be this crowded.
Neigher is the heart of Solemn. It's the middle of the country where every other city is connected together. It's called Neigher since it's the neighbour of all cities here in Solemn. The Centerpoint mall is at the centre of our country, hence, the name CenterPoint. The mall is seven storeys tall and wide like three football arena. At the back of the mall is a large lake, a place famous families and such. The mall is also filled with food chains and clothing lines, good for people who like shopping and eating. But for me, the best store in this mall is the appliances. A lot of cleaning kinds of stuff and making an entire house shiny always gets me.
Since Solemn's technology is far advance than any other country, almost everything you need is right inside of your smartphone. You can store money here and use it almost everywhere so it saves me the time of counting money on my hands.
We got another cab outside the mall and dropped us at Luna's place. It took a full hour because of the traffic and I managed to fall asleep two times. As we got out of the cab, I rushed over to the gate of Luna's house. I pressed the doorbell and firmly held the doughnut and pizza in my two hands. I heard Tasha's footsteps behind as my ears noticed the car driving off.
"Did you ring it?" Tasha asked, receiving a hummed response from me. We waited for a full minute until Vlad came to open the door. His wet hair all over his face... I guess he just finished taking a bath?
I was about to speak up but he raised his index at me.
"Don't... I just got out of the shower. The others are inside, come in." I chuckled at my imagination. I thought of him opening up a vlog with his appearance. Him saying "What's up guys, it's me, Vlad. And I just got out of the shower" would bring everyone to tears.
"Here," I handed him the foods. "Tasha bought those." I heard a small thanks from Vlad as the three of us went inside their house.
The house wasn't small, it was the perfect size of a house. Only four of them live in this house but right now, their dad is on a business trip to the neighboring county of Solemn, Madav. There was a small garage just near their main door. The house is about four storeys tall from the looks of it. This is actually my first time seeing Luna's house up close since I only take her to the gates whenever I'd take her home. But still, we're close to her parents.
Vlad opened the door for us. I thanked him and stepped foot inside. I removed my shoes placed them on top of the shelves, Tasha did the same. Vlad led us upstairs, to where the main diner is.
With each step I take, I became more excited and anxious. After a long time, the three of us finally going to be together. The event that broke us apart still marked our hearts.
I started hearing a piece of music. From the guess, I could tell it was a piano. I remember how good of a piano guy Jax was. I walked closer to the source of the sound. I now heard Luna's raspy cheerful voice.
"You still got it in you."
"Thanks, I kept practicing after I left."
I realized that the song he was playing was from the show we used to watch when we were young. It was a wave of nostalgia and I finally saw his figure from inside the diner. He was facing the wall because of the piano and there sat Luna on a small table near him. She smiled at me and gestured to come closer.
"Go." I heard my sister giggle.
I felt my heartache as I marched forward, expanded my right hand, and took a deep breath. As I took the last step, my palm collided with his cheek. Jax fells on his seat as Vlad, Tasha and Luna began laughing. The shock of the impact got to him as he turns to see my face.
With that, I opened my arms for a large embrace as he speared me with his hug.
We fell to the floor, making a thud sound. The two of us kept laughing as Luna joined in. She got on top of Jax's back and hugged the two of us.
"I missed you guys!" Jax yelled.
It was a moment I could never forget, how the three of us finally reunited after a long time.
What I was feeling wasn't happiness or anxiousness or anything, it was the one thing we always talked about. A passion, a burning passion that leaves trails wherever we go because no matter what... Our burning passion will always lead us to each other.
Yes, this is our inferno...