Daru stood in front of a house, looking back at the high sun. He had been standing there for a while, unable to gather the courage to walk up and ring the bell. He was dressed in a slick red shirt with black trousers.
Slapping himself lightly on the cheeks, he took a deep breath, realizing that staying any longer just staring would prompt anyone to call the police.
"Come on, man... it's not like she will eat you."
He walked up to the door, slowly waking up to the fact that he needed to ring the bell. As he waited in anticipation, he heard a loud voice from inside.
"Coming."
"That's her for sure," Daru chuckled softly. His nerves loosened slightly at that.
As he heard the door click open, he came face to face with the face of 'his' sister, Gloria.
"...Daru…" Hearing her shaky voice seeking confirmation, he smiled brightly and replied.
"In the flesh."
With a soft gasp and her hand covering her mouth, Gloria took a step closer to look at him more clearly.
'It hurts me to see her trying to hide her sobs… oi, oi…' thought Daru as he saw his sister, only for her to remove her sandal…
"Canalla... sabes lo preocupados que estábamos." (You bastard... you know how worried we were.)
"Los días que mamá, Sonia y yo pasamos buscándote." (The days that Mom, Sonia, and I spent looking for you.)
Daru just let her hit him as he stared, as she was not making eye contact with him, but still, tears welled up in her eyes…
He knew he had hurt them… This feeling of guilt was foreign to him. He did not have anyone to care for him in his past life, so he was never burdened with caring for others. And in this life, he was always running away…
He ran away from confronting his feelings when his father died, plunging into darkness and slowly letting it get more and more hold on him. The same with Gloria… he ran… ran away…
Daru took Gloria into a hug…
"Canalla… Canalla… Canalla…" (Bastard) Gloria kept repeating in between choked sobs.
Daru lightly stepped inside with Gloria still in his arms. One hand still around her, he closed the door behind him…
Daru's heart was in a clench… watching Gloria break down in his arms was squeezing his heart in pain… He didn't want to think about how much she might have struggled more in pain after he abandoned them…
He softly caressed her back…
"I'm sorry, Gloria," he whispered softly, his voice filled with remorse. "I didn't mean to hurt you or Mom or Sonia. I just... I didn't know how to face it all."
Gloria slightly pulled away from the embrace, her tear-stained eyes locked onto his. "Daru, you can't just disappear like that. We were terrified, not knowing where you were or if you were safe."
"I know, and I can't change the past. But I promise you, I won't run away again. I want to make things right."
Even with all the tears clouding her eyes, Daru knew that once she calmed down, he had hell to pay with her Colombian fury, much less with the dragon of the Revire still in Colombia when she finds out I am back…
But I can't, I just can't keep running anymore…
'I can't do anything about the past, but for damn sure, I am never gonna be a coward again… never again am I not gonna strive for what I want… never again am I gonna see them hurt like this…' Daru thought, his eyes burning with determination as he saw Gloria still breaking in his arms.
Clutching him even tighter, Gloria said, "I've missed you so much, you idiot."
"I missed you too, Glora."
A few moments later, Gloria was just having soft sobs… but she still didn't let him go…
He knew she was hurt, but now he wanted out of this hug… after not having been in touch with her for so long and the memories of his past life coming back created this buffer that has him being awkward about how to deal with the situation…
He wanted to get out of this hug, not because of some soppy reason like he didn't like confronting his emotions. No, the thing is that his dragon is showing signs of awakening…
Is it because of maybe the new body, enhanced senses from the system's double boast, or the feel of Gloria's breasts against him or the view of her fatass that is causing his pants to get tight… I don't know, I DON'T KNOW…
As he was thinking of ways to handle this sudden bout of lust while still avoiding how to proceed with his relationship with Gloria, help came in like a clutch…
DING
Gloria suddenly pushed him to the wall and then hurriedly looked through the peephole…
"Shit, it's Alex…"
Looking at the mirror hung on the side wall…
Gloria looked at her scattered mascara and ruined makeup…
"Ahh," she gasped lightly…
Turning to Daru, she said, "Keep her company… she is my husband's granddaughter…" Gloria said, avoiding his eyes and rushing through the last sentence…
"She is still so vain about her appearance…" Daru chuckled lightly as he saw her running away, not putting mind to her detail of her curent status that he had ample knowledge of from the show.
Fixing his shirt, he walked up to the door and opened it…
Across from him was Alex, who looked 70 percent like her TV counterpart from his past life, Ariel Winter. Though she was dressed conservatively in her thick glasses, wearing a long-sleeved tee and some blue jeans, he could clearly see the enormous potential she was hiding, pun intended…
"Hello, Gloria is inside let me call her…"
He saw how she was dazed for a second, breaking out of it only when he called out…
He knew he had this effect in this life, but he knew this was nothing fantasy-level charm, and everybody would break out of it. And before she got suspicious of why a stranger was opening the door, Daru called out…
"Gloria…"
With how loud his voice was, he should not have judged Gloria before entering…
'It might be something in our blood.'
"Coming, give me a minute…"
Listening to Gloria's voice, Alex lost her growing suspicion and then blushed again, looking at Daru…
"Um…"