Alexandrea's P.O.V

I gulped as Nick said those words. This is it! He's gonna tell me everything. I don't understand why it bothers me so much that I know little to nothing about him but I'm glad he's gonna open up.

"Does Zoey know you were both adopted?" I asked, not moving my gaze on him.

"She doesn't. We might be twins but she was carefree and never bothered about anything. When we were here, she didn't understand most things that I already did because I took it upon my responsibility to take care and watch over her. Since she is my only family left" he explained and I nodded in understanding.

"Then what did you tell her?" I asked, still looking at him. He was not meeting my gaze but was staring at the building in front of us, his expression unreadable.

"I told her...." He sighed before continuing " I told her that we have been staying in the house, waiting for our grandma to come for us. She doesn't know Granny is not in any way related to us by blood" He said as he put his hands into his front pocket when a cold breeze blew by. I wrapped my arms around my chest as well.

"Okay..." I said. I have so many more questions. "What about your parents?" I asked and mentally slapped myself after because I already knew the answer to that.

"Dead" he answered. I was about to ask how they died but he interrupted me "They died in a car accident. I made researches on them and turns out we were 'not expected'."

I blew out a breath. The breeze had started to get chilly. "Right" I said.

"Things were easy. At least to us while we stayed with granny. She bought us whatever we wanted. Sometimes, Zoey would come home and complain about getting bullied while crying. The sight of her that way made want to rip out the jaws of those bullies. So I would secretly sneak out and keep a watch on Zoey while she is in school. I studied the face of the bullies one by one. Then I would snake out again but this time, it was to beat the shut out of those bullies" He said and glanced at me. A small smile was on my face, encouraging him to continue. He looked away and blew out a breath.

"She hated it when I did that. I mean Zoey. She hated it when I fought with her bullies and I hated it when she defends them. She called them her 'friends'." He chuckled bitterly. "So I stopped. I stopped sneaking out. Until one day, Zoey never came home. I went out of my mind. Granny and I went searching for her at possible places she could be. We searched the school, the park, we searched everywhere she could be. Granny eventually gave up and said we should leave it to the police." He said and licked his dry lips.

"Leave it to the police? I couldn't do that. When granny and I got home, I made sure she went to sleep and I sneaked out again to look for her. I had this feeling that something was terribly wrong and my feeling was confirmed when I saw my sister lying almost lifeless on the ground of an alley. I ran over to her and lifted her up with all my strength. She was so....so pale and she wouldn't move or speak" Nick said and stopped for a while. I took his hand in mine for support.

"Let's sit" I said and he gave me a slight nod. We went over to a bench that sat a few feet away from the building we were standing in front of earlier.

"I rushed her to an hospital. I was so scared. She was my only family left and I didn't want her to leave me. I slept at the hospital waiting for her recovery. Granny came rushing over in the morning, asking the details from the doctor. She hugged me and apologized for not searching harder. After many nights at the hospital, Zoey woke up. She told me what happened. She told me that those same bullies beat her up and left her in the alley. I couldn't hold back the rage I felt when I heard that. I felt like snapping someone's neck" He said and looked at me as I rubbed my hands together, due to the cold. He was wearing a black hoodie that had splash of blue and white.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow when I saw him staring. He rolled his eyes and took my hand, interwined our fingers and put them in the pocket of his hoodie. My cheeks tinted a light pink in embarrassment and surprise.

"You knew the nights are chilly nowadays but you were still stupid enough to wear that" he said, nodding his head towards my cloth and giving me a pointed look. I used my other hand to hit his arm.

"It skipped my mind" I defended with a pout. He rolled his eyes and shook his head at me. He adjusted our interwined fingers in the pocket of his hoodie to a more comfortable and warmer position.

"Around that time, I met Eli. Eli's father would lock Eli up in a room with books that are more advanced than his age. His father would threaten not to give him any food if he did not finish the books he was given to read" He said and I gasped. I used my free hand to cover my mouth as I heard that. Eli's parents are not so nice but I didn't know his father could be so mean and cold.

"Eli decided to run away. Eli's parents started a search immediately they found out he was missing. They searched and searched for him. I was on one of my walks when I found a boy, my age, leaning against the wall in a pullover. It was Eli. I took him to my house and told granny where I met him. He was so skinny and nutrients- deprived. I asked who he was and he refused to talk. That did not stop me from giving him clothing, feeding him and sharing my room with him" he said with a small smile.

I faked a shocked look. "Shocker. What happened to you? You're the total opposite of what you are describing of yourself" I said to him with a smirk. He narrowed his eyes at me and removed my hand from his hoodie, untangling our fingers. I felt the cold blow past my fingers and I glared at Nick, pouting.

"That's what you get" he smirked and continued. "He eventually told me that he was the missing Eli everyone was looking for. He told me his story and everything that happened. I told him to go back home before any other thing because even if his dad is a jerk. He's still his dad and he'll be worried. He hesitated but ended up going back home. We became close friends since then" He smiled and without looking at me, he took my hand again and interwined it with his, shoving it in the pocket of his hoodie. A smile grew on my face.

"Oooh. So that's what Eli meant by a weak point in his life" I muttered, mostly to myself. We saw a little girl probably around three to four years old skip out of the door of the building, an old woman behind her. She saw us and I smiled at her. She skipped over to us. Her blonde hair was in a french braid and she wore a pink flowers skirt with a pink sweater.

"Hello!" I smiled at her as she got in front of us.

"Hi!" She answered with a grin, showing her incomplete set of teeth. "You're pretty!" She said and I felt my cheeks become warmer.

"Thanks. You're also pretty"I said to her and she giggled. Before she could say another word, an old woman in an apron appeared behind her.

"Kiki! Don't talk to strangers!" The woman said and gave us an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. She told me she wanted to go out side" she apologized to us.

"No worries ma'am" Nick beat me to a response. She gurl was really hyper, she kept bouncing around. She walked over to Nick

"What is your name?" She asked Nick and I could tell he was uncomfortable with the way he gripped my hand tighter in the pocket of his hoodie.

"Nicholas" he answered and the girl squealed, surprising both Nick and I. The old lady just smiled like it was normal.

"Why are you frowning?" She pouted, still looking at Nick. Nick shifted uncomfortably and I was already in fits of giggles. She climbed on Nick's lap and pulled the end of his lips into an upward curve with the index finger of both her hands.

"I don't like to smile" he said and the girl pouted. She got down from Nick's lap and looked at me.

"She's pretty because she smiled but you are not because you're frowning" she stated, making my cheeks warmer as I laughed. The old lady took Kiki's hand.

"I hope you are both having a lovely day. She has to go now. I'm sorry for causing any disturbance" the old woman said, and started to walk away with Kiki. Kiki snatched her hand away from the old woman and ran over to Nick. She climbed in his lap and gave him a wet kiss on the cheek before giggling and running back to the old woman's arms.

"Aww" I cooed watching her go and when she got to the door, she waved at us before entering the building and closing the door.

Nick slowly took his free hand and rubbed his cheek in disgust. "She just rubbed saliva on my cheek" he complained and I rolled my eyes. His cheeks were a bit pink.

"No, stupid. She kissed your cheek, it's cute!" I squealed and he gave me a weird look. Then he cracked a small smile. "Now you're smiling. She's wrong though, you're not pretty even when you smile" I shot at him, patting myself mentally on the back, even when I knew it was a lie.

"I told you. The more lies you tell, the uglier you get...so why don't you just say the truth" he smirked and I rolled my eyes at him. He chuckled before continuing his story.

"Now back to my story. I began to watch every step Zoey takes. She never liked it but I didn't care because I was doing it to protect her. After sometime, Eli introduced me to Eddy and we kind of became our own group and we got along as well as understood each other. Things went of well too for some years. Then a year and a half ago, things started to change." He paused, looking at me. I could sense that this was something bad.

He gripped my hand tighter in his pocket. "What changed?" I asked. He was quiet and didn't answer my question.

Then he closed his eyes and blew out a breath. "You should go home, it's getting late." He said and stood up. I mirrored his action.

"But I want to know what changed" I frowned. He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"I'll continue next time, Alex." He said, giving me a stern look.

I stomped my foot and pouted "Fine, whatever" I said. I tried to remove my hand from his, in the pocket but he held on to it. I looked at him but he was looking straight ahead.

Then we started to walk in silence. I didn't bother removing my hand anymore. The silence was somewhat comforting but the questions I had made it less comforting.

I saw two young girls from the side walk on the other side of the road. They were both staring at us and smiling. I looked away awkwardly. I started to suspect them when they started to walk over to us. Before I could walk any faster, they appeared in our front, making us both stop.

"Um...can I help you?" I raised an eyebrow. One was blonde while the other was brunette. They looked like fourteen or fifteen year olds. I glanced at Nick, to see that he was glaring at them.

"I'm so sorry for disturbing but we wanted to ask if we could take a picture of you two?" The brunette one asked. "It's for a project!" The blonde one piped in. I was okay with pictures but I didn't know about Nick.

"I don't take pictures" Nick said coldly and I nudged him in the side for being so rude.

"Please, just one" they both begged. I smiled at them.

"Of course" I answered and Nick looked at me. I went in toes and whispered to him "Be nice. It's just a picture" I said and he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever" he muttered. I rolled my eyes and slapped his arm.

"Thank you so much! Please pose" The brunette giggled and brought out a camera. The blonde one stood beside her with a smile.

I managed a smile while Nick just stood there. No smile, nothing, just a plain face. I rolled my eyes and went on my toes. Then I squeezed his lips together to form a pout. The the camera flashed. I snapped my eyes to look at them. "I wasn't ready" I complained.

"Okay. Let's take another one then" the blonde one said. With my other hand in Nick's pocket, I used the free hand to form a 'peace out' sign using my index and middle finger and I pouted. They clicked the picture and giggled away before I could ask to see it.

"It's dangerous to let strangers take your pictures" Nick said, looking at me pointedly. I rolled my eyes at him.

"It's not dangerous, they are just highschool students doing their project. Loosen up" I said and Nick shrugged. We continued to walk. I started to think that maybe this is why Nick was so overprotective over Zoey. Maybe this is why Eddy was so scared of Nick finding out about his feelings for Zoey. I wonder what he'll do if he finds out that Zoey and Eddy are together.

I looked at Nick, whose gaze was on the road ahead of us. He still has that grim, expressionless face be always wore. I saw a wet stain on his cheek and I remembered Kiki. I giggled when I realized that there was still saliva on his cheek. Gosh, that's disgusting.

"What are you giggling at?" Nick rolled his eyes, still looking ahead. I giggled again and tries not to laugh.

"Nothing" I said, hiding my smile. I tore my gaze from him and looked ahead as well. I saw him from the corner of my eye, raise a hand and rub his cheek, missing the spot that the saliva was on. I started to laugh, I couldn't keep it in anymore.

"There's still saliva on your cheek" I laughed and Nick cringed, almost gagging. He brought out an handkerchief. Of course he always has an handkerchief with him. Neat freak.

"Touch the spot so I can wipe it" he said and we stopped walking. I collected the handkerchief from him.

"I'll just wipe it" I said and went on my toes. I used the handkerchief to wipe the saliva off his cheek and gave it back to him. "What?" I asked, when I caught him staring.

"Nothing" he said and looked away. He threw the handkerchief in a bin and we continued to walk. We eventually got to my house after a the walking, I felt like my legs would give up on me any minute.

"Thanks. Goodnight" I smiled and we stood there awkwardly. I don't know if I should hug him or nod at him or...I don't even know. I decided on the hug and opened my arms.

"No hugs. Goodnight" he stepped back. I pouted and rolled my eyes. I brought out my house keys and unlocked the door. I waved at him and he smirked and waved back.

I entered the house and locked the door behind me. Then I literally collapsed on the floor. My legs were so tired from all the walking today. My phone was probably dead too. I dragged myself up and walked to the kitchen. I was too tired to cook so I just made tea and took some marshmallows, then walked up the stairs.

I stripped off my clothing and took a nice warm bath. Then I changed into a light green sweater and hopped on the bed. I plugged my phone to it's charger and put it on. I saw some missed calls from Eli. Pouting, I see him tomorrow since it was too late to call back. I finished my tea and read a book as I ate marshmallows.

I checked the time, 12:02am. I shrugged and got comfortable in the covers. My grandma taught me that if I was ever finding trouble sleeping, I should count from 100 backwards. So I did that and it worked.

I woke up with a headache and the sun rays that shone through the curtains wasn't helping. My head felt like someone was pounding on it. Groaning, I got out of bed and got into the shower. I decided to sleep for some minutes. Just five minutes more and I'll head to school. I thought.

Elijah's P.O.V

I got to school earlier than everyone else because I was missing Alex and mostly because I didn't want to see my parents far this morning. It would just ruin my day.

I went to an empty class and sat down, thinking. Did my parents hate me that much to just use me for the development of their company? How am I supposed to tell Alex this? It wouldn't even make any sense to her.

I saw Stephanie walk in. Then it all clicked. Stephanie! Stephanie Jones! She's the girl! Oh shit. This is bad. Really bad. "Hey there, husband-to-be" she grinned at me. I kept my face solemn.

"Don't call me that. I'll never be" I said to her, feeling the anger rise up again.

"I see your father has told you. This is to teach Alex a lesson. She steals my man, I steal her's" Stephanie said with a smirk while my face scrunched up in confusion. What does that mean?

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Writer: Hello sweethearts,
I hope you're all doing good! How was this chapter? Don't hesitate to comment your thoughts.

To be honest, I was surprised at how fast the last chapter got to those number of votes. I'm really grateful for that. Don't forget to vote in this chapter as well and as soon as this chapter gets to ten votes, I'll publish another <33
I love y'all. Enjoy!
8/1/2021