Kapittel 24.2

Vanessa

The sound of the doorbell suddenly ringing broke me off from my reverie of flying in a seven-colored pastel trail on peach-colored skies decorated with cotton candy clouds that rained cookies of various flavors.

"That must be Maxim. I'll go get it," I said before hurriedly getting off my feet and running towards the door. Something didn't sit right with me though, I had a slight shiver before I left the kitchen. It was like someone was glaring at me behind my back.

"Hi." The newcomer as soon as I opened the door. Maxim looked refreshing, simply wearing a classic oversized black tee tucked into his denim jeans. What added to his refreshing aura was the bouquet of flowers in his hand. Now that I think about it, I think Friso was wearing the same fit, the only difference was that his jeans were darker. If they were seen together in the getup, one would assume they were a dance duo about to perform a dance for "It's Too Late to Apologize."

"Hey, come on in." I fought hard to hold back my smile from cracking. I was dying to laugh. Just thinking about how similar they'd look made me want to explode a peal of laughter. "Mom and Friso are in the kitchen. We're having cookies, come on." I opened the door wider to let him in.

"Oh, that smells good all right," he stated, stepping a foot inside. He held his head high, his eyes closed with his nose leading the rest of his body. He looked like his feet were about to leave the ground. Was that how I looked when I was heading to the kitchen?

After closing the door, I went ahead to guide him inside. Hearing his footsteps following behind me, I resisted myself from laughing. The squeak of his shoes reminded me of dancing.

"Okay, we're finally complete!" I announced with a small hop when I arrived at the threshold, clasping my hands together happily.

"Hi," Mom greeted the new guest behind me who made a small wave with a coy smile. "You must be Maximillian. It's nice meeting you," she said.

Okay, I never knew this charismatic guy who seemed to wake up in a beach house, surfs as his morning workout, and smells like seawater and vetiver would be blushing and scratching the back of his head. At the back of my mind, he was that cool, reliant type of guy who knew no shame. Yet, here he was now, acting all small and shy in front of my mother.

"Maximillian Revel, Ma'am. And I uh... brought flowers," he introduced himself and came forward, offering the bouquet her way. "I saw them on the way when I passed by the flower shop. I thought it'd be awkward to just come here empty-handed," he added, putting a hand on his nape. Okay, he looks adorable being shy and all.

"Oh my. Thank you, young man." Mom thanked him leaning forward to accept the flowers. A small giggle left my lips when I saw his feet stagger a bit. "They smell great," she complimented after taking a vigorous sniff.

"I'm glad you like them," he replied, a small smile plastered on his face. "I hope it'll help make the house more beautiful."

"I'll put them on a vase. Here, I baked cookies..." she offered him while making her way out of the kitchen island. But she stopped midway. She looked at Friso who had been watching them silently all this time as well, then went back to Maxim, and then went back to Friso again. The process continued for a few moments.

"O-Oh my, what kind of twinning is this?" she asked, her bewildered gaze on them both, one hand covering her lips. "Are you guys part of a dance group or... something?"

I could no longer help but release my laughter when she asked. The two boys looked at each other in unison and looked at each other from head to toe. They looked like a pair of fraternal twins!

"Eyy," Maxim cheered and made the hang loose sign. It seemed that only Friso wasn't enjoying their twinning situation seeing that he was the only one wearing a big scowl on his face and didn't reciprocate the energy.

Okay, he didn't seem to be too happy. But I couldn't care less. I was enjoying this too much. Oh God, I thought I was about to grow abs with the way my stomach was hurting. I never knew laughing could be an intense core exercise.

"Maaah!" A cry from the lounge broke us off from the delight.

Mom looked the other way for a second. "Hang on, I think it's Zach. Let me go and get him," she said before making her way out. "Anyways, make yourselves at home," she made a small wave before leaving the three of us in the kitchen alone.

"Who's Zach?" Maxim asked, all innocent and pure.

I glanced at Friso and saw him looking at me intently. A small smile formed on my lips, realizing my chance to reveal the truth, a nefarious plan brewing in my head. "My younger brother," I answered casually.

There, boom. I bit my lower lip, thinking I was about to have another round of core exercise when I saw his priceless reaction. God, I wished I had my phone with me and preserved the scene with just a single snapshot.

I cleared my throat in an attempt to divert the topic. I wanted to stop myself from bursting out a chortle. "Enough with the talk, let me get my stuff from upstairs and we can start working on the project at the patio."

"Sounds good," Maxim replied with a slight nod.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Friso staring at me with a gaze I couldn't comprehend. When he opened his mouth, I proceeded by turning my back and hurried upstairs. I wanted to relish seeing him regretful more.

"Hey..." I heard a familiar voice trail off behind me while I was busy packing the needed materials. "Let's talk," Friso said, his voice solemn.

"We're already talking, aren't we?" I replied without looking at him. How I wanted to him gushing out of guilt right now, but I had to keep my act together. The fruit squeezed is sweeter when grown right and ripe.

"No, I mean talk as in talk." He groaned and expelled a heavy breath.

A small smirk painted on my face. This guy was not one to apologize, rather, he was the one who often received the apologies. He had grown proud, so he was not accustomed to guilt. Seeing him so guilty and frustrated that he wanted to make amends to make himself feel better was close to a feat. "Please?"

Wow. The Friso Drew de Vries said please.

"Fine." I turned to face him, crossing my arms. He stared at me with an unfathomable gaze. I stared back at him, lightly tapping my foot.

"Look, I..." he looked away, breaking our eye contact.

"Hm?" I beckoned, eager to hear more. I remained silent, letting him take his moments to gulp down his pride and say the words that nobody in the world would expect to hear.

"I'm sorry."

It seemed that I was surprised with his apology that something in my chest prickled in my chest that I felt like crying. Okay, this was meant to be a harmless prank to make him feel remorseful. I thought I was already over with his hurtful words, knowing how much I got back at him during our shenanigans. But it seemed I wasn't. The old scars were peeled and they still stung. His apology was like an antiseptic that maximized the sting. But it was meant to bring relief.

"I assumed the wrong thing, and let my feelings get the best of me. I said words that I shouldn't have said and did some things out of spite," he continued and the sting grew more painful. I felt like crying.

"Right. I'm glad that you realized you were wrong." Now I was the one spouting words carelessly.

"That's what's wrong with you Friso. You think your anticipations and thoughts equalized the truth. You'd rather believe it than get the truth through communication more than anything. You haven't changed, that's what I thought when we met again.... That's also what happened to us before. It's also why we fell out. And I assumed that you learned from it, but I was wrong."

"What about you? You also assumed the worst and acted upon it. Did you ask what really happened that day? You ran when you saw and refused to talk to me," he replied, his mellow gaze changing.

"How can I ask when it was as clear as day? You were close to having sex with your ex while I worked my tired ass finding for you, worrying. You didn't push her away Friso. You were eating each other's faces!"

"I was drunk, okay?"

"Sure, but it didn't give you an excuse to do so!"

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