(The title of this chapter is a bit misleading, but it will almost make sense at the end. DON'T SKIP TO THE END. TRUST ME, IT'LL RUIN YOUR LIFE.)

Thank you, MyNetworkSucks , for being the bestest friend and wishing Happy Birthday before anyone else did. LOBS YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING!

Song of the chapter : Mary's Song (Oh My My My) by Taylor Swift

"Let's go," Brain said and got out of the car. I mimicked his actions and followed him to his home.

I took in the view of the residence. It was a two-storeyed house. A balcony was could be seen, from which a bundle of different species of flowers and leaves hung. The front yard was filled with pink and purple dahlias and some blue veronicas. It looked like a house from one of the fairytales I read as a kid.

I wonder how they pulled off such a beautiful scenery in a matter of months...

He took out a key from the pocket of his jacket and opened the door.

"Mom, we're home!" he called out to his mother, who was probably busy in the kitchen.

She came running over and pulled me in for a motherly hug and I hugged her back, chuckling.

"Hi, Ashley! Welcome!"

She's so sweet!

"Hello, Mrs. Adler. Nice to meet you," I said as she pulled away.

"Oh, it's so nice to meet you, too! Dear, you can call me Bertha," she smiled. "Brian talks about you all the time. You really are as beautiful as Brian said you would be," she told me.

I glanced at Brian. A light shade of pink had covered his cheeks, and he was rubbing the back of his neck, sheepishly.

"Mom, uh, we had a talk about this..." he trailed off.

"Oh, Brian, don't be a sissy!" Bertha exclaimed. I let out a quick snort.

"Mom, is Ro home?" Brian asked, scanning the house.

"No, dear. She told me she has a date," Bertha informed and looked at me, "I'm sure you and Ro will get along just fine."

"Uh... Bertha, who is Ro?" I questioned. Ro? Who could that be?

She threw a glare at Brian and retorted, "You forgot to mention her again? Brian, how can you forget to tell people about your sister?"

She turned to me and her face softened, "Honey, Ro is his twin sister. I am so sorry that he didn't tell you about her earlier."

And here I thought Ro was his girlfriend. Something is so wrong with my head.

"No, don't be sorry! It's Brian who should be sorry," I turned to him, "seriously, Adler?"

He shrugged. What else would he say, though?

"You kids go and have fun. I'll go prepare the dinner," Bertha smiled at me and went to the kitchen.

I felt Brian's hand on my shoulder. He whispered in my ear, "So, what do you wanna do first?"

"Hm... we could study," I replied as his bright smile faded into a 'Boring!'-face. I giggled as he took off my coat and hung it.

"Come on," Brian said and led me up the staircase to his room.

The first thing that I noticed as I entered his room was his scent all over the place. How did I understand that it was his scent? Honestly, I don't know. All I knew was that it smelled good.

The walls of his bedroom were clean white, with thin silver lines at the bottom. The middle of the room was occupied with a navy blue double-bed with a sky blue headboard on the wall. His study table was right beside his bed, just like mine. I noticed that there was a glass door leading to his balcony. As if reading my thoughts, Brian dragged me to the balcony saying, "You're gonna love this."

I stepped in the balcony and stared at the view in awe. I could see the entire city lighting up the streets and buildings as the sun was setting on the far end of the sky. It felt surreal to be watching twinkling lights all over the city and realizing that Brian's arm was around my waist.

Wait, what?

He can't touch me.

"Uh, let's go and study before dinner," I told him and walked inside his room.

The whole time was spent with us doing mathematics. I noticed that he seemed preoccupied with his thoughts. He looked very tensed about something, so I didn't call him out on his inattentiveness.

Instead, I tried to ease him up. Me being me, I needed attentiveness when I was being a teacher.

"Hi, Brian," I call him as I snap my fingers to get him to look at me.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking if you could help me."

"With what?"

"Math."

"Where'd you get math from?" His face resembled confusion.

I raised my eyebrow, and he finally came back to Earth.

"Oh, math..." he trailed off.

"Yeah... Are you okay? You seem a little off today," I asked, a little concerned now.

"I don't think I'm fine," he replied, sighing.

"Can you tell me about it or should I just shut up?" I asked cheerily.

"No, I can talk about it..." he continued, "I was actually thinking about a person. She..."

So it's a 'she'.

"...is so beautiful and different. She is...she is just so smart. I can't get her off of my mind. It's like she has grasped my heart and she's never gonna let that go."

WHO IS THIS 'SHE'? I AM JEALOUS AND DO NOT REGRET ADMITTING IT.

"So, um, who are you t-talking about?" I questioned through gritted teeth.

"I can't tell you that yet, but, oh god, she has the shiniest pair of legs in the whole world," he said looking at my bare legs.

Before I could process the fact that he was talking about me, he snorted.

"You creepy piece of shit," I laughed and he joined in.

This boy needs to be serious.

We then started talking about random events going on in the world instead of studying and somehow all of it was funny.

Suddenly, the door burst open. A certain dark-haired girl walked in. I recognized her as the girl from the cafeteria.

"Bro, I gotta talk to you. Come over to my room, please," she said and rushed out.

Brian looked at me with clear confusion etched across his face before excusing himself and following her.

I sat there in silence wondering what was going on. A few minutes later, I found the lace lining at the bottom of my dress pretty interesting and started fiddling with it.

After what felt like a lifetime, he finally came back.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him as I noticed he had a frown on his forehead.

"Nope. Nothing is fine. This world is a shitshow, trust me," he said and ran his fingers through his hair.

I was sure someone had set his sweet personality on fire.

"That guy, Jake, asked my sister on their 12th date and then broke up with her," he said.

"Jake Ray?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, God. She shouldn't have fallen into his trap. He's a well-known player," I replied in an apologetic tone.

"I told her that. I guess she still hasn't discovered much about this place. 3 months are not enough for her, I guess."

"You mean 2 months..."

"No, we came here on July."

"Well, is Rowana fine?"

"She's exhausted. She told me she had a good feeling about that guy."

I didn't know what to say. I felt bad for Rowana. She was new in town and had gotten dumped by one of the biggest jerks in school.

The door swung open and she came in.

"Hi. That was not a good first impression. Let's start over. I'm Rowana," she told me with a forced smile plastered on her sweet face.

"I'm Ashley," I replied with a smile.

"So, I'm guessing Brian told you everything?" she asked me.

"Yeah..." I trailed off.

She understood I felt bad for her from the way I was looking at her, so she said, "Look, don't pity me. I'm over that asshole. Let's have fun."

"Well... I've met my soulmate. Brian, get out," I said joyfully.

***

When I first met Brian, some part of me had trusted him already and knew that he would one day break all my walls and make me confront the real world. Because of this, I had become so free with him in a matter of months.

When he told me that his mother had invited me to dinner, that part of me had instantly made me agree to go for it. It happened because I trusted him and knew that it was all happening for the best.

The moment I understood what Rowana was like, I realized I had found my ideal best friend. She wasn't anything like me, but she was everything I was at the same time. As I talked to her and learned about her, I felt like she had been my friend since a long, long time ago. That we were no strangers.

At dinner, we all ate and talked about various stuff. I learned a lot about this family, especially about Brian. It was one of the best times I ever had. It felt like I was having dinner with my own family.

***

The wheels screeched against the ground as Brian pushed the brake of the car.

"So, did you enjoy being with my family or are they a bit too crazy?" he asked me, sheepishly.

"Oh, I loved them. Felt like my own family, honestly," I replied with a smile.

We sat there in silence for a while, not knowing what to say or do.

"Well, I should probably go," I finally said.

"Yeah. Good night."

"Night."

I came out of the car and started walking away. But, something didn't feel quite right.

His words from this afternoon were still spiraling in my head.

She is so beautiful and different.

She is just so smart.

I knew he was talking about me, and it made me feel so... I couldn't find a word or a phrase to describe it. Maybe men had never thought of creating a word for this feeling.

I stopped on my track and rushed back to his car. I knocked on the window as an indication to roll it down.

"Uh, did you leave something?" he asked as the glass disappeared into the door.

"No, I--" I trailed off.

I didn't know what to say. I did know what to do now, but I didn't know how to.

My brain was constantly telling me to not do it, but why should I care?

I leaned in and put a small kiss on his cheek.

The sneaky boy, Brian Adler, had deciphered his way into my heart. And he would never get out of it.

QOTD: What is your opinion on Ashley kissing Brian on his cheek? WHat do you think might happen in the next few chapters?

Not-So-Fun Fact:

I went MIA because of my stupid exams. Hmph!