♪♪ It's out with the old

And in with the new

Goodbye skies of grey

Hello skies of blue ♪♪

ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ [Fabulous] - [Sharpay Evans] 

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Esmé took in a deep breath while she watched all the houses they passed by as Kian drove them towards his house. They were on their way to his home after they officially discharged her.

The adamant doctor who had proclaimed that the whole thing would never happen one minute, declared the next minute that she would stay in his home. Whatever Petra had said worked like a charm.

When she asked Petra, Petra only said she convinced him to let Esmé stay with him till she could find them an apartment to move in together.

The reason wasn't very convincing, but whatever Petra had said to Kian had given her a temporary home and that satisfied her.

"You will totally love it there. I promise!" A giddy Petra informed Esmé, seated by her side at the backseat. "It's cool and homely. And you have a great personal chef," she added the last part and sent a wink to Kian, who had narrowed his eyes at her through the middle mirror.

"Okay?" Esmé mumbled. She noticed the look he sent Petra and felt awful about the whole staying with him. He already considered her a nuisance in the hospital, now she was going to live in his home. If she really had a choice, she would have outright disagreed, but well, she had no other place to be.

She consoled herself that he had been the one to agree; it wasn't like she put a gun to his head for him to grant his permission. She'll stay till she got better and be out of his hair.

"I'm so excited for you having to move to a fresh environment!"

Kian had heard enough of Petra's excitement. You would think she was the one moving into the house. What was she even so excited about? His grip tightened on the steering wheel as his situation settled in. What demon had possessed him to say yes? It was like she rumoured him to believe all her reasons.

"It's shocking that you are this excited, knowing that now that she's out of the hospital, you would have no other friend to bother," Kian said and smirked at her through the mirror.

"Oh, never mind that," Petra said with a smile. Kian's smirk faltered at that. He wasn't expecting that at all, "I'll manage, after all, you're in the hospital, aren't you?" At her statement, he groaned, knowing she was going to badger him now that she had no one to do so.

"All that matters is that Esmé settles in pretty nicely and heals faster." Petra ended and gave Esmé a grin.

"Of course," Kian said just as they got to the entrance of his house. He turned off the engine of his car and turned back to the girls. "We are here, so get out of the car." He got out of the car.

Esmé watched Petra roll her eyes at Kian before she got down. She rushed over to Esmé's door and opened it for her.

To make it easier for her to get into the house, they had got a wheelchair from the hospital.

Kian got the wheelchair from the boot of the car and set it down by the opened car door. He bent down to carry Esmé carefully and placed her on the chair. Once he saw she was comfortable on the chair, he was quick to put distance between them.

Esmé noticed it instantly. The distance. She sighed and looked away from the spot Kian had taken. She looked at the house she was soon to call home, no matter how temporal it was.

It was a small and decent light green bungalow. It actually looked homey and welcoming. Esmé only hoped that the outside wasn't just deceiving and that the inside would also be homey.

"Do you like it?" Petra asked her. She watched her take a careful look at the house.

Esmé opened her mouth to respond, but an intensive barking of a dog drowned her response.

The sound of the dog barking snapped everyone's attention to the direction of where it came from and they spotted a white Bichon Frise run out of the house straight in their path.

"Oh bollocks! I forgot about the damn dog," Petra muttered. Her cherry voice had gone down a notch.

Kian's eyes brightened at his dog's presence. A warm feeling swept through him. At least there was some sane amongst the whole stupid thing. He stretched forth his hand to get the incoming dog cooing. "Aww, look who missed me."

Esmé couldn't believe her ears and the sound of Kian's voice. She snapped her head to look at him in surprise.

"Oof!" Esmé exclaimed in surprise at the sudden weight that had jumped onto her legs. She turned away from the cute sight of Kian cooing to the dog who had brushed past Kian's opened hands onto her legs instead, licking her face lovingly.

Kian's eyebrows skyrocketed upwards at the scene in shock while Petra's jaw slacked instantly. 

Esmé laughed after she got over the shock while the dog continued licking her face like she was someone he had really missed.

"Hey!" Esmé cooed, still laughing lightly. She ran her hand through his hairs, patting him. "Aren't you a cute little thing?"

Kian couldn't believe his eyes and he wasn't the only one as Petra scoffed at the statement, "Cute my foot. What's going on here?"

"The dog likes me," Esmé responded absentmindedly as she was so focused on the dog, who was still licking her face enthusiastically.

"Yeah, well, that's what's wrong."

"What do you mean?" she asked after she got the dog settled. He stopped licking her face and smuggled into her laps.

"The twat of a dog hates everyone except Kian," Petra informed her and snarled at the dog. The dog barked at her angrily in response.

"You know that's not true. He just doesn't bond so well with people without knowing them first." Well, except Esmé. Kian added in his mind as he watched his dog smuggle into Esmé's laps happily and in ease like he was finally home. His forehead creased as he tried to find an answer to the puzzle.

"He doesn't like me," Petra said, breaking Kian's thoughts.

Kian laughed at Petra's statement, the crease on his forehead erased instantly. "That's because you talk too much."

Esmé chuckled at the statement. She smiled at the dog and then saw his name tag around his neck. Her hand touched it and she murmured his name, "Archie."

An image flashed within her inner eye of two hands stretched forward holding a name tag on a white bichon frise dog that looked exactly like Kian's dog, with the same name Archie. Her hand and an unknown hand.

She blinked twice in shock at the rush of the image's appearance and disappearance, a sharp pain hit her head the moment the image disappeared. Her breath hitched at her forehead, creased in confusion.

What was that?

"Esmé?" Kian called out to her. He had his eyes narrowed at her, wondering what happened when he saw the way her forehead creased.

Esmé focused back on the present. In the present, she noticed Kian's hand right by hers on the name tag. It was like what she had seen. She blinked again, trying to understand what was going on with her.

"You ok?" Kian asked her.

She shifted her eyes away from the hands and turned to Kian, who had moved position and his face was now a little too close to hers. She coughed awkwardly at the proximity. "Yes, yes. I'm fine."

Kian tilted his head to the side, wondering why she was acting awkwardly till he finally realised that he had squatted by her side and was close to her. He sprung up and backed away from her. He cleared his throat too and looked away from her.

"Well, if this isn't interesting," Petra mumbled by their side with a sly grin.

Esmé, who heard her, ignored her and changed the topic immediately before Petra could make the situation any more awkward.

"So, you named him Archie?" She asked Kian. She kept the minor flash at the back of her mind, deciding it was her mind playing tricks on her.

"Not necessarily," Kian answered. He had gained a sense of composure after the whole awkward situation. "He already had the name tag when I got him," Kian explained, but they couldn't delve deeper into the entire thing as a shout from inside the house cut in.

"Archie! Archie boy!"

"Is that..." Petra asked but stopped as a young lady with a pear figure and wavy platinum gold hair walked out of the house, "Lucija." She completed her statement with a strange, sad tone.

Esmé watched Petra's relaxed posture turn rigid. She turned to face the lady who was approaching them with a certain grace and swiftness. Her jewel-like eyes swept through the three of them and then landed on Archie on Esmé's lap.

"Oh." Her thin lips formed and then she focused her attention back to Kian, "Doctor Lincoln, you are back. I'm sorry about Archie, he was alright a few minutes ago..." she said in a very strong accent that showed English was her second language.

"It's fine." Kian cut into her statement. 

"Lucija," Petra called out to her to catch her attention with a small smile that didn't reach her ears.

Lucija turned to face Petra completely and the light respect on her face changed and became stiff. "Nurse Wilson."

Esmé watched this with keen interest. She wondered what could have happened between them because she couldn't understand how someone would have that kind of stiffness around Petra.

Kian observed the duo and sighed. Their strain relationship wasn't something that he could interfere with. It was why Petra surprised him when she recommended that he hire Lucija for the job, despite knowing what Lucija reminded her of.

"Em, hi?" Esmé said, turning Lucija's attention to her as she broke the stern atmosphere.

"Right," Petra said, remembering that she didn't introduce them.

"This is Lucija Božič, she's going to be your caretaker. She would take care of your needs while you are here till you can fully walk." Kian explained, taking control of the whole situation. He decided that they had spent too much time outside the house and lead the way into the house.

Lucija went behind Esmé to push the wheelchair, already starting her job.

"Oh, perfect, I get a nanny," she murmured.

"Don't look at it that way." Petra chuckled, "She's just a going to be more like a companion for you in the house till you get better and while Kian is off to work."

"I see."

A light chuckle came from behind Esmé. She turned to face Lucija and tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Lucija noticed the look and bent her head a bit. "Sorry for that, it's just interesting how people who do need help hate it when someone is hired to help them," she said with a brief smile.

"It's pride." Petra pointed out, stilling Lucija's smile to a strained one.

Petra sighed at the sight of the strained smile. They got to the entrance of the house and Lucija carefully wheeled Esmé in.

"I thought you guys were going to spend forever coming into the house," Kian said once they got in. He stood in front of Esmé and stretched his hands forward to Archie. "Alright buddy, come on now, let's get you something to eat."

Archie whimpered and turned his face away from Kian to snuggle further into Esme's lap.

"Looks like your dog is adamant on betraying you today, Kian," Petra said and chuckled.

Esmé chuckled at this and picked Archie up. She looked at him with a soft gaze, "Why don't you eat, Archie? If you don't eat, what energy would have to play with me later, you want to play with me later, right?" she said. Although, she wondered if he understood what she was saying.

Archie barked heartily in response, then hopped into Kian's hands in anticipation of what later would bring.

Kian turned away from her abruptly with Archie in his hand, and he instructed Lucija to follow him. He would not allow himself to dwell on the fact that he might have admired the way she spoke with Archie.

"Let's look around," Petra said, pushing Esmé's wheelchair further into the living room after Kian and Lucija left them.

The living room looked clean and modern. It had a stone fireplace that gave the room a pleasant feature but seemed to have a delightful contrast to the couches and chair in the living room. There were framed pictures on the walls that made the entire house have a warm, homely feel to it.

Esmé's eyes wandered around the living room and stopped at the sight of Kian with a straight face instructing Lucija. He had quite an appealing handsome look when he was being professional, but...

"You think this is a good idea, Petra?" Esmé asked her, not taking her eyes off the duo.

Petra's eyes followed Esmé's direction, and she nodded enthusiastically. "Haven't had a better idea in my entire life."

"I really doubt that. I don't think he likes the fact that I'm here."

"Oh, he'll get used to it." Petra turned away from their direction. "Forget about that lad, will you? And tell me how you feel about your new home."

Esmé didn't think forgetting about the lad in question was going to be as easy as she said. He was standing a few feet from them.

"It looks nothing like a place an eligible bachelor lives in."

"Well, when you have a mother like Persephone, you can't just stay in a house that doesn't feel or smell like home," Petra replied with a smile.

Esmé's eyes caught on a picture of Kian and Petra in high school uniform. "You guys went to High School together?"

"Yep. Well Ronnie and Kian did, I joined them later."

"You guys look cosy."

"Gross." Petra stuck out her tongue like she wanted to throw up in disgust. "Cosy? Please, no. Ronnie just insisted on taking a picture of us that day."

"Why is it gross? Is Kian that bad?" Esmé asked, wondering if that was just a front.

"Because darling, it's all so cliché and irritating," she said lightly but there was a bit of venom in her tone and her eyes darkened a bit, "Liking my brother's best friend is a cliché and I hate clichés. Nothing like that can ever happen. Hence why I'll never wish for you to even remotely like Ronnie." Petra shuddered. "Apart from the fact that he's a big flirt."

Esmé chuckled at this, though she sensed the underlined hatred.

Petra's phone chimed. She pulled out her phone and groaned after reading the message.

"I'm needed at home." Petra informed her and stood up from the sofa she sat on, "I've got to go!" she shouted aiming for Kian to hear but too loud for Esmé who was right by her side.

"Geez! Petra." Esmé squinted her eyes at her.

"Oops! Sorry." Petra responded sarcastically but sent her a wink.

"That's great, you can see Lucija off," Kian said as he came towards them.

Lucija became still at the information. "That won't be..." she said.

"Perfect!" Petra exclaimed, "Why don't we go Lucy?" she said grinning at her.

Lucija sent her a nervous chuckle. She turned away from her and gave Esmé a small nod before they turned to leave.

"Alright bye, guys!" Petra shouted waving to the duo, "I trust you to take care of her, Kian."

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" he asked, wanting her out of the house.

Petra's turned to leave. "Don't let little Esmé's and Kian's run around here when I come back!" she shouted and ran out of the house.

Kian groaned angrily. His expression went hard at the comment while Esmé's hand flew to her mouth to stop the gasp. She groaned inwardly.

As if they needed another reason to feel more awkward.

Kian cleared his throat. The action cleared all thoughts about Petra's comment from Esmé's mind immediately, "I'll show you to your room." he stated in a flat tone and lead the way. Away from the living room, like that could get them to escape Petra's statement.

There wasn't anything to worry about since none of them had any romantic feelings for themselves.

Esmé followed him, wheeling herself to the room. She thanked her stars that there weren't any stairs. She went to the room she saw him disappear into.

The room wasn't big, but it was clean, painted with white walls, a queen-sized bed, a small desk by the side, closets opposite the bed, and a fluffy sky blue carpet by the bed. It looked nice.

Kian watched her take in the room, not wanting to call any attention to himself, he turned to leave.

"Thank you for letting me stay here," she said stopping him.

Esmé watched as he inclines his head to the back, not turning fully. With the same monotone, he replied, "There's no need to thank me. I'm just doing my job as your doctor." He closed the door behind him.

"Okay," Esmé mumbled to the closed door.

She looked around the room once more and sighed. She hoped staying there didn't turn out to be a bad idea.

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Hmmm

Hola Paapi

Let me spice things up. Share your conspiracy theories guys, what do you think happened between Petra and Lucija?

I hoped you liked the chapter.

What did you think of the chapter? Tell it all to me! 💭

Till next week!💕