~Newfound Understanding~

Nicolas moved ever so slightly when his bed dipped as a result of someone's weight pressing into it. He didn't need to open his eyes to know it was his annoying sister doing her best to rouse him up. He groaned inwardly.

'She's going to be the death of me.'

As though she heard his thoughts, she began to bounce on his bed, breaking his name into syllables with each jump she made.

"Ni--" bounce, "Co--" bounce, "las." Bounce.

"Aurora, please stop. It's Friday and I need to rest. My night shift took a toll on me so please let me close my eyes for five minutes. I'll reward you when I'm awake." He begged.

He turned his body to get more comfortable when he noticed the bouncing had stopped. Everywhere had suddenly grown quiet. He wondered if she left the room or was discreetly going through his stuffs again. Feeling too weak to find out, he remained in the same position. He decided to deal with whatever she was doing when the sleep clears off.

Some seconds of odd silence later, he felt cold fingers on his eyelids. Slowly, they got pried open. Nicolas stirred as his eyes moved around trying to focus on the figure before him. It was Aurora's face hovering directly over his.

In a very loud and girly manner, he shrieked, falling right off the bed. Two voices burst into laughter. One of the voices like sweet chiming bells and the other like the sound of pointy fingernails dragged across a blackboard. All trace of sleep cleared out of his system the moment he spotted the third person in the room. Dolores.

She crossed the threshold into the room with humour still dancing in her eyes as she stood next to the bed. "Good morning, sleepy head. You've been asleep for too long, you should get up already."

"Good morning." He got up, moving to kiss her. She leaned into him as their lips connected.

"Aw. This is so cute." Aurora cooed at them.

"Get out now!" Nicolas broke the kiss to order his sister out sternly.

"Hello, I'm fifteen not dumb for crying out loud. If you both decide to stop having sex with your eyes and get down to business, use a condom for goodness sake. Don't get her pregnant." She said instead, adding a knowing wink.

Dolores looked as mortified as Nicolas was. She never imagined she would be standing in Nicolas' room and listening to his sister give them the talk about sex when she was just fifteen and a half.

Aurora shrugged carelessly. "What? There's already him. I'm trying to prevent an outbreak of a junior him." She further said, nodding towards Nicolas.

"Stop it already. What do you want?" Nicolas added hastily before she made his ears bleed.

"A tiny favor from you. I know the last time I asked this, it ended on a very bad note but I promise to be good and extra careful this time around." Her gaze was hopeful and innocent. Innocent enough to those who didn't know how her brain operated.

"I just hope it's not what I am thinking."

"Oh, please Nicolas. For the sake of the love we share. This isn't a pool party like the last one, it's just in someone's spacious backyard. Nothing harmful." She latched herself onto his arm with a teary eyed look, which she hoped would change his mind.

"I'll do anything you ask me to from now henceforth. I'll be good to you, I'll make your breakfast every morning, I'll even do your laundry for free but please I need to attend this party. It's a once in a lifetime chance before my breakthrough into senior high school." Her words were laced with pleas enough to thaw even the coldest of hearts.

"Will Christie be with you?"

"I don't go anywhere without my wingman." She replied keeping her hopeful gaze on her brother.

He groaned aloud, running a hand through his head in frustration. "I shouldn't let you out of my sight for one second but since it's not a pool party and Christie would be with you, you can go."

Aurora whooped for joy but it was short-lived when he added, "On the condition that you come back home by nine. I'm not kidding."

She squealed as she hopped up and down in delight. Her ponytail bouncing as she did so. "Done. You're the best, Nick."

"Sorry to interrupt your sibling bonding moment but we're going to be late for school if you don't have your bath right now. When you're done, come have breakfast downstairs. Your dad made something delicious." Dolores chipped in.

"Where's Adelina? Why aren't you heading to school with her today? You both are always attached at the hip." Nicolas noted as he stepped away from her to make his bed. He knew she rarely stopped by his place on school mornings except on days when she wanted Aurora to ride with her to school.

"She had something to take care of and might be late today. However, we both agreed to meet in school. You, on the other hand, should hurry up." She replied, clearing his confusion and walked out with Aurora who wouldn't stop talking about his approval.

Nicolas rolled his eyes at the closed door. He was the one who had introduced them to each other and now they move around like frick and frack, leaving him to enjoy his own boring company. He felt cheated.

When he was done, he came downstairs as she has instructed. He met Dolores, Aurora and his father at the table where they were seated, chattering happily.

Isaias raised his eyes and his entire face lit up as he saw his son, tall and proud walking towards the table.

"Morning, Dad. Are those waffles?" Nicolas asked as he quickly grabbed a seat for himself. He took a bite out of his meal and moaned in bliss. "Potato waffles. Damn! These are so good."

"Wait till you have a bite of the whipped cream and waffles together." Aurora licked her fingers as she spoke.

"I'm glad you enjoy it. Eat up quickly, I have work to get to in ten minutes." He looked at them with a broad smile on his face. He saw Dolores wasn't eating much. "You don't like it? That's no problem I could whip up something else for you."

Dolores smiled at his thoughtfulness but she politely declined his offer. "I had breakfast at my house this morning so it's a bit hard to stomach in all of these. It tastes fantastic all right but I can't eat so much."

Before the man would say a word, Aurora jumped in. "No worries, I can eat yours. Dad hates when food goes to waste." She placed the waffles on hers and proceeded to add more cream to the pile on her plate.

Nicolas found himself at loss for words. "But-- But you mentioned to me that you wanted to watch your weight."

The look she sent him was murderous. "That was then. I was stupid and immature while looking for approval in the wrong places. Now I have a friend who loves me even if I'm to add a few pounds this instant."

Dolores and Nicolas exchanged discreet looks as they gave knowing smiles. She was finally letting go of the hurt that once haunted her. It was relieving to discover that she was now able to do whatever she wished without the scornful gaze of people making her feel stupid for it.

Without thinking of the consequences, Nicolas reached out to hold his sister's hand. She paused mid chew as she curiously gazed at her hand in his. As she raised her head to look at him, a silent message was shared between both of them. As opposed to the past, it was one of approval and newfound understanding that would begin to ensue from that moment onwards.

~~~{•}~~~

This is a short chapter as you would have figured out already. It's so that the next few chapters would go on smoothly without glitches.
Hang on tight because there's about to be DRAMA!

Leave a vote if this was your best chapter yet
~~Chignature~~