I was the in the shower when the first call came. It went unanswered because I was in the middle of this battle called 'Putting Nair without Ruining Your Skin'.

The second call came, but that was in the same time when Ryder glanced at me as I was stepping out of the shower. I could hear him audibly gulp, and his self-restrain only lasted a good five second before he hoisted me to the bed for a form of exercise that would require me to jump back to the shower afterwards.

The third, fourth, and five call came, but I was too occupied to answer that.

The sixth call didn't come in the form of any electronic mean.

Because the sixth call came when Quentin rapped at Ryder's door at 6 in the evening. The rap alternated between soft and hard and some kicking and sometimes mixed in with screaming. We were on the bed in a tangle of limbs, and it took every ounce of my willpower to get up and put on some jeans.

"It's just Quentin," Ryder said. "Don't answer the door now. Just let him think that we're not home."

"That would be lying," I explained the concept to him. "You see, I don't know if you know, but you tell something that is not true, it will make people sad."

"I swear I'm going to EAT YOUR HEAD OFF, RYDER FUCKING BLACK!" Quentin's voice boomed.

"Sad or angry," I amended my lecture. "For Quentin, it's usually the latter."

Ryder tightened his hug towards me and started giving me butterfly kisses on the side of my head. And then he started licking me-

"MY EAR IS BUUURRNING!!" Quentin yelled. "You better not doing anything to my sister, you fuckerhead!"

"Wow, our sibling-telepathy is finally connected," I said, in awe. "I've been waiting for this moment for many years. In fact, there are times when I thought that either me or Quentin was switched at birth because we never showed any signs of twin-pathy."

Ryder was burrowing his head on the crook of my shoulder, his breath tickled me. "Damn it."

-

The first thing that Quentin said when Ryder finally opened the door was: "Please tell me that you did not did what I thought you did."

"Winning nobel prize?" I guessed. "Starring in an embarrassing viral youtube video? Getting roped in to a dangerous heist ala Baby Driver?" I thought about the last speculation. "I can't drive that well, thought."

"Come here, you big dreamer," Ryder kissed the side of my head, to the very horror of my brother.

"You guys did, didn't you?" Quentin said resignedly.

"We did get back together recently," I nodded.

Quentin pulled at his own hair. I cringed as I imagined how painful it must be, because he wasn't only pulling his hair, he also started scratching his own face, too, and he made sounds only people who needed exorcism make.

"I'm sorry I'm asking you this," Ryder said, "But can I punch your brother so that he will stop all of this shit?"

"Please don't," I replied as fast as I could. As much as I wanted all those screaming to stop (it made me want to scream, too), I hoped for the budding friendship between Ryder and Quentin. It would be on the top of Things I Prayed About.

Quentin only reverted back to normal when Bella emerged from her room. Her eyes were bleary, her hair was askew, and she had an expression that would make babies cry.

Ryder, Quentin, Bella and I stared at one another for a very long time as the newfound silence ensued.

Bella managed a creepy smile. "That's right," she said, and then she slam her door shut.

"She was sleeping," Ryder concluded.

"She was sleeping," I concluded at the same time. "At six in the evening."

"And where the hell have you been?!" Quentin yelled at me. "Did you know how many times Mom and Dad tried to call you?"

"Five?"

"Did you know how many times Mom and Dad called me, then?!"

I made a mental calculation. It was a habit that Mom and Dad always make ever since both Quentin and I moved out of the house. Sometimes, if their call didn't reach either one of us, they would call the other sibling ten times more the amount they called the first sibling they tried to reach. Usually, they would try to call Quentin and he would blow them off and then Mom and Dad called me to ask me about Quentin.

"Fifty?" I answered fearfully.

Quentin's green eyes were huge and bloodshot and I thought I saw a bit of madness there. "SIXTY FUCKING FIVE TIMES, APRIL!"

I blinked. Now that was a whole new record.

Ryder looked at us the Hale Twins, there was an incredulous look on his face. "Wow, you guys have clingy parents."

"The worst," Quentin said.

"Especially since they figure out that we can survive without them," I said. "Their clinginess-o-meter have doubled."

"Quadrupled."

I felt panic rising inside my chest. The unanswered call had seemed innocent, but now it felt daunting.

"Any time now," Quentin said. And then he turned towards Ryder. "As much as I want to engage in a physical battle with you, Ryder, I'm sorry that it should wait."

"Fine with me," Ryder said, still with a confused look.

I started counting backwards to anticipate the thing that would happen. "10-9-8-7-"

"5-4-3-2," Quentin joined in the counting.

"1."

RING!

Quentin's phone rang, and then we picked it up immediately.

But we were blindsided, because both of our parents were on videocall, crying their eyes out.

"YOU ANSWERED THE PHONE!" Dad was crying. "Meredith (April's mother's name), LOOK, LOOK, OUR DAUGHTER IS SAFE!"

"April!" Mom's voice was shaky and tremulous from all the crying. "Oh my God, I'm so glad that I can see your face!"

Quentin's phone was right below my nose so I doubted my parents had any good angle of me. I asked Quentin to raise the phone so that I could have a more flattering angle.

"Mom, Dad," I said, half-concerned and half-wanting to cry, too. I never liked seeing people cry because their tears could cause a reaction in which it spurned me to want to produce my own, too.

"You didn't answer your phone!" Mom greeted me. "For five times! In a SATURDAY MORNING!"

"Yeah," I said. "I was-"

"Is that the little shit?!" Dad's face appeared on the phone screen.

I gasped. "I'm pretty sure that there is no toilet anywhere around me."

"Oh my God, you're right," Mom said as she peered over my shoulder. "It's the little shit."

From behind me, Ryder shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Hi Mr and Mrs. Hale."

Both of them were floored. "HE TALLKKS! IT'S NOT A CARDBOARD LITTLE SHIT, IT'S THE REAL ONE!"

Quentin was shaking his head. His face was a deep shade of purple. "Fuck me," I translated his mouthing. "Fuck me fuck me fuck me."

Ryder was mouthing the very same thing behind my back.

"What are you doing? Why is HE standing so close behind you?!" my father started the tirade first. "Oh blow my brains out, IS THAT HIS HAND ON YOUR SHOULDER?!"

Ryder immediately moved his hand from my shoulder. "No, Sir."

"Don't tell me that you didn't pick our our call because you were spending your time with HIM!" Mom said. "I don't care how nice HIS eyebrows are, IN FACT, I'M GOING TO BURN HIS EYEBROWS OFF!"

"Mom! Dad!" Quentin snatched the phone so that the whole screen was now filled with his face, not mine. "Relax, okay! Relax!"

I was hyperventilating, relieved that I could get away from the wrath of my parents for a minute. Ryder was already on the bar, pouring himself a drink. "Oh God what have I done with my life," he muttered. "I just antagonized the parents of the girl I want to marry."

Quentin was talking furiously to my parents. He had already switched off the video and he was bargaining about something. It took a lot of yelling, begging, a bit more crying, but a few moments later, he finally pocketed his phone, and then he faced both me and Ryder.

"The good news is..." he inhaled sharply. "The good news is our parents are going to hold off killing you for thirty minutes."

Ryder was in the middle of opening his mouth when Quentin held up his hand. "The bad news is..." he stopped midway to catch his breath.

Quentin started again. "The bad news is, they want us to come home for dinner tomorrow," Quentin's eyes darted at Ryder. "With him."

Dinner with the Hale family. It was something that Ryder had done countless times before. It should not be a scary thing to do. After all, we Humble Hales were as docile as families could be.

But then again, that was before Ryder became the Public Enemy of the Hale family.

Ryder Black aka The Eyebrow Guy aka The Guy Who Should Not be Named aka The Little Shit (courtesy of my parents) gulped so hard before he cursed under his breath. 

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we're getting to the end of the stoorryy!!! :<< 

There are only a few chapters left, and after that I'm posting bonuses. Alex-April alternate reality. Ryder-Quentin reality. Other cute moments. It's scary because I started April Hale when I was in college and now I've passed a lot of milestone and now I'm finally saying goodbye. I hope that the last arc that I prepare for them is good enough <3  

If you have ideas on what to write as bonus materials, please let me know :D 

Don't forget to check newest story Pizza Delivery Girl VS The Rich Kids! Its story is as outrageous as its title <3