If Only You Knew

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"Are you sure you are related?" Aiden exclaimed as we settled down in Kegan's room. He looked too dumbfounded and honestly, who wouldn't? who would have ever thought that the silent Kegan would have overdramatic parents? Maybe they are not related mentally.

I giggled a little at the thought as Aiden continued.

"Seriously mate. When you mentioned safety from your father, I imagined him to be a ruthless angry person. Or maybe even an expressionless person with anger issues. And definitely not an overly excited melodramatic one. I mean, he even beat me at being dramatic. And here I thought I was the best." He sighed.

"So, you think I'm ruthless and angry?" Kegan questioned him with a raised brow. This time his face definitely was not expressionless. He lips seemed to pout as his eyebrow arched higher. I guess he was bothered to be seen as ruthless by his friends. I smiled a little as I studied him.

"I heard him call me pumpkin jam. I mean, what is with those nicknames?" He completed ignored the pouting Kegan, as he continued on with his rambles.

Kegan's lips pouted more as his eyebrows wrinkled to form a small frown. I lightly patted on his shoulder and smiled at him as he turned to look at me. His eyes screamed to understand him more and that expression made me chuckle while I continued to pat on his shoulder.

"But wasn't it cute? I found them both so cute." Athena said with a huge smile as she cupped her cheek with her hand. "I actually really liked them even though they gave me a shock when they shattered my expectations. Mr. Caige is a big guy, but he was just like a marshmallow. And Mrs. Caige was so sweet. I can't believe she called me strawberry jam. It's so adorable."

"Me too." I giggled, agreeing with Athena while Aiden just rolled his eyes with a smirk.

Soon, we started going through a three hundred or so photographs while selecting the ones we liked for editing. Athena scrolled through the photos as we pointed out the ones we liked from each photo shoot. It was a very long process but it was definitely entertaining since Athena had taken a lot of perfect-worthy photos.

Kegan sat next to me on the sofa and stared wide-eyed at the screen, every time a photo of mine showed up. It was so nice to see that side of him since he rarely lets his emotions loose. It was that so called cute side of him that came out involuntarily once in a while only during certain occasions.

That expression led me to think about how his parents reacted to us. It seemed very similar, even though it didn't reach their level. Maybe, he was not that different from his parents. Maybe he just needed to finally let loose that side of him that he kept bottled up inside him.

I hoped that one day in the future, I would be, and everyone around him would be able to experience the real him that he hid from the world. I prayed we would all be able to prove to him one day that, it was okay to have friends. And that it was okay to open up and trust people. That it was okay to love.

"Your room is really nice." I whispered to him while I looked around his room.

The walls were painted with dark green color. The wall next to his bed was covered with a beautiful wallpaper. It had a really nice design with the same dark green color along with some deep blue and charcoal color. The floor and all the furniture were wooden. The walls had huge bookshelves with a lot of books and CDs. And the area we were sitting had a sofa and two smaller armchairs, a lamp and a coffee table. The wall in front of me was all windows with charcoal curtains hanging on the sides.

"Really? Do you like it?" He whispered back with curiosity.

"Yeah, I like it. I guess I just learned two new things about you." I said with a little giggle.