HOLD ME CLOSER (BL/BXB)

Twenty Five

"I appreciate the kind gesture, Ate Lucy. It was a nice offer to be honest with a pay so much higher than my other part-time jobs but staying here was a little out of line so I'll just had to stay with my friend."

"Well, it's up to you. However, the house is still available since we, two, are the only ones here. But please, let Scott pick you up."

"Ate Lucy, after the post, I didn't want to escalate things further." I replied.

"What post?" Scott's shoulder fell. He let out a sigh.

"It took me a lot of work." He said to Ate Lucy.

I turned to look at him. He did take a lot of work to get me into a talk. And I was so scared to me everything into pedestal and blowing the entire post by maintaining the limit of our interactions so no one would have a thought about the post and fell into a conclusion that it was true. However, it was the best decision since the gossips subsided, and the ebbs of the waves of those whispers behind my back that I could still hear in their faintness were not that harsh enough but still there

"I took down a post about us."

He did?

"You did?" Ate Lucy asked. I was confused right now. I remembered scrolling through the freedom wall, and there wasn't anything there except from the screenshots circulating through group messaging apps. I did not know whether they were still around, but I was quite certain that they might still be one sharing it tos omeone, and they all got a good laugh.

"I threatened the admin of page that if they did not take that down in that moment, I would report them to the Dorector for misconduct." He spoke. I was in complete shock at his revelation and astonished as to what lengths he could do just to take the post down.

"What's the post about?" Ate Lucy curiously asked. I was quick enough to cut Scott off before he could sell us to her that the post was about us. For sure, she would be in shambles and would not accept the horrendous claims.

"Ate Lucy, no need. It's about me."

"Huh? Why? What happened?"

"No, it's my fault. There is no need to explain. It is something I need to handle myself."

"His self isolation defense mechanism is kicking in again." Scott butted in, taking a bite of the cupcakes he was holding with his fingers.

"What?" His sister chuckled at his remark about me.

"Let him Scott. If that's his decision, then we have to accept what he wants." Her stares turned from Scott to me. "Then, if you think you're lost or you need help, just go here, and we'll be here for you. Right, Scott?"

"Yes, Ate." He agreed.

"Thank you." I expressed my gratitude towards the siblings.

"So what's with the post?" She asked.

"It's about me. I am so sorry, Ate. I was careless, and I was not thinking of people around me." I tried to divert her attention from the post and just focus on my current state.

"It's about us." Scott interfered before I could utter another word to get his sister's attention.

"I already told you Ate about it. Don't be nosy." Scott replied, and I gave him a look.

"Okay, okay. Don't throw a fit." She commented.

I wanted to ask her about what she thinks about the post. Was she mad about me being with her brother? Was she mad about me being the horrendous person that that post talk about?

"It's around 7. Would you like to start today?" She asked.

I gave a nod and was in complete shock to utter a word.

"So, you can help me with decorating the cakes. It would sure be an easy peasy job for you." She commented.

She proceeded to show me all the pictures of cakes she had made and sent to her clients. I found out that one of her clients was not just a catering service but a quite known wedding catering service that hosted big weddings and popular in the town. So, in that case, she was doing different tier cakes that needed mostly by week. She also set a social media page highlighting the events the cakes went to, and some of them went a little viral, garnering thousands of views and likes that a lot of them were ordering to her shop.

"I planned to have all of this just as a form of hobby but ended up doing it more in a business sense rather than doing it in my free time." She smiled.

"Well, at least, you are happy with what you're doing." I told her.

"You're right." She replied. "What about you? What do you want to do? What makes you happy?"

"I don't know. I was still exploring me. But at first, I wanted to become a children's author and build a library for them."

"That's quite good. An advocacy, I see." She replied.

"Kind of, yeah."

"Is that why you choose English as your major?" Scott butted in, and I was surprised that he was quick enough to hiver his way behind us, behind me. As I stepped back, I stomped on the tip of his foot and fell back.

Ate Lucy let out a surprised face, and I held my tongue in so no scream could come out. My back hit the wall of his chest and held my elbows. I could hear my heart beating like crazy, trying to escape my ribcage.

"You okay?" Scott asked. I quickly untangled myself away from his grip, and when I did untied his fingers from my left side, he tightened his grasp on the other so it would be hard for me to undo it.

"Are you okay?" Ate Lucy asked.

"Yeah." I replied.

"I'm sorry. I stepped on your foot." I apologized to Scott, whose gaze was not leaving mine.

"There you go again, apologizing as if it's your fault."

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