Chapter 179: It's a good thing, right?

It seems that the only way to get to Amber, Erick needs to go through that one difficult obstacle… the parents!

However, a week has passed by and nothing seems to be improving. As Erick looked through his car window, watching as Amber climbed into her father's car to get to school, he felt the sentence, 'getting on the parents' good sides' was easier said than done.

He was in his car with Hamish at the passenger seat. Earlier they were driving on their way to school and were about to go by Amber's house. Erick was hoping that at least, he could pick her up to go together to school. But seeing how her father had already planned to send her to school, he could only watch, feeling dejected. Seems like he still does not accept Erick.

And It was fortunate that Amber's father did not see his car. Or perhaps, he was just ignoring Erick.

After they had driven off, Erick waited a few minutes before following them from behind to head for school. Hamish, who had learned what had happened last week, could only accompany the pitiful young man.

Once they had arrived at school, they were not surprised to see Amber's father, still standing at the sidewalk, near the school. Beside him was Amber, who had a bored look on her face as she listened to her father's lecture.

When Erick and Hamish got closer, the father-daughter duo turned around. There was a look of unwillingness on Eren's face whereas Amber had a huge smile on hers. She was about to shout hello to them when Eren gave her a warning glare, to which she replied with rolling eyes.

Her father grabbed her arm as if to stop her from approaching Erick. He then waited for the two young men to walk into the school and only then, he released his daughter's arm. Amber rolled her eyes once more. It was not as if he could monitor her all day long. And she too could still be with Erick inside the school.

When Amber pushed open the door to their homeroom class, she saw Erick already sitting in his seat. And when he saw her, a huge smile brightened his face, making Amber's heart beat faster.

Even if they meet each other in school, they still miss each other, especially their alone times.

Amber sat down in her seat and turned around to shoot him a big smile of her own. Erick reached out and grabbed her hand, rubbing it with his thumb.

Dana, who was sitting near them, rolled her eyes. She really wasn't that hungry for some dog food.

Few minutes later, their homeroom teacher, Mrs. Harris walked in and began to take attendance. She then told them to do their own work while they wait for the bell to ring for the next class.

Amber and Dana, who was sitting next to her, immediately turned in their seats.

"So, Amber," Dana began. "Your dad still sends you to school?" she asked curiously, a smile creeping out from the corner of her lips.

Amber rolled her eyes. Dana was another friend of theirs who 'accidentally' found out about Erick and Hamish's origins. And like Amber, she was fine with it and had been a good friend to keep quiet about it.

"Yeah, apparently, he still doesn't trust Erick and his family. My dad nearly requested for a move but luckily, I stopped him, telling him that this is quite a sensitive time to move," Amber replied with a sigh.

Erick frowned. "Are you saying that you and your family will move in the future?" he asked, sounding worried. He doesn't know if he could handle it if Amber and her family moved out… away from him.

"No, no, no!" Amber quickly reassured him. She reached out her hand to pat Erick's arm. "Don't worry, I won't. I'll make sure of it," she said determinedly.

Erick nodded, though his face still looked a bit worried.

He then looked down at his notebook. He then thought that there must be a way for him to get into their good books! There has to be!

-----

That weekend.

Eren was inside a hardware store in town. His car has been acting up and he needed to look for tools to fix it. It was his long-awaited day off so it was the perfect time to check what was wrong with his car.

And speaking of tools, he just remembered that he needed to replace his oil filter and since he has lost his oil filter wrench, he thought that it would be the best time to buy it.

While he was studying the tools being displayed at the shop racks, there was a bell ringing at the entrance of the store, indicating new customers had walked in the store.

Never one to take notice but Eren felt a familiar presence. He turned around and light dimmed his eyes when he saw Erick and a young man, who looked a bit older than him. He knows that Erick was an only child so this young man was probably a family friend or something.

As if realizing that someone was watching him, Erick looked up and when his eyes landed on Eren, his eyes brightened. Little did Eren know, Erick knew he was inside. He purposely brought Roel with him to 'accidentally' bump into him.

"Mr. Keene!" he greeted happily.

Eren just harrumphed and ignored his greeting, turning back around.

Disregarding the fact that Amber's father had just blatantly given him the cold shoulder, Erick walked over to the former, dragging Roel with him. "I'm not sure whether you've been officially introduced to my 'brother', Roel."

Eren turned to look at Erick with disdain. "'Brother'?" he repeated. "Is he also one of you?"

Roel was about to raise his hand for a shake. When he heard the contempt in Eren's voice and his words, he turned his shocked eyes at Erick, who nodded, as if to say, 'Yes, he knows'.

Erick gave out a weak smile and said, "Yes, he's one of us. And he's a really great brother."

Eren harrumphed once more. "Yeah, right," he mumbled as he turned back again towards the shop racks.

Erick immediately nudged Roel, who frowned at him. Erick then gestured towards Eren with his head, as if to tell him, 'Go and work your charms!'.

Roel just frowned at him. When Erick came by at the pack house, he had approached him, saying he needed help to fix his car. Although Roel doesn't work as a mechanic like Latham, he still knows his way around with cars.

However, looking at how Erick was trying to get into the man's good grace, it looks more like that man was the one who needed help, not him. He had seen Amber's father before but as mentioned by Erick, they haven't officially met.

Then when he saw Erick's pleading eyes, he knew he wouldn't be able to let him down. Although the triplets were strict on Erick, there were times that they just could not bear to reject him. Especially when it comes to his happiness.

"Hello, Mr. Keene. My name is Roel, Erick's brother. Is there something in here that you're looking for?" Roel asked politely.

Eren looked at him and scowled. "Do you work here?" he asked rudely.

"No, but…"

"Then you're no help," Eren cut in, before looking back again.

Roel turned to look at Erick who gestured to him again, telling him to try again.

Roel inwardly rolled his eyes and turned to Eren, who was still ignoring them.

Few minutes later, it seems like Eren has thawed down as he begins to ask more questions at Roel. The man thought the latter's advice about car repairment was useful and he learned more about it. Eren was amazed to hear that Roel has another brother who was a mechanic and is more amazing with car repairs.

While the two men were talking, Erick, who was standing behind them, felt a bit left out. He thought to himself, 'This is a good thing, right?'