I'm Thirsty

- Hui Villa -

"Achoo-"

Selina's delicate lashes fluttered rapidly as she slowly woke from her dream. Her lips felt dry and her throat was sore from dehydration. Turning her head to the left, she saw Celinda sleeping soundly.

Getting out of bed steadily, Selina held her slippers in her hands and tiptoed out of the room. Luckily, the door wasn't closed entirely. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pulled the door opened midway hoping it won't creak.

'Phew..' She thought inwardly as she placed her slippers to the floor and slipped her feet into them. Ever since Jason's reminder last time, she always wore slippers wherever she walked in the villa. Closing the door from behind, she minimized the sounds her slippers would make as she walked past Jason's room.

She didn't know why, but she had her arms bent close to her chest with her hands rolled up to small fists. Like a lively bunny searching for food, she made her way downstairs to the living room. When she reached the last step, she saw Jason covering his mouth and holding his stomach from laughter.

"I...I'm sorry. Hahaha.. but what are you doing? Sneaking for a midnight snack? Pffft." Soft laughter filled the living room as she blushed from where she was standing. Suddenly, she remembered Celinda was still asleep upstairs.

Holding a breath of air, her cheeks puffed up like a balloon as she skipped over to him. Tiptoeing once again, she squeezed his top and bottom lip together with her fingers. She placed her index finger against her lips and whispered, "Shhhh."

"Shhhh, what?" He mumbled in a way that he couldn't comprehend what he was saying himself. Oddly, she understood his gibberish words.

"Celinda is sleeping! You might wake her up!" She looked upstairs towards her room and turned her attention back to Jason. Her eyes widened as her neck stretched closer to his face. She blinked a few times slowly when she realized that their faces were close enough for their noses to touch.

Her fingers were still pressing his lips together, giving him duck lips.

"Pfffft.." This time it was her who let out a laugh. Seeing her cover her giggles made his eyes curve. His hands reached up to her fingers that were on his lips. It felt like it has been a while since she smiled like this.

Removing her fingers from his lips, he pulled her into his embrace. With one arm circled around her slim waist and the other arm patting her back gently, he whispered to her ears. "Let's stay like this for a little while. Just a little while."

"Mm." She wrapped her arms around his back and closed her eyes as she missed hugging him.

Ever since he came back from destroying Roger, all in one go, he took a shower and started walking around the living room. Heaviness weighed in his heart as he remembered the pain those bastards caused Celinda. At a young age, he has always looked after his sister and tried protecting her from harm.

If she didn't tell him about it, he would never know about the gang incident. The more he thought about it the more hate grew in his heart. He shouldn't have let Roger die this quick! As that thought spread in his mind, he heard light footsteps coming from upstairs.

From where he stood, he could see Selina very clearly. She looked like a kid trying to sneak into the kitchen for some candy. The way she carefully walked to avoid making a sound reminded him of an action movie he watched in the past. She reminded him of an amateur ninja who tried to camouflage with the wall but failed. At the end, the ninja got caught by his master and received twenty spankings as punishment.

To avoid scaring her, he decided to cover his mouth and hold in his chuckles. The second she hopped down the last step, her eyes met his. Since he had already been discovered, he might as well tease her about her actions.

Fast forwarding to where they stood now, the two of them were similar to a magnet on the fridge; inseparable. It's been a while since they hugged each other without others watching on the side. After some time passed, they finally parted from each other.

"What are you doing up so late?" He asked.

"I felt thirsty, so I came down for a glass of water. Since you know it's late, why are you awake?" She looked deep into his eyes as if she could see through what he was thinking.

"Nothing. I just couldn't sleep. If you're thirsty, then go drink some water and head back to bed. You need more rest." He rubbed her head and urged her to do what she needed to do.

Pouring herself a glass of water, she took sips while observing the man on the couch. Her instincts told her he wasn't feeling happy right now. With that thought in her mind, she walked back to the living room where she walked to the couch and continued drinking water in front of him.

After finishing half of the water, she stared at him and said. "I'm going to sleep now."

"Mm. Good night." He looked up with a smile.

"Mm. I'll go now." She said again without moving an inch from where she was standing.

"Mm.. Sweet dreams." He replied, clueless about the thoughts in her mind.

Nodding her head, her lips curved upwards to a mischievous smile. She repeated, "Good night." Raising her feet up slightly, she put it back down on the same spot; still facing him.

He looked up once again and caught the smile on her face. Exchanging glances at each other for a while, he finally couldn't help but break the silence with a laugh. "Aren't you tired? Go to sleep."

"Okay." She unfolded the blanket she took from the other couch and hopped to the space next to him. He stared at her with question marks all over his head. Giggling, she changed the setting on the recliner couch and lifted the leg portion up.

She hugged his arm and leaned her head against his arm. "It's late. Go to sleep."

"Huh?" He sounded confused.

Pulling the blanket up to his shoulders, she looked up at him with a heartwarming smile. "I don't know what happened to make your brows wrinkle again. But as long as I'm here, I won't let this area show that crease."

Reaching out to the area between his brows, her thumb slowly massaged it. After the crease disappeared from her sight, she intertwined their fingers under the blanket. "And don't even think about putting me back to my bed after I fall asleep. You're linked to me now. Move if you want to interrupt my sweet dreams."

"Haha, you silly girl. Isn't your bed more comfortable?" He adjusted the recliner setting into the bed setting. "Shh. Beauty sleep is important." She whispered and snuggled closer to him. Using the soft cushions as pillows, the two of them drifted slowly to slumber. When morning came, Celinda woke up to an empty bed.

Scratching her bed head, she yawned and started looking for Selina. She was in the middle of rubbing her eyes when she spotted from the top of the steps that the bed function was being used. Squinting her eyes to a thin line, she quietly snuck downstairs to see how many people were sleeping on the bed.

Before reaching the last step of the stairs, she already noticed two pairs of slippers; one blue and the other pink. Without a doubt, Selina and Jason were together.

Her heart pounded as she got closer to them. With her lips sucked inwards, she crawled on the carpet and peeked to see two heads and four feet. Blinking with a wide smile on her face, she cheered to herself. 'Yes!!! Brother!! You finally made a move!! Ahhhh, mom and dad would be so happy to know you got a girl! But why do I feel like I'm catching an affair right now? Weird.'

Just when she took her phone out to take a picture of this evidence, Jason looked into the camera with a smirk. She gulped, brushed her hair with her fingers and smiled to the camera. Turning her head to meet his gaze, she pretended to gasp in surprise.

Whispering, she said. "Sorry bro! I was taking a morning selfie!"

His eyes wandered to Selina's sleeping face on his arm and then at his younger sister with her messy bed hair. He raised his eyebrow and pointed to her hair.

'Busted!!!' She thought to herself and silently facepalmed. Covering her face, she went back upstairs and pretended she didn't see anything.

Later in the afternoon, she received a text from her brother. "Send me that picture."

She was in the middle of drinking tea with Selina and almost choked. 'Bro, one day...you'll be the reason of my death.'

Selina handed her a piece of tissue and soothed her back. "Are you alright?"

"Y..Yeah. By the way, I woke up and didn't see you this morning. Where did you go last night?" Celinda picked up her tea, attempting to tease Selina.

"Oh, I was thirsty, so I went downstairs. I ended up sleeping with your brother last night."

"Pffffft" Celinda spat out her tea and coughed again.

After she had wiped the tears away from her eyes, Celinda patted Selina's shoulder. "I take it back...you and my brother would be the death of me some day. Not just him."