34 Meredith

Austin opens the car, the bag of tacos in hand. "Is something wrong?" He asks, looking around.

"No, nothing, it's fine, I just got into my head, I guess." I breathe, closing my eyes and listening to my heartbeat slowing.

That was creepy, and who he heck were those guys?

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asks, looking closely at my face. I roll my eyes, grabbing the bag of tacos and stuffing my face with one. He still looks suspicious, but he drops it, settling in his seat. He closes the door and turns to me, taking my face in his hand and placing a soft kiss on my forehead.

"What was that for?" I ask, a little flustered and he smiles, starting the car. "I know when you're lying Ap, and I also know when you don't want to say something," he starts and my eyes widen, looking at him.

"If you're wondering, I did that to calm you, and also distract you." He says and I notice that we're already moving. My cheeks heat up and I quickly bite into my taco, just to make sure I don't blabber ridiculous things.

"Where are we going?" I ask him once my nerves have calmed. He hums and shakes his head, sucking his teeth.

"April, you should know by now that I'm a man full of surprises, relax, and don't worry, we're gonna be back in time for our shift, just make sure to contact your mom once in a while." He says and I huff.

I stuff another taco into my mouth, closing my eyes. I reach for the radio but Austin sees me and slaps my hand away, glaring at me for a second before putting on the radio. "Like I said, no one except me can touch my radio, not even you April." He says in a serious voice and I roll my eyes, chewing on the taco.

"I'm going to be doing an interview on the 'Late Night Conversations with Gaia Allen' next tomorrow and I was wondering if you could come with me?" He asks, sparing me a glance.

Kiss you by One Direction starts playing and a smile comes to my face, my feet tapping.

"Brooke's coming home that day and mom wanted to make a huge meal, I have to be there, but I will be watching every single thing that's happening, just look at the camera once in a while and I will send you a kiss." I say and he chuckles.

"Oh, I wouldn't miss that." He teases and I giggle.

Since when did I start giggling?

"Oh, I just want to show you off to all of my friends, making them drool on their chinny chin chins, baby be mine tonight, mine tonight, baby be mine tonight, yeah," Austin sings, pointing at me and I bop my head.

"And if youuuuuu, you want me tooooo, let's make a moooove, yeah, so tell me boy if everytime we, to-o-ouch, you get this kinda ru-u-ush, then baby say yeaaaah, yeaaaah, if you don't wanna, take it slow, and you just wanna, take me home, then baby say yeaaaah, yeaaaah, and let me kiss you." I sing out and he winks at me dancing with his hands in the air, my eyes widen and I yell.

"Put your hands on the freaking wheel!" I screech and he smiles sheepishly at me when a car behind us horns.

°•°|°•°

I sigh, watching the view. The height at which we are make the people walking around look like ants. Austin took me to his friends house, it's high up in a hill, way out of town. He revealed the secret after I'd started ignoring him for fifteen minutes straight. Then he revealed also that Kai was going to be there, that dampened my mood.

We get closer and my eyes widen as I stare at the mansion. He never mentioned that his friend lives in a freaking mansion! I gasp and he looks at me, chuckling when he sees the surprise on my face. I have the sudden urge to hit him but I'm just too awed.

As we approach the gate, it automatically opens like the gate knew who Austin was, or someone saw us from afar and approved or something! He drives to some large steps and parks the car, looking at me before opening his door. "C'mon." He says and steps out, shutting his door. I follow suit, stepping out, my converse hitting the floor. I shut the door behind me as I go to stand next to Austin and he grabs my hand.

"Unto war!" He yells and starts running, pulling me along. I laugh and when we reach the top of the stairs, he bends down and starts fake panting. I roll my eyes and try to hide the fact that I also want to pant. He opens the door and I'm surprised that he didn't have to ring the bell. He looks at me and smiles, "We go way back." He explains and I nod.

He pulls me into what I believe is the living room but from what I see, it looks like a museum, Alistair would love to be here. "Hey Cosmo!" Austin calls out. A guy strolls lazily down the massive stairs, green hair glittering and sharp green eyes staring right at me with a bored look. His lips set in a firm line, he jumps from the stairs, landing perfectly and he starts walking to me, his hands in his pockets.

l look from him to Austin, my brows slowly rising. He walks up to me, assessing me with his eyes and I'm scared that some guard will come, carrying me out kicking and screaming.

His lips slowly stretch out into a large smile, his pearly whites winking at me. "Hi there, I'm Cosmo, a friend of Austin's. You must be his girlfriend, April." Cosmo says, walking closer to me and sniffing me. I make a confused face and he just smiles, turning his attention to Austin and they start talking about something. A cat as big as Malcom walks down the steps, her fur shining as she walks down to us. An Egyptian Mau cat.

She meows when she sees Austin but makes no violent attempt towards me. "Lynx, where's that cranky owner of yours?" Austin asks, letting and rubbing the cats fur, she meows and rubs her about against his palm. She circles round him before pausing and looking at me with those big grey eyes. I bend down and slowly reach for her, she steps forward and lowers her head, analyizing my hand. When her nose touches my palm, I reach behind her ears and start rubbing, smiling when she purs.

"You're good with animals I see." Cosmo says in amusement. I look up and shrug.

"I always wanted a pet, but my parents like their furniture way too much." I answer and he furrows his brows.

"You still live with your parents?" He asks and I stand up, placing my hand on my hip. "Even if I was a grandma and my parents were still alive, they'd still see me as their baby and will always want me in their house."

°•°•°|°•°•°

Nigel and Kole had come over about an hour ago and now the guys were in the pool, splashing themselves. Kole and Nigel were taking underwater pictures and Cosmo and Austin were having a pool beach ball game and here I am, watching the boys goof around.

Kai hasn't showed up yet and my mood has been bright, Lynx, I found out was the mau cat's name. I had been on a video call with June and she met the guys, she blushed profusely when she saw Cosmo.

To be honest, they match a lot. They both love colored hair, they are both smoking hot, she's a model, he's fit to be one, they're both single, it's a hit. I'm sure they'll hit it up soon, when June is determined, she follows it like she's meant for that.

Austin swims over to me and rests his arms on the edge of the pool, his dazzling smile aimed directly at me. He shakes his hair and the water splashes everywhere causing me to squeal. He chuckles and brushes the hair away from his eyes, staring at me with a twinkle in his blues.

"Aren't you going to get in the water? Austin asks. I make a face and gesture to myself. "Austin, I don't think you want the guys to see me in my underwear, and besides, I don't have any second piece of underwear." I explain and he furrows his brows in thought, his lips in a pouting position.

"Hey Austin, can you go get the drinks?" Nigel asks, swimming over to our side. Austin shrugs and pulls himself out of the water, his body glistening and dripping in hotness.

"April, I think you're drooling." Nigel says and I turn to glare at him. I go to smack him but he dives back under the water, his laughter drowning out. Cosmo swims up to me, pulling himself up and going to sit on the sunbed. He grabs a towel and runs it through his hair, the water dripping from his body. He looks up to me and I stand up from where I was sitting by the pool to go stay with him.

"Austin mentioned once that he can't swim." I say out if the blue and he chuckles, nodding. "Yes, he actually almost drowned once, but he started learning recently and trust me, he learns pretty fast." He explains, letting out a sigh and relaxing into the sunbed, his hands behind his head causing his muscles to flex.

It's quiet for sometime and I watch Nigel and Kole try to drown each other, dunking their hands under the water. "Your sister's really cute," BAM! Score, I knew he would want to know more. I turn to him with a creepy smile on my face.

"Is she?" I ask and he rolls his eyes, sitting up. He licks his lips and looks down at the guys playing around. "I don't know if I like her already, I just want to get to know her, she seems really nice and soft." Is he talking about June? Like one of the triplets that I come from June, or just the month?

"Really?" I asked in a choked voice. He smirks and raises a brow at me. "I'll just stop there, I see you turning red as you're trying to hide the lie I just told." I release a breath I didn't know I was holding and he laughs, throwing his head back.

"Hey April, can you go check for Austin? It's been a while since he went in there." Nigel asks and I shrug. I stand up and walk back into the house, heading for the kitchen.

"Stop it." I hear a familiar voice say sharply and a wicked laugh follows after. I slow down, recognizing that the voice is Austin's.

"Meredith, I swear if you touch that knife one more time I will call River, and don't you dare pout, it's not gonna work." Austin says in a harsh tone and I furrow my brows, Austin is never harsh.

"Ugh, you know how much I hate him, why do you do this to me Lukey, I don't want to go yet!" Kai's voice rings out and my eyes widen. She just said she hates River! And she called him Lukey, what's up with the difference in how she talks? And Meredith!?

"Oh for goodness sakes, just give Kai back, and shut your trap, go kill someone, just don't disturb me. I am so-"

"What's going on?" I ask, cutting Austin off. His eyes widen and he steps forward. "April," He starts but Kai stands up, walking towards me and smiling widely, so unlike Kai would.

"April, you are the one Kai has been ranting about so much, it's given me a headache. Hello, I'm Meredith, Kai's second personality." She says and throws her arms around me, in a hug.

"Meredith, get your slimy hands off her, I am this close to dialing River, go to your room." He says with a serious look on his face and I frown.

A look lights up her eyes and she starts laughing, a very soft and angelic laughter but with a dark tone to it. She lets go of me and crashes on the stool, fanning her face. "I see, you haven't told her about Kai's 'disorder' have you? And neither have the guys? Tsk, tsk, tsk, I thought you had so much trust in her Austin. It's funny really, keeping secrets from each other, doesn't that bring a spark to romance?" She laughs and Austin looks at me but I just keep staring at Kai, or Meredith.

Her personality, what the heck?

Austin shoves a phone to Meredith and she tries to run from it but as she hears River's voice through the phone, she stops and glares at Austin with a look that a crazed killer will have then she goes limp. Austin catches her before she hits the floor and he takes her to the couch, laying her down and tucking her hair away.

He looks at me and gulps, his lips parting and he looks down.

"I'm sorry."

"What the hell was that?"