Chapter 34

Henry was woken up to a shove, his body falling sideways onto the mattress, pain igniting in his arm and making him hiss. With a glare, he turned to the beauty who had pushed him. "Is that how you treat sleeping people? Why didn't you let me keep sleeping!" From a distance, the man recognised his brother's laughter. He kept his glare at Joshua, the older man showing an apologetic yet horrified expression upon his delicate features. It took Henry's half-asleep self a couple second to register the finger pointing, following the direction until he came face-to-face with the photograph lit up on Archer's phone; he hadn't even registered the third person in the room yet.

At first glance, the picture was undeniably beautiful, there was little to fault with it. However, Henry was quickly taunted by what the picture showed. It was him and Joshua, leaning against each other, sleeping.Despite the rougher look both had been sporting since the morning, both men had relaxed, almost serene faces. Their pretty features made them look like a pair of troublemaking teenagers that had exhausted themselves after messing around too hard.What truly got to the younger man was how comfortable he seemed with his head on Joshua's shoulder. He knew it was not such a big deal for him, he had fallen asleep with people he barely knew through his wilder days while studying abroad. Normally it would not pose a problem to him. But since the trauma from the marriage meeting, he was quickly becoming self-conscious of some of the actions he was used to, especially so when Joshua Lore was involved.Acknowledging the latter fact was what really made his blood run cold, he was a happily straight man, even if he was currently pretending to be gay, there should be no reason for him to feel conscious of any man. Especially if that man was Joshua Lore.

In the end, everyone watched as the man's face went through a rollercoaster of emotions that eventually came back to his initial expression, irritation. Henry was glad to find his mentality had become a little stronger after everything that had happened in the past week, applauding himself for managing to dismiss the entire situation. "Don't take pictures of us, it is creepy," Henry complained, much to Archer's surprise, he had been expecting a slight outburst; well, he was not sure what to expect in reality, not after the weird behaviour he had witnessed in the bathroom of the restaurant. "And don't push me!"Joshua, who had found himself calming down after he realised Henry had landed on his injured arm – the younger man had been subconsciously clutching it – let out a sigh. "It isn't my fault; my brother woke me up to the picture."

The two men shared a look, annoyance aside, they seemed to sympathise with each other.Of course, this small interaction only further convinced their siblings that the chemistry between the two men was good.

Joshua watched as Henry looked away first, the younger man letting out a sigh and pushing his hair out of his face. "I'm too awake now," he heard Henry complain under his breath, having to hold back a laugh; he sounded like a child. To keep himself from indulging too much in teasing, Joshua turned to his older brother. He had been so shocked by seeing that first thing when he opened his eyes, he hadn't heard a word of why Archer was waking him up."Are we leaving?""Soon, eat some curry first." Archer received a nod in return as he watched his younger brother stretch a little. He crouched down and picked up the crutches for his younger brother, turning back as he heard footsteps at the door, Samuel had also come into the room. "Henry, you too. Come and eat."

After a decent amount of grumbling and fumbling, the two me found themselves sat opposite each other at the dining table, a steaming plate of fresh rice and curry in front of them each. The scent of the curry was deep and made both men's mouth water. While they had both been reluctant, now presented with the homely meal, both eagerly dug in. Henry enjoyed the meal, his only complaint with his brother's curry was the large quantity he would make, but that was all forgotten once he started eating. The taste was familiar and calming after everything that had been happening recently.

On the other hand, while Joshua felt a similar sentiment, his experience was of another kind. It had been some time since he had eaten something properly home cooked. The man had found out on his return home after graduating from university that his family had come to rely on a professional chef far more than they had before. Growing up, his parents would cook at least a couple times a week. Nowadays, everyone was a lot busier with their days, and while they always had dinner together, there was no time for any one of them to prepare it, instead it would be a hired cook. Hanna and John did try to cook from time to time but in the last few years they had started to find themselves working later than they had used to, their children were mostly grown up, they would only get home a couple hours before the couple themselves with how busy their individual schedules were. There was no much to worry about.That lack of worry was what diminished their former urgency to go home to the point where it had become the norm.

Therefore, the homely sensation of Samuel's curry felt a little overwhelming to Joshua. He had initially paused before indulging himself into the meal. The man wasn't sure whether it was the blend of spices or the feelings he got from the meal, but he felt warmed by the simple meal. As he ate, there was a slight smile on his face. Archer found himself smiling as he watched his younger brother's reaction to the food, empathising with him. The homemade curry had a real sense of nostalgia. It also made him aware of how things had slowly changed in his family. What had hit him hardest was that his younger sister had teared up at the meal, saying it tasted like a distant memory or a dream. The Lore heir was starting to feel that having gotten closer with Samuel's family might help his own in a way they hadn't realised they needed.

Meera put down two glasses of water in front of the men before joining Archer, Samuel and Penelope on the couch. None of them spoke, just watching the new couple eating peacefully in silence. The woman couldn't help but study them as they all watched. She knew Henry was quite social, but also exceptionally good at covering his tracks – not that she could ever imagine the truth of the man's social life. However, she found herself drawn to how her brother-in-law interacted with his new fiancé. She was sure they had never met before the marriage meeting; she had used her own skills and resources to check after Ramy admitted that there was chemistry between the two men during the dinner the followed. Meera was also aware that while Henry was confident talking with strangers, he did not get to this level of comfort with other people this quickly – again, she had checked what she could. Yet, when it had come to Joshua, she could not help but feel that they acted as if they had known each other for some time, as if they had gone through rough situations and come out of it together. In reality, there was some truth to that since the Joshua and Henry had both been heavily jaded from the shock of being set up with a fellow male; what they had come out with from the situation was their fake relationship. Oblivious to this fact, Meera, as well as the rest of the two families, really did find it amazing how perfect a fit Henry and Joshua were for each other.

After some time, and a couple suspicious glances from Joshua – the man having been quite scarred to wake up to such a picture of him and another man and so unnaturally on guard – the onlookers sparked a conversation amongst themselves. Mostly trivial small talk until the topic of Penelope's upcoming piano contest came up. "Since she is so badly injured, I guess she's forgoing the next competition." Samuel had been watching this girl, and while Penelope liked to act as if she was not too hurt, her pain was obvious. It did not surprise him when Archer nodded in response. The teenager was already a highly praised genius, with her own title amongst the elites. And her injuries were known to the public. The Queen of Piano would not lose prestige in missing one meagre competition.

Yet, despite her eldest brother answering for her, the young lady did not want to agree. She was a well-behaved girl and rarely brought her family trouble, however that had recently changed. Penelope, having realised her parents were not allowing her to play piano until she had fully healed, had decided to selfishly kick up a fuss. She loved playing piano, it meant everything to her, and competitions always made her excited; she got to witness the rapid development of her peers, which in turn motivated her to move forward with her skills. So she did not want to stop playing, not even for a little bit. Of course, her family quickly shut her down, shattering her hopes. Penelope had even tried to compromise, saying that she would drop out of the competition as long as she could play for the meanwhile. But her business-minded family could not grasp her obsession for the art of piano playing. It was not their fault, however, they were too worried to care. None of them wanted the baby of their family risking worsening her injury. They thought of her request as reckless. And Penelope was well aware of this.But she still wanted to play piano.

Uncharacteristically, the teenager huffed, showing her distaste to the Reyes. The action shocked her first brother, the second looking over in an impassive surprise. Archer could not easily get over how she acted, she rarely showed this side of herself to even their own family, let alone to outsiders; even if the Lore and Reyes families were now incredibly close due to the engagement and merger, his sister had only met them a handful of times. This left it to Joshua to respond, looking back down at his food as he spoke. "We have discussed it enough. You can play piano again once you are healed.""But I do not want to wait that long before I can play again.""You injured your back. We are lenient enough as it is having let you come to brunch today. I do not even know how you managed that, if I am honest.""You all want me to wait for half a year, I can't hold out so long. I want to play piano.""And it is not up for discussion. Stop bringing it up, that is final."

Samuel and Meera could understand why Joshua had suddenly acted so strict, they could emphasise with it right now with the baby of their own family injured. The said baby, however, could not stop himself from looking up at the other man, food forgotten. Joshua continued to eat, not having looked at his sister at all, his face both uninterested yet stern. It was a new expression that Henry had never seen, not many had. It was a blank look however not his usual, unreadable face, it had a clear message: he did not want to continue with the conversation. But Henry's shock aside, he quickly found himself speaking up himself, in Penelope's favour. "Why does she have to wait so long? It would be fine even now as long as it was not strenuous. Half a year is a long time for piano."It was at that moment the Reyes couple were reminded that Henry also played piano, even if it was only semi-professionally.

"Her back is injured, and she is a teenager, it is a vital period of growth. None of us are risking her causing permanent damage just to play piano.""It isn't just piano for her, though, it is her life. She is a professional pianist, the same point stands. It is an important time for growth, even not playing for a week at the level she is at would leave a noticeable difference.""Playing piano is not early as important as her own body.""She started in the industry before I left, she most definitely is aware of that by now. She may be a teenager, but you should give your sister more credit.""Don't tell me how to treat my sister.""Then don't treat her like a sporadic child. There is such thing as too overprotective. If you are worried you could keep an eye on her, there is no need to make her so unhappy."

While to everyone else, this interaction looked like a calm dispute, the two men had in fact gotten quite heated, both exceptional of hiding it from their voices. However, they had both stopped eating now, spoons down, with blazing eye contact. Neither were willing to back down, especially since they had both seen the other's point.At this point, their only real conflict was their own pride. They kept their heated gaze for so long that the other four started to get confused.

Childishly deciding to pay no outward attention to the things Joshua had said were right – Penelope's long-term wellbeing was more important that playing piano and the Henry really did have no right to tell Joshua how to treat his sister – the younger man turned back to the teenager in question. "Our parents said something about dinner, what was that about?"Penelope was taken aback at first, almost not believing the blond man was talking to her at first. However, even if young, she quickly pulled herself together. "My parents invited your family around for dinner on Tuesday evening so they could discuss wedding plans."It took everything in Henry to not blanche at the W-word. "When do you go back to school?""Um, in another week.""So you will be home all day? And free?"The teenager could only nod as everyone else started to feel confused, wondering where the topic was going. "Then I'll come over straight after I finish work. You can practice your piano and I will make sure you don't push yourself too far."

It took a few seconds for the message to sink into the rest of the room, but suddenly Penelope was beaming like her brothers hadn't seen in a week. "Really?! You're now my favourite brother!"

The married couple burst into laughter at the sudden exclamation, admiring how Henry had already charmed his way so deep into the Lore family despite the limited contact. Joshua, on the other hand, was amazed, not only by how important the piano had truly been for his sister, but also how quickly the younger man had gained favour with his younger sister. He also could not deny that the suggestion had put him at ease, he was no fool, Penelope tried to deny it but she was an impatient girl, it would have only been a matter of time before she sneaked behind everyone's backs to play. He had just been planning to increase watch as time went on, as was the rest of their family, but this suddenly seemed like a better solution. Of course they could not ask Henry to always watch over Penelope but giving the young girl the option would make her more docile.

It was Archer Lore who had the most adverse reaction, jaw dropping in shock, eye narrowing on his sister. "How is he your favourite brother? He is not even your brother yet!""He let me play piano, and he is not weird, and even if he is still prettier than me, he will probably be more likely to go shopping with me. Haerin gets too busy now." Penelope was not wrong, in fact Henry would be the one more ecstatic to have someone to go shopping with since most of the people he was surrounded by, and also liked, did not care for it. She had only heard he also likes shopping from Marcus when she asked about what kind of person his son was. "But…" The eldest brother was stuck in shock, genuinely offended that Henry had won both his younger siblings' hearts so quickly. He also wanted to know what was so amazing about the man, it probably was not even that great. However, he had to admit if he was even half the man Samuel Reyes is, the chances are Henry really was just that great. He turned to his younger brother for support, but Joshua had already gotten over it, now at ease, meaning when he noticed the look, the man unemotionally shrugged.

Henry turned back and continued to eat, a small but triumphant smile playing on his lips. The man did not even try to hide that he was extremely happy to have gotten his way on the entire situation. He was not sure why he was so happy, but he really did bring him a sense of unknown joy having beaten the perfect man in front of him in their discord. The food, Henry found, suddenly tasted better.Meanwhile, even if no one else could see it, Joshua studied the blond man's expression, holding back a laugh. There was no real reason for Henry to be so happy with himself, yet he clearly was. Joshua found it quite funny, he really did enjoy watching this childish side of Henry, it made him want to tease the man even more. But this time he held back, watching the other man's small grin before shaking his head and continuing with is own meal.Unbeknownst to Joshua, but he himself had started to smile while watching Henry, and though he still would not consciously admit it, he really was starting to find the 22-year-old absurdly cute.