4

Kendall's POV

"You can't keep pulling me back and forth you know. I am human after all." She complained rubbing her wrists.

"Sorry, I just needed to get out of there. And I didn't want to have to owe anyone. Especially that guy." I emphasized.

"But he was a cutie," Ed commented, as we started walking. I stopped and I looked at her.

"Did you just say that guy was a cutie?" I pointed back to the café.

"Ummm," She nodded, while she continued to walk.

"Are you not gonna stop and look at me?" I asked annoyed, still pointing back.

"But like what's wrong?" She asked, "Did Daniel bother you in any way? Like, be honest." She folded her arms and waited for me to answer. I shrug my shoulders and started mumbling because truth be told, Daniel wasn't bad company. It was like I was chilling with Eta. And I think the reason why I could be so chilled was that he helped with my anxiety. Which was also weird.

How did Daniel get to stay that long in our company and we were both cool with it?

"He was okay," I replied incoherently while playing with my hands, looking anywhere but her.

"I can't quite hear you, speak up please." She pulled her ears to emphasized she didn't hear. I could tell she was enjoying herself way too much. I quickly walked to her and I started pulling her again.

"Hey,'' She started to complain.

"I was way too comfortable. That's what freaks me out." I blurted out.

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When I got home, I was tired. No, tired was a very light word for what I was feeling. I was finished, done, over. My legs were giving up, I had a pounding headache because of the heat, and I was starved. Hack, I was always starving.

"Maya you back?" My mom called out the moment I entered the house.

"Yes," I answered, taking off my sleepers and heading to where her voice was leading me.

"So, how was it?" She was in the kitchen cooking, and I could hear Eta blasting Dynamite by BTS. Man, that kid loved it so much. The moment I came to the house, her voice held an excitement to it and when I saw her, it was evident.

I just kept quiet until I got to the kitchen so as not to shout. I was tired even to shout. When I got to the kitchen, I went straight to the fridge and I take out some water. I took a big gulp and then I sat down on the kitchen counter.

"So?" She was even tapping her feet.

"Truthfully, it went way better than I'd expected." Her face lit up, and she started clapping her hands. "See, I told you it was going to be fun." she moved from the other side and came up to me, and started rubbing my arms as if trying to warm me up. I turned and looked at her.

"I'm happy to see you going out again." She genuinely smiled.

"I'm glad to mom." I smiled back at her. She went back with chopping green onions.

"So, what did you do?" She asked.

"Oh you know, ate at Gio," And when I recalled that, it reminded me of Daniel, and immediately my heart started beating faster. I placed my hand on my chest and it was beating rapidly. I took a few breathes and when my mom saw this, her happy face turned into a concerned one fast.

"You okay Bleu?" Mom always called me Bleu when she was worried about me, Maya when she was excited, Kendall when she was disappointed in me, and all of them when she was angry and ready to devour me.

"Yea," I replied still clinging on to my sweater, "It's just...I just remembered that I had an anxiety attack at Gio's." And I stopped there. Although I was close to mom, I was closer to Eta. I told him all the juicy parts of my life that I couldn't tell mom.

Or just parts I don't feel comfortable in telling her. Even though he was younger than me, he sure was more mature than me. I think maybe it's because Eta has seen me at my worst. When I was done and out when I had just survived death only to gamble with my life the second week later.

He knew me when I was broken when I was in pain but still, he somehow saw someone worth saving. Even if he was younger than me, Eta was the big brother that would always light the way for me. No matter what. He had my back. Maybe it was petty, or him feeling a sense of responsibility towards me. Either way, I loved him for it.

"I'm going to check up on Eta then I'm going to lay down a bit," I informed her, standing up. I smiled at her to assure her that I was ok. "Don't worry mom, I'm ok."

"Okay." She nodded.

"Wake me up when you're done cooking, I'm famished." I ran upstairs to Eta's room. He was now playing Butter by BTS. I have to say when I heard the song, I couldn't stop dancing. It was so addictive and I was very much impressed. With the blasting music, I knocked loudly then entered. Eta immediately decreased the volume and stopped dancing.

"Please do humor me." I smiled, seating on his gaming chair.

"Heck no I won't." He then drank water and went to sit on a mini chair that was at the corner of the room.

"So, how was it?" I knew he was asking about the outing because it was the first time I went out after it happened, and my lack of human interaction did cause anxiety, among other things.

"I had an anxiety attack." I leaned back and closed my eyes, sighing. "There were too many people I couldn't bear it." I continued.

"What helped?"

"I laid down." I softly chuckled. "And no, I didn't care about what people thought." I cleared his question before he could ask it. Eta didn't care about human approval, but if it made me feel uncomfortable in any way, he'd make sure he'd do anything in his power to stop it.

A cool brother, I know.

"I met a guy." I finally spilled out the juicy parts that I couldn't tell mom. "His name was Daniel. He helped me calm down. It was weird. His touch that is." I whispered the last part.

"I was comfortable around him, it scared me. I felt safe around him. It was like I was chilling with you. For the first time in a long time, I felt like me before all of it happened. And I enjoyed his company." I then opened my eyes which were starting to well up. I quickly blinked the tears away then looked at him. This whole time his facial expression was stoic and I didn't know what to make of it.

"So..." I faked a smile, "What do you think?"

"I think he is a very interesting guy whom I'd like to meet. He helped you when you had trouble and it's only fair that we returned a favor." He reasoned.

"Yea if only we knew where to find him." I twirled with the chair. "I don't even have his number." I continued with my goofy self. "When he calmed me down, it reminded me of you when first found me that day." I stopped twirling, facing the wall. "Something was calming yet nerve wreaking about him Eta. He could be my comfort, yet he could cause me anxiety." I turned this time and looked at him.

"Is there something wrong with me?" I asked him. He stood up came to me. When he got to me, he hugged me while rubbing my back.

"We gonna figure it out together okay? I promise." He patted my hair softly.

"Okay." I hugged him tighter. And I believed him because Eta always knew how to make me feel better. Even if it was mere words. When they came out of his mouth, they meant the world. After the hug saga, Eta promised to wake me up when the food was ready. What can I say, I have the world's best brother.

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