Chapter-16: Edison

Sya's POV:

I swung my legs around, munching on the apple in my hand. I was sitting on the kitchen stool, near to the kitchen island, and chatting casually with Cara as she did the dishes after dinner. I did ask her to let me help her but she refused and forcefully put me on the stool. Turned out, she was a great company. She was funny, smart and I didn't even realize she was an old woman. Well, she hadn't come off that way the first time I met her anyway. A smile made its way to my lips as I remembered how she'd teased Kane the night she first saw me. Speaking of which, it had been a week since Kane and my first date, the night of our first kiss, and I was so happy. And for the first time in my life, I was content. But it scared me too. The way I'd found happiness in Kane. The thought of losing it all still lingered in my mind.

It had been almost two and a half weeks since I’d run away from Helena's house. Seventeen days since I last saw the faces of those two horrible monsters. Still, whenever I stepped out of the house I couldn't help looking around because I was always afraid John would show up, out of nowhere and drag me back to that hell hole. But Kane seemed to have noticed my fears because he rarely ever left me alone. He took me to the college with him, to the café with him and then came back home with me.

It was kind of heartwarming to knew that someone wanted to protect me with this much passion. That I meant this much to a person. At the same time though, it scared me. Being dependent on someone to this extent. If he leaves me, what will I do then?

I was snapped back to reality when Cara called out my name.

"Sya!"

"Yes!" I replied, half-startled.

"What are you thinking about so deeply?" She sighed. I guess she'd been calling out to me for long.

I smiled sheepishly and she shook her head before giving me her full attention. I guessed I had to tell her.

“Nothing,” I mumbled, playing with the hem of my shirt. “Just wondering how much longer will this beautiful dream continue.”

She looked at me, processing what she'd just heard. Her expression changed to one full of love and affection as she walked around the island and put her arms around my shoulders.

"Oh dear, don't think like that. Kane is a nice boy and I am absolutely positive he will never leave your side. I have seen love and admiration in his eyes for you. It is so obvious even a blind man could tell," she comforted me, giving me a tender smile. That brought my hopes up a notch and I looked into her eyes with gratitude. This woman right here had been one of my biggest supports. I looked at her in awe, mentally thanking her for being here. Being here and acting as a motherly support when I needed assurance. Her kind smile told me that if my mother had been alive, she would’ve been this way. She would've looked at me the way Cara was looking at me. Like a mother looks at her child. My heart felt full and I couldn’t help myself from putting my arms around her neck, hugging her. She wrapped her own lightly around me and rubbed my back, laughing.

“You're so precious child,” she mumbled. “You deserve all the happiness you get.”

Our moment ended when Kane and Bryson walked into the kitchen. They'd been out, doing God knows what. Kane walked to my side and wrapped his arms around me, whilst kissing my cheek.

"I missed you," he murmured, flashing me a handsome smile.

I scoffed and eyed him amusingly, “It's just been two hours Romeo.”

He shrugged, “I simply missed you for 7200 seconds.”

I laughed, my eyes twinkling as I looked into his beautiful ones, “You are something.”

"Aww, man! I also want my ma- I mean girlfriend to live with me," Bryson whined, stomping his foot on the floor like a kid.

We pulled out of our staring competition and looked at him, laughing.

"Well don't be sad Bryson. It's not like I'm living here forever. Once I get my salary tomorrow, I'm going to find and rent my own place,” I smiled, throwing a side glance at the man who had his arms around me. Sure enough, he frowned and did not look like he was enjoying what I’d just said.

"You're not going anywhere!" He said sternly, tightening his arms around me.

"But I already told you I would the night I first came here," I argued but it didn't change the determination in his eyes.

"I hadn't said anything because back then I hadn't asked you to be my girlfriend,” he stated as if it had been years since I'd run away from my Aunt’s house. In reality, it had only been half a month. “But now, you are my girlfriend so I’m not letting you go anywhere.” He sounded firm and final.

"But I can't stay here. I can't be a burden on you guys-" I started but he placed his finger on my lips, shutting me up.

"No more buts," he said, removing his finger. I huffed before glaring at him.

"I won't stay here," I said stubbornly, now glaring at him. He held my glare, not backing down either. Not going to happen boy!

I mentally smirked when I didn't back down or cover in fear when he looked at me like that. My glare hardened and his softened. He raised one hand and ran it through his hair in frustration. Guess I had become really brave!

“Listen Sya, I know you don't want to be dependent on anybody. I totally understand that. But you must understand that I need to protect you from that pest, John. And if you're not in front of me all the time, how am I supposed to do that?”

I dropped my defenses at once. How could I not when he was talking to me like that? He just wanted to protect me and here I was acting all righteous when even I had no idea when John could find me again.

"Sorry," I mumbled, looking at my shoes. Our tiny argument, with Bryson and Cara as the audience, was interrupted when a knock on the door was heard. Cara immediately excused to go look as the three of us frowned. That was because it was 9:45 in the night and none of us were expecting any guests. The sound of the door latch being put back in place and footsteps told us that whoever it was, was coming towards the kitchen. The person that appeared at the doorway behind Cara was someone I wasn't expecting at all.

I smiled in pleasant surprise and untangled myself from Kane's hold. I ran all the way over to him and tackled him into a bear hug. It caught him off guard and he stumbled back a few steps but eventually wrapped his arms around me. I was enjoying the surprise reunion when suddenly I felt myself being ripped from his hold and pulled back into a hardened chest. The sparks that flew from the hold told me it was Kane.

I lifted my head to look up at him, my face contorted into a frown. He looked back at me with a frown of his own but much deeper than mine.

"Who the hell are you?" Kane growled through gritted teeth. He was staring at my cousin as if mentally skinning him alive. I slapped his arm and pulled myself away, walking back to the guy.

"Kane, meet my dear cousin, Edison. Edison meet my boyfriend, Kane,” I introduced the two of them, smiling. Kane's angry expression changed to a more annoyed one while Edi's changed from a happy one to an angry one.

Or so I thought because he quickly did a rebound and gave me his signature toothy smile. He looked at Kane before throwing his arm around my shoulders.

"Long time no see, cupcake,” he said. “How have you been? Went home but Helena said and I quote “that bitch ran out 2 weeks ago”. By the way, when did you get a boyfriend?” He said the last word in such a way, one could easily misunderstand it as contempt. My eyes fell on Kane and he had a deep scowl etched on his face. Any more deeper and he'd start looking like Nebbercracker from Monster House. Behind him though, Bryson had the most amused look on his face. It looked like he just wanted popcorn to go along with all this.

“Oh uh, it happened like that,” I chuckled nervously, pushing my hair behind one ear. “How have you been? When did you get back from England?” I began to lead him towards the living room, trying to get away from the tension that was beginning to rise between him and Kane.

No offense but Kane could easily beat the crap out of Edi and I didn't want the poor boy to break a bone or two. Helena had already given him a lot of crap to deal with. Kane and Bryson followed us while Cara left to either get refreshments or just turn in for the night. No idea.

"Just today-" Edi began but was cut off by Kane.

"You never mentioned you had a cousin other than John.” He spat John's name like he was an insect. He surely was though. Kane's voice was so deep, I shuddered a bit before nervously answering.

"Actually, Edi is Helena's adopted son. More precisely, he was adopted by her husband but after his death, she kicked him out of the house. Edi went to England with the tiny amount of money he'd made off part-time jobs. He was my safe haven when Helena and John were horrible to me and he was the only one to comfort me during those horrific times,” I explained, remembering how he used to get me medicine for my wounds. Edi squeezed my shoulder.

Kane's face darkened even more. “So what you’re saying is, he isn't related to you by blood?”

I nodded.

"Well, technically yes but he is like a big brother to me," I replied, glancing at Edi who had an unusual smile on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just wondering when did you grow into this beautiful young woman. You used to be my little cupcake,” he said, making me laugh. He gave me this nickname when we were little. It irked me at first but then I got used to it.

"You’re not bad yourself," I joked but it was the truth. He had changed so much in these past five years. The Edi I had seen leave for England was tall but really thin and had frizzed up hair. But the one that returned had become a hunk! His hair was no longer frizzed up but sat silky-smooth on his head, he'd gotten a tan and gotten himself a good built. His brown eyes were the only things that remained the way they were.

He laughed and ruffled my hair affectionately. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bryson nudge Kane, an entertained smirk on his face. Kane didn’t look that happy but I didn't think of it too much.

A thought crossed my mind. “Wait, how did you know where to find me?”

“Well, as I was saying, I came back this morning so the first thing I did was to visit Helena's house. You weren't there, as I told you before,” I nodded, remembering him quoting Helena earlier. “So, obviously I was a bit worried. I did remember Hannah's address though, so I dropped by her house and she told me where you were staying. By the way, she has turned into the most gorgeous lady I've ever seen!”

Now it was Bryson's turn to scowl and glare at my cousin. He suddenly wasn't finding this as amusing as before. Now, both Bryson and my boyfriend were wearing matching scowls.

"I know she has indeed. So where are you staying now?" I asked. He hesitated for a second, scratching the back of his head.

"Actually, I have no place to stay at the moment but I will manage as my friend lives around here somewhere.”

I frowned.

“This means you have no place to stay for the night? That's okay! You can just stay here!” I exclaimed happily, stepping away from his arm. It was getting kind of heavy on my shoulders. That surprised him though because his eyes widened.

"N-no. I-I’ll manage. You seriously don't have to-" but I interrupted him by playfully slapping his arm.

"Oh come on, Edi. It's been ages since we last met. Besides, it'll only be for one night. You can go to your friend's in the morning. I'm pretty sure no one will have any problem with you being here,” I stated, turning to look at Kane with my puppy dog face. His hardened face softened for a bit when he saw me and when I remained persistent, he sighed.

“Fine,” he ground out.

I clapped my hands in joy and bounced. Bryson didn't look that happy and neither did Kane but he suddenly smirked.

"But we have no extra rooms," he said, giving Edi a pointed look.

My mood deflated a bit but then I brightened up again, “No problem. He can stay with me in my room.” I linked my arms with Edi's and began dragging him down the hall to my room, leaving my boyfriend fuming behind me yelling, “He can't stay with you in the same room!”

I decided not to react to that because I knew Kane was just being jealous. But he had nothing to worry about! Like I had mentioned before, Edi was like a big brother to me. And I was meeting him after ages. I couldn't be rude or mean just because Kane was a little jealous. Besides, I found him so cute when he looked like that.

We walked into my room and I asked Edi about his luggage. He told me he'd left it outside so I told him where the bathroom was before leaving to get it. Once I stepped back into the house, carrying Edi's duffle bag, I heard Bryson and Kane angrily whispering by the living room door.

“Why does that annoying Edi have to stay here?” Bryson hissed. “I don't like him at all. How dare he look at Hannah? Who permitted him?”

“Tell me about it,” Kane grumbled. “Sya seems so excited to see him though, so I can't exactly object to his stay here.”

I smiled. My boyfriend really was the most perfect being. I went back to my room, carrying Edi's bag. He'd come out of the bathroom and we spent the rest of the time catching up, laughing, and chatting. It was only a little after midnight that we went to sleep.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hola Beauties!

If you liked the story then please support the author on IG @aliceblonday ;)