John's Reasons

John's POV:

"John! Have you put all of your belongings to your bags? We should get going now! The sun is already setting and I want to reach Rachel's house before night." My mom reminded me.

"Yes Mom. I'm all ready."

"We should go then. Ron, please put all of the luggage in the car and wait for us there."

"Yes, Ma'am."

I'm getting nervous already. It's been a long time since I and Kris had a bonding together. What's more, the atmosphere between me, Sophia, Elaine and Janna are kinda awkward because of what happened last week. I just hope that everything will be fine.

After 15 minutes of travel, we reached Kris' house. It's already night but Aunt Rachel and Kristoffer are still waiting for us outside their house.

"John!" Kris ran towards me and gave me a big hug.

"I missed you so much! I wasn't able to do this in school since it's embarrasing if our classmates saw us hugging."

"Hey Kris! Stop what you're doing right now! John is already tired from the trip so let him rest for a while. Bring him to his room now." Aunt Rachel reminded Kris.

"It's fine Rachel. You don't need to worry about my son. I can't blame Kris' behavior since they are really close since they were just toddlers. Just let them be." My Mom said.

"You're right Kathy. I understand that they must be longing for each other right now."

"So what about this, John... My room is big enough for two people. Why don't you share a room with me? You know, for us to retrieve all of those days that we're not together. What do you think?" My cousin Kristoffer proposed.

"Um... I guess it's fine."

"Yes! Then we should go now. Aunt Kathy, Mom, I should bring John to my room now for him to rest."

"Ok, Kris. Please take care of John well. I'll have Ron bring his luggage upstairs later."

"Definitely! Thanks Aunt!"

Kristoffer pulled my hand and ran very fast. I didn't bother to stop him from what he's doing because I know that he's been longing for my company for so long considering that I am his closest cousin and friend.

"Tada! This is my room! Very big, right? You can feel free to use any of my things that you want... As long as it's not a personal belonging."

"Thank you Kris."

"You're welcome John! Anything for my favorite cousin."

"But I am your only cousin so you have no other choices for the position of your favorite cousin aside from me."

"Is that right? Hahahaha."

"You changed so much Kris. You used to be timid and meek but now, you're already frivolous and silly. I like the you now better."

"Of course! It's already been 7 years so it should be natural for me to change, right? But thanks, John! You changed too... But in a worse manner. Oh, don't get offended alright? But I just think that the gentle and warm you used to be, changed to someone with cold smile and distant attitude. And it's not just me, Elaine and Janna are saying the same too. But as expected, Sophia isn't saying anything about your change. She's really considerate."

"Yeah, I agree with you. You know, I have a confession to make Kris."

"What is it?"

"Do you remember the small injury that Sophia had last week?"

"Yeah! Of course! She said that she got it when she tripped, right? What about it?"

"The truth is... I'm the one who caused it."

"What?! It's you?! Wait, wait... What, what happened? Did you deliberately did it?!"

"No, I didn't do it deliberately. Rather, it's more like an accident. But it's also my fault. I got too caught up at the moment. She just wanted to help me and I stubbornly refused her that made me slapped her hand away from me. But I didn't expect that she'll be injured because of it."

"Of course she will, bro! Look at your hands... They're so big and manly. On the other hand, Sophia's hands are small and fragile. There's no doubt that she'll be hurt by what you did. But what is in your mind right now? Why are acting like that? It's as if you don't want to be with us anymore."

"No, it's not like that. It's just that I don't know how to act in front of all of you. We've been away from each other for a long time. There's so many things that happened to me in America and it's also the same to you. Whether we want it or not, it's irrefutable that we grew far away from each other."

"Yeah, but you could have avoided that feeling of distantness if you've wrote us some letters. We can't initiate to write the letters since we don't know what's your address. I can't also ask Aunt about it since you told her to hide from us where you live. Do you really not want to have contact with us?"

"Honestly, yes. I don't want to have contact with you because I've been thinking so many things when I am in America. First, I thought that what if my treatment has gone wrong and I will die from my heart disease? I don't want all of you to continue being close to me especially when I don't have a long life to live. Second, I'm too ashamed of myself. I don't want all of you to worry about me during my treatment in America. I know that if we will have connections continuously, all of you will worry about me endlessly and you may not have peaceful school days without thinking about me. I chose to be alone during those times of uncertainty and anxiousness thinking whether my treatment will be successful or not. Actually, I really didn't want to come back but my Mom talked to me about how all of you are missing me. I didn't know that all these years, you and Sophia are consistently having contact with my Mom."

"I see... But aren't those reasons too shallow? I mean, we're you're childhood friends and best friends, at that. Those kinds of things are justifiable to be told to us. You shouldn't hide those things from us especially to Sophia. She's the one who's most worried about you these past few years, you know?"

"I understand. I really regret all of the things that I've done. I want to apologize to everyone."

"Your decision is correct. You should correct your past mistakes. Apologize to everyone tomorrow and make sure to ask for their forgiveness. I know that they will gladly forgive you."

"Thank you Kris!"

"Ok. Enough with this conversation. We're still early tomorrow so we should go to bed now. Go and change into your pajamas. I'll sleep already since I'm too tired and sleepy. Good night John!"

"Good night Kris! Have a good night's sleep."