Dedicating this chapter to one of my regular readers & commentors, miyo10 because I know that you LOVE Adam and this chapter has loads of Adam. :D Next chapter will again be dedicated to any of the readers who comment. :)

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Chapter 18

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER

"Mix together the seasoned flour ingredients in a large baking dish. Drain the chicken pieces and toss into the flour. Using your-"

"Hail, please lower the volume, baby," Brian said in a very sweet voice, looking towards the T.V. room from where the loud noises of some woman, who was telling the recipe of something on some cookery show, were coming.

"Sshh..." was Hailey's answer to Brian's sweet request. She waved her hands in our direction, asking us to keep our mouths shut and all the while not even taking off her eyes from the television screen.

Brian sighed heavily and I rolled my eyes at her reply and tried to continue with our game of Monopoly.

We heard someone coming downstairs, but didn't bother looking back as we were trying our best to concentrate on the game amidst all the loud noises of some lady who was being listened so attentively by Hailey.

"Hey g-" Kim's chirpy voice reached our ears, but she was cut by Hailey.

"Sshh," she shushed, waving her hand in the air and furiously jotting down whatever sh*t the lady was saying on the show. Kim raised her eyebrows in Hailey's direction clearly surprised by her action, but did a clever thing by not asking her what the matter was.

I looked at Brian, who was looking in Hailey's direction with his lips pressed in a thin line. "Seriously, why the hell are you marrying her?" I asked him. "She is so irritating."

Brian, not surprised by my question just shook his head with a smile on his face, while Kim, who was clearly offended, slapped me on my arm. "How can you say such a thing? She is your sister," she said with wide eyes.

"That's why I'm saying this. It's not easy to live with that creature sitting on the couch," I told her pointing towards my sister. The three of us looked at her, and yes, she was sitting on the couch and looking at the television screen without even blinking her eyes and jotting down the recipe of something.

Brian sighed, making Kim and me look at him. "I really can't understand why she even watches these cookery shows when she never even cooks." He chuckled and played his turn in our game.

I grinned and said, "Because I kind of insulted her by saying that she sucks at cooking."

"And now, she'll prove to you that she can cook, which she definitely can't," Brian told me grinning. "By 'proving' means you'll have to eat whatever she cooks, Keith."

I jerked back in my seat and held up my hands. "I don't have a death wish. I'm never eating anything she cooks."

"Guys," Kim butted in. "She can't be that bad."

Before Brian & I could tell her any of the numerous tales of Hailey's pathetic cooking, the subject of the topic of discussion herself entered the room. "Now, you all are going to have the best Buttermilk Fried Chicken in the entire world." She was looking at us with determination on her face and her blue eyes narrowed once they spotted me. "Keith Warren, you're going to regret the words you said earlier," she challenged me as she took steps towards us and stopped once she reached our table.

"I've the same feeling," I told her honestly, though the 'regret' she was talking about was entirely different than the 'regret' I was talking about.

"Of course you will." She smirked, not understanding what I had just said. "I'm off to the kitchen now. Please don't disturb me." She started moving towards the kitchen with her notepad in her hand on which she had written the recipe of our disaster.

"Babe," Brian called her and she turned to look at him. He gave her his sweetest smile and told her, "Keith is the biggest idiot in the world. He doesn't know how amazing cook you are. There is no need to prove anything to him baby." The sweet lies in everything he said were easily detectable for Kim and me, as we both tried to control the laughter that was threatening to escape our lips after looking at Brian's face. He was trying his best to stop Hailey from cooking because he knew that he could not escape and he would have no other option but to eat the food. He was silently begging with his green eyes to Hailey, but my sister was currently in her most determined form and all she wanted to do was to prove me wrong.

She smiled back with a little teary eyed look on her face and cooed, "Aww Brian, you're the sweetest. See, this is the reason I'm marrying you."

"Because he eats whatever sh*t you cook?" I couldn't help but ask the first thing that came to mind. All the three heads snapped towards me and I let out a low whistle looking at their expressions. Brian's face was clearly telling me that there was no need for me to interrupt when he was almost successful in saving us. Kim was shocked. While, Hailey's murderous glare was telling me that soon, I would be dead; which I most probably would be if I'd be eating the chicken she was planning on cooking.

"I'll make sure that you regret this," she muttered with clenched jaw and tight fists. With that, she turned back in an instant and bolted towards the kitchen.

The moment she was out of sight, Brian whispered furiously, "Why the hell couldn't you keep quiet?"

"Well..." I grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

Before I could add anything more, Adam's voice reached us, "Hello people!" Our heads moved to look at him as he stood near the entrance door with his hands dug inside his pocket.

I grinned and Brian nodded his head in acknowledgment, but Kim really couldn't keep quiet as she chirped, "Hey Eve."

Adam's happy expression changed to that of anger as he looked at Kim, who still continued to smile. Brian and I couldn't stop laughing.

Adam chose to ignore the smiling face of Kim and diverted his attention towards Brian and me. "This is not the time to play monopoly, my boys!" He shook his head in disappointment, but still smiled a very huge smile.

"And here you go on proving me right, 'my boys'," Kim muttered and mimicked Adam while saying 'my boys'.

I noticed that Adam closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he was losing his calm, so I interrupted, "Then what are we supposed to do?" I looked towards Kim and silently told her to keep quiet and not say anything to Adam. She just rolled her eyes in response.

Adam grinned even huger, if that was even possible and he answered, "We're supposed to meet some guests we've here." Before any of us could ask any further question, he moved to the side and spread his arms as if welcoming someone like a perfect host. Seeing his guests, my jaw almost dropped on the floor.

"Hannah?" I whispered in surprise.

"Keith," she purred, looking at me with those big seductive green eyes and a smile on her face. Behind her was Precious who was now hanging onto Adam's arm.

I stood up in an instant, spoiling the game of Monopoly in the process. "This was unexpected." I frowned.

"It shows on your face." Hannah giggled as she reached me, passing Brian and lightly pushing Kim on the way. She hugged me, which was again unexpected. The hug lasted longer, but I was too surprised at seeing them at my house to even enjoy it.

"Adam told me that you wanted to meet me pretty badly. You know you could have just called me or come to meet me. I was waiting for you," she whispered in my ear and my eyes widened a bit at what I just heard. My eyes went to Adam, who had so nicely lied to Hannah, but he was busy talking to Brian about something.

Hannah pulled apart, putting some distance between us and looked at me with a questioning look on her face and I realized that maybe she was waiting for me to say something. "Well... yeah!" was all I could say amidst all the confusion.

We all sat down in the living room. Adam and Precious sat opposite Hannah and me. Brian sat down on the recliner, while Kim was still standing near the table where our spoilt Monopoly was kept.

"You're all I have been thinking about since the day at the mall," Hannah purred in my ear, shifting way too close to me. Her one hand was on my thigh and the other on my shoulder.

Mentally, I was begging Hannah to move a bit away from me as this was my house where my family lived; the family who still thought of me as the 'innocent Keith'. Physically, I was beginning to enjoy the attention I was getting.

Involuntarily, my eyes went towards Kim, who was looking at the back of Hannah's head with her eyes turned to slits. "You're all I think about too," I told Hannah a lie. She had never crossed my mind since that day, but I couldn't tell her that especially with the way she was sitting right now.

She pulled a bit away from me and looked at me with dreamy eyes. "I knew it," she said and giggled. I shot her a smirk and looked towards Kim, whose back was now towards me as she was entering the kitchen.

Both the girls got busy talking about Hollywood and I was getting utterly bored sitting with Hannah. I had absolutely nothing to talk to her about. Adam and Brian were talking about our upcoming football matches and I tried to take part in their conversation, but each time Adam ignored me like I had said nothing. This was leaving both Brian and me very confused.

"Adam?" I called him, but he didn't reply. "Adam?" Again, no reply.

"Adam, Keith is calling you," Brian told him with furrowed eyebrows.

This was helpful as Adam looked at me with a huge smile and said, "Hey, Keith!" With that he went back to talking to Brian, again.

"Huh?" I stood up from my seat and went towards Adam, who was still, very effectively ignoring me. I held his free arm as the other one was held by Precious. I pushed him up with complete force; so much force that even Precious got up with him. He still ignored it and continued talking to Brian. I pulled him towards my side as I decided to talk to him about what Hannah had said. He still hadn't tried to fight back as if I was not even present there. I dragged him out of the house, and when we reached outside, I noticed that all through the way Precious had also been dragged with my best friend. Adam looked pissed off, while Precious was looking at me with a surprised face.

I was beyond surprised at her clinginess and said, "Seriously woman, you won't die if you'll leave him for five minutes."

Her bottom lip started wavering and she looked at Adam, as if he was her savior; who he definitely was in her dreams and in Adam's nightmares. When Adam didn't say anything to her, she looked at me with all the 'poor girl' expressions gone from her face. Her eyes were narrowed and she said, "I'm so glad that we didn't end up together."

My natural reaction to her insult was a snort while saying, "Not more than me."

Hitting her foot on the floor, she went back inside the house, but not before kissing Adam senseless. And, with that, Adam was no more pissed off. He was pleased. "I'm so going to bang her." He grinned as we both looked at Precious as she went inside. Well, more accurately, as we both looked at her a*s.

"You've definitely made a fast progress," I complimented him and he grinned.

As if he remembered something, his grin vanished and he was back to his angry look. "And, you've lost all your progress," he told me folding his arms in front of his chest and looking at me with narrowed eyes full of accusation.

"What?"

"Yes, Keith. Have you forgotten our Winter Mission?" he asked like I had grown a second head.

Now, I was even more confused. "Winter Mission?" I asked, keeping my right hand on my chin, grazing the light beard that had formed due to not shaving today and supporting it with my left arm which was folded in front of my chest. I really needed to shave. Laziness was overtaking my personality and I couldn't let it do that.

"Banging Hannah and Precious," he replied in a 'duh' tone.

"Oh!" was what I said when I remembered something that was actually not our winter mission, but our winter desires.

"So, tell me, what have you done in these three days to complete your mission?" he asked with challenge clear in his voice.

Scratching the back of my head, I tried to search for an appropriate answer. "Played monopoly?" Apparently, this was my 'appropriate answer' which came out as a question and Adam looked at me with disbelief.

"Something is wrong with you, Keith," he stated, rubbing his forehead with his right hand.

Sighing, I told him seriously, "Look, I'm totally planning on banging Hannah. So, you need not worry about that." Just then, I remembered something and I grinned. "I remember Mom telling me that Precious is hosting a New Year's Party this time, and I challenge you Adam that I'll sleep with her on that night."

My answer gave him satisfaction as he grinned back at me and said, "That's like the Keith I know." He patted me on the back and we started moving inside.

"I'm always the 'Keith you know'." I rolled my eyes at him and he snorted.

"Yeah, right!"

"Adam?" I said as I remembered something.

"Yup."

"What's your problem with Kim?" I asked, feeling genuinely curious.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at me. Looking at the determination to get his answer right now on my face, he sighed heavily and ran his hand through his blonde curls. "What's there to like about her?" Absolutely unsatisfied at his reply, I raised my eyebrows asking him to explain further, which he did. "I, honestly, don't have a reason to not like her, other than the fact that she thinks that I'm gay."

All I could do was laugh at his response. "Seriously?" I asked in disbelief.

"Of course," he replied. "I've lost all my self confidence since the day we went to the mall."

"Same story," I butted in telling him the truth and making him chuckle. Once we calmed down, I told him with all my honesty, "She is cool. You'll like her if you'll talk to her."

He turned to look at me with a skeptical look and asked in an instant, "Do you like her?"

His question made me laugh and I replied, "Of course, I like her. Well, that's why I hang out with her. She is really cool."

Adam shook his head, making me stop my laughter and said, "I'm not talking about that 'liking'. I'm asking whether you like 'like' her." I was damn sure that my best friend was in a gleeful mood and he was just trying to pull my leg and to be two hundred percent sure I met his judgmental gaze. There was not even a slightest bit of humor on his face

"What has the world come to?" I asked in a complete state of shock. My eyes were wide open and I spread my arms in front of me to show my surprise.

He looked at me confused and uttered, "What?"

I held his shoulders with my hands and shook him violently. "You are talking about emotional stuff for the first time in your life, Adam. Are you okay?"

He tried to remove my hands that were on his shoulders still shaking him and said, "Stop it, Keith. And, yes, I'm serious. I want answers."

Holding up my hands in surrender, I thought about what he had asked. 'Do I really like Kim?' The tomboy Kim, who made me do the weirdest and the most humiliating things I had ever done. The Kim for whom I changed my winter vacation plans with my family. The Kim, who with blind trust came to spend her holidays with me and my family. The Kim with whom I became very comfortable in very less time. The Kim with whom, I actually liked to spend my time.

I couldn't like her. She was my friend. She was one of the guys. She was the only girl with whom I could be myself. She was my friend, nothing more and nothing less. And, I couldn't forget the fact that I was incapable of liking some girl in that way. I had always wanted to be free; to live my life on my own terms; to fulfill my dreams the way I want. The boundations, problems, complexities and the usual bickering that comes along with a relationship were not for me. Definitely not for me!

Thinking about his question in all aspects, I replied to Adam's question with my voice firm and final, "I don't like her in that way. She is my friend and I really don't want any more discussions about this topic ever."

Adam caught the seriousness of my answer and nodded after a moment of giving it a thought. He shot me a smile and said, "I guess, I'll try to get along with her."

What he said made me grin and I told him, "I'm sure she would like that. She thinks that you want her dead." This made Adam laugh and ask me questions about why she thought so.

After almost half an hour of chatting with Brian and Adam, and with the girls whose only contribution were the giggling noises they made; Hailey emerged from the kitchen. "You all on the dining table, right now!" she ordered us, looking extremely happy with whatever she had made in the kitchen. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Um... Hail, I'm not really that hungry," Brian tried to escape.

But, it was in no vain as she shook her head in a 'No' and said, "On the dining table in five minutes." With that, she went back inside the kitchen almost jumping in the air. My sister was crazy!

"What's the matter, Brian?" Adam asked, looking at the worried expressions on Brian's face.

Laughter escaped my lips when I too looked at Brian and I replied instead of him, "Oh nothing. Hailey has cooked some chicken."

Adam's eyes became wide open and he stood up in alarm. "I have to go," he said in a hurry and started moving towards the main door, forgetting about the two guests he had so fondly came with and now, who were looking at the situation in front of them with confusion clear on their faces; while all Brian and I could do was laugh. Clearly, Hailey's cooking skills were not confined to the four walls of this house.

"Where do you think you are going?" Hailey asked him, coming back in the living room.

"Um...home. I've an... emergency," he said, looking desperately towards my sister and making his best innocent face.

She made a disgusted face and said, "We too have a washroom, Adam. You can use them." This just added fuel to the laughter that Brian and I were having. Adam looked at her dumbfounded. Hailey grinned and said, "On a serious note, if you leave from this house before eating the chicken I've made, I'm not going to invite you to my wedding." She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes towards Adam who was in a dilemma.

"And God won't let me attend your wedding if I eat the chicken you've made," he muttered under his breath loud enough for both Brian and me to hear and make us laugh; and luckily, low enough for not reaching Hailey's ears.

"My assistant, Kim, has decorated the table. You all can join us now," she chirped and went inside again.

With no other option left for us, the three of us with the always giggling blondes made our way towards the dining room, where sure enough, everything from salad, crockery, napkins to the delicious looking fried chicken were presented extravagantly.

"Nice job," Brian commented, looking at the table in front of us in surprise. We sat down and the aroma of the chicken hit my nostrils, making me suddenly feel hungry and I found myself craving for some good chicken.

Kim sat down on the other end of the table between Adam and Brian. "Let's eat. I'm starving," she said without looking at anyone and served some chicken on her plate.

Eating the food cooked by Hailey was like committing suicide, but I couldn't do anything with her murderous glare directed only towards me and much more appealing was the aroma of the spices that were used in the chicken and which had, by now, filled the air of the dining room.

Still not taking any risk, I watched Kim, who took a bite of the chicken and chewed it. She smiled and showed a 'Thumbs up' sign towards Hailey. Her reaction made Brian, Adam and I look at each other warily. We were telling each other with our eyes 'First you. No, you!'

"What are you waiting for Brian?" Hailey asked. Her tone had a hint of sadness in it and of course, Brian couldn't bear it. He shook his head in a 'No' and took a bite of the chicken that was served so perfectly on his plate.

I watched as his slightly wary expression changed to that of complete delight. "This is delicious." He grinned as he looked up at Hailey, who too was grinning now.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and I looked at the chicken kept on my plate. The chicken did look properly fried. The aromas were giving a hint of perfect spices. I was not an amazing cook, but I very well knew how to cook and I was pretty good.

"This is so amazing," Adam's voice reached my ears and I looked up surprised as he said this with his mouth full of chicken. His eyes were lit up in delight.

Looking at the fondness with which everyone in the dining room were eating, including the Anti-fat food Hannah and Precious who were indulged in eating the Fried Chicken, I too was left with no other option but to give it a try. I was pretty sure that it was not as bad as I had expected it to be.

Praying to the Gods above, and asking for forgiveness for whatever bad I had done in my life, so I could secure a place for myself in the heavens after eating this thing, I took a bite of the dish, finally. The chicken melted in my mouth and it was undoubtedly, very delicious. Much better than how Mom cooks it and that's saying something.

"So Keith?" Hailey quirked an eyebrow, looking at me with her hands on her hips.

It was like I had lost my voice. Helplessly, I looked around the table and found everyone looking at me, waiting for me to say something.

"This is really great, Hail," I told her with all the honestly I could gather.

In response, she jumped up in the air and whooped happily. We all just laughed and I made a mental note to never tease her for her bad cooking again.

Amidst all the food, laughs and talks, I didn't miss the secret smile that Hailey passed to Kim and the little smile with which Kim replied.

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A/N

Please VOTE, COMMENT, FOLLOW & spread a word about this story if you like the story. :)

This chapter was 10 pages long in Word, my max till now & I hope it makes up for the long waits that you all have been doing for the updates. :)

Oh! I sooo loved writing this chapter, well, I like writing all chapters but still.... ;)

Thank you! Love you all! <3

27th January 2016 - Edited!