"Who are you talking to?" I asked as soon as I entered Jonah's room.

He was sitting on his bed with his phone held near his ear and he was talking in hushed tone, as if not wanting anyone to to know who he is talking to

He jumped at my voice and his eyes widened as they landed on me.

"No one. I am talking to no one. Why would you even think that? I wasn't even talking. Did you even hear me talking or were you imagining things? I was not talking. I was definitely not talking to anyone." He rambled on as he hid his phone from me.

Well, here is the thing about Jonah. He rambles whenever he is caught doing something. Poor guy can't stop talking.

"Okay. Since you weren't talking to anyone, I need your phone." I stated.

"Why do you need my phone?" He asked.

"Because my phone's battery is really low and I need to make an important call." I informed him.

"Why do you need my phone for a call? I can't give you my phone right now. Ask Justin or Nathan." Yes. My twin brothers still haven't gone back to their college.

Not that I have a problem with it. I love being around them. But sometimes when we four are together, I really miss Brandon.

"They both went to some mini reunion or something. Just give me your phone. I really need to make a call." Well, I wasn't entirely lying. I had to make a call and my phone was discharged. Just that call was not that urgent.

Of course. He doesn't need to know that.

"But-" He whined but I cut him off.

"Dude. It's just your phone. You are acting like I asked for your credit card password." I rolled your eyes.

"Ugh. You are insufferable." He glared at me.

"I know." I smirked.

"I hate you." He continued glaring at me as he handed me the phone.

"I love me too." I smiled.

I unlocked his phone and went to recent calls.

Kayla.

That was the caller ID of the latest call which ended two minutes ago.

Gotcha.

Let's mess with Jonah, shall we?

I called Kayla and put the phone on speaker, which earned me a pissed off-confused look from Jonah. And she picked up after two rings.

"What happened? Why'd you end the call so suddenly?" Her voice came through the voice and Jonah's eyes widened.

Unfortunately for me (and fortunately for him), even before I could say anything, we were interrupted by the doorbell. I gave the phone back to Jonah who visibly relaxed while glaring at me. I just gave him a not-so-innocent smile and walked out of the room, towards the door.

"Nathan! Justin! I always tell you guys to forget your keys-" I said as I opened the door, only to find Christian standing on the porch.

"Oh."

"Hey!" He smiled. Why is he smiling? Stop smiling Christian.

"Okay. I'll stop." He chuckled.

Wait. Did I say that out loud?

"Yep." He answered my thoughts- well accidentally spoken out thoughts.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, pissed with myself for acting stupid around him.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked.

"Well, you are talking to me, aren't you?" I snapped.

"I wanted to apologize-" He started but I cut him off.

"Okay then. Do it." I rolled my eyes.

"Val. I am really sorry-" I cut him off again, knowing that it would piss him off.

"Heard that line before." I stated.

"Please hear me out Val." He pleaded.

"What do you think I am doing?" I asked. He just took a deep breath and looked at me.

"I know I messed up. It's just that, my entire life, people have given me looks of pity and sympathy and- and I know it doesn't explain the way I acted and you are definitely not people but it's just hard for me to stop those thoughts from coming into my mind. I know now that you asked my mom about your aunt and that if you had told me, I would probably deny it. And when I should have thanked you, I blew up on you. I am really sorry." He apologised.

"I just wanted to help." I stated.

"I know. And I am really sorry. And that Ryder thing- I don't know how to explain that. I was already jealous of him that he knows you better than I do. And then that day- I know it was stupid. Very very stupid. I just hope you forgive me. I'll do anything to work for your forgiveness." He pleaded.

I knew in my heart that I had already forgiven him. But my brain was telling me not to. I hate it when my heart and brain don't agree.

"Also, I want to do something in return for you helping my mom and as an apology for blowing up on you." He interrupted my thoughts. I just raised my eyebrows to which he smiled and looked towards the jeep that was parked at the side of the road.

A moment later a very familiar face stepped out from the jeep.

"Brandon!" I shouted as I ran towards him.

He just chuckled as he engulfed me in a hug.

"Hey chocolate cupcake!" He smiled.

"Oh my god! What are you doing here? How- how are you even here?" I frantically asked, tears of happiness brimming my eyes. Am I hallucinating?

"Well, the guy who I am told is your friend, helped me. He somehow convinced the general to let me off a bit early." He explained.

"God! I missed you!" I sighed as I wrapped my hands around him.

"Go talk to him." Brandon whispered in my ear after a moment as he kissed my forehead and walked inside the house.

"Wow. How did you manage that?" I asked Christian, as I walked towards him.

"The general and my mom were childhood friends. Turns out, they were pretty good friends and he owed my mom a favor. It needed a little convincing but I managed." He smiled.

"Thank you. You have no idea how much I was missing him." I sighed.

"You are welcome-" Ah. F*ck it!

And I kissed him.

My brain, you can get lost for a second.

After a moment, he kissed me back and damn! It felt good. I was home.

"You're forgiven."

"And the winner of the 2021 Annual Summer Cheer Tournament is no doubt the Clearlake Cheer Squad! Congratulations!" The announcer announced and all of us cheered.

We had won!

The captain was called on the stage for the trophy. If you didn't know, that was me.

I collected the trophy and walked down the stage, towards my squad. We all cheered as we held the trophy up high!

"Here's to us!" Emelia announced and it was followed by more laughs.

"I am going to miss you guys!" Stacie sadly smiled. We all nodded.

As much as I hated their fake friendship, I was still going to miss them. I guess I love them in my own different way.

The hall was slowly emptied as all of the people made their way towards the exit, many of them congratulating us for the win. I walked over to my brothers and my dad.

"Congratulations sweetie! I knew you guys would do it!" My dad smiled.

"Thanks dad!" I replied as I hugged him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

"Here you go!" I heard Nathan say as he gave Justin a hundred bucks.

"And here you go!" Justin said as he gave Nathan a hundred bucks. I just gave them both a confusing look.

"Well, we wanted to bet if you were going to win or not." Justin explained.

"But then we both wanted to bet that you guys were going to win." Nathan explained.

"So we both bet on the same thing-" Justin shrugged.

"- and now we both won!" Nathan smiled.

"You know right, that you both still have the same amount of money in your pocket. Just exchanging two different hundred dollar bills doesn't increase or decrease your money." I rolled my eyes. They both just shrugged and muttered a small "who cares?".

"I am so glad I got to see you compete." Brandon said as he pulled me into a hug. "Congratulations sis!"

"I'm glad too." I smiled at him.

"Ugh! Can we go home now? I have a football game to watch. Plus it's nothing new. They have won all of the last three tournaments. What's the difference in this?" Jonah rolled his eyes.

"Jonah. At least show the decency to congratulate her." My dad scolded him.

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes.

"Dad, I think Jonah needs to go back to preschool. You have to say 'Congratulations' to congratulate someone. Not 'whatever'." I smirked.

"I can't deal with this." My dad rolled his eyes as he, Bradon and the twins walked towards the car. I just walked and stood in front of Jonah, not letting him follow my brothers.

"Are you going to congratulate me or should I tell them about Kayla?" I asked him. His eyes immediately went wide at her mention.

"Congratulations!" He rolled his eyes.

"Properly." Why not take advantage of the situation?

"Congratulations sis!" He forcefully smiled.

"That's more like it." I smirked as I stepped aside, letting him pass.

"I hate you." He murmured under his breath.

"I love you too." I chuckled. I was about to follow him when something caught my eye.

More like someone.

I walked over to him.

"You came. I thought you had practice." I said.

"I can take some time out for you." Christian smiled. "Congratulations on your fourth win in a row."

"Thanks." I replied.

And cue the tension filled awkwardness.

"Um-" Before I could say anything, he pressed his lips on mine.

I immediately melted into the kiss as a shiver ran down my spine. I was addicted to his kisses.

"Congratulations." He said as we pulled apart and rested his forehead against mine..

"Thank you." I smiled, trying to control my blush. "Christian? Can I ask you something?"

"You just did." He chuckled while I just playfully glared at him. "Ask away."

"What are we?" I asked him.

"I don't know." He replied. "What do you want us to be?"

"I don't know." 

A/N:

Hey guys!

How are ya'll?

I hope you liked the chapter...

Only one more to go!!

(I can't believe we are so close to the end!!)

Until Next Time...