Speechless for a long moment, I did nothing but stare at him and the opened car door.

Tyler? Opening the car door for me?

"Get in." It resembled a command but I was too surprised by his gesture to think about it.

"You wanna spend this night here?" He asked with a smirk.

And, that got me moving.

"Straight to home or...?" He raised his eyebrow and I gulped.

"Home."

"Let's have an ice cream, yeah?"

"No thanks."

And like the dozen other times today, he didn't care what my answer was and stopped the car in front of an ice cream shop.

"I need-"

"Come on, Eve." He cut me off by shaking his head and preparing to order.

The order never got out of his mouth as a few guys, some of who I've seen before but can't pinpoint where and when, approached him and one of them grabbed his shoulder.

The red and glossy eyes took the limelight away from the guy's face. He looked like he was strangled right before he came here.

Either he was sick or...

"Jones, what a coincidence!" He spoke and those slurring words made it clear.

Not sick.

I took a step back and turned my back on them as if I don't even know who Tyler is. I've had my fair share of encounters with intoxicated people and I don't wish to add any more to that list.

And then they all started conversing like a group of long-lost friends.

I don't know what was going in my mind because I was half eavesdropping and half ignoring them when one of them started talking shit about a girl.

A tint of disgust and fear crept into my mind. I hate drunk people. I hate stoned people. I hate them all.

And I hope Tyler's not a part of them. I really do.

I stole a glance at them to see Tyler approach me with a sigh.

"Something came up and I really need to go somewhere. So I can't drop you. Here, take this." He sighed, taking out his wallet. "But I'll definitely make it up to you."

"Excuse me, I don't need this." I pointed at the dollar bills in his hand and shrugged. "I never asked you for a ride so, please don't bother about it."

I gave him a half-smile, turned back and started walking. I could hear him call my name but I was too lazy to acknowledge it.

Maybe even a little disappointed.

Since which moment exactly did I think he has really changed? Was it when he behaved like a normal person? Was it when he opened the door for me? Or worse, was it when I felt a pang of sympathy for him when I realised his house and his parents were nothing but an illusion of a happy rich family?

Maybe Sasha's right, I am too naive.

God, I need to change that.

With a sigh, I wiped all the thoughts about my flaws and letdowns from my mind and waited for a bus. And it took me almost half an hour to get one.

Finally when I reached home,
I got to witness a sobbing Theo and a furious Noel.

What a refreshing scene to relax.

"What's it now?" I groaned, plopping onto the couch, between them and the next moment, Theo hugged me with a pout.

"He pinched me." He sobbed into my arms and I shot a glare at Noel.

"I did not!" Noel argued and when I narrowed my eyes further, he sighed.

"But he's acting. It didn't hurt much."

"I've told you to not fight." I managed to mumble without a groan.

Classes, assignments, work, Tyler and on top of everything, this.

"He bit me. That's the reason." Noel glared at Theo, who gave me an 'oops, caught' look.

"You little devil."I sighed and got up, snatched a handful of candies from the top shelf and made sure he's got a glimpse of it. "I'm going to throw all these candies away and I won't buy a single one until you go back to the loving brothers phase."

"I'm sorry Ivy, I won't bite him."

"You said this last time." I crossed my arms and he shook his head.

"That was punch. I won't bite him again."

He sure was a little devil.

"I'm not going to let you fool me. I'm not naive, okay? Let's see what the punishment is. What's it, Theo?"

"No chocolates this week."

"Correction. No chocolates for the next few weeks."

Eyes widened and mouth hung open, Theo stared at me and I stifled a smile.

If only it was this easy to blackmail adults.

"That's what you get when you hurt your elders, okay?"

"It's okay, Ivy, make it one week. He won't do that again, will you Theo?" Noel tucked my arm, eyes on Theo.

Oh, great. A minute ago they were rivals and now they're allies?

"I won't, I promise. I'm sorry Ivy."

And just like that, they were back to being soulmates and I was left in the kitchen with a handful of candies.

                            ▪️▪️▪️

"It's Saturday!"

I heard Theo growl and took my eyes off the bacon for a second.

"Are you both fighting?" I asked, grabbing a cup of coffee.

Recent situations got me believing that in seconds.

"No, Ivy. Today's Mira's mommy's birthday."

I nearly choked on my coffee and ran to the hallway.

"Seriously? Mira's mom's?"

Good lord, I should keep them away from Jake and his flirting charms.

"You don't remember my birthday!" Noel came out of his room with a glare.

"I do! She told me yesterday."

"Mr Romeo, you're seriously too..." I trailed off, looking at Noel. "The way things are going, he's gonna get a girlfriend way before you, Noel."

"Ew, I'm not like him. I'm cool."

Right.

"Yeah, yeah. It's Saturday!" I mocked Theo and turned my attention to bacon.

Maybe we could go to the cemetery and visit dad's grave. It's been a long time since our last visit.

Wait. It is Saturday! 

"Oh no, Theo?" I called out and he hummed.

"They haven't invited you to their house, did they?"

He thought about it for a second and then muttered a no.

"I think they don't have a party." He said as if it was the only reason he wasn't invited and I smiled.

"Good. Because we're going out with Zack on Saturday. That's today,"

Theo squealed with a tiny jump, mumbling something about how he forgot it.

Even, Theo forgot about this tiny plan. Did Zack?

I don't want my brothers to be stood up by anyone. So, I typed a text, wondering if he had changed his mind.

Free today?

I didn't have to wait long for the reply.

The rom-com guy: of course

What if he remembers about the birthday and cancels the plan?

'kay, boys are ready to hang out with their superhero (temporary one) I sent and called both of them for breakfast.

The rom-com guy: what can I say? I'm a charmer. (Permanent one)

That, he was.

The rom-com guy: also, aren't you ready? only them? OUCH. My self-centred heart is hurt.

That made me laugh.

How come everyone's behaving like Jake today?

"Who's it?" Noel asked with narrowed eyes and I smiled.

"Zack."

"I'm going to ask him to teach me to how to block a punch." Theo tried wiggling his eyebrows but failed miserably.

"That's way too many 'to' in it." Noel pointed out, calmly eating.

"Why do you need to block a punch when you've promised me that you won't fight?" I raised my eyebrows successfully at him and he gulped down his milk.

"I won't punch anybody. But what if somebody else punches me?"

Right. This five-year-old has a point.

"Self-defense, alright. Now eat."

Noel chuckled and Theo smiled, showing his tiny perfect set of teeth. And I grabbed my bag, mumbling a bye before going to work.

It'd be a lie to say I didn't think about our little outing until later in the evening. I mean, I did work but I had this in my mind the whole time.

"You look excited." Annie said when we were about to close and I shook my head.

I wasn't excited. Just slightly happy, maybe.

"I'm sorry for closing late today." She said and I smiled.

"You know I don't mind." And it was true.

"I would've let you go, but I'm a little dizzy from all those nasty medications and I need someone to make sure I'm not dead until my son is here to pick me up." She mumbled.

So dramatic.

"You're not going to faint and die because you took some pills for your back pain." I stifled a smile.

Our usual customer, a lady in her thirties whose name I always forget, called in earlier and asked Annie to wait for her. And because of that, we were still at the shop even when the clock struck half past six.

"I love sunsets." said Annie, closing the store as the woman left. And with a smile, she looked at the sky. "What's it they say? The only beautiful ending?"

I followed her gaze with a smile.

A beautiful ending, indeed.

The air getting colder, orange hues casting a beautiful glow on everything... Annie's right, sunsets are fascinating.

"Daydreaming?" She snapped her fingers and I hesitantly dragged my gaze off the seemingly empty sky.

"No."

"Yes, you were. Because you didn't even hear my phone ring." She said. "He'll be here in five minutes. Off you go, girl."

She waved a copy of Death on the Nile at me and shooed me.

"What if you get dizzy and faint?" I asked with a smile and she rolled her eyes.

"He'll find me soon, so I'll be fine."

Alright. I left with a smile and reached home to see Theo all set to go out. Well, Noel too.

"You can shower after we come back." Noel said before I could even open my mouth and Theo nodded.

"You don't stink anyway."

"Gee, thanks for the compliment." I muttered, shaking my head and asked them if I can eat something real quick.

Thankfully, I got approval.

"Where's Zack?"

"Oh, yeah, wait." I pulled out my phone and sent him a text.

Will the temporary superhero be coming today?

I smiled as the reply came instantly.

The rom-com guy: he's in your neighbourhood. Be there soon.

"Coming soon." I told the boys and Theo beamed.

"Where are we going? Park? Beach? Wait. Can we go to a movie?"

"Woah, Calm down."

"Superhero movie?" He asked, smiling. "Maybe a fighting movie."

So much for calming down.

"Well, we'll see. But I don't think Zack would be able to join us for a movie."

"Why?" Noel asked with a frown and I shrugged.

"He might have other things to do. We can't ask him to spend the rest of the day with us." And I've already lost an hour and a half by working late, so...

"Oh, okay." Noel nodded and I smiled.

He always understood everything. He was my little support system.

Theo had to impatiently wait for a minute before his car made an appearance.

"Ready?" He got out of the car, just to give them a high five and turned to me with a frown.

"Aren't you coming?"

"Yes."

He nodded back, corners of his mouth lifting into a smile. A sweet, genuine one. He looked down for a moment, messing up his already messy hair and I noticed that the smile was still etched across his face as he got in the car.

I was still smiling for god knows what when he looked at me with an amused smile and tilted his head.

Right. Car.

I should get in the car and not stand here like an idiot.

But when I followed his gaze, I saw that Noel had already opened the door for me.

"Very gentlemanly and cute. But please don't do it in front of Sasha." Zack told Noel and he chuckled. "Off we go, then?" 

"Aye, aye captain." I heard Noel say,

And I repeat, everyone's behaving like Jake today!

************

Thank you, my precious people, who're still reading this! 💜💜

I think this chapter was mostly about Noel and Theo 😝

By the way, I had something to ask. I need some suggestions,

Which is your favourite book you read on Wattpad?

Please do tell, so that I can try them😋😊

Be happy! 💕