"Aaron!"

Aaron looked back, and saw Ben running after him. "Hey, Ben. What's up?" he asked as soon as Ben caught up with him. "Hey, I have a long break today. Want to have lunch together?" Ben asked. Aaron nodded his head. "Sure, why not." he said. Ben let out smile. "Great! Let's go." 

He put his arm around his neck. "Wait. Let's check if it's Grace's break as well so she can join us." Aaron told him. Ben gave him a confused look. "Grace?" he asked. Aaron nodded her head. "Don't worry about her. For sure she's having lunch with her classmates." Ben said. Ben was ready to go, but Aaron stopped him again. 

"Can we check at her first, please?" Aaron told him. Ben looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Aaron, why are you being too protective of Grace?" Ben asked him. "I'm not being protective, all right?"

"You're too worried about her."

"I just want to make sure she's adjusting well here in school."

Ben scratched his chin as he looked at him. "Or maybe you like Grace now?" he asked. Aaron just laughed at him. "Of course not! Let's just say that I'm looking after her for Pets.  And she's new here. As her senior, I should take care of her, right?" Aaron said. Ben let out a sigh at him. "All right, whatever you say. Come on, let's go and see if Grace wants to have lunch with us." Ben said. 

Both of them went to the Foreign Studies building, and just in time, they saw Grace coming out of the building. "There she is!" Aaron said, smiling as he looked at her way. As he was about to approach her, he saw Sam walk up to Grace. "Hey, isn't that Sam?" Ben asked. Aaron didn't answer. 

Ben looked at Aaron, and saw his expression changed. He was smiling a while ago, and now, it's like he's ready to kill somebody. And that somebody is named Sam. "He doesn't listen, does he?" Aaron said as he pulled up his sleeves. Ben watched as he marched towards them. "A-Aaron!" he called him. He knew that when he did that, something made him mad. 

"Are you ready? Where do you want to go for lunch?" Sam asked Grace. He could see her cheeks turn pink as he gazed at her. "I... I don't know. What do you have in mind?" she asked. "I don't care about food. All I want is to spend some time alone with you..." he said. He let out a boyish smile as she held her hand. 

"Grace." 

Grace looked up, and saw Aaron in a frown. "Aaron!" she exclaimed. Then, she saw him glare at Sam. "Why are you with this guy?" he asked in a stern voice. "Sam asked me to have lunch with him today." she explained to him. "And you're really going with him?!" he asked angrily. Grace was surprised at his reaction.

"Why not?" she asked him. Sam looked at Aaron, and smirked at him. "So, if you'll excuse the two of us..." Sam said. He took her hand. They were about to leave, but Aaron stopped them by holding their hands. "Wait." he told Sam. Sam looked back at him. "Do you really think I'll let you have an alone time with Grace?" he asked. 

Sam let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes. "You have no right to be strict on her. Who do you think you are, her brother?" 

"I may not be Grace's brother, but I want to protect her from you, especially since I know what kind of a guy you are."

"What kind of a guy am I, Aaron?"

"You're a playboy. You dump girls you date as soon as you're tired of them. And if I know, you're using Grace to get back at Pets."

Grace was surprised at what Aaron said. "It can't be! Sam... I think he's sincere!" she told Aaron. The three looked at her. "Because if he isn't, he won't help me  catch the robber the last time to get back my friend's wallet." she said as she smiled at Sam. Sam just stared blankly at her. 

"Wait..." he said as he remember the incident. While he thought it was Pets that he helped the last time, turns out, it was Grace. "You're the one I helped the last time?!" he asked. Grace nodded her head. "Wow, I didn't know you could be someone's knight in shining armor..." Ben commented. 

Grace clasped her hands, and looked at Sam dreamily at him "He is..." she thought. "Whether Sam did something good to you, that doesn't mean that he can't hurt you in the future." Aaron told Grace. Grace pouted at him. 

Sam let out a loud sigh. "Look, Aaron.  You're wasting our time. I'm hungry, Grace is hungry, so let us have our lunch first before we deal with your ." he told him. Then, he pulled Grace away from Aaron. Grace looked back at Aaron and waved goodbye at him. Aaron could only sigh as he watched them leave. 

"I'm hungry too. Can we have our lunch?" Ben asked him. Aaron looked at him, and sighed. "All right, let's go." he told him. 

--

"Thank you."

Grace said to the waitress as she served their food. "Let's dig in!" Sam said before beginning to eat. Grace looked at Sam as he ate. "Sam..." she called. Sam paused, and looked at him. "Yes?"

"Is it true? What Aaron said?" she asked. "About what?" he asked as he continued eating. "That you're a playboy?" she asked. Sam stopped eating, and looked at her. "All right, there's no use hiding it. Yes, I am." Sam told her. "So, you had a lot of girlfriend?" she asked again. Sam nodded again. 

Sam could see the change in her expression into a sad one. "Why are you suddenly sad?" he asked. "Nothing. I just thought that Aaron might be wrong." Grace said sadly. Sam let out a smile. "That's who I am... even before you met me." Sam told her. "But I know you can change!" she told him with a smile. 

Sam smiled at him. "Why would you think of that?" he asked. "I know you're not really that kind of guy. Maybe, something happened in the past that's why you became a playboy. I know, when you find the right girl, you'll stop being a playboy." Grace said. 

Sam stared at her. He found himself amazed by her innocence and simple thinking, and how she could see through him. "A lot of people had been telling me that..." he dismissed. "But, what if you can, right?" she asked. He let out a sigh. "I don't think so. You know why I became a playboy?" he asked. Grace shook her head. 

"It's because I got heartbroken before..." Sam said. Grace was surprised at what he said. "I knew it! Something happened before to you. Because you got hurt, you decided to guard your heart and vowed not to love, am I right?" Grace asked. Sam could not believe Grace would guess that. "Yes, you're right." he said. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" she asked. 

"Remember Sylvia? Our friend from high school?" Sam asked. Grace nodded her head. Then, he smiled sadly. "She used to be my girlfriend. I was so in love in her back then. But, I did something stupid that hurt her."

"What is it?"

"My an old love came back. She wanted to get back at me because I was the reason her boyfriend died. Part of her revenge was to ruin my relationship with Sylvia, and she won. Sylvia caught us kissing."

"Why would you kiss her?"

"She kissed me. And then I got confused with my feelings."

He let out another sigh as he remembered what happened in the past. "I hurt Sylvia so much. I knew I had to be away to stop hurting her, so I went abroad for a while. When I realized how much it hurts to be away from her, I came back for her, but I was too late. She already had someone she loves. And she chose him over me." he said. 

"Do you still love Sylvia?" Grace asked. Sam paused as he smiled. "Do you want me to tell the truth, or to lie?" he asked. "I want to know the truth." Grace said. "I do. I still love her. She's the only girl I've ever loved. I haven't really moved on from her. Whenever I see her, it still hurts somehow... that I wasn't the one she chose to be with." Sam told her. 

Grace could feel her heart breaking with that truth. She knew she should have not asked that question to him. "T-then... the reason you had a lot of girlfriends is because you wanted to forget her, but you can't... right?" she asked. Sam nodded his head. She looked at him for a long time. She wanted to ask, if he had always been a playboy, and if he's still in love with Sylvia, does it mean that he didn't really like her? Was Aaron right, and that he's just using her to get back at her sister? 

But she didn't want to ask more questions. She know that whatever his answer is, it might just hurt her. 

--

Pets placed a cup of coffee in front of Aaron. It was her break from her shift, and she decided to join him. "What do you mean that idiot went out to lunch with my sister?!" Pets asked angrily. "He did." Aaron confirmed. 

Pets closed her fits, and slammed it on the table. "That ert... if he did something to my twin, I swear to God, I will strangle him, chop him up to pieces, and feed him to the piranhas!" Pets said angrily. Looking at her, Aaron couldn't help but laugh. "Has someone told you that you look cute when you're angry?" he asked her. "No. But I know I will look cuter when I get to punch the face of that idiot again!" she said. 

Aaron let out a laugh. "Don't laugh at me." she scolded him. "Pets, I know you're worried about your sister, especially since she went out with that guy. Let's just hope Sam doesn't do anything to her. Besides, he's not that bad."

"For Pete's sake, he's a playboy!"

"He only became a playboy after he broke up with Sylvia, all right?"

"But still."

Aaron let out a sigh. "Would you be at ease if I go look for your sister, and keep her away from Sam?" he asked. Pets looked at him. "You'd do that for me?" she asked. "What are bros for!" Aaron said with a smile. With that, Pets smiled at him. "Then, I'll leave Grace in your hand. Look after her, and make sure that idiot ert won't be able to get near her." Pets told him. Aaron gave her a confident smile. "I'll make sure of that." he said. 

--

Aaron was walking through the school's ground when he spotted Grace sitting alone at the bench. He decided to go and approach her.

"Grace?" he called. Grace looked up at him, and he saw the sad look on her face. This made Aaron worry. "What happened? Why are you sad? Did Sam did something to you?" he asked worriedly as he sat beside her. Grace shook her head. "Then, why the sad face?" he asked again. 

Grace let out a sigh. "I just realized, Sam is still in love with his ex-girlfriend..." she told him. "How did you know?"

"He told me."

"That made you sad?"

Grace nodded her head. "I thought he's flirting with me because he liked me. Turns out, he's just flirting with me." she said sadly. Aaron let out a sigh. From his bag, he took out two lollipops, and handed one to Grace. "Here, have it. It will make you happy." he told her. Grace paused, and stared at Aaron. Then, she took the lollipop from his hand. "How does he know that I eat lollipop when I'm sad to make me feel better?" she thought as she unwrapped it.

"You know, Sam isn't always like that before. He got hurt so he had to look tough outside. But I know, one day, if he find the girl that will change him, he will stop being a playboy." Aaron said. "I wish I could be that girl..." Grace said sadly. "Why not? If you can change him, you might be the last girl in his life. But that is if you can make him and your sister be in good terms first." Aaron said. 

"But why is Sam on my sister's bad side?" she asked. Aaron smiled. "From what I know, Pets had a crush on Sylvia too. And she thinks of Sam as her love rival. Also, I think it has something to do with their first meeting." Aaron said. "What happened when they first met?" Grace pried again. "Sam fell on top of her, and accidentally touched her s." Aaron told her. 

With that, Grace burst out laughing. Aaron let out a smile, seeing that he was able to make her smile. "I didn't know that! I'm sure Xiao Yue was so mad that time." Grace said in between laugh. "She is. So, now you understand why she's mad at Sam." Aaron said. Grace nodded her head. 

Grace looked at her lollipop, and then at Aaron. "Aaron, thank you for making me smile today." she told him. Aaron smiled at her. "Of course, what are friends for, right?" he said. "After Pets took me in, you had been so good to me. You're always looking after me." she added. 

Aaron smiled at her. "I promised your sister I'll look after you. As long as I'm here, I'll always help you." he said. Grace smiled at him. "Then, can we be best friends?" she asked. Aaron let out a laugh. "Are you sure about that?" he asked. Grace nodded her head. "Then, I'll be your best friend." he told her. 

He could see her face lighten up this time. "Promise?" she asked as she held out her pinky finger. He smiled, and hooked his pink finger with hers. "Promise." he told her.