17

“We are back!”

Hebe called out to see Gui ran over, hugging her tightly. Mike sneaked pass them and put the groceries on the table, taking his time organizing while he looked around, wondering where his brother was. “Where’s Aaron?” Gui pulled away and smiled. “He’s downstairs.”

“Why he doing downstairs? As far as I know, downstairs is an ‘no boys zone.’ It’s yours and Hebe’s spac–” Hebe gasped as she stared at her little sister, telepathically asking her if they did anything mischievous while they were gone. Gui giggled as she hit her arm, slightly embarrassed that this topic came up. “Why did you guys think about dirty things?” Gui asked as she bit into an apple. “I can assure you, nothing happened... nothing will ever happen...” She whispered as Hebe walked over to her, pulling her into an embrace. Hebe always thought that Aaron and Gui had the best relationship, they were like a couple without an official announcement. They could be the cutest couple that many people will envy. But at this point in their life, being in a relationship would be dangerous.

Just when Hebe and Gui pulled away, Aaron walked through the door, took a banana and bit into it. Mike stared at him, signalling him to help out with the groceries but Aaron ignored him.

“Are you mad?”

“I’m not mad.”

“Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are!”

“NO I AM NOT.” Aaron shouted out as he stomped upstairs, slamming the door loudly as Hebe and Mike stared at one another before turning their attention to Gui who kept her composure, trying not to do anything that was out of character. “I’ll check up on Aaron.” When they heard the door close, it was a sign that Mike was already in the room with Aaron. Hebe grabbed Gui’s hand, squeezing it tightly as Gui’s tears came out. “Jie... I don’t want to do this anymore... I really... don’t...” She whispered as she continue to cry on her shoulder.

“Jie knows... but we have to do this... I won’t ask what happened after we left, if you want to tell anyone, I’m always here for you. But Gui, keep in mind that we are only doing this to protect them. No can know about–“ Our tattoo. “I know Jie... but I don’t know how long I can do this for... we have been running for so long and I thought that seeing them would be enough... but the more time we spend with them, the more I find myself biting my lips, not wanting to say a word of why and how we became like this. Hebe Jie... this is hard... what if I cannot control myself and it accidentally slips out?”

Gui had a point. The more time they spend with them, the greater the risk of putting them in danger was. Hebe’s hand continued to touch her heart, wondering what she was feeling. All she knows is that she needs to fight against her conscious and believe that she isn’t developing any feelings. “Then we have no choice but to knock them out cold and force them to forget!”

“HEBE!”

“I know I know, I just want to make you feel better.” Hebe hugged her. “When the time comes, if they find out, what would they do?”

................

Mike walked in to see Aaron laying on his bed with his arm covering his eyes.

“So Gui... huh? That’s... nope, I expected it, I swear I seen it coming.” Mike said as he laid on the bed beside him, staring at the ceiling. “I asked Gui if she wanted to runaway with me, she rejected me. When she hesitated, I thought she was going to agree but she kept telling me to forget her. Why? Why is it so damn important to her? No, them! They keep telling us to forget... HOW COULD I? I spent most of my time wanting them to back in my life. How can they just think about themselves and not about us?”

“Bro.. don’t you see it? The reason why they keep telling us to forget is because they don’t want us to get involved. I will admit, I was going to flip a table when all they kept on saying was the word ‘forget’. But I tried to look at it in their perspective and I can somewhat understand why they are telling us to.”

“All I ever wanted was to see her again, it has been a long time since we last seen each other.”

“Bro... Give them time. Although I’m not sure what time will do, if time is on our side, then they’ll warm up to us, just like before.”

“And if it isn’t on our side?”

“It can only mean one thing, we lost.” Mike said out flatly, getting up to head for the door. Before he walked out, he turn to look at his brother. “You and Gui has always been understanding of one another since you guys are close. You guys will regain that bond back, just like the past. Only this time, you will be the one who will be gluing the pieces back together.”

When Mike left the room, Aaron sat up as his eyes looked out the window. “What do I have to do?”

................

Gui walked back and forth, wondering if what she was doing was the right thing to do. She never wanted Aaron to think she didn’t want to be friends with him, she wanted to tell him not to get too attached because she wasn’t here to stay. There will come a day when she will have to leave and go back to hiding. ‘Okay Gui, just barge in his room and tell him your thoughts.’ She swallowed her fear of running away and pushed the door opened. She closed her eyes, hoping he wasn’t in his room but to her shock, he was in front of her. Not only was he looking at her, he surprised her so quickly that she felt her face turn red after her eyes landed on him. She was about to turn around and leave when Aaron held onto her hand, holding her back as she felt her heartbeat faster. “Damn you... Aaron Yan.”

She cursed under her breath as he twirl her around so that he could meet her eyes. Just like earlier, she could smell the scent of his intoxicating cologne, blocking her conscious as she render herself an silent surrender to him. “Gui...” He whispered as she quickly turned around to look somewhere else, afraid of where her eyes would go if they were to cross paths with him.

“Aaron... clothes... put.. your... clothes... on... I can see bare... skin...” She whispered as he looked at himself. He was only wearing a towel covering his bottom but to Gui, it was a sight where Gui never thought she would witness. Her best friend! Why did he have to do this? No wait, this was her fault.. If only she hesitated a bit longer... Aaron walked over to his drawer, quickly putting it on as Gui sighed a relief.

“I am sorry for my reaction earlier, although I will not take back what I said. I said it for the benefit of both of us! I cannot, no, I won’t runaway with you because I don’t want you to get pulled into this situation any more than you already have. You might not know it but this is for the best, I want to give you the freedom of being free not held captive. So when this is all over, forget about everything.“

Aaron knew where his strengths and weakness were and how to control himself from becoming a beast, but somewhere in between the line of being gentle and rough, he would give into his temptations and block his conscious, thus, he found himself walking the path of the uncontrollable. Temptations was like being possessed.

“What I am trying to say is we can, no, we are friends and I want to stay friends with you. Although my mind and my conscious aren’t in complete agreement with me, I believe that this is the right choice. I remember the Aaron that was always so nice and charming. But now, he is like the person that– no, what I am trying to say is that Aaron... You are torturing me right now.. Do you know how? It’s because just standing in front of you is making me uneasy, I don’t know why, oh my gosh, I don’t think I am making any sense. You’re clouding my judgment! Damn, you are–“ In an instant, everything at that moment blocked their senses as he kissed her, as gentle as he was, Gui could feel his feelings when his lips fell on hers. He had the power to make the purest girl crave his touch, his voice, everything about him was calling out.

Just a kiss, it was just a kiss. But Aaron got a little too greedy when his hands slowly went up her shirt which alarmed her. She gave out a scream as she mustered all her strength to pull him away. Her knees gave in as she leaned against the wall while Aaron eyes widen, pulling himself back to reality.

“... what have I done... Gui.. I’m so sorry.... I’m so sorry.” He kept repeating the words of regret as her arms wrapped around her. Aaron wanted to do something to calm her down, to reassure her that it was okay, to go back, rewind back. Prevent what he did from happening but when he came close to Gui, she screamed. There has always been limits, she was always afraid of this and for Aaron, he was regretting giving into temptations. If only he had kept his mind together, Gui wouldn’t be like this.

“I knew it... you are scared of me... I’m so sorry Gui... I don’t know what happened to me.. I swear, I won’t do this ever again....”

Aaron ruffled his hair out of frustration, he brought it on himself and he knew that.

As time passed, she sat there trying to calm herself down. She wanted to do something for Aaron because they haven’t seen each other in a long time and all she kept saying to him was ‘forget everything’. For everything to make sense, she tried to view the situation in his perspective. But what he did, she can’t understand why he did it, why? How would you feel if someone dear to you found you? After all these years, he found you. But these years can change a person, Gui isn’t who she used to be. After many years... he found her. But that only complicated the entire situation because he wanted to be with her while the only thing she wish for was to keep him safe. Away from the world that became their nightmare... Was it too much when Gui and Hebe asked for them to stay away?