Nothing Between Us

the Story actually Starts here! or not

That steamy, hot summer started for us! The summer of love and red. AGAIN and AGAIN... a cycle

Until the surrounding air was thick with humidity and the scent of blooming flowers and freshly dead grass

again his eyes gleamed with the wisdom of ancient trees, the strength of mountains, carried by the breeze, a gentle warmth, a flicker of fire, a soul that burned with passionate desire.

it was more than I could have imagined. it was a lot more... I didn't know seeing him again would make me feel this way.

*hearing people talking in the living room*

"I think they've arrived!"I placed my phone on the table and slowly positioned my hands behind my back to help me get out of bed. My head is pounding because of the afternoon sun, and my vision is blurry. I haven't even gotten out of bed yet! As I place my legs on the floor beside my small bed, they tense up. I stand up and hear them talking in the distance, but their voices sound muffled, like the sound of my heater turning on. I walked to the door, feeling as if I had walked across the world just to say hi to them. I let out a sigh, thinking they should be pleased that I was doing this for them. My door makes a loud noise and I can hear them looking towards the hallway to see who it is. I look up and see them at eye level. The curtains are open, blinding me, so it takes a few seconds to scan the room. I saw him first, then the others. Oh! They're here!

We are all cousins! My younger brothers were adopted from my mom's sister (auntie); Neil, who is two years younger than me (13 years old), and Ben, who is four years younger than me (10 years old). Zeke is probably 12 years old and his younger brother Andrew is probably 10 years old. Charles is probably 11 years old. Since we are all close in age, I don't mind not knowing everyone's exact age.

During a gathering, I sat on the couch next to Neil and Zeke while they talked about random stuff. I was listening to them while also sending good morning texts to my boyfriend using my phone.

"Hey guys, since you guys just got here! Have you guys eaten yet?"

Zeke replied, "No, but I am hungry."

I got up from my seat and made my way into the kitchen. As I walked, I could feel the kids' eyes following me, as if they were waiting for me to bring them food. I couldn't help but smile at their eagerness.

I opened the refrigerator and shouted out, "There's some leftover food from yesterday, help yourselves!" Zeke and Charles quickly made their way over, trying to make as little noise as possible. One of the boys turned on the TV and started watching an anime. Curious, I walked over to take a look at what they were watching. It was Baki! I exclaimed, "Oh, you guys are watching Baki!" They nodded their heads in agreement, still glued to the TV screen. I then headed back to the kitchen to grab some food for myself. When I returned to the living room, each of the boys had gotten their food and were already seated, ready to watch the show. After we finished eating, I had to do their dishes! Ugh, so much work honestly!

They all decided to head over to the other house to play pool. Addam had brought it for the family, so they could all go against each other. Once I was done, I messaged my boyfriend to let him know that my cousins were over and I would be hanging out with them. He replied with an understanding message. I left the house to go to the other one where I found my cousins playing pool. I decided to join them, and we all played against each other. I couldn't help but steal glances at him as he minded his own business. The music playing in the background was to my cousin's taste, but I knew what kind of music he liked because he always had his white earbuds hanging in his ears.

As nights passed, we talked like cousins without any hesitation in my words. I enjoyed our conversations, and my attention was solely on him. His presence was all I could feel, and his words made the world come alive. The way he looked at me was intense, and I found myself unable to look away. It was just the two of us, lost in each other's company, while the world around us faded away. The surrounding colors seemed to blend, and I carefully picked each petal, holding them tightly, so none would fall. He noticed my carefulness and helped me out slowly.

Days went by and every day we grew closer to each other, creating little moments that meant a lot to us, at least to me. I forgot that I had a boyfriend, but I wasn't forgotten. I simply chose to ignore his presence. After all, it was just a summer fling and I wanted to have fun. However, my parents didn't allow me to hang out with him because we were from different ethnicities. My Asian parents were very strict. I tried to convince them to let me go to the movies with him and then come back home, but they refused even that. We couldn't see each other during the summer, which caused both of us to lose feelings towards each other. I knew this was going to happen because I didn't like him that way. He made me do things just to make him feel good. He even insulted me by telling me that my nose was big and that I didn't know how to take care of myself, and he was going to cry about it. I felt hurt, but we both agreed to break it off. We talked about it and it was a mutual decision. It wasn't anyone's fault. I stopped communicating with him because of Milo, which was wrong, but I don't feel bad about it. I was sad, but not to the point where I cried.

"Hey, Milo."

"Yeah?"

"We broke it off."

"Oh, okay?"

"Yeah..."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, can you get me some ice cream?"

"Yeah." He stood up from the floor where we were both sitting together. I was too focused on telling him that me and him had broken up to see his reaction. He seemed surprised and didn't even ask why. I wondered if he was happy or not. I finally realized he wasn't upset when he returned with the ice cream. The dim light illuminated his face as he handed the ice cream to me.