When I reached the kitchen I was shocked.
Seeing the scene in front of me.
Percy was on Yuri's back.
And all four of them looked traumatised.
Aries and Keifer both were trying very hard not to look scared.
Percy was not even trying to hide the fact that he was terrified.
And well Yuri looked like a mix of disgusted and scared.
"What the hell happened? Why are you screaming like a little girl, Percyyyy?!" I asked them, trying to control my laugh.
Because seeing them like that, it was hard not to.
Then he pointed upwards towards the ceiling.
"There… look," he said in a low voice.
I narrowed my eyes to see where he was pointing.
I saw nothing so traumatising.
"WHAT?" I asked again.
"Are you blind? Can't you see it? It's literally there," Percy said.
"Huh?"
I narrowed my eyes again.
Just to see
A baby lizard.
"Aww look at that… how cute. Look at its tiny baby eyes… and look at how you all are reacting," I said.
That gained me four very, very judgemental looks.
Like I was an alien and had committed a crime.
"Eww Jay, it is disgusting. How can you find a LIZARD cute?!" Yuri said.
"It moved! It moved! Move back everyone!" Percy yelled.
And they all moved back.
"Wait… you all are literally scared of a baby lizard? A BABY lizard?" I said, no longer controlling my laugh.
"Omg hahahaha… you guys are like 6ft and that lizard is barely four inches. The one who should be scared is that poor baby. Imagine someone six times bigger than you screaming at you and jumping around. How would you feel?" I said.
"You are crazy," Keifer muttered.
"Jay how can you— AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Percy screamed again.
And now he was on Keifer's back.
Well because my little poor baby moved.
"OH GOD IT FELL! IT FELLLLL!" Percy yelled again.
And now me, mind you 5'1, was standing in front of them because apparently all the so-called men were scared of my poor baby.
"MOVE IT AWAY FROM ME!" Percy yelled while holding Keifer like his life depended on it.
"PERCY GET OFF ME YOU WEIGH LIKE A HIPPO," Keifer shouted trying to push him away.
"I AM IN DANGER RIGHT NOW YOU IDIOT."
Meanwhile the poor baby lizard was just sitting there like it regretted being born.
I looked at them and honestly I couldn't stop laughing anymore.
"Oh my god, you all are so dramatic," I said between laughs.
"Dramatic?" Aries looked at me like I had lost my mind. "JAY THAT THING HAS EYES."
"…you also have eyes?"
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT."
Yuri was standing the farthest away from the ceiling with the most disgusted expression ever.
"Just kill it."
My head snapped towards him so fast.
"EXCUSE ME?"
"It's a lizard, Jay."
"It's a BABY."
"It's ugly."
"You're ugly."
Percy gasped dramatically.
"She just defended the lizard more passionately than she has ever defended us."
"Because unlike you all, this baby has done nothing wrong."
"IT FELL FROM THE CEILING. THAT'S WRONG ENOUGH," Aries said while backing away again.
The lizard moved a little.
And suddenly chaos broke out again.
"AGHHHHHHH."
Percy nearly pushed Keifer to the floor.
Aries grabbed Yuri's arm.
Yuri instantly shoved him away.
"DON'T TOUCH ME."
"WE ARE ALL ABOUT TO DIE, YURI."
"FROM A FOUR INCH LIZARD?" I asked laughing again.
"Jay please," Keifer looked at me with tired eyes. "Do something before Percy actually kills me."
"Okay okay relax."
I walked closer to the counter while all four of them stared at me like I was walking towards a ticking bomb.
"Jay don't touch it with your bare hands," Yuri said.
"Why? Is it going to file a police complaint against me?"
Keifer snorted at that before quickly hiding his smile.
Caught you.
I grabbed a small container from the shelf and slowly moved towards the baby lizard.
"Come here little guy."
"WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO IT?" Percy whisper screamed.
"Because unlike you it has manners."
The lizard suddenly jumped a little.
And oh.
That was enough for the boys to lose their minds again.
Percy literally climbed onto the dining chair.
Aries almost ran out of the kitchen.
Yuri cursed under his breath and moved back.
And Keifer
Keifer grabbed my wrist suddenly and pulled me slightly back.
"Careful idiot," he muttered quietly.
For a second I just stared at him.
Not because he pulled me back.
But because he genuinely looked worried.
Before I could say anything he quickly let go of my hand and looked away.
"…it's literally smaller than my palm," I said slowly.
"Still."
And for some reason that one word made my heart act weird for half a second.
Disgusting.
Anyway.
I rolled my eyes dramatically before finally trapping the baby lizard carefully inside the container.
"GOT IT."
The kitchen went silent.
All four of them stared at me like I had just defeated a dragon.
"Holy shit," Aries whispered.
"She's insane," Yuri muttered.
"No," Percy said while looking emotional. "She's the chosen one."
I burst out laughing again before walking towards the back door.
When I opened it, the cold air hit my face softly.
I carefully let the baby lizard out near the garden wall.
"There you go little baby. Never enter this house again. These people are mentally weak."
"WE HEARD THAT."
I walked back inside grinning proudly.
"See? Nobody died."
Percy got down from the chair with fake dignity.
"I was never scared."
"You were literally shaking."
"That was anger."
"You almost cried," Yuri added.
"TRAITOR."
Keifer leaned against the counter shaking his head while laughing quietly.
And honestly?
That was probably the first time I had seen him laugh that freely.
For a second the whole kitchen felt lighter.
Then Percy pointed at the ceiling again.
"…wait what if the lizard had a family?"
Silence.
"…I hate you so much," Aries whispered.
"NO ACTUALLY WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?" Yuri immediately stepped away from the ceiling again.
I burst out laughing.
"Oh my god you all are actually traumatised."
Keifer crossed his arms.
"Jay this is serious."
"It's a baby lizard."
Percy pointed at me dramatically.
"Exactly. Babies mean parents."
"…you know what maybe the lizard should've stayed inside."
"JAY?"
Yuri opened the fridge while still looking suspiciously around the kitchen.
"We literally have nothing to eat."
"There's leftover pizza," Keifer said.
Yuri opened the box.
"There's one slice left."
Slowly everyone looked at Aries.
"What?" Aries asked casually.
"You ate the whole pizza?" Percy looked offended.
"I was hungry."
"There were eight slices."
"Skill issue."
I snorted quietly.
Then without thinking I asked,
"Wait… why did you even come to the kitchen in the first place?"
Aries looked at me for a second before answering casually,
"I was thirsty."
I stared at him.
Then suddenly I started laughing.
Like actually laughing.
Aries looked at me for one second before he started laughing too.
Not the fake annoyed laugh.
A real one.
Percy looked deeply confused.
"…what?"
"You remember?" I pointed at Aries while trying to stop laughing.
"The yellow bottle?" Aries said immediately.
That made me laugh harder.
"OH MY GOD YES."
"What yellow bottle?" Yuri asked.
Me and Aries looked at each other again before laughing once more.
"We were kids," I finally said. "And this idiot woke up at like 3am because he was thirsty."
"And someone," Aries looked at me pointedly, "had filled a yellow cleaning bottle with mango juice."
"It was NOT a cleaning bottle."
"It literally had 'floor cleaner' written on it."
"OKAY BUT I WASHED IT."
Percy looked horrified.
"…you made him drink from that?"
"I DIDN'T KNOW HE WOULD ACTUALLY DRINK IT."
Aries pointed at me dramatically.
"She handed it to me half asleep and said 'drink quietly before aunt Mira wakes up.'"
"And you drank it!"
"Because I trusted you!"
That made both of us laugh again.
For one second…
Everything felt normal.
Too normal.
Like before.
Before the awkward tension.
Before he started looking at me like he hated me.
For one stupid second I thought maybe things were finally okay again.
Maybe he was finally acting normal around me again.
God I'm actually so dumb.
Because it hit both of us at the same time.
The realization.
Aries slowly stopped laughing first.
Then he looked away.
And just like that the moment disappeared again.
"You know what?" I quickly opened the cabinet. "Forget pizza. We're making ramen."
"The spicy one?" Aries asked immediately.
"The black packet one."
We both said at the same time.
Automatically I lifted my hand up.
And automatically Aries high fived me.
…
The second our hands touched both of us froze.
Again.
That stupid familiarity.
The habit.
How easy it still was between us when neither of us was thinking.
Aries pulled his hand back quickly.
Too quickly.
Percy narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"No because you two are weirdly synchronized."
"People can high five normally," Aries muttered.
Right.
Of course.
The wall was still there.
Aries grabbed the ramen packet from my hand.
"You still don't know how to make this properly."
"I DO."
"No you don't."
"Yes I do."
"You almost burnt the kitchen last time."
"That happened because YOU distracted me."
"Skill issue."
I glared at him.
"You're actually annoying."
"And yet here you are."
For some reason that line made my chest hurt a little.
Keifer quietly watched the both of us while Yuri looked completely lost.
Meanwhile Percy looked invested like he was watching a drama.
"You both are actually exhausting," Yuri muttered.
"thank you," me and Aries said at the same time.
Percy pointed aggressively.
"SEE THAT. THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT."
This time even I went quiet.
Because suddenly it felt wrong again.
Like I forgot where I was for a second.
Forgot that this wasn't before.
Forgot that things changed.
Aries moved away from me slightly and started focusing on the ramen again.
And somehow that tiny movement hurt more than it should've.
Right.
This wasn't my place anymore.
This wasn't my group.
And maybe Aries realized that too.
.
.
.
Aries pov
The kitchen felt weirdly quiet after everyone left.
Percy, Yuri and Keifer went downstairs to the basement with their ramen bowls still arguing about the stupid lizard.
And Jay…
She took hers upstairs.
I leaned back against the counter quietly while staring at the empty bowl she left in the sink.
The whole kitchen still felt warm.
Warm enough to almost feel familiar again.
Annoyingly familiar.
I let out a quiet breath before running my hand through my hair.
God.
That stupid mango juice story.
I didn't even remember it till she asked me why I came to the kitchen.
And then suddenly it was there again so clearly in my head.
Her half asleep face.
That ugly yellow bottle.
Her whisper yelling at me to "drink quietly."
A small laugh almost escaped me again.
Almost.
Then I remembered the way she looked at me after the high five.
Like she thought things were finally normal between us again.
My jaw tightened immediately.
Idiot.
Why did she still look at me like that?
Why did she still try?
After everything.
I looked down at my hand for a second.
The same hand that automatically high fived her back without even thinking.
Like nothing changed.
Like we were still kids.
For one second…
I forgot too.
And honestly?
That was the problem.
Because every time things started feeling normal around her again, I remembered why they couldn't be.
The kitchen suddenly felt too small.
Too full of old memories I didn't want back.
I grabbed the towel Jay threw at me earlier and tossed it back onto the counter harder than necessary.
Then quietly muttered to myself,
"Stupid girl."
But this time it didn't sound angry.
.
.
.
.
.
A/N:
heyy loviesss 💗
Hope you all are doing okayyy!!
Pls comment down your thoughts, ideas and suggestions hehe I love reading them 🫶
Also ik this ch was a bit shorter than usual 😭 I was kinda out of ideas for this one but I still hope you all liked ittt.
And maybe I might not upload for some days because I'm going on vacation 👀✈️ but if I get time I'll definitely try to upload!!
Till then sayonaraaaa 💕