Jayjay's POV.
"HA! I'M WINNING!"
Someone yelled at the top of their lungs, completely shattering the quiet morning. Who the hell is ruining my sleep? I groaned loudly, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I forced them open.
I blinked, and my jaw dropped. What the... Why on earth were my two brothers in my room, using my TV, and playing my gaming console? And out of all the games, they were playing GRID 2: Mono Edition—literally my absolute favorite racing game!
Pure rage fueled my morning energy. I grabbed my two pillows, slipped out of bed, and stealthily marched up right behind them. With all my strength, I slammed a pillow down on both of their heads at the exact same time.
"Oww! Baby sista, what was that for?" Percy yelped, rubbing the back of his head.
I didn't even answer. I just reached down and snatched the controller right out of his hands.
"You're losing anyway, idiot," I scoffed. I shoved him out of his spot on the floor, sat down right next to Aries, and immediately took over the race.
Aries smirked, his eyes locked on the screen. "You're not gonna win against me, Jay."
"Oh, really?" I challenged. The words had barely left my mouth before I aggressively rammed my car into his. Then, I drifted around the corner and bumped him again, sending his vehicle spinning out of control.
"Good job, Jayjay! Smash him!" Percy cheered from behind us, throwing his hands in the air.
I smirked as the finish line came into view. Within seconds, my car crossed it first. Victory! I jumped up onto my feet and started doing a ridiculous victory dance right in the middle of the room.
"I won! I won, I won, I won!" I chanted, shaking my shoulders and laughing.
My two brothers stared at me for a second, shaking their heads and laughing at my antics. Then, without warning, they both jumped up and joined right in, copying my weird dance moves. If anyone walked into my room at that exact moment, they would definitely think the three of us were complete weirdos. But I didn't care at all. I was having way too much fun.
"Okay, okay, stop dancing now. Eat your breakfast first," Percy said, finally breaking the rhythm and pointing toward my nightstand.
I stopped dancing and looked over. A beautifully arranged tray was sitting there.
Aries smiled warmly, ruffling my messy hair. "Breakfast in bed today for our little girl."
My eyes lit up. "Whoa."
I scrambled back onto my bed, pulling the tray onto my lap, and immediately took a bite. It was delicious. I looked up at the two of them, my heart feeling completely full. "Thank you! You both are seriously the best brothers in the world."
They both laughed softly, looking at me with fond smiles.
Percy'sPOV.
Jayjay immediately started stuffing everything into her mouth at once, making her cheeks puff out into two round circles. She looked exactly like a cute little chipmunk, so I couldn't resist pulling out my phone and snapping a few photos of her.
"HEY!" she protested.
The second she spoke, the half-chewed food flew straight out of her mouth and landed squarely on Aries's face.
I instantly burst into roaring laughter, clutching my stomach.
"Ewww! Jay, yuck!" Aries yelled, leaping back in pure horror. He scrambled up and ran into her washroom at lightning speed.
"Serves you right!" I shouted after him, still wiping tears of laughter from my eyes. I looked over at Jayjay. She was frozen, wearing a deeply disgusted expression as if she was completely grossed out by her own accidental teamwork.
"Ewww, Aries!" she finally yelled when she came to her senses, rubbing her mouth.
"It's okay, worse things than this have happened to him," I said, shaking my head.
Just then, Aries walked back out of the washroom, his face soaking wet from where he had aggressively scrubbed his skin.
"What do you mean by that?" Jayjay asked, her curiosity suddenly piqued.
I glanced over at Aries with a mischievous grin. "Should I tell her?" I asked teasingly.
Aries violently shook his head. "Don't you dare, Percy," he warned, pointing a threatening finger right at me.
"Oh, I am definitely telling her. And lower your finger, little bro—I'm four years older than you," I reminded him, and he reluctantly dropped his hand.
"Tell me! Tell me!" Jayjay demanded, bouncing slightly on the bed.
My grin widened. "Alright, so back when you were only one year old, and Aries was about two years and seven months..."
"And?" she cut me off impatiently.
"Can you let me finish first?" I asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. She nodded quickly, shutting her mouth. "You had just learned how to walk back then. Aries decided to be a sweet older brother and picked you up in his arms. The idiot completely forgot that you had just chugged a full bottle of milk, and the moment he lifted you, you vomited directly onto his face."
Jayjay's eyes went wide.
"He panicked and put you down so fast that you almost wiped out on the floor," I continued, leaning back against the wall. "But right before you could fall, Keifer rushed over and caught you. He was only two years and three months old back then, but he still managed to save you. Me, Aries, and Keifer already knew how to talk and walk properly, while you were still just a baby, bumping into walls and babbling nonsense words. And you won't believe it—Keifer actually wiped your face and took care of you while Aries was practically bathing himself in alcohol to get the smell off, and I was stuck studying because I was a busy six-year-old."
I finally finished the story, and Jayjay slowly turned her head to look at Aries.
"Eww, Aries," she deadpanned.
Aries threw his hands up in frustration. "That should be my line!"
Jayjay burst out laughing at his reaction.
I chuckled, crossing my arms. "Man, someone's fiancé was incredibly protective even back then."
Jayjay's laughter stopped instantly, and she locked her eyes onto mine, giving me a terrifying death glare.
"Excuse me! I was only one and he was two! We didn't even know we were engaged back then, you idiot!" she yelled. In a flash, she grabbed her pillow and hurled it directly at my head, but I caught it effortlessly, laughing my head off.
We were just talking and laughing, enjoying the morning peace.
"Hey, hey, did I tell you what happened when you were abroad for business, and me and Jayjay were living together when she was thirteen and I was fourteen?" Aries asked, looking over at me.
I shook my head, immediately curious.
"So basically, when Jayjay came to fight here and cancel the engagement..." Aries began.
Flashback
Jayjay'sPOV
Kuya had just dropped the ultimate bombshell on me: he told me I had been engaged to that jerk Keifer since birth. Like, what the hell? I didn't even like him! And now? Here I was, storming back to my house, completely determined to cancel that engagement. If my parents didn't agree to call it off, I honestly didn't know what I would do.
I found out that Tita Serina and Tito Keizer were already at the house, but their son Keifer hadn't arrived yet. I sprinted inside, and right at the main gate, I spotted Keifer running in at the exact same time. We both halted, and our eyes met.
Pure hatred burned between us. It was no secret—we had never liked each other, and we absolutely hated each other's guts.
"What do you think you really are?!" I yelled at him, pointing a sharp finger at his chest.
"Me?" He scoffed, crossing his arms. "What do you think you are?"
"I don't want to marry you!" I snapped, crossing my arms defensively.
"I don't want to marry you either," he retorted. I clenched my fist, seriously about to punch him right then and there.
"I'm telling you right now, if this marriage is not cancelled today," I said, pointing my finger at him again, "I'm gonna burn you alive, Watson!"
He just smirked, completely unfazed. "You can't even do that."
His calm attitude made me even more annoyed. "You jerk! Idiot! Stupid man!" I yelled, turning on my heel and running straight into the house.
"Mom!" I called out loudly.
Mama and Papa both stepped out into the hallway. "What's going on, Jay?" they asked in unison, acting completely casual—as if they weren't making the biggest decision of my entire life without even bothering to tell me!
"That engagement, the marriage, and especially with Keifer—no way!" I declared, tightly crossing my arms.
"Hello, Tita. Is my mom here?"
That jerk had followed me inside and casually asked my mother.
"Hello, Keifer. Yeah, I'll just go call her," Mama replied. She quickly turned to Papa, whispering, "Come on." She practically dragged Papa away with her, leaving me and that jerk standing completely alone in the hallway.
At first, neither of us spoke, because neither of us wanted to breathe the same air, let alone have a conversation.
"Can you stop doing that?" he suddenly asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"What?! What's your problem!?" I asked, completely irritated.
"You're biting your lips and the inside of your cheeks, and I'm getting annoyed just watching you," he said.
"So what's it to you? I don't even want to talk to you, and here you are trying to start a whole argument. Jerk," I said, glaring straight into his eyes. He didn't look away either. It instantly turned into an intense, silent staring competition.
"Don't curse at me, or else," he warned.
"What will you do, huh? Gonna hurt me or try to scare me? You can't even touch me, and I'm not afraid of cowards!" I challenged.
"I don't hurt girls," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "And I know you're not afraid of cowards. But I'm not a coward, and I'm not even going to try and make you afraid."
"Then what is that 'or else' supposed to mean?" I demanded.
Before he could answer, someone suddenly grabbed my hand and quickly dragged me away toward my bedroom. I looked up and saw it was Aries.
"Aries!" I gasped, immediately throwing my arms around him and hugging him tightly. "I missed you so much."
He stroked my hair gently, rubbing my back with his other hand to calm me down. "I missed you too, Jayjay. But... can you do me a favor?"
I had a strong feeling I already knew what favor he was about to ask, but I wanted confirmation. "What favor?" I asked, pulling away slightly to look at him.
"Can you please just let this engagement happen? Please, Jay," he pleaded, looking at me desperately.
I stared at him, completely confused and hurt. "But Aries, this is about my whole life! They are making decisions for my future without even telling me!" I said, my voice cracking.
He gently held my arms, looking straight into my eyes. "Jayjay, just for now, please. If you cancel this engagement today, both the Watson and Mariano companies will face massive financial losses."
"But—"
"Jayjay, just for now," he cut me off gently. "In the future, me and Percy—your brothers—will handle everything and fix it. Please, just agree for now."
I bit my lip. I really didn't want the Watson and Mariano companies to suffer a huge loss, but this was my entire future on the line. It could make my future brighter, or it could ruin it completely. But on the other hand, this was my brother promising me he would protect me. What if he couldn't stop the marriage in the future? But what if he could?
I took a deep breath. "Fine," I muttered.
A massive, relieved smile broke across his face. I could only force a small, tight smile in return.
"Jayjay, I'm so sorry, but I promise I'll make it up to you," he said softly.
I nodded silently. We walked out of the room, and I tightly grabbed Aries's hand because my nerves were completely taking over. He gently squeezed my hand back, and the warmth of his reassurance made my anxiety lighten just a bit.
We walked into the living room where both families were talking and laughing. Seeing the relaxed atmosphere, I figured that jerk Keifer must have also agreed to the marriage, which was why everyone was celebrating.
The moment we entered, everyone went quiet and looked at me, waiting for my final answer. I shot a quick glance at Aries, and he gave me that same reassuring, supportive smile.
"I'm..." I looked at all the adults in the room, intentionally avoiding that jerk's gaze completely. "I'm ready. I don't object to this marriage anymore."
The entire room erupted into happy cheers and joy. I was only thirteen years old at the time, but in that exact moment, I felt like a twenty-year-old woman carrying the weight of the world.
End of Flashback
Jayjay'sPOV.
Before Aries could explain anything to Percy, I jumped in and told him every single detail myself.
"So... yeah, that's exactly what happened," I concluded, crossing my arms.
Percy blinked, looking back and forth between me and Aries with a shocked expression. "You promised her that we would cancel this engagement in the future?" Percy asked Aries. He then turned his gaze back to me. "So, what now?"
Aries looked at me guiltily. "Actually—"
"I don't want to end the engagement anymore," I answered, cutting Aries off before he could dig himself a deeper hole.
Percy just nodded slowly in response, assessing my expression. "You sure about that?" he asked.
I nodded firmly. "Positive."
A mischievous glint instantly appeared in Aries's eyes. "Oh, ho! So someone has officially fallen in love with her fiancé!" he teased.
Right on cue, both he and Percy started tag-teaming to tease me.
"Hoi! Keep talking and I'll kick both of you!" I threatened, my cheeks starting to burn. But of course, they didn't stop.
"Love!"
"Keifer!"
"Love!"
"Keifer!"
They were both chanting at the exact same time, their voices overlapping so much that I couldn't even tell who was saying "love" and who was shouting "Keifer."
Frustrated, I grabbed my fresh clothes and stomped into the washroom to escape the noise. I changed into a comfortable white hoodie and black trousers. When I finally walked back out, I hoped they would be over it, but nope—they were still sitting there, tracking my every move with giant, teasing grins.
"If you say that shit one more time, I swear I'll hit you with this!" I snapped. I leaned down and snatched a heavy slipper right off the floor, raising it like a weapon.
Seeing that I meant business, they both immediately threw their hands in the air, backing up toward my bedroom door.
"Keifer!" Percy shouted.
"Love!" Aries yelled.
And with that, they bolted out of the room.
"Get back here!" I roared, chasing after them down the hallway. I started hurling every single shoe that came within my reach, but the two idiots kept dodging them, laughing like manic hyenas.
They finally reached a dead end right outside Mama and Papa's bedroom door. They trapped themselves against the wall, and I skidded to a halt right in front of them, breathing heavily with the final slipper tightly gripped in my hand.
"Nowhere left to run," I smirked wickedly, aiming right for them.
I launched the slipper with full force. But at the exact millisecond the slipper left my hand, the boys ducked down perfectly, and Papa's bedroom door swung wide open.
Papa stepped out into the hallway—and the slipper landed SMACK straight against his eye.
The entire hallway went dead silent. The boys froze on the floor, and my heart dropped into my stomach.
Oh, we are so dead.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"AHHHHH!"
Papa let out a dramatic shriek as Mama pressed the ice bag down on his eye a little too hard. She was so busy scolding the three of us that she wasn't even looking at what she was doing. If she had just focused on the ice bag instead of lecturing us, Papa might actually survive the morning.
"Jeana, gentle..." Papa pleaded, his voice cracking as he winced.
"Oh! Sorry, sorry," Mama muttered, finally shifting her full attention back to patching up his face.
The second that flying slipper had connected with Papa's eye, Mama had marched out of the bedroom like a storm cloud and immediately started tearing into us. Right now, Papa's eye was already turning a lovely shade of light purple and black. Just a little. And the three of us? We were standing in a neat line right in front of them, taking the heat.
True to form, my idiotic, lunatic brothers had subtly shifted their weight, pushing me right into the middle so I had to stand in the direct line of fire while they guarded my left and right sides. Cowards.
"Just get out of my sight!" Mama finally snapped, waving her hand toward the hallway.
We all let out a collective sigh of relief and turned to bolt, when her voice rang out again.
"Stop."
We all froze mid-step and slowly turned back around like guilty puppies.
"Your punishment is to do the dishes together," Mama commanded, pointing a stern finger at us. "Percy, you handle the soap. Jayjay, you rinse the dishes. And Aries, you put every single dish back in its proper place."
We all nodded rapidly, agreeing to anything just to escape the bedroom. We practically scrambled down the stairs and headed straight for the kitchen. We immediately fell into our designated spots and started working. But as the water ran, the reality of the situation finally hit me.
"You both are literally the worst," I muttered, aggressively passing a wet plate to Aries. Percy handed me a soapy mug, and I glared at him. "You always make trouble and then tag me along for the ride!"
"Us?!" they both exclaimed in perfect unison, looking completely offended.
"It's entirely your fault, Jay," Aries argued, stacking the plate.
"How is it my fault?!" I asked, my voice rising.
"If you hadn't started raining slippers and every single shoe in the hallway on us, that would have never happened!" Percy pointed out.
"Excuse me?!" I gasped. "If you guys hadn't been teasing me like absolute bullies, I wouldn't have been throwing slippers at you, and Papa's eye would be completely fine right now!"
To emphasize my point, I snatched the soapy mug from Percy and thrust it toward Aries so harshly that it slipped right through our wet fingers.
CRASH!
The mug hit the hard kitchen tile and shattered into a million pieces. The three of us jumped back instantly, staring down at the broken porcelain in absolute horror.
"It's your fault!" we all yelled in unison, simultaneously pointing our fingers at each other.
"What the..."
A deadly, quiet mutter came from right behind us. We all stiffened and slowly turned around. We weren't wrong. It was Mama, standing in the kitchen doorway with her arms crossed, looking like she was about to explode.
"Before I completely lose my patience..." Mama whispered, her eyes narrowing dangerously. Then, she pointed squarely at the front door. "Just go OUT OF THE HOUSE!"
We didn't need to be told twice. We bolted out of the kitchen, sprinted through the living room, and practically burst out the front door. We didn't stop running until we were blocks away, finally skidding into a nearby park. Completely breathless and laughing out of pure adrenaline, the three of us collapsed right onto the green grass.
"Oh God, why do I have the most stupid, idiot brothers?" I muttered under my breath, making sure it was just loud enough for them to hear.
"Oh God, why do we have such a brainless, violence-loving sister?" they both fired back in perfect unison.
Smack! Smack! I immediately slapped them both across the back of their heads. "I'm a violence lover, right?" I asked sarcastically, crossing my arms.
"Yeah, you totally are," Percy groaned, rubbing his neck.
"No, you're not a violence lover," Aries corrected softly. Percy shot him a confused glare, but Aries quickly grinned. "You're obsessed with violence."
Before the words could even fully leave his mouth, Aries bolted across the grass.
"Come back here, you jerk!" I shouted, sprinting right after him.
"I'm not stupid!" he yelled back over his shoulder, which only succeeded in annoying me even more.
"You are stupid!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
"Jayjay!" Percy called out from behind. I glanced back and saw him holding my phone up with a massive, mocking smirk on his face. "Keifer is—"
He didn't even get to finish his sentence. I instantly changed direction, charging at Percy and aggressively hitting his arm. "You stupid, idiot, jerk! I don't know what the hell you're doing, but whatever it is, it is not my choice!" I yelled, flailing my arms at him. Percy just laughed, blocking my clumsy hits with his forearms like it was nothing.
Realizing he couldn't win by just standing there, Percy took off running too, joining Aries on the other side of the park. And me? I was chasing both of my idiot brothers across the open field like a total fool.
Then, disaster struck. My foot caught the edge of a jagged rock, and I went flying forward, landing face-plant directly into the dirt.
The physical pain in my nose, combined with the pure frustration of the morning, was too much. I stayed face down in the grass and actually started crying.
The laughing stopped instantly. The boys halted their escape and turned around, looking at me with wide, panicked eyes. Slowly and cautiously, they crept back over to where I was sprawled out and knelt down on the grass right beside me.
"I'm going to tell Papa on both of you," I sobbed into the grass, sniffing loudly.
As I kept up the waterworks, I realized just how close their heads were to mine. Perfect. Switching to a total fake cry, I stealthily raised both of my hands through the grass. They were so distracted by my tears that they didn't even notice my movements. In a split second, I lunged upward and grabbed a fistful of hair on both of their heads.
"See? Karma hits hard, boys!" I cackled, aggressively pulling and circling their skulls.
"JAYJAY!" they both yelled in agony.
"LET GO! MY HAIR IS GOING TO FALL OUT!" Aries screamed, trying to pry my fingers loose.
"IF I GO BALD, YOU ARE LITERALLY GONNA HAVE TO DONATE YOUR HAIR TO ME!" Percy roared.
Satisfied with my revenge, I finally let go of them and burst out laughing.
My brothers sat there rubbing their sore scalps while I laughed right in their faces. Suddenly, the two of them leaned in close and started whispering to each other. Even though I was sitting right next to them, I couldn't catch a single word. Dang it!
After a few seconds of scheming, Percy pulled his phone out of his pocket, tapped the screen, and held it out in front of him as if he were making a call on speakerphone.
"Hey, Keifer, man," Percy spoke into the mic, his voice dripping with fake tragedy. "Do you know what your violence-obsessed fiancée just did to her handsome and honorable brothers?"
I let out a loud, mocking laugh. "Nice try, idiots! He's obviously going to take my side," I said proudly.
But then, Aries smoothly pulled a pair of wireless earbuds out of his pocket, handing one to Percy. They both popped them into their ears.
"Wait, you're actually coming over?!" Aries almost shouted, looking directly at the phone.
Panic flared in my chest. No way. I lunged forward, throwing my entire weight at them, and snatched the phone right out of Percy's hand. I scrambled back and looked down at the screen, ready to yell at Keifer—only to see the display was completely black.
They were pranking me.
"You stupid idiots!" I yelled, shoved the phone back into Aries's hands. Because I threw it so fast, it slipped from his fingers and landed right on the grass. Thankfully, it didn't break.
Percy reached down to grab it, but before his fingers could even touch the glass, a small, hyper dog dashed out of nowhere. It scooped the phone right up in its mouth and bolted across the field.
Percy and Aries froze for a split second before chasing after the tiny thief.
"Percy, your phone!" Aries yelled as they ran.
"I know that's mine!" Percy snapped back, his voice cracking with anxiety.
I collapsed backward onto the grass, howling with laughter as I watched my two older brothers practically sprint a marathon across the park.
"My phone! Get back here!" Percy cried, picking up his pace until he looked like an Olympic sprinter. Aries eventually gave up, slowing down to a halt and collapsing onto the grass, panting heavily.
"Karma for teasing your sister!" I yelled out at the top of my lungs.
Aries ripped up a handful of loose grass and threw it at me, but it didn't even reach my feet. I just laughed harder.
After a few more minutes of agonizing running, Percy finally returned, drenched in sweat and panting so hard he could barely stand. Just as he collapsed beside us, the distant, cheerful jingle of an ice cream truck echoed through the park.
My eyes lit up. "Ice cream! Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!" I chanted, clapping my hands excitedly. I turned to Aries, giving a stern nod. "Go buy me one. Order up."
"I'm not going," he groaned, burying his face in his arms.
I turned my gaze to Percy. "You go."
He shook his head aggressively. "No way."
"Fine," I sighed, crossing my arms and narrowing my eyes at them. "I'm just going to go home and tell Papa and Kuya Angelo that you guys mistreated me. Are you both forgetting how Kuya Angelo shakes you upside down like a soda can when you mess with me?"
The memory hit them instantly. They both bolted upright, looking at each other in pure terror before turning back to me.
"Fine," they both sighed in defeat.
I clapped my hands in victory. They both reached into their pockets to pull out their cash, but the moment their hands went inside, their expressions completely changed.
"Uh... Jayjay, we forgot our wallets at home," Percy said, looking sheepish.
"How can you forget your wallets?!" I asked, thoroughly irritated.
"The frantic way we ran out of the house to escape Mama, do you honestly think we remembered to grab our wallets?" Aries asked sarcastically.
I groaned, flopping back onto the grass. "Whatever, I still want ice cream."
The two of them sighed, digging deeper into their pockets to see if they could find anything. They sat down on the grass, emptying whatever they had left.
"I have some coins," Percy muttered, dropping a few shiny coins onto the grass.
"Me too," Aries added, adding his loose change to the pile.
I stared at the tiny metal pile and sulked. "This isn't even enough for a single ice cream cone."
"Don't you have any coins?" Percy asked, looking at me hopefully.
I rolled my eyes but stuck my hands into my hoodie pockets anyway. My fingers brushed against something crisp and folded. My eyes widened as I pulled it out. Whoa. It was a wad of cash! The allowance money I thought I had lost last weekend was hidden in this exact hoodie the entire time!
A massive smirk spread across my face as I slapped the cash down onto the grass. "Go buy it now," I ordered.
Their eyes lit up. They snatched the money and sprinted toward the ice cream truck while I waited impatiently. A few minutes later, they walked back carrying three perfect ice cream cones, handing my favorite flavor over to me.
We sat side-by-side on the grass, quietly eating our treats. About five minutes passed, and the sky began to fade into a dark evening shade. Suddenly, Aries's phone started vibrating loudly on the grass. He picked it up, glanced at the caller ID, and his eyes went wide with fear.
"Mama," he whispered.
He quickly answered and tapped the speakerphone button, placing it gently back down on the grass between us.
"Where the hell are the three of you, and what the freaking hell are you doing?!" Mama's voice boomed through the speaker, making us all flinch.
Aries cleared his throat nervously. "Well, for your first question, we're at the park. And as for the second question... we're eating ice cream."
"Come home right this instant! Look at the time!" she shouted through the line, and before any of us could apologize, she slammed the phone down, ending the call.
We all stared at the blank screen, gulping in unison. The ice cream sweetness was officially gone.
We finished eating our ice cream and slowly started walking back toward the house. None of us had brought a car, and we definitely didn't have any energy left to run. Halfway there, my legs felt like actual jelly. I couldn't take another step, so I just collapsed right there on the side of the path, sitting flat on the ground.
"Jay, get up," Aries urged, stopping in his tracks.
"I'm too tired. I literally can't," I whined, looking up at him miserably. I held out my hands and opened my arms wide. "Carry me."
Aries looked over at Percy, letting out a heavy sigh, but he didn't refuse. He bent down in front of me, and I happily hopped onto his back. He stood up and started walking, carrying me effortlessly. We made it about halfway before Aries's pace slowed down. He gently slid me off his back and turned to Percy.
"Your turn," Aries panted.
Percy sighed dramatically, but he bent down anyway. I jumped onto his back next, wrapping my arms around his neck as he carried me the rest of the way.
By the time we finally reached the house, I was still hitched onto Percy's back. We quietly shuffled inside, and he walked straight into the living room, unceremoniously dropping me onto the large couch. Percy collapsed directly onto the floor, completely wiped out, while Aries slumped heavily into the small armchair.
Right on cue, Mama marched into the room, her mouth open and ready to deliver the scolding of a lifetime. But she stopped dead in her tracks the second she saw the state of us—Percy sprawling on the floor, Aries looking half-dead in the chair, and me curled up on the sofa.
The anger vanished from her face. Shaking her head, she simply signaled with her hand for us to come to the dining table.
We understood the assignment. We dragged our tired bodies into the dining room and ate our dinner in total, peaceful silence. No one had the energy to speak, let alone argue.
The moment dinner was over, we immediately retreated to our own rooms. As soon as I stumbled through my bedroom door, I didn't even bother changing. I dropped straight onto my bed and fell fast asleep, still wearing my comfortable white hoodie.
The End 🌸.