The secrets we keep [bxb]

Chapter - 14

Yuri's body was shaking when they walked down the stairs, his ears on full display while his tail trailed behind him. He felt nauseous as they heard their friends in the kitchen, making some breakfast by the smell of it. Yuri whimpered softly and leaned more into Rae's side, his knees wobbling in fear of being rejected again.

Rae stopped before they went in and turned him around so he could embrace him in a tight hug. Yuri frowned as he took a deep breath of Rae's scent to calm himself down.

Rae leaned down a bit to kiss his cheek. "It's gonna be fine, don't worry so much."

Yuri hummed, but still wasn't convinced. He was so scared. He really liked his new friends and wasn't ready for them to leave him like everyone else did in his life.

"Should I talk for you?"

Yuri bit his lip, wanting to say that he got it and would tell them himself, but knew he probably wouldn't even have the nerve to look them in the eyes. So he just nodded.

"Alright, let's go." Rae mumbled letting him go, his hand grabbing his to pull him along.

"Look who's here!" Thomas yelled from the kitchen counter as the three set of eyes landed on them walking in.

"Taking you're time in the mornings, huh?" Zara smirked, his eyes flickering to the boy hiding behind Rae.

Yara leaned back as she noticed her little friend hiding behind her brother. "You feeling okay, Yuri? Why you... —hiding." She asked, but forgot how to speak when she saw a black tail between Yuri's legs.

Zara frowned at her strange behavior and followed her eyes to see what she was so shocked about.

"Yuri." She whispered, seeing the shy boy cower even further in Rae's back at her voice. "You... —Why are you hiding?" She softly asked.

Rae felt Yuri shake against his back and smiled apologetically at his sister. "He want's to show you guys something before... I tell you the other part." He mumbled, looking over his shoulder to see his scared little mate hide in his shirt. "You ready?"

Yuri took a deep breath to try and calm down his poor heart, his tail wrapped around one of his legs as he was so scared. But he had too. He slowly stepped from behind Rae, just a little, but enough for them to see the cat ears on his head and the tail around his legs.

It was quiet for a second as all eyes were on the smaller male. Thomas looked from his friends to Yuri before a confused chuckle left his mouth. "Why is everyone staring? He's just... uh, wearing cat ears."

Yara shook her head, knowing it was real by the way the ears moved by every sound it heard. She slowly slipped off her stool to stand in frond of her brother, locking eyes to ask if it was okay. By which he nodded. Yara smiled at Yuri, though the younger never saw as his nervous eyes were focussed on the ground. "Hey, you know I would never judge you, right?"

Yuri nodded, but still pressed his face in Rae's arm the moment he knew she was that close. It made Yara frown sadly, wanting him to trust her and not feel so scared. "Then why are you hiding, silly?" She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

Thomas was confused while his two friends were quite serious about this. Did he miss something? It felt like he missed something important.

"I don't... w-want you to hate me." Yuri softly whispered, his voice shaky and vulnerable.

Rae's heart broke at his distressed mate's quiet cry, his other hand automatically brushing his cheek to help calm him down. Yuri leaned into his touch, his eyes slowly climbing up to Yara's face. And once he did, he could almost cry at the sight of her smiling face. Her grey eyes flickering from his ears to his face.

"Hey, there you are." She chuckled, feeling relieved he finally looked up at her, even if it was just for a few seconds. "They look really soft."

"They are." Rae mumbled, earning a slight punch from the younger, what caused the three friends to laugh. "Sorry."

"So... what are you?" She asked, quickly shooting Zara a glance who also shrugged not knowing.

"He's a Neko." Rae explained for him. "You remember history class Thomas's mother used to teach?"

Zara and Yara hummed, though Thomas only scrunched his nose at that.

"I guess I was the only one paying attention as you guys don't remember the chapter about Neko's." Rae huffed. "But I'm pretty sure he is one."

"That explains the purring!" Yara clapped happily, finding this very exciting.

"Y-you knew?" Yuri asked horrified, shocked to know he had slipped up somewhere.

"Yeah, the night you stayed over for the first time you... kind of purred in your sleep? Well, that's what we thought it was." Zara explained, instantly informing Thomas too about what was going on.

"Wait, so they are real?!" Thomas gasped, earning him glares from the others as Yuri shuffled behind Rae again. "Sorry, I just —That's so cool."

Yara scoffed with a chuckle before looking back at the smaller male. "They are, to be honest. So, you know, you don't have to hide them."

The soft sniffle took everyone off guard as they all frowned, scared to have offended the little guy in some way. Rae slightly panicked, turning around so he could face Yuri to see if he was alright. "Hey, hey. Why are you crying, baby?" He shushed softly, cupping the younger's face to wipe the tears away. "No need to cry."

Yuri shook his head, hiccuping. He wasn't sad at all, he was actually so relieved. "I-I'm h-happy." He hiccuped, hiding his face in Rae's chest again. Embarrassed for crying so much. Goddess, he was such a crybaby.

"You're happy?" Rae asked with a chuckle. "So... these are happy tears?"

Yuri nodded, wrapping his arms around his boyfriends waist so the older wouldn't let him go yet. Yara giggled at seeing the blushing face of her brother, noticing these two were very close for just two friends.

"Can I... touch them?" Yara carefully asked, not knowing if it was offending to ask that from a Neko, but also couldn't help herself as she was very excited.

Yuri slowly calmed down again and peeked from his hiding place to slightly nod, though feeling very nervous as her hand came closer. His ears laid flat against his head as she carefully touched them, the ear twitching in surprise. Yara smiled at that before slowly petting him, the feeling a lot less scary after Yuri got accustomed to it.

"So soft!" She squeaked, everyone noticing the tail that left its place around Yuri's leg to slowly lift behind his back. "And your tail! That little white dot is so cute."

Yuri breathed a smile at her words, the soft petting of Rae's hand on his back helping him calm down.

"Can I give you a hug, please?" Yara pouted after a few seconds, the scene making the younger smile and let out a cute giggle. He nodded and was immediately engulfed into a tight embrace of his friend, slowly rocking from left to right. "I'm so happy you told us."

Yuri felt his cheeks warm up when Yara suddenly squealed again, holding him by the shoulders to lock eyes. "You just purred! Oh, that was so cute. Do it again—"

"Yara." Rae laughed, shutting her up instantly when she followed his eyes and saw the red tomato face that was Yuri.

"Sorry, you're just so adorable, and you became even more adorable." She mumbled, letting him go.

"Yes, so now you know about that part. There is another part that... is kinda going to be a problem for us." Rae sheepishly chuckled while scratching his neck.

Sorry if there are mistakes in there, didn't really check yet but I'm happy and wanted to post :)

And thank you if you're still reading this book haha, it's my first english one that kind of did   'good'  :3