Life and Death

Chapter 5

"Eden, I would like you to meet my older brother, Seishi," Alex gestures towards him as his brother sets the pizza on the table and turns around.

HOLY FUCK. I'M INTERNALLY SCREAMING.

"Hello there," Seishi gives a bright smile, his blue eyes focusing on you.

I was not prepared, I was not prepared, I was not prepared, I was not prepared... "Ah, hello. Oh, my name i-is Eden." NO EDEN YOU STUTTERED. WHAT HAPPENED TO "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT MEN."

"What a pretty name. Like Alex said I'm Seishi, his older brother." His voice is so smooth and deep. It reminds me of chocolate.

NO, EDEN. WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? You cannot do this to Alex. I'm sure they are tired of hearing how hot their brother is. But oh. My. Fucking. God. No way these two are related.

"Eden will be staying with us for a few days while her parents are on a business trip," Alex says to Seishi.

"Hmm," Seishi hums.

WTF IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN. No. Eden pull yourself together. You don't care what he thinks or what he does Eden. You are a strong, independent woman. Take a deep breath.

"Hey, I'm going to go get mom, do you two mind setting the table?" the older brother says while walking towards the kitchen door.

"Yeah, we can do that," Alex responds. They go to the cabinet and pull out four plates.

I go on the opposite side of the kitchen to another cabinet and pull out four forks. It's crazy, I've been here so many times that I know this house as if I've lived in it my whole life. I make my way over to a shelf where napkins are placed and pull four from the pile.

Alex sets the plates down and you set the napkins to the left of them, then the forks on top of the napkins.

"Sooo, what do you think of Seishi?" Alex looks at me questionably.

Are they trying to see if I think Seishi is hot? Probably. I bet Alex has all kinds of people throwing themselves at their brother. I don't really want to be one of them.

"He's nice." I state.

Alex raises an eyebrow, "Is that it?"

"Yes?" I say uncertainly, not sure what Alex was getting at.

"I saw the way your cheeks burned when you first saw him. It's ok to think my brother is hot you know."

"I-what?" I was speechless. Was it that obvious? Could his brother tell?

"So, for the wedding dress I was thinking simple and plain, but elegant," they say in a teasing manner.

"Oh my god stop. I just met him," I say while rolled my eyes.

"Yet your already head over heels for him," they smirk.

"No- "

"Head over heels for who?" Ms. Covent asks while walking in with Seishi right behind her.

"Oh no one, we were just joking mom," Alex laughs awkwardly. I silently thank the gods that Alex is here.

"Oh ok."

We all sit down at the big circle table. Alex is to the right of me while Seishi is on the left, their mom is across from me.

Alex starts to grab slices of cheese pizza with no hesitation. The rest of us follow suite soon after.

I can't remember the last time I've had pizza. My parents are all about being healthy and not eating any junk food. Ever. We are practically vegan at my house. Most of the time there's nothing wrong with it, but I sometimes crave other things with a different color than green.

"So, when is the next time you're going out, Seishi?" the blonde woman asks.

"Uh, I was going to go out tomorrow, if that's ok with you." Seishi responds.

"Yes, but don't forget it's Eden's birthday on the 21st."

Oh no, Alex has that look again. The one that always seems to get us into trouble.

"Ok," Seishi says.

Seishi looks at me, then to Alex. His face turns suspicious when he sees Alex's expression. It seems like he also knows this look well.

"Where are you going?" Ms. Covent asks her son.

"Just out with some friends. We'll probably get some food and hang out at one of their houses. That's all."

I hear Alex mutter something under their breath. It sounded like the word liar. I then hear Alex being kicked followed by a small groan from their mouth. Whatever they said Seishi was not happy with, nevertheless the older brother's smile never faltered.

"Alex are you alright, honey?" Ms. Covent asks with a concerned expression on her face.

"Never been better," they reply with a smile.

--<-<-<@Time skip--<-<-<@

I was with Alex on their bed watching movies. One of my favorite movies was playing: Gremlins.

I turned my head towards Alex, "Why did you say that Seishi was a liar at the dinner table?"

They kept their gaze on the screen, "Because he is. He said that he was going to go to a friend's house and that was all, but I know where he's actually going tomorrow." A sly smile slowly creeps its way onto Alex's face, "I have inside information that we can use to our advantage."

"I see. Wait a damn minute. We? Both of us aren't French therefore there is no "we" here. I am not getting into a situation that is hard to get out of because of you."

Alex turns to me abruptly.

"I want to help you."

"What?" I ask confused. "Help me with what?"

"Help you win my brother's heart," Alex says nonchalantly.

"Why though?" I am in utter confusion by what Alex is saying. Why would they want their best friend to date their brother?

"Because I know you. I know that you have pure intentions, and you aren't some sketchy person off the streets. I also know that you would never try and hurt a person intentionally, therefore making you the best choice for my brother." They pause for a moment. "And let's not forget that if you two get together I can see you a lot more."

I chuckle, "Ah yes how could we forget that very important reason."

"Ok then, it's settled. Let's make a plan and put it into action. I have a little something in mind.

I knew it. Alex has that same look he had at the dinner table.

"First, I have to find out if he has a girlfriend or lover. You can never assume," they say.

"Woah woah. That's a little sudden don't you think? I've only just met him."

"Exactly. And the only way to get closer to him is by getting to know him."

"Ok. But I've never done anything like this before. Plus, how do you know it'll work? And what if he already has a girl- "

"We don't know anything yet, so don't get ahead of yourself."

"I could say the same to you." I looked at the alarm clock on the shelf. It read 12:30 am. "I don't want to think about this right now, can pick up on this conversation tomorrow? It's getting late and my brain is fried."

"Yeah, we should go to bed." Alex turns off the TV and the room goes dark.

I slowly drift off to sleep while listening to the tree outside; its leaves rustling in the wind.

AN: Two updates in one day ✍(◔◡◔).

PS: My schedule for updating might be a little wack now that school is starting soon, but I'll update at least twice a week for sure.

-Jayden