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I KEPT MY HANDS IN MY LAP as I stared at the faces of the people in front of me. My family was currently spread around the living room, all of them staring at me while I held Ren's hand. I kept a straight expression as I took in all the information that they were telling me. I took a deep breath.
"So the person to be blamed is Hana?" I asked in a shocked tone.
Gorya's face held a grim expression as she kept her lips shut in a tight line, nodding her head. I gave her a look of acknowledgment.
"And the people who solved all of this was Kavin?" Ren asked with a tinge of skepticism.
"Actually, it was a collection of people. Kavin, MJ, Laila, and Melon." My brother responded with a cheerful voice.
I gave him a small smile before looking back at the table. My eyes bore holes into the wood as I thought back to how different the circumstances had been before we left. Everything had managed to change. Thyme was no longer romantically linked with Gorya. Kavin seemed to be chasing after a girl? I slowly let go of Ren's hand returning back to my lap as I let out a deep breath. Everyone seemed to be on edge, waiting for my reaction. I didn't burst into tears like everyone had expected but instead adapted a neutral facial expression.
"So what now?" I lifted my head, looking everyone in the eye as I asked.
"We live our lives?" Gorya responded, underlying tiredness hidden in her words.
Before I had the chance to respond I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket. I reached my arm backward as I reached out blindly trying to grab my phone from out of my back pocket. I felt my fingers close around the top of my phone as I quickly pulled it out. I heard everyone start to speak to each other around me but I focused on my phone. I subtly typed in my passcode before scanning through my new messages.
1 New Message:
From: MJ
Heard you were back. Do you have time to come outside for a quick sec?
I looked down at my phone a small smile working its way up to my face as I turned my head toward Ren. He met my eyes, realization settling in them before he pushed his legs to the side, giving me enough room to leave. I gave him a grateful as I scooted out of my spot, my eyes focused on the shadow of a figure standing outside the door. I quickly opened the door, my hand pushing open the creaky door. A smile stayed on my face as I saw MJ standing outside with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. I watched as he turned around, realizing that I was now outside. I ran forward, throwing my arms around him as I let myself get comforted with his presence. MJ had been someone who I had grown close to over the past couple of weeks. While I spent most of my time with Ren, the other times I could easily say were spent with MJ. He gave me a shy smile, the top of his ears turning red at the realization that I was hugging him. I slowly opened my eyes, pulling my arms away from around his neck. He cleared his throat, trying to salvage some of his bad-boy reputations. He tried to give me a nonchalant look before pushing the bouquet of flowers in my direction. I looked down at them.
