It Takes a Family Reunion

Chapter 8

Amira

"Why the hell is this backyard so big!" I yelled out. I was starting to regret leaving our room. I had made sure Eira had returned to our room before I left the room again to blow off steam. Eira liked taking naps and solving jigsaw puzzles to help regulate her emotions, On the other hand I liked moving my body to sort my feelings out. I had asked one of the servants about a gym, but they had shook their heads and said there wasn't one. My reply might have been less than nice before I decided to take a walk around the garden in the backyard. A decision I was starting to regret.

The garden I admit had a lovely aroma surrounding the area. The floral tones from the many flowers that surrounded me did soothe my soul to some degree, but I still felt mad. The anger wasn't directed to the guys though I'm sure they would probably think differently from how I acted. I was angry at myself. I hated that I felt so out of trouble with emotions, with the situations, with how things happened. Before when I dated I didn't care what my parents thought about me being asexual. I liked kissing and the occasional sex, but It never meant anything to me. All it was a harmless bit of fun I could have while I waited for the right person to like my sister and I. I didn't care if they were female, male, or anything in between as long as they noticed her. She was the other half of the soul. Eira and I dealt with a lot growing up and even though Kane shielded us from a lot. Eira was the person sitting beside me in the closest while we listened to the fighting, to the yelling, to objects being thrown. I promised myself at that moment I would make sure she was happy. We should've stayed, we should have continued to talk about things for Eira's sake, but instead I drew my teeth like a savage dog and ran once I barked because I was afraid.

I pondered my own cowardness as I continued to walk aimlessly among the field of flowers. Eventually my feet led me to a pair of child swings. The swings reminded me of the times our mom would take all three of us to the park. Kane liked running around with all the other kids playing tag and what not. I stayed closeby Eira who was too shy to try and talk to anyone outside of Kane and I. She and I would take turners pushing each other on the swings to pass the time while we waited for Kane to get tired.

I approached the swings and glided my fingers along the old wood. Despite the moss and what I think mold growing on the wood, the swing looked relatively stable. The iron chains that connected the wood seat to the tree the swings were under had rusted entirely over. Taking a chance, I sat down on the second swing that looked the cleanest and started to slowly swing on it. I was glad I had switched into sweatpants before I went out on this walk. I started swinging slowly, testing the weight and strength of the swing. I closed my eyes and focused on the brisk wind nipping my face. For the first time since my walk I felt a sense of peace and calm.

That sense of peace and calm quickly disappeared when I felt a pair of hands cover mine that were holding onto the iron chains. My eyes flew open to see who it was that was touching me. I was about to yell at the person before I realized who it was. My smart remark caught on the back of my throat when I saw that it was Erik standing in front of me.

"You're surprisingly difficult to find." He mused as he looked down at me. His eyes were blank and his face still which made it hard for me to figure out how he was feeling. "Though a tad bit too defenseless."

I narrowed my eyes at him, "What do you want? I'm sure you didn't come here just to make fun of me."

Erik hummed like he hadn't thought about that option before. "That's a thought, but no I didn't. Eira was starting to worry about you so, she asked me to come find you."

I had been out for a long time. I wasn't surprised she was starting to get worried about me. It was starting to get late too. "Well, I guess I should start heading back then. Do you mind?" I asked as I raised my eyebrow at him. I didn't want to be anywhere near him right now. I didn't want to hear the possible rejection he was going to give Eira and I. I could get out of the swing without him moving if I wanted to, but I didn't like the idea of backing down the unspoken challenge happening between us.

Erik looked down at our joined hands and back up to my face. "Kiss me and I'll let go." He said finally. He had a cocky smirk on his face as he waited for my reply. I leaned back on the swing wanting some space between us. I didn't like how much I liked that idea.

I was about to say something smart when I heard a cracking sound. Before I had a chance to realize what was happening my body started falling. My eyes closed in preparation for the pain that was going to come. When my body touched the ground my body was braced for pain that didn't come. Puzzled, I opened my eyes to find Erik's face way closer to mine and scrunched in pain.

"You alright?" I asked as my eyes immediately started looking him up and down for injuries. I'm sure his hand that was around my head to brace hurt, but I was worried something worse happened.

"Just peachy, spitfire. My knee hit the wooden bench kind of hard." He groaned out. "Now how about that kiss."

My eyes widened in disbelief. "You're still on that? Shouldn't you be worried about that knee of yours?" I asked. If the man was joking then he must not have been in that much pain. Erik made a pain grin.

"Figured I'd shoot my shot." He admitted before pulling him and I up into a sitting position. I tried to ignore the fact my body was in between his legs and very close to his chest at the moment. While I tried to avoid all eye contact out of embarrassment, Erik pushed a strand of hair out of my face. "If a kiss isn't up for auction then let me take you on a date. I'm sure I can get you to let me kiss you before it ends." He quipped.

Sensing a challenge, my past embarrassment left and I started back at him. "You think so, huh?" I teased. Erik's eyes narrowed in playfulness.

"I happen to know so." He declared. A smirk spread across my face.

"Fine, we'll see about that then." I said. I admit the idea of kissing him sounded like a really good idea, but I wasn't about to admit that. Not to mention, I still don't know how he feels about Eira and I being asexual. I wasn't about to bring it up though, I didn't want to ruin this moment.

Erik's smirk widened into a full blown smile now. Excitement filled his eyes along with joy. I liked seeing his face like this. Erik often came up as stern or cold, but that was just the persona he put on from his years of being with a family that placed an importance on a public image. That Erik wasn't really who he was. Erik was the man in front of me getting excited about convincing me on a date and the rivalry we sometimes had between us.

"Tomorrow night, then. You're not allowed to cancel on me. I'll assume you couldn't come because the urge to kiss me was too much to handle." He said. I scoffed at his words.

"Not going to happen Erik." I shot back. I decided now was probably a good time to start getting up. I hurriedly stood up from my spot in between Erik's legs and dust my legs and arms off. Erik stood up and did the same as well. Once we were both done with cleaning myself off I looked back at him. "Now can you show me the way out of here?" I asked. Erik looked at me with wide eyes before throwing his head back in laughter.

"I guess it really was a good idea to come find you." He commented before moving his hand towards me. I looked down at it confused for a moment. It took me an embarrassing long time to figure out he wanted to hold hands with me. I hesitated for a moment unsure of if I wanted to or not. It took shorter than I would have liked before I relented to the hand and put my own in his. Unsurprisingly his hands were soft and callous free. I'm sure that was due to the fact he never had to do manual labor growing up. My hands, I'm sure were rougher with callouses from physical activities I did like hiking and tennis ball. I started to wish I used lotion more often so my hands could be softer for the touch. That thought left my mind immediately when Erik tightened his hand on my mine as he guided me out of the garden. My heart made an unwanted fluttering sensation at the action. It was like he knew I was feeling down and tried to make me feel better.