His Girl #Wattys2016

9. Back in the nest

Adrian laughed. "What? You thought my brother was incapable of liking people?" He teased.

"No. I mean, that's not what I meant." I looked at the road.

As much as I wanted this conversation to go on, my mind was swirling around Drake. I had been admiring him for bringing me to meet Aaron until now, but once I knew it was all his plan I couldn't think about anything else. Drake's concern, his asking me to be careful; it was all making me feel overwhelmed. I had always known Drake looked out for me, but to this extent; I had no idea.

"So, I heard you love to write." Adrian said, after a while.

"Yeah. Stories, poems, you name it."

He laughed. We fell silent once again except for the times I had to speak up to give him directions. When he stopped in front of my building, I looked at him to thank him.

"Wow, you live nearby." He said, looking at our building. "And that's a pretty place to live in."

"I know, right? I love this place." I said, following his gaze. "Hey, why don't you come in?"

"Right now, I'm a little busy. How about Aaron and I visit you over the weekend?"

"But weekend's a week away!" I muttered but nodded anyway.

"Alright, then. It was great having you over, Sarah. We'll see each other soon."

"At school," I added.

He grinned as the windows rolled up and he started the engine again. I watched as he turned around the corner and vanished. If someone had jerked me awake that moment and told me I had been dreaming until then, I'd believe them. I'd believe that more easily than what was happening in real.

A cold breeze grazed my cheek and brought me back to senses. I walked up to the main gate and took the elevator to my floor. On reaching, I knocked twice on the door and waited.

"Coming!" I heard my sister's voice and braced myself.

I had been away from home all day since morning. I hadn't even left her a message before leaving as I hadn't wanted to disturb her. She barely gets to rest on the weekends, her being a surgeon and all.

"Oh, so you remember that you've a home?" She asked, sarcasm dripping from her tone.

"Em," I said, embracing her as soon as I entered.

"What's wrong?" Her tone changed as soon as I hugged her. "You and Drake fought again?"

"No! He... I-"

She cocked her head to her side slightly and looked at me.

"Don't do that, you look like a pug when you do that," I giggled.

She opened her mouth, making a perfect 'o'.

"Now you resemble a goldfish!" I burst out laughing.

"I'm done being concerned about you. Go!"

"Emily, Emily!" I said, shaking my head like our Dad used to. "What would I do without you."

"Ugh, come here, you!" She pushed me down on the couch and sat beside me. "What's up with you? Did Drake finally find his mouth and tell you about his feelings?"

"What? No! Jeez, get over it already." I scrunched my nose, to add in to the effect. "In fact, he proved me right."

She raised an eyebrow at me, questioningly.

"I told you Aaron Mason lives in the same building as Drake, right?" She nodded, curious where I was going with it. "I met him today."

"What the hell? That's great, Sarah!"

"I know! It was amazing. We spoke and spoke for so long, Aaron and I. He sang for me." I spoke, my eyes sparkling. "And oh, I kinda invited them over. This Saturday."

"Oh, my God. You met him today and you already hit it off? Who are you, kid?"

"Your sister," I winked and she hit me with a pillow.

"But you kind of looked off when you came in. Why was that? And how did Drake prove you right?"

"That, is the best part. Drake actually planned all this for me. God, it was cool, Em! It was like some show, I got to spend the entire day with Aaron. A date at his place, imagine that!"

"Whoa, relax! You haven't sounded this happy in forever. I must say, Drake did prove to be different. I'm amazed."

"So am I. That's what I have been thinking all the way home. Oh, and Aaron's brother dropped me home." I chuckled.

"Sarah!" She hit me on the head, a little too hard for me to let it go unnoticed.

We started hitting each other. Playfully at first and then I lost control and started hitting her hard. I only stopped when she started tickling me. How I hate that she's my sibling and yet I'm the only one who's ticklish.

"I could go on forever, but I need to cook. I have a night shift today," she said, pushing me out of her way.

I followed her to her room and landed face first on her bed with a thud. She pulled out a beige, knee length dress from her closet and looked in the mirror.

"Nope. Too boring." I pulled a face at her reflection.

"I'm going to the hospital, not to meet Aaron." She stuck her tongue out.

"I'd never wear that anywhere, you know."

"When you become a doctor yourself, you can wear what you want." She smiled a closed mouthed smile at me. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Melanie called around five times. She even left you a voice message."

"She could've called my phone." I rolled my eyes at Melanie's dramatics.

"Ask her why she didn't yourself, okay?" Emily said, as she pushed me out of her room and closed the door behind me.

"Right, call Melanie." I muttered to myself, "like that's gonna be that easy."

I picked up the receiver and checked her message first, trying to decide whether to call her or not on the tone of her voice.

'Hope you reached home. I did just now. You could have told me you were leaving, I'd have dropped you. Anyway, let me know once you've reached. Bye, hun!'

Huh, she actually sounded too pleasant. Didn't she know about Aaron yet? Probably not. My knight in shining armour (Drake, of course) must've managed to keep it a secret.

I smiled to myself, admiring Drake, as I dialed Melanie's number from my phone.