me and you

Chapter 19

On Saturday, I rang the doorbell to the Chous' mansion, and as always, the door immediately opened up.

"My love!" Jackson exclaimed as he threw his arms around my legs. "Oh how I've missed you."

I giggled as I picked him up and stepped inside, shutting and locking the door behind me. "Hi baby," I cooed, kissing the little one on the cheek. "How are you? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

He pouted. "It has been forever. Did you not want to see me?"

Carrying him into the kitchen, I said, "Of course not. I was busy that's all. I wouldn't ever not want to see you. I love you too much." I placed him on the island and kissed his nose before going to the fridge. "You want a sandwich? I'm starving."

"Who said you could take food from our fridge?" Minhyuk asked as he entered the kitchen. "And why is the little shit on the island?"

I glanced at the man before looking back into the refrigerator. "Victoria said that I'm welcome to anything in the kitchen except for the wine. And Jackson isn't a little shit, he's my boyfriend, and I love him." I gathered what I needed to make a sandwich before going back to the island.

"Why are you on a first name basis with my mother? That's so weird. And you do realize you're like 13-14 years older than him, right? You and Jackson being in a relationship is pretty disgusting. I mean, God, if you have to date one of my stupid little siblings, couldn't you date the one who's actually your age?" Minhyuk rambled.

Finished putting my sandwich together, I took a bite before answering. "Victoria said I can't call her Mrs. Chou because it makes her seem old. And Jackson and I are in love. If you can't accept that, then that's your problem." After taking another bite I said, "And I would never date Tzuyu. She and I are just friends."

Minhyuk scoffed. "You and I both know that's not true. I'm not blind or stupid. My little sister obviously likes you. Why can everyone else see it, but you can't?"

I was the one to scoff this time. "Oh please. That alien doesn't like me."

Jackson took the last of my sandwich and shoved it in his mouth before saying, "Yes she does."

I frowned at the little one. "You're supposed to be on my side."

He shrugged. "Sorry love, but it true. Big swishter loves you like I do."

Minhyuk gave me a pointed looked. "See? Even the little shit knows it."

The clicking of Victoria's heels let us know of her arrival. "Minhyuk, I would appreciate if you would stop calling your brother a 'little shit'. He is not a shit, he is a precious little boy, and I will kill you if you hurt my baby."

Minhyuk rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, I'm sure you will."

She reached up and smacked him upside the head. "Minhyuk, I am your mother, and you are to treat me with respect."

He scowled down at her. "Victoria, you're a worthless woman, and I will never respect you."

Disliking Minhyuk's treatment towards his mother, I moved to where he was on the other side of the island and yanked him down to my height. "Get this through your thick skull: This woman right here is the reason you're alive today. She gave birth to you and raised you and gave you the love and affection that every child needs and wants. She loves you, even though you treat her like shit. So treat her with the respect she deserves for putting up with your shit for twenty-three years. Because she didn't have to do it. She could've given you up for adoption or even aborted your sorry ass, but she didn't. Take that into consideration the next time you want to be a dick."

He clapped his hands slowly and sarcastically. "Great speech. Are you done? Yes? Good. Now you get this through your thick skull: I don't give a fuck."

You wanna guess what my response was? Go on, guess. You're probably right. That's right, I punched him. I punched him right in the face, a sadistic feeling coming over me at the cracking sound that accompanied the hit.

He stumbled back, clutching his nose. "You bitch! You broke my nose!"

I grinned, still feeling like a sadist and loving every second of it. "Good," I spat, examining my knuckles to make sure they weren't too harmed. They were red, but other than that, they were fine. "Remember that the next time you disrespect your mother. If I find out you did it again, I'll break your hand next." Ignoring the shocked expression on Victoria's face, I went back around the counter to Jackson and scooped him up. "Come on baby. We're going to go race the monster trucks."

After spending the majority of the afternoon racing Jackson's monster trucks around the third floor and playing hide and seek, Jackson was exhausted and eagerly allowed me to tuck him in for a nap. I kissed his forehead and pulled the blankets up to his chin before turning out his light and slipping out of his room, softly shutting the door behind me.

I started for the stairs, but paused when I caught sight of Tzuyu's closed bedroom door. I bit my lip, wondering if I should try to talk to her. I had an internal argument before finally deciding to at least try. I slowly approached the door and attempted to turn the knob. As predicted, it was locked. I sighed and raised my fist to knock on the door. The few seconds that I waited for the door to open felt like centuries.

Tzuyu sighed when she saw it was me. "Shit," she cursed under her breath. Sighing, she leaned against the door frame, a clear sign that I wasn't allowed in. "What do you want unnie?" she asked.

Didn't I told her to not call me unnie?!

Still gnawing my lip, I mumbled. "Can we talk?" I twiddled my thumbs. "I haven't seen you much lately. Why is that?"

She shrugged. "I've been busy."

I shook my head. "No, you haven't. You've been avoiding me. Why?" She stood up straight and moved to close the door, but I shoved it open. "No, you can't keep doing this. You've shut me out for three weeks, and I want to know why. Why won't you talk to me? Why won't you look me in the eyes? Tell me Tzuyu, because it's killing me to not talk to you. I feel like we're in two different worlds, and it sucks because in reality, we're only a few miles apart. I just..." I trailed off when my voice cracked from unshed tears.

I took a deep breath and tried again. "I just don't understand why you've been so distant. And honestly, I miss you. I miss my alien best friend who gives me kisses on the cheek and calls me beautiful on a regular basis and makes fun of me for being slightly obsessed with her abs. I miss you so much, and you ignoring and avoiding me is killing me. I just want everything to go back to normal."

Tzuyu looked at me, her face blank. She stepped back. And she shut the door in my face.

And that was when the dam broke, and the tears came flooding out.