The Forbidden Manual// Denis Stoff

t w e n t y - e i g h ty

"Hey", he smiled at me, making his rosy cheeks visible.

"I'm glad you could make it", I said and I pulled him from his hand to sit him with me.

"Tell, what's up?".

"Well, I have a very, very, serious problem", I blabbered.

He rose his eyebrows at the same time he showed a surprised expression but then he furrowed his brow to show a worried look.

"What kind of problem? What is it?", he questioned, visible aware.

"Well, would you like me to go straight to the point?", I asked, maybe it'd be easier for me.

He nodded. 

"I think I like your brother", I said, with clinched teeth, consumed by embarrassment.

"That you like who?!", his brown eyes opened as wide as his mouth did.

"Don't make me repeat it", I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You're in love with Denis?", He asked and his voice mixed with a sudden outburst of spark.

"No,no, no", I waved my hand. "In love, no", I denied, shaking my head. "I only like him..a lot", I admitted, blushed.

"Well then", he leaned back on the metallic bench. "Now we're partners of the same pain", he joked.

"Kir, I'm not in love with your brother", I specified once again.

"Not for now".

I narrowed my eyes at him and he laughed.

"Come on, tell me how it happened", he patted my leg in a friendly matter.

"Well", I sighed. "I think after I saw him. Look, I don't believe in love at first sight, but when I saw Denis, I was very attracted to him. Your brother is very handsome".

"I've heard that before", Kir muttered.

"Well, you don't stay behind", I admitted.

"Thanks. Continue".

"He didn't tell me he was dating Dasha, and Dasha never mentioned she had one; so my thought wondered freely and then they crashed into a hard wall when I found out they were dating".

"How did you find out?".

"I heard Dasha call him "love" and then kiss him".

"Oh", he muttered and wanted to pretend indifference, but it was noticeable that it hurt him. I captured that I should keep comments like that to myself.

I continued.

"Then Dasha explained that they were and...then I started hanging out with Denis, you know, while he waits for Dasha to get home from work and that; then..."

"Wait, wait", he interrupted me. "What do you mean you hang out with Harry while he wait for Dasha to arrive?".

"Yeah, well, Dasha gets home at eight at night and Denis comes over at seven".

"Why does he do that?", he asked confused.

"He said it's nice to be there", I shrugged.

Kir shook his head and then he let out a small laugh with a sigh.

"Continue, Continue", he insisted.

"Okay then, I started spending more time with him, getting along was easy, it's nice and fun, but while we hung out more, I started feeling things towards him".

"Things?"

"Yeah, you know, those kind of things", I shrugged.

"The butterflies in your stomach, the stupid smile on your face, the inconvenient fast heart beating, the blushing and the ridiculous feeling of wanting to see their face every second of the day?"

"That...exactly".

"Or that feeling of wanting to be you instead of her, those pinching sensations in the interior that makes you frown when you see them holding hands, laughing and talking, and those waves of sudden sadness when you accidentally catch them kissing?"

"Yes", I muttered.

"My dear", he shifted himself to face me and he looked at me with an amused face. "I'm sorry to confirm to you that you're in love", he rubbed my chin.

"What?!", I shrieked, shocked.

"Why not?", he asked, completely calm.

"Because he's my best friends boyfriend!", I shout like it was obvious. "I'm not supposed to, I can't", I denied with my head, deliriously.

"One does not decide who to fall in love with", He sighed. "And if not, look at me; I shouldn't and I can't be in love with Dasha, and I am", he shrugged.

"Why do you take it so calmly?" I shouted, almost wanting to shake him from the shoulders.

"Because I'm not going to cry nor torture myself with it. What more can I do if not just accept it and live with it? Even if it hurts..

"And a lot", I admitted, I then got why he was taking it like this.

"Now I know why you didn't judge me", he said, guessing my thoughts.

"And what are you going to do now?", I asked, defeated at the thought.

"Try to separate them and make Denis love you and that Dasha loves me", he said.

"What?", I judged him with my look.

"You know that was sarcasm, right? We are not going to do anything, we can't do anything", he muttered.

"For a second I believed that", I whispered, leaning my back on the bench and crossing my arms. "And I liked it" a little voice in my head completed.

"Can I tell you something", I said, ignoring the voice.

"Tell me", he said.

"I think Denis...", I was embarrassed to say anything, because Kir sure would think I was crazy or super in love and I was starting to hallucinate.

"Denis...what?".

"Denis gets jealous when he sees me with Chris", I finished not really wanting too.

"Chris? Dasha's neighbor?".

"Aha".

"Why would he get jealous?", he asked.

"I don't know", I said, even though I did know, or at least, I wanted to believe I did. That in some way he was attracted to me. "But I've noticed that when I take Chris hand and that I kiss his cheek or when he compliments me, Denis never seems alright with it", I admitted.

"Do you like Chris?", he asked and it made me remember the time Denis did too.

"He's nice, but I prefer him as a friend".

"Then, let me guess, you use him to make Denis jealous?".

The first thing I wanted to say was "no", but then, when I thought about it more, saying "no" would be a complete lie; because aware of it or not, I did that to see Denis frown and then feel good about it.

Kir interrupted my silence.

"Kenadee, you shouldn't do that", he scolded, like a father would to a daughter, or like an older brother.

"Most of the time I don't do it on purpose", I whispered.

"And Denis shouldn't be getting jealous", he thought. "This is very weird", he scratched his chin, as he was thinking and I only let myself fall back on the bench sighing. I didn't want to get any ideas, I shouldn't.

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Happy (late) New Years!

One of my new year resolutions was to post more often on here starting the year, but I'm a very shitty translator so expect to being disappointed in fast updates on this, but hey, it will build up the excitement for this story.