Our Own Protection

»Chapter Twenty Two«

»Paris's POV«

"Eudora!" I call out in a sing song voice as I walk down the stairs, carrying Pigeon in my arms.

"Paris!" I hear her call back to me and I laugh a little.

"Where are you madame?" I say in a sing song voice once again. Pigeon is looking at me like I'm a weirdo. But I am, so it's ok.

"The livingroom!" She calls out and I turn on my heels to walk to the livingroom.

I walk inside and see her and Zane playing a videogame. I set Pigeon in a chair before walking over and sitting on Eudora. She laughs and tries to look around me to see the screen.

"You're losing, sis." I say as I stare at the screen.

"Well, I was winning when I could see!" She says back and Zane and I laugh.

Then, suddenly, Zane falls behind on the game and Eudora regains her spot as leader. I look over at him and it looks like he's zoned out. His mind is somewhere else. I see him glance at my sister before looking back at the TV and realising he's very far behind.

Eudora wins and I feel her do a little happy dance. I laugh and move out of her lap and lay with my feet in her lap.

"If you tickle me, we fight." I say. She knows how ticklish my feet are and me laying my feet in her lap is a privilege.

She laughs and acts like she's going to tickle me and I jerk my feet away from her.

"No, no, no." I say as I wave my finger at her. We laugh some before she stops and stares at me like she's thinking about something. I raise one eyebrow but it doesn't faze her. She's still staring at me in deep thought.

"Do I have a boogie or something?" I ask as I wiggle my nose. She rolls her eyes as she laughs. I laugh more at my joke than I probably should. Zane is trying to contain his laughter.

Eudora stands up and grabs my wrists and easily pulls me up off the couch. Then, she drags me into the kitchen and to the pantry. Oh no, she's wanting me to eat again.

She opens the pantry before saying, "Pick anything in here that you want and eat it."

"But, I'm not hungry." I reply. "I truly, really, am not hungry." I add.

"I don't care. Eat." She says and I sigh a little. The thought of the taste of food and staring at all the food in the pantry is making me sick.

I reach out and grab a jar of peanut butter before walking over and grabbing a spoon. I scoop out a spoonful then put the lid back on the peanut butter jar and sit the jar back into the pantry.

"That doesn't count." Eudora says with a frown.

"It's still food." I say back.

"Are you trying to loose weight?" She asks.

I shake my head before saying, "No, I've just lost my appetite. I'm probably close to my period." She nods in agreement.

Ashton walks in the kitchen as soon as I say the words, 'I'm probably close to my period.'

He looks up at me, eyes a little wide. "Did you just say the P word?" He asks. I roll my eyes and nod.

He slowly raises his hands in surrender. "I'm just going to leave the area very calmly and not make eye contact." He says as he slowly starts backing out of the room. Eudora and I laugh at his antics.

We follow him into the livingroom as I slowly eat this peanut butter. I'm trying not to gag. It's like everything doesn't taste good.

"Oh gawd, they're following me." He says as he backs up into Zane.

"What are you doing?" Zane asks him.

Ashton whispers loud enough for us to hear him. "One of them is close to their P word."

Zane decides to play along and whispers back, loud enough for us to hear. "Which one?" He asks.

"That one." Ashton whispers again and points to me. I laugh and sit down on the couch. Eudora laughs and sits beside me before calling them weirdos.

"Let's exit the room very cautiously. Fast movement can make them angry." Zane says as he starts slowly leaving the room and Ashton copies him. I roll my eyes at them and try not to laugh. I jump at them and yell, "Rawr!"

They take off running for the hills, leaving me and Eudora in a laughing fit.

I look over at her and ask, "Should we chase them?" She nods before jumping up and running towards their direction. I laugh and follow her.

They see us coming and continue to run. Ashton runs up the stairs and, I, am already out of breath. I try to catch up to him but I only make it up 3 steps before I have to lean against the railing to catch my breath, laughing a little.

He smiles at me before walking down the steps to me. "Are you ok?" He asks as he places his hand on my arm. I smile and nod, still catching my breath.

"Hey!" Zane calls out and mine and Ashton's head immediately look towards his direction. Eudora laughs and they both walk towards us.

"She caught me." Zane says as he pokes his bottom lip out. I laugh a little. I notice Eudora looking at me in concern but I ignore it.

"How about we play hide and go seek?" Ashton asks. "Ok." We all agree.

"Nose goes!" He calls out and we all quickly put our fingers to our noses, except Eudora. I think she was thinking about something so her reaction was late.

"The baby birdie is it! Count to twenty!" Ashton says to her before sticking his tongue out and jogging away. She smiles and shakes her head before facing the wall with her eyes closed, counting.

We all disperse from each other. I remember this spot that could be a pretty good hiding spot. I walk to the corner of this almost empty room and hide beside an old wardrobe.

This wardrobe reminds me of the one in the movie series, 'The Chronicles of Narnia." I kinda want to walk inside of it and see if it leads to Narnia. Now I really want to watch the movies.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps. They're trying to be quiet. But, they're not Eudora's. Oh crap, it's Ashton.

I peek my head around and whisper angrily at him, "Get out of my spot!"

He smirks at me before walking over and hiding beside the wardrobe with me. "I don't have time to find another spot, birdie. So I guess we have to hide together." He says still with a smirk across his face.

"Fine, but I was here first." He chuckles at my remark.

"What's funny?" I ask.

"You're so adorable when you're mad." He says and I feel his arm sneak around my waist.

"Shut up." I say with a little laugh.

"How's your back?" He asks me as he puts his hand on it and rubs small circles.

"It still hurts. I thought I was gonna die yesterday." I reply.

"You should've come got me, I would've massaged it for you." He says before kissing my temple.

"I would've if I could've got out of bed." I say but I instantly regret it because a flash of saddness comes through his eyes.

"Maybe you should go to the doctor, babe." He says.

Babe.

That's new, but it's not a bad kinda new.

"I probably just pulled something." I say before leaning up and kissing his cheek, trying to make him feel better.

He smiles a genuine smile before saying, "You missed."

I laugh a little before asking, "What if we get caught?"

"We'll make it quick." He says before leaning in and kissing my lips. I give in and kiss him back as our fingers intertwine with each other and his hand grips onto my waist. I smile into the kiss and I feel him smile back.