The Bird That Couldn't Sing (GBFF)

Chapter 28 - Sang

Adopt? As in, make me part of their family? As in, be one of them? Officially? How can they even do that, adopt me? Owen and Sean are literally nineteen! And I'm sixteen (nearly seventeen) but still!

"Adopt?" Is all I write, even though there are many more questions swimming around in the vast tunnels of my brain. I don't know if I can even save this moment in my memory vault. I don't even know what the heck is happening!

"Well, not like what you're thinking, but yes. Adopt," Owen answers, the others all nodding along with him.

"This is insane. I mean, you're all amazing and everything. But I literally came in here to make my schedule, not sign up for a new freaking family! Obviously mine isn't necessarily a normal, nuclear family, but I don't even know what the hell you mean by 'adopting'. Am I gonna be your kid, or something? Because you're great and all, but I don't really see you as great daddy material. Wait, that's not what I mean--" I'm about to scratch out what I just wrote, considering I can't erase it because this is a pen, but the hand being placed on my notebook stops me. I just stare at it as it slowly lowers down my notebook and I follow it up to meet Luke's chocolate eyes.

"You know, when you write, your eyebrows scrunch up a little and you get this really concentrated look on your face. It's really adorable, actually. Especially when you're scribbling down words so furiously, you look like you're about to rip the paper in half," he teases, but his words seem only sincere. I blush under his heated gaze but can't help the smile that takes over my face.

"Sang, what we mean by adopting you is taking you into our family as your friends, supporters, protectors, anything you could ever want or need. Adopting you means us doing whatever we can to protect and care for you, with the help of The Academy. I promise, whatever you think we mean by adopting isn't the case. I don't even have to see what you just wrote down in such a frenzy to know what you're thinking, though I would like to know. You seemed pretty frazzled. And Mr. Taylor Sr is correct; you are adorable when you write, just like always."

I can't believe it, the Mr. Owen Blackbourne just complimented me. Is it getting hot in here? No? Just me? Got it. I guess that explains the blush spreading throughout my whole body.

He said they'd be anything I could ever want or need, and I have to wonder if that means they could ever be with me, as in more than just friends. But I won't push it. All I know is that I want them, in any way they'll have me. And if they want to adopt me like they claim, then I want nothing more than for that to happen.

So I nod my head, a giddy grin on my face, smothering the blush that was threatening to consume me.

"Really, Trouble? You actually want us to adopt you?" I nod once again. "Fuck yes!" Gabriel rushes over to pick me up and spin me around in the air, making sure not to squeeze too hard, making me giggle wildly as I wrap my arms around him, the notebook dropping to the ground. And now that the situation has registered completely in my mind, I can safely say that this is definitely being locked away in my most precious memory vault. And I'll harbor this moment forever.

When Meanie finally sets me down, I see Owen walking over to pick up the notebook I'd dropped. I'd try to rush and grab it from his hands if he weren't already reading it. When his eyes finish skimming over the page, he looks up at me with a raised brow and a smile. Not a millimeter smile, but an actual. Freaking. Smile. And my heart hammers in my chest at the most profound sight I'll probably ever behold. He's more than perfect. He's absolutely flawless. And then he laughs, and my heart feels like it's going to explode.