Samuel's POV
"Samuel!"
I crouch down just in time to catch Justin as he comes barreling towards me.
"Hey, buddy, what are you doing here at the hospital?" Picking him up, I ruffle his hair.
"Momsis brought me here." He makes a face.
Glancing away from him, I find Ariana filling some paperwork which the nurse has given her. Panic flashes through her face when she doesn't find Justin beside her. Frantically, she looks around and then visibly relaxes when her eyes land on us.
Walking to her, I sit beside her with Justin in my lap as she narrows her eyes at Justin.
"What I had told you about running away?" She sternly asks him, causing him to shrink and trying to hide in my shoulder.
"Never leave my side or go anywhere without informing me." Her tone is strict when she continues, as Justin keeps looking at her silently.
"I went to Samuel." He mumbles with a sad pout, trying to defend himself.
"So?" She arches an eyebrow.
"She is right, buddy. You can't just take off without informing her, even if you see someone you know." Making eye contact with him, I nod my head seriously.
"I am sorry, I will never do this again." He looks at her apologetically.
Justin opens his arms, and she hugs him while kissing the side of his head.
The nurse comes and takes the papers from her and puts them into a file.
"Everything fine?" I ask, feeling concerned.
"Yeah, nothing to worry about." She smiles, "Just brought him for his annual pediatric exam."
I wait for them when Justin and Ariana have been called in for his check-up.
When they walk outside the clinic, I notice Ariana's red tear-filled eyes as she tightly holds Justin in her arms. Justin leans back slightly and kisses her cheek, then again wraps his arms tightly around her neck.
Panic begins to fill in my heart while all possible scenarios that might be the reason behind her tears go through my mind.
"What happened?" I ask, walking towards them, my eyes darting between Ariana and Justin.
"Nothing." Justin raises his head from her shoulder, "I just got my yearly shots."
Ariana sniffles and rubs his back.
"She always cries when I get shots." He smiles at her, "Even though I tell her it doesn't hurt much, but she is a cry baby."
"Shut up." She mumbles, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Wow, you are so brave." I smile at Justin while removing hair from his forehead, "And yes, you are right. Your momsis is a cry baby." Nodding my head at Ariana, I laugh with Justin.
I took them for lunch at the nearby cafe even though Ariana refused several times.
It has been hardly two months since I have known them, but it feels I have known them longer than that. It is strange how close Justin and I have become in such a short time. He is a ray of sunshine that never fails to brighten my day.
Every day I look forward to going home because I would get a chance to meet them, even if it is for a brief period.
"Samuel, you are spoiling him." Ariana groans, looking heavenward.
Glancing at Justin, I wink as he enjoys eating his second serving of ice cream.
"It's okay, Kitty. Don't be jealous. Just say the word, I will buy ice cream for you as well." I smile when I see a betraying smile coming to her lips, even when she pretends to look angry.
"My lunch break is about to over, so I will head back to the hospital." Checking the time, I stand up and, leaning down, I kiss Justin's head.
Then, instinctually, I give Ariana a side hug which takes me and her by surprise.
"I will see you guys at home." Words come out of my mouth before I can comprehend.
"Yeah, see you at home." Ariana smiles back, her cheeks turning light pink.
A smile tugs at my lips while some unknown emotions rise in my heart... emotions which I thought I would never be able to experience again.
Turning back, I find Ariana wiping Justin's mouth with a napkin. But then suddenly, she looks straight in my direction. The smile that graces her lips makes my heart skip a beat.
Maybe I am starting to like my beautiful neighbor.
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After having dinner with my father, I have just entered the home, and I have not even turned on the lights when I hear a loud groaning sound coming from outside.
Peeking my head outside the door, I watch Ariana carrying shopping bags in both of her hands with an annoyed expression on her face.
Quickly, stepping outside, I take bags from her hand. Instead of going to her place, she stomps inside my apartment, leaving me to follow her.
"What the hell is her problem?" She slumps on the couch and holds her head with her hands while I place the bags on the ground and lean against the wall, waiting for her to rant out her anger.
Needless to say, her annoyance is due to her mother.
"She tries to dictate my life, trying to prove how much she cares about me." She clutches her hair and raises her head to look at me, "All this is just for show."
"She wants me to dress up." She points at the bags, "And attend my bitch of a cousin's week-long wedding, who is marrying my cheating bastard ex's brother. She wants me to use this opportunity to sort out our issues and try to amend our relationship because she thinks it was my fault that we broke up." She grits her teeth, her eyes getting wet.
I have not even met her mother properly one time, and I am already not fond of this woman. From what I have assumed, she is what you can call a typical high-class snob who considers everyone else under her feet.
Walking up to her, I sit beside her and wrap my arm around her. She leans to my side and closes her eyes.
"I hate my life." Her voice cracks, but she quickly composes herself, "I can't even say no to her, I have to attend this wedding because I know she will make things so much difficult for Justin and for me."
"Why do you have to listen to her?" I frown, not understanding why she needs to follow her mother's demand. She is not a teenage girl; she is an adult.
"She is really influential, Samuel. She can easily destroy everything which I have worked for." Keeping her elbows on her knees, she leans forward.
"My dad didn't leave us any fortune as whatever we had at that time we put into his treatment. The only thing he left for Justin and me was our art gallery and some money. With that money and some of my own savings, I bought our apartment." Running her hands through her hair, she sighs and wipes her eyes, "Now, I am just trying to save enough to secure Justin's future. Once I had done that, then I would not need to bend to her wishes." Swallowing her tears, she shrugs.
It is impossible not to see how much she loves her brother. The love which they share is something that is so incredible. Seeing them, anyone can believe the relations which are formed by heart can also be a strong as blood.
"I can't let Justin suffer because of me." She bites her lower lip and shakes her head.
The anger and hatred which I feel for her mother is indescribable. But at the same time, I am feeling hurt by seeing Ariana's helplessness.
I can understand her feelings as I myself know how much it tears you from inside when you are helpless.
I want to help her, but I don't know how.
Suddenly, an idea forms in my mind as I turn to her and place my hands on her shoulder, making her look at me.
"What are you doing?" She asks as I drag her to my bedroom.
"I think two suits will be enough?" I make her sit on the bed as I open my closet. Taking out two suits, I place them on the bed.
"Huh?" She looks at me in confusion as I place my clothes on the bed beside the suits.
"Fold these." I place my shirts on her lap.
"Why?" She frowns but folds the shirts.
"Keep them in this bag." Ignoring her question, I place my bag in front of her and point at it.
"What are you doing?" She stands up, keeping the shirts down, "And why are you asking me to pack your stuff?"
"Isn't that what you are supposed to do?" I arch an eyebrow at her. "Aren't you going to help your boyfriend to pack his stuff for your cousin's wedding?"
"What?!" Her eyes widen in shock.
"Kitty, please inform that evil mom of yours that you are bringing your boyfriend with you to the wedding." My lips turn up in a smirk looking at her shocked face.
Samuel's POV Ten years later. That moment is still fresh in my mind when Ariana left me. How can you forget the moment when your everything was walking away from you? I wanted to beg her not to leave me and just give me one more chance, but something refrained me from doing so. This was the punishment which she had chosen for me. Therefore, even if it was killing me, I decided to accept my punishment. There's a hope in this punishment that when it ends, I will find my eternal happiness. Only I don't know when or if this punishment will ever come to an end. Numerous times, I broke down because the pain of bei
Ariana’s POV “Everyone is not lucky to get a second chance at love in their life, but I am one of those few people lucky people who found true love after losing their trust in love.” Samuel smiles softly, but the sadness in his eyes reveals his true feelings, “I fell in love for the first time it was with a wrong person, but when I found the right person, I was not able to cherish her the way I should have.” “I want to blame the circumstances. I want to blame the world for whatever wrong has happened in my life. But the truth is the only person to blame is me.” He clenches his jaws while he stares at the table, “Only if I had the courage to tell you everything from the beginning, then I would not have made you feel betrayed and hurt. Maybe we would still have been friends. But I was a coward, and now I am paying the price of my mistake.”
Ariana's POV Until now, I never realized how good it feels to take charge of your life. You feel so powerful. Whenever anything went wrong in my life that turned my life upside down, I always tried to put together my life again. Even now, I am doing the same. The only difference is that all the other times, I didn't want to, but I had to. But now, I want to get hold of my life and put together the pieces of my life for myself. I want to be in charge of my own happiness and destiny. I want to do this for myself and Justin. He deserves a sister who is stable in her life, not someone who is an emotional mess. I don't want the impact of my poor choices to reflect on him. So even though I have said many times, I will say it again; I will make ever
Ariana's POV Gathering snacks in my arms, I walk into the living with a wide grin on my face. Justin turns to me, adorning a similar grin, and rushes to help me carry the snacks. "Be careful." Turning around, Justin glances at me then he crawls inside our blanket fort. Rolling my eyes, I smile as I carefully enter Justin's fort. "Next time, we will make an even bigger fort," Justin exclaims and opens the packet of chips. "Which movie shall we watch?" I ask while turning on my laptop and connecting it with the Bluetooth speakers because my laptop speakers volume is not very loud. "The Karate Kid," After thinking for a moment, he replies.
Ariana's POV Max's fingers draw lazy patterns on my arm while keeping his arm wrapped around me. My head is resting on his chest, finding comfort in his strong heartbeat. He is alive, and he will be okay. We both lie in each other arms in silence. However, there is no awkwardness between us, just meaningful silence. Somewhere we both are at a loss for words. Maybe we do not know how to voice these newfound feelings. I feel him pressing a small kiss on the top of my head, which causes me to raise my head from his chest to glance at his face. His throat works as he swallows while blankly staring ahead. A moment later, his gaze flickers to me, and I watch a myriad of emotions passing through his face.
Ariana's POV There are rare moments in my life when I truly feel helpless, where the feeling of being useless dominates all my other emotions. This is one of those rare moments as I sit across Max with a stoic expression, probably because I feel too numb to react. The silence around us is heavy. I can clearly hear the ticking of the clock on the wall behind me. Its ticking reminds me of the ticking of a time bomb, and somewhere it is not far from the truth. Time. Is. Ticking. With each moment passing, I feel my chest constricting. All these feelings were too familiar, the vice-like grip clutching my chest, making each intake of breath difficult than the previous one.