CHAPTER FOUR

Anna danced with Cash for a little while as her mind was covered in thoughts of how happy her brother was while talking to Megan and her cousin, she often wonders why he has never had a girlfriend with the fact that the girls were always after him, neither has he answered whenever she asked except his usual 'none of them has captured my interest' yea right, she thought as she remembered the smiling brunette in his arms, she shook her head to fade away the image.

"You okay?" Cash asked.

She looked up at him and smiled "yea, just some unwanted thoughts."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Nah, not really" she smiled and he nodded, after a while she looked at him again "say, do you want to be my boyfriend?"

Cash looked at her puzzled, now that was not what he expected "um...you say what?"

"I said, do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"You want me to be your boyfriend?"

"Do you want to?"

Cash looked at her for while "yea, I would love that. That will be great" he smiled.

She smiled "good, come with me" she said as she grabbed his hand to drag him away with her.

"To where?"

"To see my brother, he needs to know my boyfriend."

"Em, Anna, do I need to remind you that I'm his classmate and he practically knows me."

"He knows you as his classmate not as my boyfriend."

"Well yea, that makes sense" he replied as she dragged him across the other side of the room to where he saw her brother chatting with Megan and the girl she introduced as her cousin to them a while ago, what is her name? Courtney he think.

Anna approached her brother and the girls while dragging Cash alongside her "hey Jason."

Jason turned to look at her at the sound of her voice and smiled "hey baby sis..." He was saying as he noticed Cash behind her and that she was practically pulling him over "what's going on?"

"Meet Cash."

"I know him, I see him everyday in school and class" he replied.

Anna smiled at that "my boyfriend."

Jason appeared shock but his eyes say differently "your what now?"

"I said my boyfriend" Anna repeated.

Jason looked at Cash for a while before looking at his sister again "oh. Okay then" he turned to the girls "please excuse me" he turned and walked away.

Anna's eyes followed him, why is he angry? She thought, it's not the first time she had introduced a guy to him as her boyfriend and he has never reacted like that before. She looked at Megan and her sister but they both thought it will be better if they shut up. She looked at Cash "please excuse me."

"Sure, take your time" he replied and she walked away in the same direction as her brother. She came out to the balcony to see him standing with his hands on his face.

"You okay?" She asked and he turned to look at her immediately.

"Just when did you start dating Cash?" He asked, his voice no where as gentle as it always is whenever he is talking to her.

She shrugged "this evening."

He chuckled at that and bit his lips "I brought you to a party and you went scouting for a boyfriend?"

Anna was shocked at the tone in his voice "I didn't go scouting for him. Cash has always wanted to be my boyfriend, all I did was just mainly asked and he agreed."

"You asked him? For crying out loud Anna, when will you learn?"

"Why are you angry with me, what did I do wrong?"

"Seriously, are you asking me that? You have done everything wrong Anna. First of all, you chose him to be your boyfriend, second of all, you asked him to and thirdly, for crying out loud, none of your relationships last. You always come home a week after it started in tears, and I will have to be the one to calm you down. Listen if you don't know then know now, I hate seeing you like that, it breaks my heart!" He shouted at her and she flinched, she couldn't control it but literally, it was the first time he has ever raised his voice on her for as long as she can remember.

She couldn't help it as the tears came pouring down, how can she tell him that it's because of him, how can she tell him that she has all those boyfriends to break up with them just to be in his arms?

"Just last week, you broke up with Adam and you and I know how badly broken you were. You cried all night and I had to stay with you till the morning because you couldn't sleep. I thought you were going stay away from anything relationship for now since you are not good in it and here we are just five days from your previous break down, you have already gotten yourself a new boyfriend!" Jason was still furious with her.

"I only thought having a new one will help forget the old, it's not my fault that they are always hurting me. I just want to experience love like others."

"What? Is my love not enough for you? Mom loves you, dad loves you, tell me, what other love are you talking about? If you are talking about relationships, Anna you're still too young, you are just fifteen. You have a lot of years ahead of you to find that love, you mustn't try out every boy in high school before you find that, you still have college, just what the hell is wrong with you. If you like getting hurt, I don't. I don't like you getting hurt!" He shouted, his chest heaving up and down.

Anna couldn't stop the tears anymore, it's not her fault, she just wants to get to spend a night with him and having a breakup is the only way she can and now he is even angry with her because of it, how else can she be too close to him without being weak, hurt and vulnerable? Her sobs fill the balcony and despite the blaring song playing in the house.

Jason looked at her shaking shoulders and the sound of her sobs traveled to his ears, only then did he realize he was shouting at her. His heart clutched in pain at every sound of her sobbing, he has been carried away in his emotion that he forget she was also a victim, it's not like she is asking to have too many boyfriends right?

His anger faded away as he pulled her into his arms, his hand caressed her hair as he whispered soothing words in her hair. Anna got what she wanted except she was crying genuinely this time.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you, I'm so sorry okay. It's just that, Cash is my classmate and I know him better than you, have you ever asked me why I'm not friends with him? The guy has history with girls that I don't like and it hurts me that my sweet sister is going to be one of his girls. I can't bear seeing you in pain Anna" he released her from his hold and cupped her face in his palms, forcing her to look at him.

"This" he was saying as his thumps wipe her tears "I don't like seeing it, it breaks my heart every single time you cry, I might not show it to you but it hurts me. If I can, all I want from you is to always be smiling, laughing. If it's in my power to wipe away boyfriends from this world so that you will be with me and not be crying anymore, I will do it. I love you so much that seeing you hurt, hurts me" he smiled faintly to her.

"They have no right to make you cry and I will love to beat to death whoever that does but you will not let me. Cash is not good with girls and my anger is that you chose him among all and what infuriated me more is that you said you asked him yourself, which means you delivered yourself in a platter of gold to him. I don't want him to hurt you but that is unavoidable since that's the way he is."

He put her in his arms again "but that's okay, if he is the one you want then no problem, I will always be here for you, always" he kissed her hair "I'm so sorry for shouting at you, so sorry for loosing my temper, you didn't need to see that"

Anna sniffed in his arms as her hands wrapped around his waist, she knows he loves her and will always protect her but she is hurt, an internal wound that neither him nor anybody could wipe away in her life, and that is, the fact that he is her brother. Just why is he not one of those foster brothers, at least she can be with him. He loves her but not the love that she want, right now he is consoling her but will he pull her head upward and kiss her? Will he tell her he loves her in a more intimate way?

That is the biggest scar in her life. That he is her brother and she, his sister, related by blood, her heart hurt so much at this open revelation that she sees every time she wakes up to hear him call her mother mom and the world to identify them as siblings.

Jason held Anna in his arms for a long time "you still up for the party or should we leave?" He murmured in her hair.

She sighed and thought about it, she didn't want to be here anywhere and besides, the more they stay here the more she will keep seeing those heartbreaking scenes of him hugging another girl. She knows she is being unreasonable after all he can still have a girlfriend but the fact that he has not gotten one up till now makes her more comfortable that if she can't have him then no one can, at least, for now.

She sniff and shook her head on his chest and heard him gave a low chuckle.

"To which are you shaking your head for?" He asked and she remembered he had asked two questions.

She looked up at him "I'm not up for the party anymore."

He smiled "and so you want us to leave. I figured" he released her from his arm and wipe her tears away again "come on, let's go, we have had enough episode for the day."

She smiled at that and nodded, yea, no more Courtney, she thought.

They both walked back into the house and surprisingly Cash was still standing with the girls, more like chatting with Courtney. Jason saw the flirt in his eyes and his knuckles tightened.

Anna noticing the strange reaction in him looked up at him and he smiled and shook his head.

"Hey Cash" Jason called and Cash looked to see them approaching.

"Hi" he answered.

"Now you are with my sister, you better behave" he said jokingly with a smile but Cash saw the threat in his eyes.

"I will do my best" he replied and Jason scoffed. He looked at the girls "sorry for earlier. Courtney meet my sister Anna" he introduced.

"Hey Anna"

"Hi"

"You guys okay now?" Megan asked.

"Yea, we never have an issue" Jason replied.

"Really? Who are you fooling? The way you walked out on her has never been experienced before" she retorted and Jason chuckled.

"It happens but it's okay now."

"You know with the way you both act, I often mistake you as lovers" Megan added.

"We are lovers, aren't we sis?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow and the girls laughed.

"Like hell you are and if so then you both needs to be taken to a psychiatry in order to stop the abomination from happening" Megan insisted.

Jason frowned at her words but he didn't let it show "whatever."

Anna was not happy with her words either but she chose to remain silent for fear of giving herself away should she say anything.

"We are leaving, it's almost ten thirty anyway. See you tomorrow in school" Jason said to her and then smiled at Courtney "bye Courtney."

"Bye Jason" she replied and Anna frowned, she can feel the current in her but she is not sure about Jason.

"Bye babe" Cash said and leaned closer to kiss her but she averted her lips in time for him to kiss her cheek. Cash smiled and pretended not to be offended. While Megan and Courtney acted like they didn't notice what happened.

"Bye Cash" she smiled to him and ended up being pulled away by Jason who was secretly happy at her action.

They approached the dancing Josh and alerted him about their leaving, he wasn't happy but Jason being his close friend, he couldn't ask them to go alone despite knowing they came together.

He went in search of James and found him in Megan's room, having sex with one of the blondes that came with them.

"Dude let's go" he said.

"What!" James shouted and looked at his phone screen "it's only ten twenty five."

"Yea, but Jason wants to go."

"Go ahead, I will ride with Tim."

"Suit yourself" Josh said as he went down the stairs to meet Jason and Anna with the other blonde and together they left the place.

 

"Kids is that you?" Veronica asked from the stairs, she had came out from her room when she heard the sound of the door opening and also footsteps in the sitting room.

"Yes mom" they both answered as Veronica turned on the light.

"Wow, you are home early. Did something happen?"

"No, we were just tired" Jason answered.

"Good. There is school tomorrow after all."

"Yea" Jason said as they both met her on the stairs. She smiled and gave them each a kiss on the forehead.

"Good night."

"Goodnight mom" they both said and walked past her while she turned off the light and followed after.

Jason took Anna to her room where he hugged her and kissed her forehead "goodnight."

"Goodnight" she replied and he turned and walked to his own room. Anna got in her room and fell on the bed, too lazy to change into her nightwear. Her mind flashed back at what had happened at the party and she wished never to see him angry at her again, it really broke her heart to hear him shouting at her in such a loud voice. She knows he regretted it now judging by how many times he had said sorry even in the car, she smiled, he is so loving. She licked her lips and closed her eyes, ready to see the other side of him in her dream.