C o l e

"Are you naturally blonde?"

"...no"

"I didn't think so, it doesn't really suit you"

....

"Are you an android? You don't smile at anything, it's kind of weird"

"Carter" Eros' sharp tone cut through the air as he sent a glare Carter's way. The kid just turned from me and gave Eros an innocent look.

"Yes, Eros?" He asked, his voice coming out light and airy so as to take away the fact that he was just insulting me a few seconds prior.

"Stop bothering him or I'll send you back to your manufacturer" Eros said, giving a smile of his own back to Carter who faltered.

"Fine" he grumbled.

"How long are you planning to keep up this charade?" Eros asked and Carter frowned.

"Charade? You think living with that woman is a game? It's fucking hell" Carter said.

"We've all had to do it" Eros said, turning his attention back to the paper he had been reading.

"Well I'm not like you guys, I'm not having that shit" Carter said and stood up as if to bolden his point.

"You're too young to work so what will you do to sustain yourself?" Eros asked. Carter froze up and looked away.

"...stay with you?" He said slowly and Eros just laughed.

"No" he said and Carter pouted.

"Whyyyy?" He whined.

"You don't think your mother knows you? It wouldn't surprise me if she already knew you were with me. You're just lucky she doesn't know where we are or else she'd have already sent Luci to come and drag you back" Eros said and Carter let out a groan of frustration.

"I hate her..." he said dejectedly as he slumped back down in his seat.

"Listen, her ways of raising us weren't exactly the best and I'm not defending her or anything but at the center of all that...craziness is love. She does what she does because she feels that's what's best for us. Don't hate her for it but I'm not saying you have to put up with it either" As Eros finished his sentence, Carter sat up and looked to him.

"So what are you saying?" He asked.

"I can ask a favor of someone but I can't guarantee they'll agree" Eros said and Carter's face brightened up like fireworks on the fourth of July.

Carter tried to ambush Eros in a hug but Eros merely stopped him with a hand to his head.

"It's not a permanent situation, you will eventually be going back. Just think of this as a little vacation, that's about as much as I can do for you" Eros explained and Carter sighed.

As the two continued to converse, something began nagging at me from the back of my mind.

"Aren't we...forgetting something?" I said and the two cousins turned to me.

"Like what?" Eros asked.

"Hm...I don't know" I said with a sigh.

"Well, if you can't remember it then it isn't important" Carter said.

That...can't be the case here.

—————-

——

—

H a r v e y

I can't fucking believe it. It would only be my shitty luck that I would end up stuck in an elevator with Jamie, now of all times.

Eros was supposed to be in here too but the lucky bastard managed to escape.

"Okay, we're heading there now" Eros had ended his call just as we stepped into the elevator. He specifically requested that Jamie and I attend this...well, he didn't say what it was, he just said it was important and that we had no say in the matter.

I found it a bit strange that Cole wasn't here but I didn't really think much of it.

"Oh, I forgot my wallet. I'll meet you guys downstairs" Eros said before walking out of the elevator. The inner me died as he walked out as it now left me and Jamie in this elevator.

As the doors closed, the awkward silence immediately filled the air and all I wanted to do was bang my head on the wall until I passed out.

The elevator's soft dings as it went down was the only sound between us but suddenly the numbers on the screen started flickering and the sound of the elevator screeching to a stop was so loud I had to cover my ears.

What the fuck?

It's been three hours since then and I was barely hanging on to my sanity at this point. We haven't said a word to each other, our prides obviously being the reason since neither of us wanted to be the one to give in first.

There was no service in the elevator to call for help and even when we rang the emergency button, no one responded.

This has got to be the worst day of my life.

My stomach growled but I ignored it and just continued to stare at the wall.

Where was Eros? He should have noticed right away that something was wrong when we didn't meet him downstairs as planned. Maybe he was trying to get help?

My mind immediately rejected that idea as it's been three hours. Maybe he forgot? But it isn't like Eros to forget things like this...

Looking at the time, it was now going on one in the afternoon.

"Harvey" I felt myself stiffen when hearing my name from his mouth.

'No. I don't want to talk to you, leave me alone' My thoughts made me want to curl into myself, anything to get as far as possible from Jamie.

I wasn't exactly ready to face whatever this is but what could I do at this point? We were stuck in an elevator with nowhere to go.

"If you don't want to talk that's fine, but at least listen" It's not like I really had much of a choice anyways.

I heard Jamie shifting in his place before letting out a short breath.

"I'm sorry about what I said, I shouldn't have gone about it that way. It's just that I was frustrated...more at myself than at you" Jamie started and maybe, just maybe I wanted to hear more of what he had to say.

"We've been best friends for years, I didn't think you'd ever see me in a way as anything other than that. Part of me was content just being by your side while the other was afraid of rejection. It's also not as if you ever picked up on any of my hints" when hearing those last words, I turned and gave a weak glare.

"W-Well...I can be a bit stupid at times. I tell you all the time that the only thing I have going for me is my face" I said and suddenly, Jamie was leaning in which made me try to lean away but I couldn't with the wall behind me.

"That's not true" he stated, his blue eyes fiercely staring into my own as if daring me to counter him.

"You know, you were the only one who bothered to talk to me? Before you and Eros came along, I was always alone. Didn't have friends nor did I want them, I just thought I'd be better off on my own. You talked to me every day even when I threatened you, like who does that?" Jamie said and I found myself reddening at his words.

"E-Everyone needs a friend. It sucks being on your own" I murmured, keeping my eyes focused on my arms that were holding my knees. I couldn't deny it, back then I felt sort of attracted to Jamie in a way.

Not in the romantic sort of way but more of an intrigued one. I didn't get why someone chose to be alone, I'd go crazy if I was ever by myself for more than a day.

And now that I think back on it, he did threaten me on multiple occasions...

'Do you want to die?'

'Fuck off you weirdo before I knock your teeth out'

'What the hell do you want from me?! The next time you talk to me I'll really sock you in the face!'

But also, he never did go through with any of those threats so I guess that's why I kept coming back.

"You're so kind it's hard to believe you can beat the shit out of someone without batting an eyelash" Jamie included and I hit his shoulder.

"Don't make me out to be some kind of brute..." I said sourly but Jamie just chuckled and brushed it off.

"You're also very open with yourself and others. Confiding in you is comforting because I know that you'll actually try to understand where I'm coming from, even if you do make jokes about it" Jamie have me a pointed look and we both laughed.

It felt good to be laughing with him again, it had been two days but it felt like an eternity, I wasn't used to arguing with Jamie since we hardly ever did it.

"What I'm trying to say is, I love you because you are you" Jamie finished and I blushed at the blatant confession.

I shouldn't be blushing...it's so uncool.

"You're right, I've never thought about you in a romantic way" I started and Jamie's face turned sour.

"No need to rub salt in the wound" he said and I shook my head.

"But I'm not...opposed to trying?" I wanted it to be a statement but it came out as more of a question.

I'm not sure why I'm willing to try but a part of me wants to. I don't want to just shrug off what could possibly be something, I would never know if I didn't give it a try.

"You don't have to feel obligated" Jamie quickly said and I frowned.

"I don't feel obligated, you know as well as I do that if I don't want to do something, I'm not going to do it" I said.

"True..." Jamie trailed off as he nodded.

"So...we're straight?" I said, looking tentatively at him.

Jamie laughed as if I said a joke but in the end nodded his head.

"Sure" he said.

Sighing in relief, I rested my head on Jamie's shoulder. Now that I think about it, I did like being close to him often. His presence had always comforted me in a way.

"How long do you think it'll be before we die in here?" I asked.

"We're not going to die" Jamie said and my stomach growled again at that very moment.

"Well I'm starving so it's beginning to feel like it" I said.

"You know...as much of an unorthodox guy he is, Eros' methods do come in handy" Jamie muttered and I sat up a bit before giving him a look of confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.

"Eros hardly goes anywhere without either Cole or Mikhail, that was the first thing that confused me. And then he just randomly forgets his wallet? And we just happen to get stuck in here? My bet is he set this whole thing up because he was sick and tired of me beating around the bush" Jamie explained.

"Eros knew???" I asked with widened eyes.

"Harvey, you're the only one that didn't know" Jamie said and I crossed my arms.

"Oh wow" I said and Jamie chuckled.

"It's alright" he said.

My stomach growled again and I groaned.

"Well, if we're in here any longer, I'm going to have sleep for lunch" I grumbled before laying my head back on the wall and closing my eyes.

My rest didn't last long though because the next thing I knew, Jamie was shaking my shoulder.

"What?" I groaned.

"We're moving" he said and as I sat still, I did get the feeling that the elevator was moving. The two of us got up, my legs wobbling a bit from sitting for so long.

As the doors finally opened, we were met with a smiling Eros and unamused Cole. And some kid? Did they go out and adopt already? What the hell did we miss in only three hours?

"I gave you two ample time to make up, so I hope that was the ending result" Eros said as he looked between us, quickly making Jamie's prediction from earlier come true.

"Are you serious? Bro, that was too long. We're starving!" I exclaimed but Eros' smile didn't falter.

"Yeah, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you forgot we were in here" Jamie chided which made Eros' smile twitch.

"Me? Forget? I would never. In fact, I'm so overjoyed that you two made up that dinner is on me tonight" Eros said.

Dinner on Eros? All is forgiven.

"That's great and all but...who is this?" Jamie asked pointing to the kid next to Cole and Eros.

"Yeah, did you guys adopt a kid already?" I asked as I leant down to the kid's height.

What I wasn't expecting was the nasty glare he shot at the both of us.

"The name's Carter, don't wear it out you idiot" he barked and Eros gave a sharp tug to his ear, making Carter yelp.

"He is not our kid. This is my cousin, he'll be staying with us for a while if Mikhail agrees to house him" Eros explained.

"But Mikhail is bad with children" I said and Eros smiled.

"Oh, trust me, he's going to love Carter" Eros said and something in his tone told me that that was not going to be the case.

[A/N:] Thank you so much for all the support from last chapter you guys!! It means a lot to me and I'm so grateful to everyone who still reads this book regardless 😎 you guys are AWESOME!!!