. ⋆ ⭑✧*:･ﾟ

Lola sat on the couch, her legs atop Adams. "Baby, your sideburns are getting kind of long," Lola stroked his left sideburn with her right pointer finger. 

Adam stuck out his cheek for her. "Want to shave them down?" 

Cora wanted to gag at the sight of the couple, probably because she was already so used to them. The two were like a married couple (their fights sure as hell matched those of one), and Adam had already been living at their house for almost a year now. Cora was just glad they did their antics when she was out of the house.

Lola cooed. "I think I'm going to have to."

Cora sighed as she opened the refrigerator door. "Look at you two being all domesticated," she turned to see Lola playing with Adam's facial hair as he smiled at Cora, only nodding. Adam did this thing where he would shut his eyes and smile from ear to ear. Like a puppy. It was sickening. 

"Wait, who was it you were talking to?" Lola finally stopped petting Adam and the two turned serious.

"Cesar," Cora closed the door after plucking her trusty water bottle from the fridge. Why lie about it? There's no point in not being upfront with Lola or Adam.

"The Diaz boy," Lola remarked, a playful smile on her face. "Way to go, smalls."

"It's not like that," Cora leaned against the wall outside her bedroom, staring at the carpet under Lola and Adam's feet. "We're not like that."

"What do you mean?" Adam leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. When Adam struck poses like this, he looked imitating. He almost always did, but Cora was used to this by now. Besides, it's not what Adam looks like that scares Cora, it's what he's capable of. Not that he's ever been violent in front of the little girl.

"I don't think he likes me," Cora shrugged. "There's not that much to it." 

Adam was quiet for a minute. "You disappointed?" he eventually asked, eyebrows raised.

Cora looked around the room, not wanting to meet their eyes.  "Kind of."

Before Adam could press any more questions, there was a knock at the door. Adam and Cora looked at the door before looking back at each other. "Just get ready for bed, kiddo. I'll get the door," Adam rose to his feet. Cora nodded. It was getting late anyways.

When Cora walked into her room, the first thing she did was pull out her hair tie and let her long hair go free. She pulled out a makeup wipe, wiping off her bright lipstick first as she sat down on the chair at her desk. She had propped a mirror on top of it so it leaned against the wall. 

"Cora!" Adam yelled from the door, holding it open with one hand. Adam did not look impressed at the young boy standing there; he didn't care who he was the brother of. "There's a boy here for you!"

Cora froze. She stared at herself in the mirror for a split second, putting back on her cheeky attitude and stood up. It could be Andres. And if it's Cesar, what does that matter?

"Coming!" Cora threw her makeup wipe on her desk and rushed back into the hallway, her long hair following her with every motion. Sure enough, it was Cesar, the same Cesar she'd seen that night, except this one was more distressed. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to apologize," Cesar spoke truthfully, looking down at the smallest person in the room. 

"No, I need to apologize. I shouldn't have spoken to your friends like that," Cora said immediately.

"But everything you said was true," Cesar retorted, but then it was quiet. Cora finally tore her eyes from him to remind herself that Adam and Lola were staring at them. 

"Cesar and I are going to have a private conversation in my room," Cora announced, taking Cesar's wrist in her arm and turning around the corner with him, leaving no room for Adam or Lola to say anything, just watch the two leave.

"Ah, young love," Lola slouched against the couch, running a hand through her hair. "Remember that, babe?"

Adam smiled fondly at his girl. "I remember it well."

Cora closed the door a little bit, and pointed to her bed, motioning for him to sit down. "I didn't know we were going this fast."

Cora rolled her eyes, her messy straight hair falling angelically down her shoulders.  Cora sat in her chair, folding her legs to one side as she was still in a dress. "I need to apologize to Monse."

Cesar sighed. "She knows you meant well. Plus, I cleared your name. I basically apologized for you."

Cora shook her head. "That's not enough."

Cesar was quiet for a minute. "Then what is, Cora? What's going to take for it to be enough?"

She didn't really understand what he fully meant by his question, but still, it made her think. What was she doing? What were they doing? Where would it stop? Cora looked down at her flip-flops. "If you wanna call this off — this thing we have going on — then we can."

Cesar shook his head, and Cora raised hers to meet his eyes. They were full of undying hunger, and eagerness. "That's not what I want."

"Then what do you want, Ces?" 

"Another chance," Cora stared at him. "Give me another chance. This summer, let's go out."

Cora thought it over before chuckling. "I think I'm the one that should be asking for another chance," she thought about how pure and precious Cesar's group of friends were. 

"How about this?" Cesar rose to his feet. "Before she leaves for writing camp, I'll take you to her house and you can apologize."

"Writing camp, huh?" Cora asked. Cesar nodded. "Cool. That sounds good."

"Good," Cesar stood over her, looking over her room. "I like your room."

Cora stood up, a light blush on her cheeks. "Thanks," she said, but they both knew she was thanking him for much more than just his compliment on her room decorating skills.

"I like you, Cora," Cesar eyed the girl carefully, studying every aspect of her.

Cora held his hands in hers, standing on her tip-toes to press her lips to his in a chaste kiss. His were colder than hers, and this kiss was nothing like the ones they'd previously shared. She pulled away slowly like she was ready to break some bad news to him.

"I like you too, lover boy," Cora snickered.

⋆ ⋅ ☆

"It's not your choice!" Cora heard Lola yell, although her screaming was a little muffled by the wall in between their rooms. Cora sat up and rubbed her eyes, staring straight ahead at the mirror on her desk, leaned up against the wall. Lola's voice was coming from the other side. Cora could hear Adam's voice talking back, speaking a lot gentler, as she rose out of bed.

Cora's bare feet printed on the carpet as she opened her door and walked out into the living room, only to turn to Lola's bedroom doorway. She saw Adam standing out of bed, while Lola was still in bed on her side. Lola slept on the right side near the door, and Adam slept on the left near the window. Lola's room was identical to Cora's, they just had decorated them differently.

Right away, Adam turned to face Cora, and Lola followed his gaze. They both softened their features when they saw the young girl in the doorway. "Cora, what are you doing up?" Adam questioned.

Cora gulped, an uneasy feeling setting in her stomach. "Couldn't sleep."

Lola sighed. "Baby, go back to bed."

Normally, Cora hated being babied by her big sister, despite her being the only person in the world that could. Their mom was gone. She hadn't cared that much about Cora, nor Lola. But time and time again, she'd accepted it. Just like now.

With a dry throat, she nodded, proceeding to go back to her room. Laying in bed, she pulled the covers over her body, despite it being hot, and tried to shut out the world around her. She was scared, but she won't let anyone see that. Cora shut her eyes closed, trying to convince herself that Lola and Adam weren't talking about the possibility of her joining a gang.

⋆ ⋅ ☆

[ DEDICATED TO mikkiandnackk! ]

CHAPTER FOUR
1,465 words

TRANSLATIONS
n/a

PUBLISHED may 21, 2018
EDITED may 28, 2020

[ NOTE i fucking live for parent!adam
and parent!lola!! what's their ship name?? ]