Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga, only my original characters (Astoria, Ezra, Asher, Gideon, Tobias, Dr. Reed, and Evan). Enjoy!
Chapter Five
Asher couldn't take his eyes off of the huge doors across from him while he and his brothers wait for Astoria to be done with her creative writing club before heading home together. He had told the others about what he had seen by the kitchen window last night and some of their response wasn't warm, to say the least, but it didn't faze him, so being the resident annoying brother that he is, Asher had to tell them again this morning by flooding their phones with messages and getting slightly warm responses — which included Ezra's three middle finger emojis.
"That annoying grin on your face means that you're up to something," Tobias commented, noticing the idiotic grin that his older brother had on. "And it's going to be stupid," he added.
"What grin? I'm not grinning, this is my serious face," Asher feigned innocence, biting back the said grin and pretended to look serious which made the younger boy roll his eyes.
Gideon snorted, smacking his twin brother at the back of his head, "You don't even know how to be serious, dumbass."
"Hey! I resent that!"
Tobias watched the twins argue back and forth."What did I ever deserve to be in the middle of this shit?" he asked himself, heaving out a sigh.
"What in the world is going on?" Astoria, who was done with her creative writing club, appeared beside him, eyeing the twins who haven't noticed that she was already there.
"Same old idiotic twin things," he muttered. "I still have no clue how Gideon does that 25-step Korean skincare routine or whatever that is every day."
"He made me try it once, I gave up on the fifth step and he was mad as hell," she reminisced, laughing at the memory. "Are we going to stop them?"
Tobias nodded. "We might end up moving again if we don't," he replied, clearing his throat loudly to get the twins' attention which made them stop and turn to him.
The irritating grin that Asher had, appeared once again when he saw her. "Astoria! You're here!" he cheered, moving to stand next to her. "Had fun last night?"
Astoria narrowed her eyes at him, "What are you talking about?" She asked
"Oh, you know what I'm talking about," her brother smirked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"This idiot said he saw you last night with Paul Lahote at the back terrace looking cozy," Gideon revealed, motioning towards Asher who was having too much fun. "He pestered us the whole night about it too."
"I never thought you'll go for a hothead, Tori," Tobias chuckled, sporting the same annoying grin that Asher had. "But, whatever makes you happy."
Astoria didn't know whether to be happy or annoyed that Tobias was slowly breaking down his walls as he joined in with the twins' antics. She shot each of her brothers a threatening glare, "If Ezra was here, you three would all be dead."
"Yeah, about that, baby sis, he said that all four of us will be taking turns in punching Paul Lahote in the face if he makes you cry," Asher snickered, causing Astoria to punch him in the arm.
"Oh, will you guys just stop it!" she hissed, her brothers laughing in the background. "He's a friend, and news flash – friends talk to each other."
"Late at night?" Gideon teased.
"With steaming hot chocolate?" Tobias chimed in.
"He had this lovey-dovey look in his eyes too," Asher snickered.
The girl could only groan and covered her blushing cheeks while her brothers continued to tease her. She loved them dearly but they can be pretty relentless when it comes to teasing her about the boys she gets involved with, and right now she wanted to strangle them and run off with her scooter.
"Hey, are you pissed?" Asher asked, poking her cheek repeatedly; a habit he always does whenever he makes her mad.
Then as if on cue, a vintage but high-end looking car suddenly parked across from theirs, blocking the way. Most of the people at the school parking lot went quiet as if waiting for the owner of the car to emerge out of it.
Gideon blinked then turned to Tobias, "Is it me, or did everything feel like it's in slow motion?" he asked, but the younger boy only snorted.
A tall black-haired young man came out of the car and all four siblings' eyes widened as soon as they realized who it was. "Evan?!" the twins chorused.
The person in question flashed the twins a cheeky smile. "Missed me?" he greeted them, spreading his arms wide.
Astoria watched the twins ran towards Evan and had him in a headlock in no time. The slight changes in her childhood friend didn't go unnoticed: his hair was a bit longer and his style of clothing had changed too. Gone was the always preppy-dressed boy she once knew, and now in front of her was a more relaxed version of that one.
Their eyes finally met after finally being freed by the twins. "Looks like you had an extreme makeover, Tokyo Edition," she chuckled, motioning her hand in a circular motion. "I must say, going there did you a lot of good," she giggled
Evan gasped, feigning a hurt look towards her. "I just came back from Tokyo yet I didn't even get an 'OMG, Evan! You're back!' and a tackle hug? Where had my Astoria disappeared to?" He frowned, placing a hand near his heart.
Astoria was trying to bite back a smile but failed; she immediately ran towards Evan and greeted him with a tackle hug then was spun around. The two only stopped when they heard someone clear their throat.
"Sorry to interrupt your sickeningly sweet reunion, but we have to go home. I still have to do my 25-step skincare routine," Gideon announced, tapping his watch. "Time is gold, people!"
"25 steps? Is he serious?" Evan asked her, slightly bewildered.
Astoria nodded. "He does it every morning and every night," she confirmed
"That's dedication, right there," Asher patted his twin brother's back with Gideon beaming proudly.
Evan turned to Astoria, taking her hand into his then drew circles around it. "Do you wanna go to Port Angeles and grab something to eat?" he asked hopefully.
Asher butted in before she could even give her childhood best friend an answer, "Or you can just come with us at our house and have a delicious *budae jiggae cooked by me instead, and then you two BFFs can catch up after while heaving tea or whatever. Win-win?" he grinned cheekily.
Something about Asher's suggestion made her feel relieved, it wasn't that she didn't want to be alone with Evan, there was some kind of weird feeling in her stomach telling her it wasn't the best thing to do or someone will get hurt.
"Yeah, that sounds nice too," her childhood friend thankfully agreed, "Might be a great idea to say 'hello' to Uncle Elijah as well."
Tobias shook his head. "He'll probably be home late today," he replied.
"I almost forgot! I got you all treats from Japan," he pointed towards his car, "The weird kinds."
"Oh, no. Those better not be the toilet candies and eel pretzels you were telling me about," Astoria pleaded. "Just give those to Asher or send some to Ezra, he likes weird stuff too." Asher perked up upon hearing what his younger sister said.
"Toilet candies? I've heard about those!" He cheered. "I'll take them!"
Evan went to the car to grab the said treats and tossed them towards Asher who happily opened them.
When he was back on her side, he leaned down a bit to whisper in her ear. "Hey, can you join me in the car? I'm not sure if I got the directions to your new house right," he requested.
"I have my scooter though, you can just follow me on the way," she told him, turning away then pointed at her mint-colored Vespa.
Tobias then stepped in. "I'll take your scooter, so you two can catch up," he volunteered.
Astoria was a bit shocked when Tobias volunteered to take her scooter, the small gesture warmed her heart. "Here, take care of my baby or else, no more banana milk," she jokingly threatened him, giving Tobias the key to her scooter then got inside Evan's car.
Tobias watched everyone speed away, leaving him alone at the school parking lot with his sister's scooter. He was about to get on but stopped when he noticed Paul Lahote watching Evan's car slowly disappear from everyone's sight, looking like somebody had stabbed a knife in his heart. The two boys' gazes met, Tobias gave him a curt nod as if saying 'goodbye' before turning on the scooter and heading home.
[A/N: Budae Jjigae - is a fusion dish that has American processed meats (such as Spam, ham, bacon, and hotdogs).]