“Which pajamas?” Gabriella wondered.
Serenity turned to look at her. “The ones I was letting you wear.”
“Oh,” she said in surprise, only to look apologetic. “I’m sorry. I would have picked something different if I’d known.”
Serenity shook her head. “I wasn’t planning on wearing them. And by the sound of it, if I had worn them, then he would have avoided me.”
“Yeah, probably,” I admitted.
“Why Kai?” she abruptly asked. “Seriously, why keep this from me? Why did you think I would reject you?”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Honestly? Because you always called me your little angel…and I look like a devil.”
“Oh Kai,” she whispered, tears abruptly appearing in her chocolate brown eyes. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean…” Her voice choked up. “Kai, you are my little angel, no matter how you look.”
“I fully agree,” Gabriella chimed in. “We talked about this, Kai. It’s not what you look like, it’s what’s in your heart.”
I took another deep breath and let it out slowly, reaching over to rest my hand on Serenity’s forearm. She immediately rested her thin fingers on top of mine.
“I know,” I whispered, glancing at Gabriella in the rearview mirror, still speaking to Serenity. “I’m just saying that I was sincerely worried you would reject me if you ever found out.” I focused on my best friend. “And I couldn’t lose you. I can’t lose you.”
Serenity nodded, squeezing some tears out of her eyes before sniffling. “I’d never reject you. I love you, no matter how you look, or even if you really are a devil of some kind. I still love you no matter what.”
I sighed with a nod. “Thanks,” I whispered sincerely.
She let go of my hand then, pulling her arm away as she reached up to wipe her eyes. Likewise, I put my hand back on the steering wheel, not wanting to overdo it on the physical touch right now, though I wasn’t at all in danger of turning gray. It was more like, I didn’t want Serenity to become uncomfortable with me being too touchy.
Essentially, I was taking her advice to take things slow.
We were all quiet for a few minutes before Gabriella broke the silence.
“So what are we doing at the bank?” she wondered. “I didn’t want to be rude, but was kind of curious.”
Serenity took a deep breath, answering on my behalf. “Umm, his parents left him something, and he wasn’t allowed to withdraw it until he turned eighteen. I’d forgotten all about it, but then randomly remembered this morning.”
“Oh.” Gabriella paused. “Any idea what it is?”
“Nope,” Serenity replied. “Not a clue. Probably not money, but really could be almost anything else.”
I frowned at that. “Part of me hopes it’s related to my biological parents, just because it would be nice to have an idea of where I came from.” I leaned back more into my seat. “But part of me also hopes it’s not.”
“Why is that?” Serenity asked seriously.
I grimaced, glancing at her from the corner of my eye. “Because I really care about you. I don’t want to become too interested in whoever gave me up. Honestly, even if I had an entire family out there, I don’t think I’d want anything to do with them. They didn’t raise me. They didn’t love me.” I sighed. “And they weren’t there for me. Not when I was younger, when it really counted, and I definitely didn’t want to end up seeking them out after our parents passed away, only to get separated from you.”
Serenity frowned, only nodding in understanding instead of responding. Because she probably knew that was exactly what would have happened.
If the courts had identified my biological parents, and I ended up living with them instead, then I would have undoubtedly been separated from Serenity, and probably never reconnected with her.
We would have spent the last five years apart, possibly eventually forgetting about each other as we moved on with our new lives, instead of growing closer together.
Thus, she didn’t respond.
We were all quiet as I navigated through the city, drawing closer to the specific branch where the safety deposit box was waiting for me.
Gabriella spoke up again as I was pulling on the appropriate street. “You know, I just want to say, that this is really nice.”
Serenity looked back at her, while I glanced at her in the rearview mirror, prompting her to elaborate.
“I mean, I don’t want to speak too soon, since I know this has all happened really fast. But I’m really happy to be in this relationship with you both.”
“Oh,” Serenity said in surprise, seeming a little hesitant. “I hadn’t really thought of it like that,” she admitted quietly.
Gabriella continued. “Well, I just feel like we’re all together now, a team of three, ready to tackle whatever life throws at us.” She laughed then, though there wasn’t much humor in it, her expression dropping. “Honestly, Serenity before I met you, I was getting kind of lonely. Not to the point that I was planning to try looking for someone to date, but I just don’t feel like I fit in with most people.” She sighed. “Part of the problem is that a lot of the people who want to be friends with me are either shallow, or they eventually get jealous of my appearance, especially if their boyfriends start showing interest, or something. Always something.” She smiled then, refocusing on Serenity. “So thanks. For being the perfect friend, and for agreeing to be a part of this.”
Serenity nodded slowly, not seeming to know how to respond. She then frowned, her voice quiet. “You know, I haven’t really thought much about how this ‘sharing’ thing is going to work. We should probably discuss that later,” she commented, glancing forward to see that I was pulling into the bank parking lot. “Once we’re done here,” she added.
The bank was a little busy, given that it was a Saturday, though most of the vehicles were waiting in the drive-thru, with only a few actually parked.
“Sure,” Gabriella agreed, garnering Serenity’s attention again. “And I’m fine with taking the time to work things out. We probably won’t completely agree on how we’d like things to be, so I think it’s important to keep an open mind on ideas and compromise where we’re willing.”
Unexpectedly, I recalled that Gabriella actually had a bit of a crush on my housemate, suddenly wondering if that was what she was referring to. It wasn’t necessarily that I’d forgotten, but I’d been so focused on Serenity possibly changing her mind that I hadn’t even thought about it. However, the idea was affecting me now.
“Shit,” I hissed, gray already peeking out of my shirt collar.
“Kai?” Serenity said in alarm. “What’s wrong?”
“Different subject please,” I managed through my teeth, trying to keep my mind focused on parking.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Gabriella exclaimed sincerely. “Umm, umm, fuzzy pickles?”
I put the car in park, turning around to look at her in confusion. “What?”
She shrugged. “Fuzzy pickles. It’s random. Did it help?”
I sighed heavily, sitting forward again, trying to focus on the task at hand. “Umm, yeah, I guess it did.”
“Cool,” Gabriella said cheerfully. “Then let’s go in and find out what’s in the box! Err, or the vault, or whatever its in.”
“It’s a deposit box,” Serenity clarified, only to focus on me hesitantly. “But Kai…if you don’t want to say right now, that’s fine. But I really don’t understand what just happened. What did she say? Or was it something I said?”