#hod8.2

"What are you doing here?" Holly approached us, grinning from ear to ear. Her shoes met the wooden floor of our front porch with soft thuds. She had her hair up in a bun and threw over a knitted sweater and paired it with denim jeans. Her face was flushed due to the cold night breeze. "Hey. Holly right?" She nodded, her smile not slipping off her face. "I came to talk to Cera about some stuffs," Dylan responded, smiling back at her. If this was Holly from three months ago, the time when we first saw Dylan, she would have lost consciousness by now. "Oh. Love stuffs?" Holly teased. My eyes widened, "Holly!" "What? I'm just asking." She smiled innocently and did a one shoulder shrug. I shook my head, "You don't ask about those stuffs." Dylan chuckled. He took off his bonnet and shook his head to let his hair fall loose. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked at Holly, ruffling it to its glorious mess, "It's okay. And no, not about love stuffs, Holly." "Really? What are those for then?" She pointed at his hands where two boxes of chocolates were comfortably sitting. My eyes shot up at him. "Bribes." He responded a little too quick. "Bribes? You bribe a girl with chocolates at night?" She made a once over on Dylan and smirked, "Doesn't look like it to me." I blushed. Holly should really stop doing this. It was embarrassing. Dylan was here to talk to me about being an agent and I wasn't planning to tell Holly about that. For one, I couldn't tell her because I was told not to. And two, because there was a risk that she would be in danger in case she knew about it. Myra might take her in too and I wouldn't want that. It was enough that I had put myself in this situation.  While I tried my best to keep her safe, her she was, checking out the guy who brought me to this mess, or was a part of it. I knew it was my nosiness I had to blame. "Who's there, Cece?" A male voice called from behind. Heavy footsteps clattered on the tiled floor and it was getting louder by the second.  Holly stiffened at the sound of his voice. I bit my lower lip to stifle my laughter and averted my gaze. Holly looked like she just saw a ghost, or she would see one. Her face paled instantly and she stood frozen on the ground. I didn't tell him Cale was here. I didn't know she didn't know. They were texting each other, I thought my brother told her. "Holly?" Cale asked with wide eyes, then his gaze landed on the guy standing beside her. He narrowed his eyes, "And you are?" "Dylan." He laid out his hand for a shake. Cale stared at it for a second before he turned his gaze back to Dylan's face. For a moment, I thought he wouldn't take it. I was glad he did.  "Cale." He quickly released his hand and stood straight. Dylan was almost the same height as my brother so I wouldn't doubt if he wasn't a bit intimidated. There wasn't really any reason to. He was a supermodel. And my brother was just some college jock. "Who are you?" My head snapped at my brother's harsh tone. "Uh. Dylan?" I stifled a laugh at Dylan's confused expression. His eyebrows drew closer to each other as he pursed his lips. He was so cut--funny. He was so funny! He looked like a lost child. "Dimwit. I know your name already. I mean, who are you? Are you Holly's boyfriend?"  Holly and I looked at each other and erupted in laughter. My brother was, no doubt, jealous of Dylan. He thought he was Holly's boyfriend because they were here together, standing on our porch beside each other. The boys looked at us like we grew another head but we couldn't contain our laughter. We were still laughing our asses off when Dylan spoke, "No. I'm Cera's friend." I choked. "What? You're not my friend!" I protested. We barely knew each other to be friends. I could even count on my fingers how many time we talked, how many times we've met. And that wouldn't count as friendship. Plus, our first encounter wasn't exactly my definition of 'nice to meet you'. "Then her boyfriend. I'm her boyfriend" Dylan said, smirking at me. "No! What are you saying? Holly?" I looked at my best friend for help but she just smirked at me then shrugged. "Really now?" A corner of Cale's lips tipped up and he immediately called out my other brothers. The next second there were hurried thuds on the floor, approaching us. An arm slung around my shoulder as Chuck tried to sneak in between Cale and me. "Who do we have here? He your boyfriend, Holly?" He teased. Cale elbowed Chuck making him wince. "Dude what was that for?" "Looks like someone's jealous," Chace cooed and quickly squeezed himself between us and head out before Cale could do something to him. "Shut up!" Cale growled. He was blushing furiously. I never thought I would see my brother like this. It was like a dream come true. "Hey Chuck," Holly greeted, grinning at Chace. "Ouch. Do I look like him? I'm very offended, Holly." Chace brought his hand on his chest, feigning hurt. I rolled my eyes at him, "You're twins. Of course you look like him." He frowned at me, "You're no fun, Cece." He looked over Holly to Dylan, "So who are you?" "Dylan, I'm Cera's --" "Boyfriend." Cale finished. Chuck pushed me lightly to get out of the house and face Dylan as Chace did the same. I didn't know if it was a twin thing or they just have the same level of nosiness. "You're Cera's boyfriend?" The twins said. They checked out Dylan from head to foot as though he was some species needed to be evaluated for an experiment. "I'm, uh..." "Cat got your tongue?" Chuck smirked. He threw an arm around Dylan's shoulders and led him to the door, Cale and Chace following suit. Holly and I stared at each other before we looked at their retreating backs. "Do you think Dylan will be okay?" Holly looked worried. I would be, too, if I was in Dylan's place. But since I wasn't... "Nah. He'll be okay," I said, not believing my own words. My brothers were the worst interrogators ever. And my parents were also here so I'm silently saying my good luck to Dylan since he would experience The Great Ward Interrogation. A smile of triumph made its way to my lips. My brothers brought Dylan to the kitchen and let him sit on a stool at the island counter. All three of them stood at the other side of the island opposite Dylan. Cale, Chuck and Cale were all buffed guys. Not super buffed, though. They had toned muscles in all the right places and was lean in every sense of the word. Any normal person they would encounter on the street would be intimidated just passing by them. Not only did they have the body, they had the face, too. Though Chuck and Chace were identical twins, there was one distinguishing factor between them. Not everyone would notice it at first but if you observed closely, Chuck had dimples on both sides while Chace had one on his left cheek. "Who are you again?" Cale asked for the nth time and I had the urge to roll my eyes at him. He should stop asking the same questions over and over. It was annoying. But Dylan didn't seem to bother. "I'm Dylan," he responded cooly. "Dylan what?" Chace demanded. "Dylan Ford." Chuck brought a hand over his chin as though he was thinking, his brows drew closer to each other. "That name rings a bell. But never mind." He dismissed his own thought. "So, Dylan. How old are you?" "Twenty-one." "My man! We're the same age!" Chuck raised his hand for a high five but Dylan ignored him so he smacked the table to save him from embarrassment but that didn't escape me. My other brothers though, seemed oblivious of it. Chuck then cleared his throat, "Where do you live?" I had a feeling that Chuck would do all the talking and Cale and Chace would do the threatening--which would fail epicly. Dylan was an agent. If he wasn't afraid to lay his life on the line whenever he engaged himself in a mission, what could three normal boys possibly do to faze him? I bet none. So I guess, what I said to Holly was right. Dylan would be okay. "I live in LA." "LA?" Cale slammed his hand on the marbled counter and winced. Sadly, he forgot that our counter wasn't wood. "How the hell did you meet our sister?" "The model search. I am a judge." All these time that Dylan talked, he had this expression that told me he was dead serious. But why would he? My brothers were obviously fooling around. He didn't need to go all agent-y and stuck up. That was no fun. Chuck suddenly let out a cry of triumph and slammed his hands on the counter. And like Cale, he suffered the same fate. They should really remember that every counter at our house was made of marble so they wouldn't act so tough on it and slam their hands. "I remember where I saw that face!" Chuck exclaimed. Cale and Chace looked at him questioningly like he said something their minds couldn't decipher. "You're that arrogant guy on the billboard! The one for Lerato." Dylan raised an eyebrow, "Arrogant?" "You heard me right." "How could you say I'm arrogant when you only saw my billboard?" "Dude, it's written all over your face. I don't need to meet you to know that." Dylan and Chuck engaged in a staring match and it was my cue to enter. "Ha ha. You're silly, Chuck." I chirped, flicking my hand at him. My brothers looked at me weirdly while Holly covered her laughter by coughing. I grabbed Dylan's arm and it felt soft under my hand. It was smooth and there wasn't any trace of body hair on it. "Let's go at the back yard. Let's enjoy while the night is young." It was now Dylan's turn to give me the weird look. Nevertheless, he stood and even said goodbye to my brothers. I literally dragged Dylan outside but immediately cursed the moment we left the warmth of our house. Cold air brushed my skin sending shivers all through out my body. It didn't help that I was wearing a thin flannel shirt. I should have threw over a sweater before we got out. Since we were here, I can't bring him back in or my brothers would ask nonsensical questions again. And I was trying to keep Dylan off my parents. I was thankful they were upstairs when he came. I released him from my grip and sat on the two-person swing situated at the right side of our yard. I faked crossing my arm over my chest but really just wanted to cover up myself from the cold. It wasn't even winter but it was already making me frozen. "S-so," I stammered. I cleared my throat before I said anything else, "What are we gonna talk about?" "I think it all flew away," was his reply. "Huh?" "Can't your brothers chill a little? What do they think would I do to you? Jesus! Do I look like someone who's do something bad?" Dylan looked exasperated. He kept on brushing his hair with hand and was endlessly tapping his free fingers on the chocolate boxes. "Are you okay?" If I asked this question earlier, I would have slapped myself because it was obvious that Dylan was okay. Right, I wasn't so sure. He looked anxious and it bothered me. "Yeah," he said with a sigh. "Maybe I was just shocked that you have three burly brothers who act as your guard dog." I chuckled, "You don't looked shocked. You didn't even stutter." "Man, I was dead nervous. Did you see them? Cale could out throw me if we want to. Chace looked like he would kill me with his glare and Chuck doesn't seem to like me and wouldn't care if his brothers will do something to me that could either send me to the hospital or even at the morgue." When Dylan finished his little rant, there wasn't anything I could do but gawk at him. How long did it take for him to learn to hide whatever he was feeling? He looked so composed without a single strand of insecurity or uncertainty in him. But here he was, telling me everything which he shouldn't really tell me because I, Cera Ward, would clearly double in laughter the moment his first sentence slipped out of his mouth. But not at all times was I right. There wasn't anything I could do or say. I was literally speechless. "Cera, I know I'm hot but be more discreet when you check me out." That cocky, arrogant, annoying voice cut me out from my little own world. I frowned, "I wasn't checking you out." I leaned back on the swing as I rubbed my hands along my arms. Man it was really cold. "Here, hold this." He handed me the boxes and tugged the hem of his shirt up. My eyes widened and I immediately hold onto it. "What are you doing?" I hissed. "Taking this off," he said as if it was the most obvious answer. "I mean, why? It's freaking cold here and you plan to strip naked?" "No matter how much you want to see my body, I won't strip in front of you. I have an undershirt." He quickly pulled the sweatshirt over his head and handed it to me. "Wear that." I stared at him for a moment before his words sank into me, "No. I'm okay." "Sure you are. Your lips told me otherwise, though." I flushed at the thought that he was checking out my lips. I pursed them and glanced at him, "I'm fine. Let's just go back in so that you don't have to freeze here to death too." "Like you do?" He cooed. "But I'd rather die than go back inside. I think I have wardophobia now." I laughed. "You know what? You could have fooled me. You were dead serious out there." "Initial reaction when under that circumstance." He shrugged I cleared my throat. Maybe I should deal with this now, "So about that thing." "Hmm?" "The thing about being an agent," I whispered. "What do I do about it?" "Nothing. I got your back," he stated cooly. "What do you mean?" "Let's talk about it some other time. My mind isn't working okay right now. Why is it so cold anyways?" "Beats me." I tilted my head to look at him, "Wanna go in?" He shuddered and his face contorted in a scowl. "No. But we'd die out here, so yeah. Come on."

He stood up and threw his sweatshirt over his shoulder. He took slow strides towards the house and stopped when he noticed I wasn't moving. He looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow, "Come on."

I looked at the chocolate boxes on my hands. Were these really for me? I looked back at him and an involuntary smile made its way on my face, "Yeah. Coming!"