She wanted to end the discussion and comfort him but she steeled her heart because she wanted to know more, she needed to know more. She picked up the can of cold beer and gulped down the content."Slow down." Carl said.
She picked up another can, wanting to drink it, he took it from her, drinking the content.
"You said you wanted to know about me, ask away." His nervousness was long gone, his tensed shoulders had relaxed. He was so happy and so sad he wanted to cry. His emotions we"re everywhere. "She trusts me more than my own father." He thought, lowering his eyes, he stared at the plate of chicken.
"I want to know everything about you but since I don"t know what to ask, tell me." She continued looking into his eyes. If there was one thing she knew, he was a very sincere person.
"My name is Carl Blackwood, I"m 21, my mom is late and I have a younger brother, his name is Ryan, he"s my stepbrother actually. He"s very good to me, you have a lot of similarities actually, bright, innocent eyes, beaming with curiosity. He loves to pester me too." Carl said, chuckling, recalling times he found Ryan annoying for falling him around.
"I see you care about him too."
"He"s different." He said simply.
"Actually, he got me my clothes, laptop and phone. He came to see me at the carwash the day I was kicked out."
"Then, I"m thankful." She said, smiling at him warmly.
"For?"
"He"s on your side. So when is your birthday?"
"..14th of..May..." He said with his eyes lowered, waiting to be scolded by his parents.
She stared at him wide eyed.. "You didn"t think to tell me, because?"
"I didn"t think it was important." He said still looking down.
"Hey look at me, now I want to see your eyes." She smirked. His eyes were still lowered, she put down the chicken she was holding, cleaned her hands with a napkin and immediately lifted his chin. She looked into his guilty eyes and asked, "What kind of sister would I be if I don"t even know your birthday?"
"Why would you think it isn"t?" She questioned seriously.
"Ever since my mom died, I stopped celebrating it.. it"s been so long I forgot."
"Then we"ll celebrate it together from now on." She said, smiling at him.
"Tell me your dreams." She said picking up another beer. He collected it and gulped it down. She glared at him. He began laughing, you"re so cute. Hearing him, she became conscious of her self, she blushed.
"My dream..? nothing much, I guess to be able to live comfortably and happily with my family."
She looked at him in disbelief again. "You have a simple dream." She commented.
"What about you?" He asked.
She paused for a while, her eyes lowered. Then she raised them, the formerly dimmed eyes were now hopeful. "I want to be a successful lawyer and then a politician so my parents would be able to find me."
"Then I"ll support you, so stop working." He said.
Rolling her eyes at him, "We"ve been over this, I"m not quitting my job because you"re here. What if you aren"t?"
"I"ll always be here." He stated calmly.
"How do you know that? You might go back to your family." Her voice tinged with sadness.
He opened another beer finishing it"s content in one go, like it"s a compet.i.tion before stating, "You"re my family."
"What about Ryan?" She asked with a raised brow.
"Just you too." He said, about opening another can of beer.
"Stop drinking, eat." She said, pushing the plate to chicken to him. When he picked up a chicken, she immediately took his opened beer, drinking it. He moved forward, pulling the beer from her and drinking whatever is left.
With a frown, he said "Don"t drink."
"Why is it okay for you to drink and not me." She questioned feeling annoyed. He was acting like an elder brother, not wanting his younger sister to taste the forbidden fruit he had already eaten.
"I don"t want you drinking, it"s not healthy."
"Then why are you drinking?" She asked, almost shouting.
"Because you bought it and I can"t just throw it away." He said, clearly.
She no longer argued as she didn"t know what else to say. She continued eating the chicken while he went to the fridge to get her water.
"Thank you." He suddenly said.
Not sure why he was thanking her, she looked up at him with a clueless expression, questioning him.
"For trusting me, it means a lot to me. I know how difficult it is to trust people, still, you took me in when we were just strangers. Even after what my stepmother said, you chose to believe me.. just like Ryan, he didn"t doubt." Yet another beer was opened before him as he gulped it down slowly.
Kim felt more relaxed after the talk, she didn"t know much, but it was better than nothing. Slowly, they"ll learn about each other.