Felix's pov
"Pass me the hammer, James!"
"I don't have it."
"Felix?"
"Not here."
"Someone has to have it. I just saw it seconds ago! Where did it go?"
"Calm down. There is another in the storage room. Felix, can you bring it, please?"
"Sure, Dad."
That's how I have ended up in the storage room. Ryker was already there doing God knows what when I entered. I was about to leave but the door snapped shut from the outside. Moments later, Ian yelled to fix the problem between us. Ryker yelled back some curses to him. I stayed silent.
I told Maisara that it's Ian who caused this but I'm fairly certain that Dad and James are involved too. I bet even Mom is involved though she didn't directly do anything herself.
"Hurry up, guys. I can't hear anything!" Ian's loud-ass voice comes floating through the gaps of the door. I roll my eyes while Ryker offers him another string of profanity.
"You wish it was Rose with you now instead of me, no?" Ryker says as a way of greeting if only that can be considered as a greeting. Blood rushes up to my head almost instantly.
"It would be better for you if you don't get her name out of you anymore," I reply, my voice having an edge in it though I am trying to keep it calm. Screw calm, it sounds like a threat already. I don't even bother to correct him as she is Maisara now. I don't want him to say anything about her.
Unexpectedly, Ryker doesn't backlash. He just shrugs and goes, "What do you want to talk about then?"
Meanwhile, Ian yells again reminding us why he locked us in here. Both of us decide to ignore him this time. I say to Ryker, "I'm not exactly interested in talking to you. But if you are in, then maybe-" I gesture to the door, indirectly pointing at Ian. "-this."
Ryker's lips pull upwards into a thin smile. "That's why I'm talking to you, no?"
This time, I offer him a shrug in reply looking down at my phone screen where my conversation with Maisara is on display. This girl is worried for me and waiting for my text. I know I'm probably acting like a jerk to Ryker right now but I have reasons. Also, I have to fix this. Even if I don't want to do that myself, I have to do it for her.
"So, how do you plan on fixing this?" I ask him, gesturing between us.
"Do you want me to explain?" He seems genuinely interested in explaining. But I don't really need an explanation from him. Maybe that night, when we fought, I wanted that. But now, I just need something, anything that can fix things between us. That doesn't necessarily have to be an explanation.
I let out a sigh. "It's not about what I want you to do. It's about us talking through whatever it is that is going on between us. You can explain if that's what you think will help us sort this out. I will also explain my part if that helps."
He shrugs. "I don't mind explaining." Then, he gets up from the stool he is sitting on and walks up to the door. While checking something on the door, he continues, "I know maybe it sounds absurd but I never meant for things to get this bad between us."
He turns his head to look at me this time, probably to see my reaction. If I have learned anything from Maisara, that is how to keep a neutral face. I don't know how good I am at it but I try my best. Ryker probably waits for me to say something as well but I keep quiet.
He continues keeping his eyes on me, "I already knew it was a bad idea when I used your name." He pulls his right shoulder up in a half-shrug, looking away. "But I thought, "How serious can it be?" or maybe, that I would sort it out before it gets out of hand. But look, where it took me."
I stare up at him. He seems genuinely sorry for whatever happened between us. I don't know why but I feel as if Maisara would say that he is acting. Maybe that's because Maisara knows him in a way that I do not. But that's what makes our judgments different. That's what makes us different human beings. Right?
So, instead of going on a debate about whether he is acting or not, I settle for hearing him out first. Then, I will decide what to believe and what not.
"You may not believe it but I do regret stuff which I did that I believe may have caused the downfall of the relationship between us," Ryker pauses again, this time turning around and leaning his back against the door with his eyes focused on me. I almost spill out the question that has been nagging me from the beginning until I realize what he said.
"Why do you think I wouldn't believe it?" I ask instead, narrowing my eyes slightly. I think I already know the answer.
He shrugs. "My behavior said otherwise."
I roll my eyes in reply, giving him a 'So you are aware?' look. He shrugs again.
Suddenly, the door starts banging causing both of us to jump up in surprise. Ryker steps back from the door. Of course, it is Ian who has decided that it's the perfect time to intervene. "Are you guys done yet?"
Ryker exchanges a look with me before angling his head to the door and yells back, "You have to give us some fucking time to do that, no?"
Ian's reply comes almost instantly, "Do it quick. I am getting impatient." The amusement is pretty clear in his voice.
Ryker curses again, "Fuck you." But this time, it is not loud enough for Ian to hear. No words come from Ian's side.
Well, this has to be quick. Not really for Ian but for Maisara. That girl is waiting for me.
"So then why did you use my name?" I decide to finally voice out the nagging question. Maybe it can stir the problem more. But as we are discussing everything that went wrong between us, why should we keep it away?
His eyes shift from the door and focus back on me. I see the time he takes to pull his attention back to our conversation. Then I also see the time he takes to arrange his answers. Finally, he opens his mouth. "I guess you meant to ask, "What happened so bad that you used my name to get out of that relationship?" But, in case you didn't, well, the other question has the answer already."
He pauses, walking back to the stool he was sitting on earlier and sitting back on it. Then he leans forward and continues, "So, the answer to the other question is-" A nonchalant shrug, as if it doesn't matter to him anymore until I notice him briefly looking away. "-she found out something that was enough to ruin me back then. Though now I'm out of it. And I didn't have a better solution than to get out of the relationship at that time."
What?
"What are you talking about?" I blurt out in confusion trying to make sense of his words. His words are full of mystery. But I know my brother and he can't be doing what I'm thinking his words mean.
He gives me an odd look. "Do you really not understand or do you want to know more about what I meant?"
I roll my eyes. "If you already got it, elaborate."
He lets out an exhausted sigh, glancing down at his hands. "It's better if you don't know much about that."
I narrow my eyes at him. "What kind of shady business did you get yourself into?" I say that as a joke but there is a high chance that it is not a joke to him. And he doesn't react like it is a joke. Instead, he stares at me long and hard, as if I had answers. And that expression of his is enough to confirm my doubts.
"Jesus, Ryker." I rub a hand over my face, heart pounding in my ear with this new finding. How? When? What in the-
Damn, that's crazy! Nothing like what I expected!
"Who else knows?" I know how stupid it sounds but that's the first thing that comes out of my mouth. I'm really glad that my voice didn't give out what I'm feeling inside.
He shrugs as if it's nothing. "I told you I'm out-"
"I asked who else knows." This time, my voice is raised. I'm not really sure whether I did that intentionally or not. My head is so full of all the running thoughts regarding this newfound knowledge that it feels like it's going to explode anytime soon.
He gives me another odd look before replying, "Rose and you. She didn't know the entire thing." And neither do I.
I seriously have no idea what to say next. The amount of questions I have is too many to ask now when we are trying to sort out the problem between us. And I don't even know if I should even be asking any of that when he said himself that he is out of it now.
"Can I ask questions about it?" I choose to ask instead. Again, that sounds very stupid but I can't help it.
"You can, of course." He pauses for a second, pressing his lips together in a thin line before continuing, "But I probably won't answer. For your sake. The least you know, the safer you are."
Funny how those similar words our parents used to say all the time when we were young and used to ask them all types of questions about their past. Funny how they tried everything for us to not get into messy situations like they did in their past. Also, funny how Ryker did just that.
"What do you think Mom and Dad would think about it?" That is the next thing I ask and from the look on his face, I easily get that it doesn't exactly make him feel exhilarating.
What I don't expect is his reply. "Same thing they will think if they know you are dating a Muslim girl." Ryker knows how to exactly tick me off. I don't know exactly what my expression is but it can't be anything good. And that's enough to make him regret what he said.
His eyes widen almost instantly and he pulls up his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to say that-"
"Out loud," I finish it for him, nodding my head in understanding. "Makes sense. It would be nice if you could keep a leash on your fucking mouth because it seems to cause serious problems."
Despite that, he opens his mouth again but seeing the hard glare I'm giving him, he finally decides to keep his mouth shut. I grin, though that's more in irritation than humor. Leaning forward, I prop my elbows on my knees and clasp my hands together in a business-like posture. Then, I continue, "I heard your part. Now it's my turn. Whatever happened in the past, including that fight and everything, I want to forget everything and move forward. I hold no grudges against you. I'm hoping you will do the same. There was a bad energy between us these past few days, you noticed, of course. I want that to vanish. No more backbiting, fighting, or anything else. I want us to be exactly like we were before the fight. Best friend and brother. Is that okay with you?"
He patiently waits for me to finish. His lips curl up into a smile when he hears all my words. He, then, nods and gets up from his seat to step forward. I take that as a cue to get up and walk to him too.
"So, it's over. Back to best friend and brother." He offers me his hand for me to accept it as a business deal. I let out a low laugh, gripping his hand firmly and giving a little shake.
"Back to best friend and brother."
Finally, he flashes me a toothy grin before going back to the door to tell Ian that we are ok now. I proceed to send Maisara a text to let her know that too. Still, a small nagging part of me is saying that this issue is not simply over yet. It feels like we have forced it to be okay for now.
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