Chapter 18

Malik felt awful, but he didn't know what else he could do.

The truth was, he did want to kiss Madi, but he was terrified. 'What if I'm not a good kisser? What if Bruce found out? Where the fuck am I supposed to put my hands?'  He didn't want to embarrass himself, or get in trouble with Bruce, so decided that walking away was the best solution. But now he felt terrible and stressed about it all night until he fell asleep.

Perhaps he stressed about it a bit too much, because the next morning he woke up in another wet bed.

"Shit." The boy sat up and threw his covers off of him, inspecting the damage. He listened carefully to see if Bruce was awake, but unfortunately for him, both Bruce and Madi were awake and downstairs preparing breakfast.

"How the fuck am I gonna sort this out without them knowing?" He whispered to himself.

He got out of bed quietly, hoping nobody would hear that he was awake, and stripped his bed. Luckily, Bruce had put a protector on top of his mattress last time he changed the bed, meaning he only had to worry about the bed sheets and his pajamas. He stuffed the wet bed sheets under his bed and opened the window, hoping the room wouldn't smell whilst he figured out how he was gonna get them washed without Bruce noticing. The boy listened again and checked that Madi and Bruce were still downstairs, before quickly sneaking into the bathroom to get showered.

As Malik let the hot water to run down his body, he worried about how he was going to face Madi, and wondered if she'd have told Bruce what happened. Then the door handle rattled.

"How much longer are you going to be? Breakfast is nearly ready and Madi wants to use the loo." Bruce asked him.

"I'm getting out in a minute." He replied.

Bruce noticed that upstairs was quite cold and realized that Malik had left his bedroom door open, and his window wide open. He went into the boys room to shut the window, and smelt a familiar smell.

The man looked at the bed and saw the wet mattress protector, then he saw the wet bed sheet poking out from underneath the bed and grabbed it quickly, taking it downstairs.

"Is he nearly done? He's been in there for ages." Madi asked as Bruce came into the kitchen.

"I think so, poor boy..." The man replied.

"What do you mean 'poor boy'?"

"He wet his bed again last night, and he hid his bedsheets under his bed, I think he was too embarrassed to tell me." Bruce sighed.

"You should take him to a doctor. It's not normal for an almost 17 year old to still be wetting the bed." Madi told him.

"I know, I've tried to take him to the doctors but he doesn't want to go, he says it's a one off and that it won't happen again." Bruce replied.

"So, what? You're just gonna keep washing his sheets for him and treating him like a baby for the rest of your life?" The girl was still annoyed about how Malik had just walked away from her yesterday, so had no sympathy for him at this moment in time.

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?"

"He's not a baby though, Bruce, he needs to be independent and do stuff for himself, he isn't your responsibility."

"I don't mind doing things for him, he's had a hard life Madi, his dad left him with me so therefore he is my responsibility, he clearly needs me." Bruce told her.

"Morning." Malik said as he sat himself on the counter.

"Good morning, boy" Bruce said, glad that the conversation had ended before Malik came in. "What is the point in chairs if you're just going to sit on the counter anyway?" He laughed

"He sits up there because he's a child and it makes him feel taller." Madi smiled sarcastically.

"I'm not a child." Malik said.

"You act like one."

"Alright Madi, enough. Both of you just eat your breakfast." Bruce interfered.

Malik turned to face Bruce, "can you take me to football today?"

"Sure."

"Are you gonna stay to watch me play?"

"Of course, Madi? Are you coming to watch him play?" Bruce asked the girl.

"I guess, I have nothing else to do." She replied.

"Why do you wanna watch me play football if you think I'm a child, are you a pedo?" Malik raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously not, you little freak!"

"What is wrong with you two? Why can't you get along for five minutes?" Bruce put his head in his hands.

"Ask him! Why can't we get along, Malik?" Madi questioned.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I don't have an issue with you, you're the one who's got a problem with me." Malik shrugged with a smug look on his face.

"Right, both of you shush, if you're finished eating go get in the car, Malik, wee first please." Bruce ordered.

"You can't say you're not a child when you still need to be reminded when to use the potty." Madi teased.

"Shut up." Malik said as he went upstairs.

"Why are you being so horrible to him?" Bruce asked Madi, as they sat in the car waiting for Malik.

"He's horrible to me too, more horrible. You just don't see it." The girl replied.

"Okay, I'll speak to him later."

Malik got into the car and Bruce drove them to football.

A couple hours later Malik was in his final match, Bruce and Madi were sat watching him from the side.

Malik was playing really well, until a player from the other team slide tackled right in front of his feet causing him to trip over him. He landed on the grass and laid on his back for a few seconds. Without thinking, he got up angrily and shoved the other player.

"What the fuck are you doing?" The boy yelled at him

"What the fuck are YOU doing? Learn how to fucking play football mate, you aim for the ball, not the players, you fucking idiot." Malik yelled back.

The referee split them up and sent them both off pitch. Malik stormed over to where Bruce and Madi were sitting, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"What happened?" Bruce asked.

"Some fucking imbecile tripped me up!" Malik spat onto the floor.

"Language, boy, you still played really well." The man ruffled his sweaty hair.

"Exactly! I was about to score and he tripped me up."

Madi watched as Malik continued to fume, but alls she could think about was how good he looked all sweaty in his football kit. And then she thought about how good he looked without his football kit.

"What are you staring at?" Bruce asked her, suspiciously.

"What? Nothing." Madi replied, quickly turning to look at Bruce instead.

Malik looked down at her sitting on the grass and smirked.

Bruce didn't like what he was seeing, Actually, he hated what he was seeing. There were a few reasons why. The first being that he saw Malik almost like his son, and Madi was his niece, and even though he knew that him and Malik were not biologically related, it just didn't sit right with him. Another reason being, he knew that if Malik had a girlfriend, it would result in him spending less time with Bruce, he also knew that this was selfish of him, which is why he would never admit this to neither Malik or Madi. Bruce decided to take them home.

Malik jumped out the car and attempted to turn the front door handle.

"It's locked, you sausage." Bruce laughed as he walked up to the door to unlock it.

Madi quickly slid through the middle of them both and ran up the stairs.

Bruce looked concerned.

"She wants to get in the shower first because she thinks I take too long." Malik told him.

"Oh...Come to the kitchen, Malik, I must ask you about a few things." The man walked into the kitchen and sat down at the counter.

Malik jumped up onto the counter and sat next to him, facing towards him.

"Do you have anything you want to tell me?" Bruce asked.

"Mmm...I don't think so?" The boy looked confused.

"Did anything happen last night?"

Malik knew Bruce could've been talking about 1 of two things, him wetting the bed, or, what happened with Madi, if Madi had even told him about that. The boy didn't fancy admitting to either.

"I need the loo..." Malik hopped off the counter, but Bruce pulled him back.

"No you don't, and Madi is in the shower anyway so you can't." Bruce told him

"I actually do!"

"Hold it in, answer my question." The man kept hold of him.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about." Malik said, innocently.

"Did you wet your bed last night?" Bruce asked him.

"No." Malik replied.

"Don't lie to me, boy, I wouldn't be asking if I didn't already know."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be sorry, I'm not angry, but why didn't you just tell me?"

"I don't know, can I go to the toilet now?" The boy fidgeted.

"In a minute, Malik. Was you scared I was going to tell Madi?" Bruce questioned.

"Well yeah."

"But I'm not going to, it's between me and you." Bruce lied, as he had already told Madi.

"Okay okay, if it happens again, I'll tell you. Can I go the the toilet now, please?" Malik actually did need to use the toilet, this wasn't a get out of jail free card.

"No, I'm not finished talking, sit down." Bruce said firmly, he thought Malik was just trying to get out of talking, and Madi was still in the shower anyway.

Malik groaned and sat down on the chair.

"Why are you scared of Madi knowing? Is it because you fancy her?"

"What?! No! It's just embarrassing, I don't even want you to know about it!" Malik defended himself.

"What is going on with you two? I've seen how she looks at you, and the jokes you made at breakfast the other morning." Bruce stated.

"Nothing is going on. Those jokes were just innocent jokes and I don't think she looks at me in any certain way." The boy replied

"There better not be, she's my niece, Malik, and you're almost like a son to me."

"Alright, alright. I promise there's nothing going on." Malik reassured him, "are we done talking now?"

"Yes, thank you for waiting." Bruce nodded.

Malik went upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Who is it?" Madi asked.

"Erm, the queen?" Malik replied sarcastically.

"What do you want, Malik?"

"The toilet."

"Can you give me five mins?"

"No, I'm desperate!"

"Okay okay I'm getting out." Madi stepped out of the shower and turned it off. "Shit.." she mumbled.

"What's wrong?" The boy asked.

"I forgot my towel..." Madi replied.

Malik laughed from outside of the bathroom.

"Go get me one or you can't come in!" She shouted.

Malik quickly got her a towel and came back to the bathroom door.

"Alright, I've got your towel." He said.

"Close your eyes, or don't." Madi joked.

Malik chose not to close his eyes, and he didn't regret it, she looked perfect. Everything about her, the way her wet hair fell over her shoulders, causing water to continue dripping down her chest, to her torso and then down her legs. Everything Bruce had told him just minutes before had left his mind, as he gently pushed her back into the bathroom with him and locking the door behind them.