Chapter Two

By the time I got back and grabbed my bag to drive back home, it was already time for lunch. But looking at Grandma's three missed calls in my phone, I decided to skip lunch and just start driving already.

I shouldn't have told her I'll be coming back.

Sighing, I placed the bag in the trunk and everything else I needed and started the car.

It was close to midnight by the time I arrived. I could see my Grandma settled in her rocking chair on the porch with the lights on. I shook my head and looked around before parking.

Our house was the nearest one to the woods. In fact, Grandma used to tell me that the woods were like our very own backyard back when I was a child. Where other people used to avoid taking the routes near the woods, my Grandma and I used to go for a walk in the woods every Sunday morning.

Sometimes, we even used to bring back fruits and berries from the trees around. Surprisingly, there were a huge amount of trees bearing fruits and bushes loaded with berries.

I parked my car in the front and got my bags out. After making sure the car was locked completely, I made my way over to her.

"Welcome home," she said without even looking up from the book she was reading.

With her head bent down, her hair looked more white than before, there was barely any visible black hair anymore. She adjusted the thick glasses perched on the bridge of her nose before turning over the page.

"Aren't you cold sitting out here?" I asked after placing the bags beside her and kneeling down in front of her.

She looked up from her book and gave me a smile. "I needed some fresh air." She patted my head and closed her book. "Dinner is ready. Let's go."

"How did you know that I haven't had dinner yet?" I asked once I'd put my stuff in my room, showered and finally settled down on the dining table with her.

There were so many dishes placed on the table, most of them my favourites, but all of them were what I had missed during my time away. Grandma and I used to prepare dinner together until I left for university. It didn't even matter what we were cooking, I just loved being able to let her know about my day while she told me about her.

"I didn't, I just wanted to talk to you while I eat." Her tone held amusement as she started serving everything on a plate.

"Self service." She said, putting the loaded plate in front of her before eating a spoonful.

I laughed and shook my head before I served some for myself and started eating. I don't know about Grandma but I ate until I felt like my stomach was about to explode.

Once done, I leaned back in my chair and placed my chopsticks over the rim of the bowl. "I'll clean up in a moment." I let out with a yawn and dropped my head back with my eyes closed.

Few seconds later, I heard dishes being moved and picked up from the table. "Grandma, I'll do it. You can go to bed." Stretching my hands above my head, I moved from side to side before getting up.

"I can see you're exhausted. Go to sleep." Grandma said, carrying the dishes back to the kitchen and placing them in the sink. She came back to carry more dishes and placed them one over another in her arms.

"But-" I stopped to yawn again before continuing. "I'll be quick and then go to bed." I moved to get the dishes from her but she moved away swiftly.

"Go." She gave me a smile before heading back to the kitchen.

"I'll make it up to you. Promise." I said, heading upstairs to get my room.

"Okay!" I heard Grandma from downstairs before I closed the door of my room and retired for the night.

~~~

The next morning, I washed up and headed downstairs to help Grandma with whatever she seemed to be doing in the kitchen. As soon as I started descending the stairs I could smell my favourite pancakes being cooked. But more importantly, I heard her talking to someone.

I stood on the entrance of the kitchen and saw Grandma flipping pancakes with her back toward a guy sitting on the table. He was typing something on her laptop while answering her and looked more than comfortable to be merely an acquaintance.

"How's Nicolas?" Grandma asked the blonde guy.

"Worse since last few days. He wouldn't even tell me what's wrong." The guy answered.

Even though he was sitting, I could tell he was way taller and more well-built than I was. He seemed to be the same age as me, maybe just a few years older. Obviously he wore a sleeveless shirt, showing off those muscled biceps. Honestly, if I had arms like those, I'd wear it too.

"I think I know what's wrong." Grandma said, before I could've done something to announce my presence. I already felt awkward and weird standing there while listening to them like a creep. But I didn't want to interrupt them either, so I stood there, trying to find the right moment to announce my presence.

"What is it?" Though the guy sounded genuinely curious, he didn't bother looking up from the laptop. He continued his quick typing as if in a hurry.

"Blue came back yesterday." Grandma turned around as soon as she finished saying that and saw me standing at the door.

"Oh, Blue. Come on, breakfast is ready." She plastered a smile on her face and gestured me to take a seat beside the guy.

The guy finally looked up, his dark eyes focused on me before he gave me a smile. "Hey. You must be Blue. I'm Marco."

Though I still hadn't moved from my spot, he extended his hand forward for a handshake. Looking at his smiling face and extended hand, I finally moved forward and shook his hand before sitting down beside him.

"I'm Blue." I blurted out after a long minute of quiet. I didn't really care what I'd said, I just needed to break the awkward silence they both seemed okay with.

The guy - Marco chuckled and shook his head. "I know, Grandma loves to talk about you."

"Oh," I let out after Marco and grandma went back to doing what they were doing before, but this time in complete silence. Silences made me uncomfortable, I was starting to regret coming downstairs.

A minute or two later, grandma settled down the cooked pancakes and three plates. I got up and helped her in setting the table, glad to not just sit down with them in complete silence. Once done, we sat down and stacked the pancakes for three of us.

Marco closed the laptop and put it on the side before digging into his own stack of pancakes, but without adding any syrup, while mine were completely drenched in it. After a few bites, he said, "I live in the neighbourhood. My laptop broke, so I came over to submit my assignments."

Looking up, I saw him looking at me. I guess he was explaining his presence in our house. I nodded and took another bite, not knowing how to reply to that.

"You'll be graduating soon too, right? Grandma told me."

I nodded with another piece in my mouth.

"Your major is Computer Science, right?"

I nodded again.

"Mine is Math."

I couldn't help but scrunch my nose at that. It was an involuntary reaction. "I hate Math."

That made him laugh. He laughed until there were tears in the corners of his eyes while I sat there looking between him and grandma to figure out what was going on. Grandma just gave me a smile before sipping her tea and resuming her breakfast.

He dramatically wiped the tears and chuckled a few more times before saying, "Nicolas hates it too. That's why I'm stuck with it." Despite saying that, he couldn't hold back his grin.

I looked at him in confusion. "Nicolas?"

"My older brother." He smiled saying that and took another bite of his dry pancakes - I'd no idea why he wasn't using the syrup which was right in front of him. I was trying not to look at his plate and failing miserably.

"Bring Nicolas along with you next time." Grandma said after I nodded my head and went back to eating.

From the corner of my eyes I saw Marco grinning at my grandma while nodding his head. I had no idea why he looked so happy after that, but he ate the rest of his meal with a huge grin on his face.

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You're beautiful. Thanks for reading!