Throughout the journey back home, Rain couldn't contain his happiness. He leaned back in the car seat, a lazy smile plastered on his face, eyes gleaming with excitement. The night wind tousled his hair through the half-open window, and he had spoken more words than he had uttered in his entire life.
Fallon, behind the wheel, shot him a side glance through the rearview mirror, shaking his head in fond disbelief.
"She pecked me, Fallon! She said I look handsome!"
"You definitely do!" Fallon chuckled, his voice laced with amusement.
"She loves my look, she wanna take me home and stare at me every day."
"She like it that much?"
"She definitely do! She called me her Rain!" he giggled, his voice slurring slightly as he kicked his feet excitedly like a child reliving his favorite cartoon.
"She kissed my cheeks too," he added dreamily, raising a hand to lightly touch his flushed face. His fingers lingered on his cheek, as if trying to preserve the warmth of the memory.
Rain's face was so red from embarrassment, someone might think he had caught a fever. He slumped in the seat, blinking heavily, sleepy from the alcohol but too giddy to fall asleep.
Fallon kept glancing at him with a soft smile tugging at his lips. He'd never seen Rain like this before, so alive, so radiant. The boy who barely spoke was now gushing like a teenager in love.
Yet deep inside, Fallon was worried. He wanted nothing more than for Frances to truly like Rain, but logic whispered otherwise. It was just a party… and she might have been tipsy. What if she was only messing with him? Still, he couldn't bring himself to say it, not tonight. Not when Rain looked like he was floating.
By the time they arrived home, it was late. Fallon parked the car quietly and hurried to the passenger side to help Rain out. The boy stumbled, clearly drunk now, his body leaning heavily on Fallon's arm.
But the moment they stepped inside, the warm buzz of the night shattered.
The house felt heavy. Cold. The kind of silence that made your skin crawl. Rain's steps slowed, and his heart skipped a beat. He remembered suddenly, the chaos Frances had caused at school earlier. It wasn't over yet.
Cassidy sat hunched in an armchair, glaring at Rain like he was vermin. The sight of Rain dressed up only fueled his hatred. He already hates seeing his pretty face and now he is dressing. His lip curled in disgust.
"So annoying," he muttered under his breath.
"Is he drunk?" Delilah's sharp voice rang out, her eyes narrowing at Fallon as she crossed her arms.
"He just had a little drink," Fallon replied carefully.
"An underage drinking so much sounds so hilarious," she snapped.
"Lane and Mila drink every weekend. This is his first time."
"Just shut the fuck up, Fallon! Must you talk?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Fallon said, lowering his gaze.
Delilah marched forward, her heels clicking loudly. "The student who brought that stupid dog this afternoon was not recognized by the principal. They said the security dog was taken away by an unknown student, and they don't know who she is. Rain ran away with the girl, so tell me, who the girl was?"
Rain's heart dropped. His already unsteady legs trembled. He tried to focus but the alcohol dulled his clarity.
"I don't know her," he lied, his voice barely above a whisper.
"You don't know her? And she came to scare me off with a dog? You better tell me now before I go look for her with police."
"No! I really don't know her, you can punish me if you want to."
"Punish you? Of course I'd do that, but I wanted that witch who almost killed me today. The school refused to provide the girl, so I'm gonna deal with her personally. So tell me who the hell she is!"
"No!"
"No?" Lane suddenly stood up, his eyes cold and sharp. He walked closer and Rain instinctively stepped back, cornered like prey.
"Did you go to Evie's party with Frances?" Lane asked, his voice low and threatening. Rain shook his head quickly.
"How dare you lie!!!!" Lane exploded, lunging forward. Rain flinched as Lane's voice echoed through the room like thunder.
"You went to the party dressed up this way and also went there as Frances's date, it's all over the school site!"
"It was unplanned. She just took me there"
"Frances took you out and you cannot say no? How dare you mess around with my girl! Do you think I'm dead? Huh?!!" He grabbed Rain's jacket, yanking him forward.
Delilah tried to intervene. "Lane, leave the girl issue! Allow him to tell me about that crazy girl who brought the dog."
"Fucking leave the dog shit, Mum! This is more important. He went out with my girl. Hand in hand."
"Is that more important than your mother's life? The dog almost killed me, Lane. You ran away when that happened. Now instead of asking who the culprit was, you are asking about a girl that has no interest in you."
"I don't care about that! Even if she's not gonna date me, she can't date Rain either!"
Cassidy scoffed loudly and got to his feet. "This bastard. Is he worthy?" He strolled up to Rain with a smirk, brushing off an invisible speck of dust from his shoulder.
"Nice wears. Where did you get it from?"
"It's… it was Frances. Frances bought it." Rain murmured.
Fallon closed his eyes. Rain can't even lie to save himself.
Lane let out a sharp laugh, rage flashing in his eyes.
"That girl got you a dress too? That's ridiculous!"
Without warning, he punched Rain in the face. The boy stumbled and crashed to the floor, his lip bleeding slightly.
Rain gasped, dazed, reaching for the floor to support himself.
"How dare you, Rain?! I'm gonna kill you!!"
Lane charged again, fist raised..
"What are you guys doing?!!!"
The voice sliced through the chaos like a blade.
Everyone turned to the entrance.
Taylor.
His coat still dusted with travel, his face tight with fury.
His eyes immediately landed on Rain, bloody, dazed, on the floor. Lane's hand was mid-air. Cassidy backed away instinctively.
Taylor rushed forward and pulled Rain gently off the floor, brushing his hair back and checking his face.
"Are you okay?" he said, voice low, controlled but Rain swatted his hands away, chest heaving. He walked past him without a word, disappearing into the hallway.
Taylor's jaw clenched as he turned around to face them. Cold rage swirled in his eyes.
"What do you think you are, beating up Rain that way?!"
"He is a bastard! He was messing with my girl!" Lane shouted.
"Bastard?"
"Oh my! Taylor, don't take him seriously. He's just joking around," Delilah said quickly, wringing her hands.
"Joking around? Did Rain snatch his girlfriend?"
"She is not my girlfriend yet but she is my girl," Lane muttered.
Taylor scoffed. "She's not your girlfriend and you are beating up Rain this way?"
"He deserves it."
"What insolence!!!" Taylor roared, making everyone flinch.
"Rain has never done anything that required someone to beat him, and he will never do it! He is always on his own, how can you beat him up this way?!"
"Taylor, they're kids! They were just joking around"
"I don't want nobody joking with my brother this way! Have I ever beaten up Lane or Cassidy before? Never! How dare you beat my brother like this? Is this how you have been treating him?"
"Of course not! We treat him very good. He is the most pampered one in this house, we all know that Rain's condition is not good, so we take care of him"
"Fallon, what were you looking at? You were employed to protect Rain!"
"Boss! I'm sorry about this. The boys are your cousin, and their mother is your aunty. I couldn't guard against them. I could only watch them treat the young master badly."
"You!… it's not what you think, Taylor. Don't listen to Fallon"
"I mean what I said, boss. They treat the young master badly. I have always wanted to report this to you, but I might get fired before you get back, and you might not get to know what is going on with your brother."
"You all must be tired of staying in this mansion, right?" Taylor sneered.
"This mansion belongs to us all, Taylor!" Delilah barked.
"Your kids are Brooks, not Piper, dear aunty. They should know who the owner of the house is. They do not belong here in the first place. How dare they treat our true descendants like trash?"
"Taylor!!! I'm your elder. How can you treat me this way?"
"This way? How were you treating my brother? You're always using him to lie to my dad to extort money from him. You say you take care of Rain day and night, that you even fell sick. Is this how you take care of him?"
"Boss, the kids stole the young master's game console. His gaming computer was once taken. And a girl in class gifted him a gamer watch that's worth $100K. Cassidy snatched it away."
Taylor's gaze slowly moved to Cassidy. A dry chuckle escaped his lips.
"The watch?"
"Bro…" Cassidy stammered.
"I said the watch. Don't make me repeat myself." His voice dropped like ice.
Cassidy removed the watch slowly and handed it over.
Taylor took it, eyes never leaving them.
"You all still interested in staying in this house, or do you wanna move out?"
"How can you ask that, Taylor? Of course we are here!"
"Firstly, Rain cannot move out for you people. You're still standing here like this all thanks to Dad. Secondly, if you wanna keep staying in this mansion, then you better not treat the right kin like trash. Fallon!"
"Yes, boss!" Fallon stepped forward.
"I'll add more guards for you. You call them when it's needed, whether it's my aunty or my uncle or cousins or even grandmother. If anyone messes with Rain, do not hesitate to take actions."
"Yes, boss."
Taylor turned and headed upstairs. Fallon followed.
They entered Rain's room, he was already fast asleep, curled slightly under the covers. A small smile rested on his bruised lips.
"He has always been treated badly and he wouldn't say a word," Taylor whispered.
"It has always been that way. Even while you were around, they treated him badly. He just can't bring himself to say it, boss."
Taylor sat beside him on the bed and brushed his hair from his forehead gently.
"I haven't seen him for a few months and he became more beautiful. He looks just like Mum," he said with a sad smile.
"I begged Dad to let me come over and stay with him but he refused. But I don't think Rain likes to see me either. He's not fond of me."
"It's because he's used to being alone."
"True. I see Lane was fighting him because of a girl. Does he have a girlfriend now?"
"She is not yet his girlfriend. I don't think she would be."
"Why not? She doesn't like him?"
"Seems so. The girl is not suitable for the young master. He has liked her for several years now."
"The little troublemaker in their school?"
"You remember her?"
"Sure. The one Rain sends letters to every now and then. He texted Dad one day that he should buy a bulk of Stanley cups and send it. It was so funny when I saw him prepping milk for a girl early in the morning."
"He loves her way too much."
"I thought they would have gotten married, but now there's no progress yet."
"He followed her out today, and somehow they ended up kissing. He couldn't stop talking about it. But the moment got ruined by his aunty."
"Kissing is a progress. At least they did something. And the moment doesn't seem to be ruined. Look at him smiling in his sleep," Taylor chuckled.
Fallon laughed softly.
"He seems to be happy, even with his swollen lips."
"If that girl wouldn't date my brother, I might have to kidnap her for him!" Taylor joked.
"Frances doesn't seem like a girl that can be kidnapped that easily. She's fierce. I used to feel like they don't fit each other at all. Their personalities are too apart."
"That makes it more interesting. It'll be boring if one of them isn't fierce. They'll just be bullied together."
"True!"
"Tell me once they start dating. We can arrange their marriage by second year of college, so he won't feel lonely."
"He would like that a lot."
Taylor took Rain's hand gently and slipped the watch back onto his wrist. He tucked him in properly, smoothing the blanket around his shoulders. He lingered a moment, his expression softening.
Then, without a word, he turned off the bed lamp and walked out silently, leaving Rain to rest peacefully.