Tell Me Why You Love Me (TMWYLM) Read online

  "Free! Come here for a sec!" I heard one of the twins yell up to me.

  I perked up and slid off my bed, opening my door and followed the voice downstairs. "What's up?" I asked as I saw the entire group standing in the kitchen gathered around Miriam with a large bowl in her hands, holding it to her chest.

  She gave me a gentle smile. "Okay, now Sweetie?" She asked me. I nodded in reply and walked towards them all gathering. "I'm making Brownies. You want to try some?" She asked me.

  "Home-made?" I looked to the bowl in her hands and then back at her, before looking away a little embarrassed. "I've never... Had home-made brownies before." I scratched the side of my face when I realised all eyes were now staring at me, even Kyle.

  "What, never!?" Craig cut the awkward silence, slamming his hands on the table. I looked to him to see a cheesy grin on his face. "Freesia, you've missed out! Mom makes THE best brownies!" he said, throwing his arms up in the air.

  That word again. I saw Jordan lightly slap Craig over the head and the two twins looked away nervously. Miriam and Kyle seemed worried, too. I stood there and smiled, letting it pass. "I'll be the judge of that!" I leaned forward, giving Craig a smirk, knocking his head back by his forehead with my finger and he replied with a happy smile.

  The rest looked at me with mixed expressions of shock and concern. I gave them a glance and waved my hand at them, smiling meekly as I shook my head.

  I didn't want to worsen the day even more. Everybody seemed to be having fun. I didn't want to screw it up with a sudden outburst. And I'd rather not direct that outburst on Craig a second time. He was too innocent of a kid to understand why, so I let it by.

  "Well, I hope you like extra chocolate, then!" I heard Miriam divert attention from me and back to her baking.

  The twins gave me a quick glance. "Trust me, she puts more chocolate in those things than in a chocolate factory!" They said simultaneously, obviously avoiding calling her mom. I was a little more at ease because of that. I could see they all cared.

  I gave them a smile. "Oh, please, she can't put THAT much in!" I stated, scoffing to the twins, who just pointed to the bowl Miriam was now pouring onto a tray.

  The gloopy liquid was deep brown and you could smell the sickeningly sweet smell probably from a mile away, it was so strong. I widened my eyes in shock and gave Miriam a look of surprise. "You seriously put THAT much chocolate in?"

  "And top it off with chocolate chips!" She added, singing as she poured the batch into a large tray.

  I couldn't believe it. How could somebody eat such a sickeningly sweet brownie?

  I felt a nudge on my elbow and turned to see one of the twins lean in to me. "Dare you to eat 3 of them." He said, whispering to me. I could tell it was Josh, with his slightly lower voice.

  "Hey, she won't be able to handle that much! You can barely hold down half a one yourself!" I heard Joe, giving his twin a wry smile.

  I laughed at the two as they started bickering in a 'can so/can not' argument. Watching them fight looked like somebody was arguing with their own reflection.

  "Alright, boys. Enough with the fighting!" I heard Kyle interrupt them, snapping them out of it. They glared at one another again before turning their heads the opposite ways.

  I couldn't help but release a laugh that caught everybody by surprise. The twins gave me a quizzical look. "What're you laughing at, Free?" They both asked me at once.

  I shook my head at them, smiling. "I'm sorry. It's just weird seeing you two completely in sync! If it was a complete stranger, they'd double-take and make sure they weren't drunk!" I explained to them.

  "We are so not in sync!" They replied at the same time. We all laughed at the irony of their words and they blushed, looking away.

  "I'm sorry, you two. It's just you look so alike, it's almost scary!" I stated to them, patting them both on the shoulder. "But I know you have your differences. You're two different people, right?" I asked them and they nodded.

  "Hey! Hey! You have to make her play the game!" I heard Craig talk to the twins who gave out a smirk.

  "Game?" I asked them.

  "Oh boys, come on. No." Kyle mumbled, groaning. Alright I was really intrigued about 'the game' now.

  The twins looked at each other and smiled. "Okay, Free. Close your eyes." I closed them hesitantly and I heard some shuffling in front of me. "Alright, now open!" They said simultaneously.

  I opened my eyes to see the two of them standing there in front of me with a wide grin on their faces. I looked around to find nothing different and gave them a confused look.

  "Boys, stop. Give Freesia a break." I heard Kyle mutter. Okay, I was so going to play the game now!

  "So, what do I have to do?" I asked them, completely ignoring Kyle. Craig answered for them.

  "You gotta pick out who's who! But the rule is they can't speak!" He placed a finger to his lips.

  Damn, so they knew they could be distinguished by their voices. Well, there goes my tactic...

  I stood there for a minute and looked at the two of them smirking. How could I choose who is who?

  Jordan tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to him. "These two will play the game all day if you don't choose quickly." He groaned.

  "So..." I stated, holding my hands behind my back and swivelling back to face the twins. "You can do everything else BUT talk, right?" I asked them. They both nodded with the same smirk on their faces. "Okay, wait a sec." I ran out of the kitchen leaving everybody a little baffled.

  I came back to them with a piece of paper and a pen in my hand, handing them to the twins. "Write your names." I stated.

  "Won't work." Jordan said from behind me as the boys took their turns writing their names. "They have the exact same handwriting, too."

  They gave me the slip of paper back and I smirked. "Who said I was looking at their handwriting?" I asked Jordan

  He laughed and folded his arms, shaking his head. “Tried that, too. They sometimes switch and write each other’s names. That way, it’s a 50/50 chance of getting it right.”

  “Who said I was interested in what they wrote?” I asked him and everybody gazed at me perplexed.

  I looked at the two boys and pointed to each in turn. "Joe. Josh." I stated with a victorious smile on my face.

  The twin's faces dropped and suddenly slammed their hands on the table. "How'd you DO that!?" They asked together.

  Miriam gave me a look that showed me she noticed what I did. But I placed my finger to my lips and grinned. "Not telling!" I said, swinging my body a little. I looked to Miriam. "You better not tell them, either!" I stated to her.

  She gave me a chuckle and carried on baking. "Don't worry. Girl's secret." She smiled at me, winking.

  I felt Craig tug on my clothes and looked to him. "How did you do it, seriously?" he asked me. "Nobody has ever got that right, other than mom-ah, hey!"

  Jordan slapped him over the head again, lightly. I ignored his words and smiled. "Hmm... Well, I guess you could say woman's intuition!" I replied.

  "Vague." The twins mumbled at the same time, making me laugh a little.

  Miriam continued baking her brownies with a smile on her face, whilst I was constantly being pestered by the boys wanting me to explain how I picked them out. After a while, Miriam placed the brownies in the oven and we all left the kitchen until they were ready.

  As I left, I felt a hand on my shoulder, turning around to see Kyle. "I thought I told you to not touch me." I stated in a monotone, shoving his hand off my shoulder.

  He frowned a little but it faded. "The twins need somebody like you, y'know." He stated.

  "What?" I asked him, giving him a shocked look.

  He smiled at me. "As you heard from Craig, the only other person to tell them apart was Miriam but that's because she's... Well, you know." He avoided calling her their mom. "Y’know..." He started. "The two of you seem to get on quite well. Am I right in saying that?" He asked me.

  I shrugged and headed to the stairs. "Sure. I
think Miriam's cool. But don't think she'll ever replace HER." I stated before I went up the stairs and to my room, before the discussion turned nasty.

  I threw myself on my bed and sprawled across it as far as I could, gazing at my ceiling. Thinking.

  "Write your names."

  "Won't work. They have the exact same handwriting, too."

  "Who said I was looking at their handwriting?"

  I heard a knock at my door, snapping me from my thoughts. "Come in." I stated, sitting up.

  "I'm curious, brat." I heard Jordan's voice as he entered my room, closing my door behind him. "How did you really figure them out?" He asked, sitting on the edge of my bed.

  I gave him a smirk. "Curious, aren't we Jordan Michaelis?" I teased him with the English accent again.

  He didn't hesitate to put me in a headlock. "Call me that one more time and I swear I'll-"

  "You'll do what, Jordan Michaelis?" I asked him, still in the headlock.

  "This." He took me out of the headlock and pulled my body to his, holding me as tight as he could, literally squeezing the air out of my lungs.

  "Hey! Let go... Can't breathe!" I yelled at him as he smothered my face into his chest. I tried pushing him away, but his grip was too tight. I forced him away with all my strength and, suddenly, he let go, sending me flying back and hitting my head on the edge of the bed. "Argh, you jerk!" I held the back of my head, growling at him.

  He had that smug look on his face again, knowing he had won. Like hell he had. I picked up one of my pillows, ready to throw it at Jordan until I noticed I had knocked the bookcase, the ornament set on it falling to the ground. "Oh no." I whispered as my face dropped into fear and worry.

  I threw the pillow away and went to the ornament on the ground, picking it up and scanning every part of it. I released a huge sigh of relief when I found it was still all in one piece. "Thank god. You scared me, Justine..." I whispered to myself, setting it back on the shelf.

  "Justine?" I jumped, completely forgetting Jordan on my bed. He had a look of confusion on his face.

  I looked away from him, my hand on the fairy's head. "Yeah, um... The fairy's called Justine. After my mom..." I added, choking the words out my mouth.

  "So she was a gift from her?" Jordan asked, standing from my bed and making his way towards me. He stood behind me. Literally just behind me. His chest was touching my back and his head over my shoulder. He looked at the ornament and smiled. "She's holding a freesia, isn't she?" He asked me.

  I nodded with a soft smile. "Yeah. She gave it to me for my 16th birthday. She loved Freesias. That's why she called me that when I was born." I answered Jordan, trying to fight the tears back.

  I felt a hand wrap around my waist, making me jolt a little. "You don't have to hold it all in." Jordan whispered to me, pulling my body as close to his as possible without squeezing me, like earlier.

  I gave him a weak laugh and shook my head. "No, it's okay. I just don't want anything to happen to this ornament. For me, it's like a small statue of my mom. It looks like the spitting image of her." I explained to him.

  "That your mother?" I saw Jordan pick up the photo beside the ornament and I nodded. I felt my voice lock and I couldn't speak. He looked at it for a while before placing it back on the shelf. "She's pretty." he commented. "You look a lot like your mother, you know. Aside from the brown hair." He added, playing with a small strand.

  People always used to tell me that. I got almost all of my features from her, aside from my hair that I got from Kyle.

  I released a small squeak as I felt a pair of lips rest on the nape of my neck. "You're shaking." Jordan whispered. "If you're trying this hard to hold it in, you'll make yourself ill." He spoke with his lips brushing against my skin with every word. I felt his other hand wrap around my waist.

  He couldn't get his body any closer if he wanted to. I gave him a faint laugh. "I'm fine. Honestly. It still hasn't fully sunk in that she's gone, so sometimes I just need to suck it up so I don't end up screaming."

  As I said that, I felt Jordan release my waist and swivel me around so I was facing him. I looked up to his eyes, glowing like green emeralds, full of concern and... Something else. But I couldn't work it out.

  He pulled me close to him, holding me in a tight hug again, holding my head against his chest with one of his hands. "Cry if you need to. Scream if you need to. You can't hold it all in, especially after having to stop yourself from reacting all day." He told me.

  Perhaps it was the atmosphere, or maybe the comforting scent of Jordan that made me weep into his shirt quietly. "Thank you." I managed to muster after hiccupping for a while. I grabbed him by his shirt and he rubbed my back gently.

  "You silly girl." he whispered to me. "There's nothing for you to thank me for."

  Chapter 8

  "Freesia!" I heard a familiar voice yell to me.

  I immediately shot up from my bed. "I'm up!" I yelled back

  "Shut up... You're too loud." I let out a squeak, surprised to hear another voice in my room. I looked to my side to see black hair and a green eye peering at me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down. "Sleep." He muttered.

  I blushed extensively when I realised Jordan was lying beside me. In my bed. "W-wait... What... Why-hey!" I stuttered to him as he pulled me back down and held me close to his chest, nestling his face in my hair.

  "Shut up, brat. You're comfy." I heard his muffled voice in my hair.

  What was going on!? I thought it useless to fight him, considering how stronger he was compared to me. I heaved a heavy sigh and looked to his chest. Not like I could look at anything else if I wanted to, he had me held there. "Why are you in my bed?" I asked straightforwardly, trying to hold my blush and stop my heart from jumping ship.

  "You fell asleep after crying for over 3 hours." He mumbled, fidgeting slightly.

  3 hours? Was that even possible? I shook my head. "But that doesn't explain why you're IN MY BED!" I stated to him loudly.

  There was silence for a few minutes, and then I heard Jordan moan, his lips still buried in my hair. "You may not like my reason." he stated.

  "I know I won't like your reason no matter what." I stated flat.

  He laughed a little under his breath and took one of his hands and stroked my hair with it. "I guess you looked so pitiful, I couldn't just leave you." His voice was low and gruff. Gruffer than usual, probably because he just woke up. But I couldn't help but think it was sexy.

  I narrowed my eyes. "Pitiful, huh." For some reason, it didn't really bother me that much, with Jordan saying it. If it was anybody else, I'd probably hit them then and there. But Jordan he... He's different. I closed my eyes as I felt him play with my hair and his breathing against my head. "That still doesn't explain why you're in my bed..." I mumbled to him.

  "FREE-SI-A!" I heard a yell from downstairs.

  I sat up quickly and faced my door. "I'm up, Craig! I'll be down in a minute!" I yelled to him.

  "You're too noisy..." Jordan protested, grabbing one of my pillows and covering his head with it.

  I scowled and snatched it away from him. "You're getting up, too! This is MY room, after all." I stated, sliding off my bed to find I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday. I looked to Jordan to see him being the same.

  I saw his green marble eyes open and gaze into my direction. "Schmuck." He mumbled, before forcing himself up and out of my bed. He slid out on the side of the bookcase and glanced at it through sleepy eyes. "Morning, Justine." He stated.

  My eyes widened. Had he just...?

  "Freesia! I swear if you're not up, you're dead!" I heard an irritated voice make their way to my room.

  Crap! If they see Jordan in here, they're gonna have a HUGE misunderstanding! I ran to my door and opened it, before Craig had the chance to rap on my door.

  "I told you I was awake. I'm awake." I gave him a glare. Even if he was a cute kid, I hated mornings. Nothing could make mornings better.

  "Have you seen Jordan anywhere?
He's not in his roo-"

  "Why are you asking me? I've just got up. How could I possibly know where he is when I've just woke up?" I asked him, holding a poker face.

  "Oh. Okay..." Craig's look of concern made me feel a little guilty. I mean, I lied to him. But, it was for my own good.

  "I'll be down in a few, okay? You never know, he could just be out for an early morning stroll." I said to him, trying to reassure the young boy. He smiled and then ran back downstairs. I closed my door and leaned on it, heaving a sigh.

  "Good call." I heard Jordan's voice and I looked to him with a smug look on his face. I walked up to him and kicked his stomach. "Shit! Hey, what was that for!?" he asked me, holding his abdomen. Maybe I kicked him a little too hard.

  I shunned him and walked to my wardrobe. "Thanks to you, I had to lie!" I replied, before rummaging through my clothes, picking out a casual outfit. A white shirt, skirt, tights, denim jacket and a green scarf. "Now get out." I stated to Jordan, who was now standing directly behind me.

  "That's no fun!" He moaned at me.

  "Hey! I'm getting changed. You get out. You need to change out of those clothes, too, considering you wore them all day yesterday." I gave him a sharp glare. "Now, go on!" I waved my hand at him, shooing him.

  He gave me a frown, before reluctantly leaving my room.

  As the door closed I heaved another deep sigh. Seriously, what was up with Jordan? And why the hell was he in my bed?

  Sure, okay, I believed the fact I fell asleep in his arms after 3 hours, but the fact he didn't just leave me in my bed didn't make any sense...

  After I changed and tidied my bed, I looked to the ornament on the bookcase and smiled. "Morning, mom." I whispered, stroking the delicate fairy wings. I lowered my hands and headed out my door.

  I ran down the stairs and saw Craig run into my arms. "Freesia! Jordan's back!" he said, a happy grin on his face.

  "back?" I asked, looking at Craig and then to a black haired boy behind him, a smug look on his face.