"Deuteranopia," the doctor had said, sitting on the ground beside Andrew. "It's your superpower. It means you see the world a little different from most people. But many people see the way you do, though. It's no big deal."

It was a big deal for Xander Whittmore. He wanted the perfect child to follow his steps and take over the company he had fought so hard to build once he was retired. It was frustrating to know his wife was not likely to give him a biological heir, even though Abigail filled in the spot pretty well. The dream of a child of his never died, though, and he was thrilled when Andrew was born. He was also raging with fury when he found out he wasn't perfect.

"Why are you mad, dad?" young Andrew asked, holding his father's arm before he was shaken away. "It's okay! The doctor says it's not a big deal. I'm just a little different, but everyone is different. Emmy says no one's the same."

He was ignored, as per usual, so he just sat quietly, hearing the conversation.

"We'll get him a tutor. He needs to be home-schooled from now on. No one can know." Xander was pacing through the living room, lost in thought.

"Don't be silly," said Kate from the other side of the room. "You're making it a bigger deal than it is."

"He will be home-schooled!" he pressed. "It's already bad enough that the kindergarten teacher knows."

So, he stayed at home every day, studying with a young lady whose name he could never remember. His schedule was tight, but he didn't complain. He could attend a school with other kids only when he had successfully learned to pretend his eyes worked just like everyone's. But even then, he had little freedom. His bodyguard followed him everywhere.

Andrew could still recall the metal taste of blood in his mouth the first time he sneaked out of the house to meet his school friends. They were always bugging him to meet them outside school, and one day he did. But his bodyguard found out. It was the first and last time Andrew was caught sneaking out. It was also the beginning of his revolt and rebellion.

"Emmy?" he had asked one day, sitting at the edge of the kitchen table as he usually did when he was at Emmy's care. "Would you miss me if I ran away?"

She stopped halfway through making cookies for him. "What? Why would you run away?"

He shrugged. "I won't. Not unless father keeps trying to control my every move."

"You should just talk to him," she said, as she always did, as if she couldn't hear them yelling at each other at the dinner table every single night.

She hugged him, keeping her flour covered hands away from his black t-shirt. It was his father's idea that he dressed so monochromatically. Perhaps he thought all Andrew could see was black and white.

"If you ran away, your family would miss you very much. And so would I."

He scoffed. It was highly unlikely that his parents would miss their broken project. Much less would Abigail. All she felt towards him was resentment for stealing her place as father's priority. She could have all of it for all he cared. In fact, he wished she was the one under their father's scope.

Andrew thought about that a lot. About how their relationship was strained because they had been given the wrong roles. He thought about that even now, staring at her in a white gown and flowers in her hair. That should've been him. That spot of happiness, of freedom to live whatever life he desired. If he had shown up at home one day saying he was in love with Maya, they would've sent someone to pay her family to move states.

"Do you know the groom?" Nicole whispered to him.

She was supposed to be with Laura while he attended the wedding, but Abigail had annoyed him to bring her and he wanted her to be there holding his hand. He didn't want his family pestering and traumatising her, but a small part of him just needed her to be by his side.

"Nope," he popped the P. "I knew she was seeing someone, but we never met."

His parents were seated in the front row of the decorated garden. Kate was crying nonstop, and Andrew knew she would cry even more once she spotted him. Xander had seen him already, but said nothing to him. They were waiting for the ceremony to end before the scrutiny begun.

"It says in the invitation his name is Robbert. I don't like it." She scrunched her nose, tucking the invitation under her arm.

"You don't like the name? What names do you like?"

"I like Andrew. It's pretty," she said, leaning into him. "Pretty moanable."

He suppressed a smile. "You can't say those things."

"What? Want me to prove it to you?" she asked, getting closer to his ear.

"Nicole!" he warned, holding her down by the waist. "There's a priest a few feet away from you."

"So? It's not my problem that no one is moaning his name."

"Behave, please," he whispered into her hair before pressing a kiss there. "The ceremony is almost over."

"Great. I'm starving."

He kept his eyes off her, trying to focus on the wedding, but now all he could think of were her words. His mind kept picturing himself slipping the dress off Nicole's body and onto the ground. It was a deep green, a shade darker than his eyes, but he wouldn't know that. Green was never his forte.

As the ceremony ended, people started to leave, looking for their tables, and they were about to follow when they were stopped. Kate had finally spotted her lost son and was walking towards him, teary faced.

"This is not the way I thought I was going to meet your mother," Nicole said before her hold on Andrew was severed and he was engulfed in a bone-crushing hug.

The woman was crying and muttering unintelligible things. He hugged her back, knowing he had hurt her when he left with no warning. He could see Xander in front of him, looking at their embrace in contained anger, but he ignored them.

"I'm so glad you're back!" she kept going. "Please tell me you aren't leaving again."

"Mom, I'm just here for the wedding." She didn't need to know their flight was the following day.

Kate let go, staring at him with watery eyes. "Why are you doing this to us, Andrew?"

"Because he's ungrateful," Xander said from behind her. "But he'll change his mind."

Nicole interrupted them with a "Hello." She hoped they wouldn't start arguing about Andrew's departure in the middle of the wedding. Especially not when she was starving.

"This is Nicole," he introduced her to his parents. "She's my girlfriend."

Kate stared at her. "You're the reason he moved away?"

Nicole flinched at the poison in her voice. She didn't know what to reply to that.

"She's not," Andrew stopped their stare off. "Father is. Now, if you don't mind, we're going to eat."

"I do mind," Xander started.

"But I don't care," Andrew replied, leading Nicole away from them to their table.

The food was being served by the time they sat down at a round table with five chairs. Two of them were already occupied by two of Andrew's cousins. A pale girl in a baby blue dress with dark hair in two braids and a ginger boy with twice Nicole's freckles.

"Hey there, fugitive," the girl greeted with a singsong voice.

"Hey, Josie," Andrew greeted. He held Nicole's hand under the table. "This is Nicole."

The blonde greeted them with a shiny smile he recognised as her work smile. She was already tired of so many people and of his family's problems.

Abigail stopped by the table to see how everyone was doing. She had changed into a more practical white dress with intricate golden details. Everything about her looked polished. If Nicole were someone else, she might have felt intimidated.

"You're the girl!" she beamed, staring at Nicole. "It's so nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Nicole replied, showing little interest.

"You look stunning, by the way. That colour really suits you. Doesn't it, Drew?"

Andrew clenched his teeth. He should've known she was going to make some kind of comment like that one. It stopped bothering him when he was old enough to understand she just wanted a reaction out of him. However, he hated she said it in front of Nicole, as if trying to expose him.

"Yes," he mumbled.

She laughed, "Oh, yeah, you would know."

"What?" Nicole was confused by their exchange. She kept quiet because it was obvious Abigail wasn't trying to have a conversation with her, but once she realised there was an underlying conversation that she didn't quite grasp, she had to speak up. "What's wrong with the colour?"

"Nothing," they said, one with bitterness, the other amused.

"I'm going to check on the other guests. See you later," Abigail said and took her leave.

Nicole stared at Andrew, about to question what the issue really was, but Josie stopped her.

"She's such a bitch!" the girl groaned. "Isn't she, Aciel?"

The redhead nodded. "She even makes stupid jokes no one understands. What was that about the colour of the dress?"

"Nothing," Andrew repeated. He knew Nicole wasn't buying it, but he could postpone that conversation. "She's just being her usual problematic self."

"Whatever." The blonde rolled her eyes and went for the food. She was starving and her feet were hurting from the stilettos. She was used to wearing heels for long hours of the day, but those shoes felt like they were forged in the deepest pits of hell.

"Have you seen the latest guest?" Josie asked, annoyed.

They followed her eyes to the bride, who was talking to a small brunette next to her. As they walked, her round face came into view and Andrew felt sick to the stomach. He gripped the table at the familiar brown doe eyes and straight brown hair, the thin lips curled into a smile and the fair complexion of her skin. An angel, he called her long ago.

"Why is she here?" he asked in a strangled voice.

"Because your darling sister wants to upset you. And because they've become friends," Josie explained.

"Yeah... who are we talking about?" Nicole joined the conversation, eyeing the two of them instead of the girl. Aciel excused himself, but she ignored him.

She had found the girl dull, like the girls who went to the café, because it was what everyone else did. There was something about her that screamed soft and in need of being taken care of. Her smile wasn't happy, it was pretense. She looked like she just wanted to be liked by people, to please them. She looked like Alice.

"She's... an old memory," Andrew said.

Josie rolled her eyes. "Don't be all mysterious with metaphors." She turned to Nicole. "It's his ex, Maya."

"Maya," she repeated, tasting the word, thinking about all the ways Andrew had said the name. He didn't like the way it sounded on her lips.

Andrew had turned away from the girl, but his uneasiness didn't go away. It felt wrong to be in the same place as her after all those years. Worse than that, it felt like Abigail was mocking him by bringing both his ex and his current girlfriend to her wedding.

"Oh." Nicole glimpsed at the girl one more time, taking in the details of her face and figure, and then leaned towards him. "So, which one of us is your type?"

He blinked. "What?"

"Oh, come on. We're the exact opposite. One of us has to check more boxes than the other."

Josie laughed. "Come on, cousin. Indulge us."

He crossed his arms over his chest, stating he wouldn't give in. It wasn't something he was going to talk about with them. He had his preferences as anyone did, but there was no safe way to get out of a question like that. It was a trap, and he knew it.

"I see." She nodded, disappointed. Looking back at Josie, she asked, "So, what's the story? Lots of drama?"

"Once upon a time, teenage Andrew fell in love with a girl who never looked at him. He made a lot of crazy shit in the name of love. They got together, and then his amazing father ended the relationship."

Nicole frowned. "What?" She was staring at Andrew now. "Your father ended it?"

He ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed. It wasn't really something he was looking forward to getting into with her. As far as he was concerned, family problems didn't need to trouble her.

"I'm not supposed to be with someone. At least not in a committed relationship. It distracts me from business."

"I see. So that's what I am to my father-in-law. A distraction." She pretended to wipe a tear; hand placed over her heart. "He hurt my feelings. I will never forgive him."

Josie laughed at the dramatics, but Andrew couldn't show the same amusement. His brain had stopped at "father-in-law". He didn't want his horrid father to be anything to her, but the implication she had unwarily made stuck to his brain.

"It's okay," she whispered to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "You don't need to be upset; they can't hurt you. It's just a futile attempt to mess with you. But if you are upset, it's okay too. We can leave anytime you want."

He squeezed her hand and kissed the top of her head. There was no way he was going to give Abigail the satisfaction of getting to him.

"Hello again," Abigail's voice broke the silence. She had Maya by the arm. "Just dropping off one of my guests at her table. Are you guys enjoying it so far?"

Andrew got up as soon as Maya sat down. "I'm going to find Aciel."

Nicole stared at his back as he left, and then turned to Maya and Abigail with a smile. Hers was nothing like Maya's. Where the brunette's was soft and attention needing, Nicole's was mischievous, mean. She was mad, but they didn't know that.

"See what you did?" Josie asked. "Why are you doing all of this?"

"What do you mean?" Abigail frowned. "It's my wedding and I am enjoying it with the people I like."

She left, looking rather annoyed at her cousin. Maya was already seated, though, and looked very uncomfortable about being left alone. She didn't know either of the girls and was feeling like Abigail hadn't invited her because they were friends.

"Hi," she said in a meek voice.

"Hi," Nicole replied merrily. "I'm Nicole. Nice to meet you."

Josie introduced herself in a bored tone. She was still annoyed with Abigail's little game and hated that Andrew had left because of it.

"You were quick to scare Andrew away," Nicole noted.

Maya looked down and blushed. "I didn't mean to. It's been a while since I last saw him, but I thought he would be happy to see me. I-I thought maybe we could pick up where we left. Abby says their father is getting softer."

"Pick up where you left?" Nicole repeated slowly. She shared a look with Josie, realising the girl didn't know who she was. "You want to be his girlfriend again?"

"I know it's been a couple of years, but he's never left my mind. We didn't have the time we deserved back then."

"What makes you so sure he hasn't moved on, either?" Josie asked dryly.

"Abby says he hasn't met no one he loved as much as he loved me."

Nicole cocked a brow. "He loved you?"

"Well, he never said so," she explained, cheeks tinted red. "He's always had trouble with that stuff. But Abby says it was love and I think so too."

Josie's eye roll didn't escape Nicole, to whom this was no longer amusing. The more she got to know of Andrew's family, the less she liked it. They were all twisted liars with a kink for creating drama and pain. They were bored teenage bullies who thrived on others' misery.

"I'm sorry," said Maya. "Are you guys' Abby's cousins?"

"I'm her cousin," Josie pointed. "She's Andrew's girlfriend."

They watched as all colour drain off Maya's face. Her eyes flashed with panic and she looked around for Abigail, but the bride was nowhere to be found.

"I- Abby didn't tell me he had a girlfriend. I thought- I thought-"

"You thought wrong," Nicole told her, her smile long gone. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you. I don't want you flirting with my boyfriend."

"N-No!" She shook her head frenetically. "I would never. If I had known, I wouldn't have said those things to you."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to find Andrew."

She'd seen him go inside the house, so she squeezed herself between the groups of chattering people and made her way to the glass double doors, leaving the two of them alone at the table. Waiters were rushing in and out of the house with silver platters, and she avoided them until she could slip into the room.

"Have you seen the bride's brother?" she asked a waiter after pointlessly looking for him.

The man looked confused. "I didn't know the bride had a brother."

"Right," she said, realising the staff had no reason to know Andrew. "He's almost an entire head taller than me, green eyes, dark hair."

"Miss, anyone could fit that description. There's at least three men at this wedding with green eyes and black hair."

"Yeah, but uh... he has very sharp features, desperately needs a haircut, and he probably had his hands inside his pockets when he walked by."

The waiter sighed. "Miss, I really don't know. But I guess there was someone going upstairs that looks like that. Just as there was also a guy like that smoking outside."

"Thank you."

She went upstairs, peering into every open door. Andrew was on the balcony that faced the side of the house, sitting on a chair with a glass of wine in his hand. He looked lost in thought, but he tilted his head towards her at the sound of her heels before staring into the garden again.

"Is this your parents' house?" she asked, standing by the window.

"No. They just rented it for the wedding. Or bought. Who knows?"

She remained quiet for a bit, contemplating if she should just ask to leave. He wasn't happy to be there, and if he wasn't happy, she wasn't either. They could just go back to his apartment and stay there.

"What happened to finding Aciel?" she asked instead.

"No idea. I wasn't really trying to find him."

She scoffed. "Figures. Just an excuse to leave the table then."

He didn't reply. It wasn't necessary. Nicole had known his reasons the moment she laid eyes on his ex-girlfriend.

"She's like Alice," she pointed out, making him stare at her. "They're both romantics. Cute little romantics needing to be taken care of. That's your type."

"It's not."

"Right." She rolled her eyes. "It's me, then? The mean girl afraid of getting hurt who hates to depend on others."

"I'm glad you're self aware."

"Oh, shut up." She sat on the chair next to his. "Maya said she's still in love with you and she seems to think you love her too..."

He eyed her suspiciously. "That's ridiculous. We haven't talked in years."

She raised her hands up in defeat. "I'm just the messenger." They fell silent, and then she added. "Do you think that if it wasn't for your parents, you guys would still be together?"

He searched for her eyes, but she looked away. "Are you insecure?"

"No."

"No?"

"Maybe."

He laughed. "Come here."

She got up and walked towards him, standing beside the chair. The sun hit her golden locks, making them lighter, shinier.

"Not closer. Here."

Andrew pulled her hand and she let herself fall on his lap. He pressed a kiss to her temple and hugged her against his chest. She laid her head on his shoulder and let him embrace her.

"Are you going to answer, though?" she asked.

"You're cute like this, you know?" he said, a smile plastered on his lips. "But no. It wasn't like that. It wouldn't have lasted long."

"Don't let her know that," she mumbled against his neck. "Was she your first?"

"What is this? 'Quiz your boyfriend' day?"

"Yes. I mean, you know a lot about me, but you don't share about yourself that often."

He realised it was true. Her inability to be in a commitment had forced them to talk things out, but he couldn't say the same for himself. There was still a lot to be said, of which he had only shared the very surface. He had never discussed his life and his issues with anyone, so he wasn't sure how to do it, but he wanted to. He felt safe with her.

"My first what?"

She shrugged. "Everything."

"Definitely not my first everything."

She straightened up and punched him playfully in his chest. "You know what I mean! Don't play dumb."

He smirked. "Do I?"

She sighed. "Your first kiss?" He nodded. "First time you had sex?" He shook his head. "First love?" He looked away. "Was she?"

"No."

"Then why did you look away?"

"I've never been in love. At least I don't think so."

Nicole stared at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. It made sense with what she knew of him, but she wasn't sure how she felt about that. Maybe she should feel bad for him, but they were still young. But she kept thinking she wanted to be the first. She wanted to hear those words, to be what he had never had in his life.

"There wasn't anyone after Maya, was there?"

He shook his head. "She was the first and only. Until you."

She smirked. "I am so rubbing this on Alice's face."

"Don't," he forbade, but his lips quirked into a little smile.

She laughed. "Okay. But since it's quiz day, I got one last question. Why was your sister being a bitch about the colour of my dress?"

Andrew paused. He hesitated because it wasn't the first time he thought about telling her, but it was so mechanical to him to just lie. It was tattooed in his very brain, the concept of flawed, the idea of hiding what he wasn't meant to show. Rationally, he had always known, or at least believed, that it was stupid to hide, but it was the way he was raised.

He stared at her, at her expectant eyes. It seemed like an eternity ago that they looked cold and unwelcoming. Now they were kind. Even her permanent frown was gone, her brow and her pointy nose covered in freckles looking relaxed.

"I'm colorblind," he explained, regarding her reaction. "She's always mocked me for that."

And just like that, the frown came back. "You've never told me that."

"I've told no one. I'm telling you now."

"No one?" she repeated. "Then why tell me?"

"Because I don't want secrets between us. Because I want you to know me all, and not just parts."

She smiled lovingly, running her thumb across his cheek. "I think I don't like your sister."

He laughed. "Yeah, me neither. Do you want to go home?"

"Yeah." She nodded, but the word "home" din't go by unnoticed.

🖤🤍🖤

The sun han't yet risen when Andrew and Nicole arrived at the airport. They were about to get on the plane, yawning and rubbing their eyes out of sleepiness. Yet Andrew was looking a lot more refreshed than her.

"Why did we book it so early?" she whined.

"I told you to go to sleep early," he mumbled.

She pushed his chest, making him stumble a bit. "You're the one who kept me up."

"You're the one who came onto me."

Nicole rolled her eyes and kept walking without waiting for him. She carried a small handbag with what she considered the essential, as she was afraid the rest of her luggage would be lost.

Despite having loved being in New York with Andrew, she was desperate to go home. She missed her late afternoons working at The Bookmark, the smell of coffee and fresh bread, of new and old books. Mostly, she missed her late nights watching movies with Miguel and pizza night with Carolina. It was fun to play happy couple for a few days, but she missed everything else too.

"How long is the trip again?" she asked.

Before he could reply, a pretentious voice called out his name, making both of them turn. It was a man clad in a black suit with grey hair and slim rimmed red glasses. With him was Xander Whittmore, who, in the distance, looked like an older version of Andrew. It was not until he was closer that it was noticeable how longer and chubbier his face was than his son's.

"How the heck did they know we were here?" she whispered to her boyfriend. He shrugged.

"Why are you here?" he asked, looking at the man rather than his father.

"You know why."

He turned to Nicole, a thin, pretend smile playing on his lips. "Go ahead, I'll catch up to you soon enough."

"But-" she started, but the voice was caught in her throat.

"See you in a bit." He kissed her forehead and watched as she walked past the door.

Nicole was not happy to leave, but she trusted him enough to handle things on his own. She knew she could do nothing to help, only wait for him to fix whatever needed fixing. It stung in her chest to get on the plain without him. She had a bad feeling about it all.

Siting on her assigned seat, she kept her eyes on the door, waiting for him to walk past them. After a few minutes, stress consuming her, telling her something was wrong.

You're overreacting, she told herself. He'll be here in no time.

Then, the pilot's voice came out of the speakers, saying they were about to take off as long as a list of safety measures. At the announcement, Nicole unfastened her seatbelt and got up, trying to leave the plane, but a flight attendant stopped her before she could go far.

"Miss, you need to sit down and put your seatbelt on."

She shook her head. "I need to get out. My boyfriend is not here yet."

A second attendant came to see what was going on, both blocking her way to the now closed door. She tried to reason with them, growing more and more exasperated by the second, but they kept telling her to seat down. They wanted her to give up.

"You don't understand! He is right outside. I just need to get him!"

No matter what she said, they wouldn't budge. There was no one trying to get on the plane and they were about to leave, so she needed to seat down as soon as possible. She kept arguing until the screen of her phone lit up with his name.

"Andrew?" she answered, going back to her seat, much to the attendant's relief. "The plane is about to leave. Where are you?"

"I'm not coming."

"What?" she demanded.

"Look, some stuff came up. I'll stay here until they're solved."

"When will that be?"

Silence. He should've been thinking of an excuse. "I don't know. Don't wait for me."

He hung up before she could say anything. She covered her hand with her mouth and sobbed quietly, feeling like the world was collapsing. He had promised not to hurt her; he had promised he would stick with her. They were all lies.

Her chest burned in an icy fire, her rage building thicker with every hour that passed inside the plane. She didn't know what to make of those words. She didn't know what he meant. All she knew was the feeling of letting her heart fool her again. The feeling of having no control over her feelings. All she knew was the fear of falling.

The End

I'M JOKING! IT'S NOT THE END!

Several years ago when I wrote the first draft of this book I made the exact same joke around this chap. It's not funny haha, it's funny mean, Ik, my apologies. But in my defense I want to see the reactions of new readers.

So we got to the end of the NY trip, which ended up being sad af so I gotta rewrite some chaps. I erased stuff I now regret erasing, so I'll do some major editting in this chaps later on. 

Thoughts on this chap?

Thank you so much for reading. If you love me you'll comment, if you don't I'll cry. x