"This is great, Arya!" Declan exclaimed through a full mouth. The others nodded in agreement.

"You must give me the recipe," Bennett said, using a napkin to wipe the side of his mouth.

"Arya's our resident cook, everything she makes is delicious," Dominic told the Musketeers proudly.

The eight sat around the dining table, eating Arya's hearty meal.

I could get used to this for the rest of my life. Jordan thought.

They eventually finished just as the sun was coming up. It had been a long night.

Tessa and Davina began to get up. "Well, this has been nice, but I have to -" Tessa started.

"Hold it," Arya cut. The two froze in place.

"You two can do the dishes,"

Tessa and Davina groaned as they began stacking plates. Bennett got up to help them.

The others made their way to the couch and took a seat. Dominic and Jordan began playing a video game with Naomi egging them on or making snarky commentary.

"So, where did you learn how to cook like that?" Declan asked Arya as they sat and watched the others play.

Arya smiled at him. "I was visiting my uncle in Bhutan when I was 13, and he was a chef. He taught me a few things there, and when I came back, I continued practising,"

Declan nodded. "Do you still cook with him now?"

"I-uh," Arya's smile dropped as she didn't know what to say. "He died a few years ago in a crash,"

Declan's eyes widened. "Oh, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

Arya waved him off and smiled again. "It's okay. I can talk about it,"

Declan wanted to kick himself internally. He was glad the others were engrossed in their game that they didn't hear or notice.

She continued to look down. "My dad also died that night," She looked back up at him with sad eyes that didn't match the slight smile on her face. "Effectively making me an orphan,"

Declan looked down at his own hands. He had some idea of what she was talking about, more than probably anyone else in that room. He looked up for a moment with questioning eyes.

She seemed to have already anticipated his question because she replied. "My mom gave me up to my dad when I was a newborn. Then died a couple of years later," She waved off like it was nothing.

"She missed out on a wonderful daughter," Declan replied.

"Thanks," She smiled, her eyes still shiny from the topic.

"Did you go live with family afterwards?"

"No, I didn't have any close enough or young enough to take care of me. I ended up in a care home,"

That piqued Declan's interest. "You were a care home kid, too?" He asked.

"Yeah," She answered with a questioning look before it dawned on her. "Were you one also?"

"Yeah," He said quietly.

"That's weird. We're like brothers and sisters of the system," Arya playfully nudged Declan.

He smiled at her in response.

Arya looked down at her lap, recounting a story in her head before telling Declan.

"I was sent to care at 14, older than most kids there. They didn't know what to think of me since they knew I had parents once and that I'll be out again at 18. My dad's will meant I would be financially able to care for myself once I became an adult. It was only four years, and I could do it," She laughed slightly in an attempt to hold the tears back.

Declan moved closer to her on the couch as a source of comfort.

"I was like any other teen, angry, but that soon fizzled out into sadness, feeling sorry for myself, and then guilt because other children had it worse. I had to do something about my situation to improve it. I befriended this one younger boy at home, a skinny kid who kept getting into fights at school with boys much bigger than him," Arya unconsciously began smiling.

"Anyway, I thought I could look out for him. It started in the mornings before school. I would pack our lunches. He needed to know someone was there for him and cared, really cared. Then I began packing lunches for the other kids too. Then before you knew it, I was coming home from school and making meals for the kids and making them sit around a table to eat them," Arya beamed at the memory, her eyes dry again.

"That must've been nice," Declan mused. "Making them feel like a family, you probably did more for them than you could know,"

Arya looked down with a hint of a blush. "Yeah, at first they were wary of it, but soon I'd like to think they looked forward to it. I keep in touch with most of them. I like to know where they are and how they're doing,"

"You're a good person Arya. Not many people understand the importance of building relations like we do," Declan smiled sadly at that, remembering his own "brother", Gio. "Those kids are lucky to have someone like you looking out for them,"

"What about you?" Arya asked tentatively. She knew how touchy this subject could be for some.

"I was fortunate enough to get adopted. I love my parents. They mean the world to me," Declan answered truthfully.

"I'm sure they're lucky to have you," She once again beamed.

"Yeah," Declan said, his brown eyes mirrored hers, and she could see the hint of sadness in them.

"Don't be sad for me, Declan. I assure you I don't feel like I've missed out," Arya reasoned. "Plus," She pointed to Tessa and Davina, who had just walked in. "I already have my family. So in a way, they adopted me,"

They both looked over at the red-haired and raven-haired girls.

Tessa leaned over at Davina. "I told you, we should have just adopted a dog,"

She smiled.

********

"Okay, okay, Paxton or Ben?"

"Definitely, Ben!" Tessa exclaimed as she added another stroke of paint to her work.

Jordan's mouth hung wide open. "No way. Explain how you're choosing Ben over Paxton,"

"Devi never had to change herself to be liked by Ben, and they're academic rivals to friends to lovers, so it's always sweet to see the growth of their relationship", Tessa defended her answer. "Plus, Ben is a hundred times funnier than Paxton."

The two sat side by side in Mrs Lee's art class. Each of them drew or painted something onto their respective easels as they conversed on popular tv shows.

"Eh, I'm not completely sold. I'll stick to Paxton HY," Jordan replied.

"Okay, but can we agree Eric stole the entire show,"

"Yes!" Jordan raised an eyebrow. "I can totally see Himbo's being your type, Eric...Declan,"

He laughed as Tessa hit him on the shoulder, but even Jordan could tell she had a slight blush creeping up her neck.

The conversation died as each of them returned to their respective art projects. Tessa had to admire the brilliant mind of Jordan Louis Wallace, the way each of his drawings always had a hidden picture related to a more significant message.

You wouldn't expect that from someone like him, who, on the face of it, looked like an open book, but as she got to know him more and, more importantly, watched him paint, she could see the different layers that made up his personality. She immensely enjoyed calm Jordan as he was someone she could get along well with.

"So, what are you painting?" Jordan asked, his eyes still on his easel.

Tessa sighed. "I don't know what exactly. I think I'll make it up as I go along and then pretend that was my plan all along,"

Jordan laughed. "That's usually what I do,"

"What are you drawing?" Tessa asked as she leaned over to see. She gasped.

It was a pencil drawing of an anatomically correct heart and not those love hearts with strings attached to it, controlled by a hand. Another set of hands with their palms open was drawn below the heart as if to catch it.

Tessa side-eyed Jordan. "Any particular inspiration for this drawing?"

"Nope," Jordan said, avoiding the conversation. He then went back to his drawing as Tessa went back to hers.

"Hey Tess, could I ask you something?" He said after a few minutes.

"Mhm,"

"So this Luke guy," Jordan began hesitantly. "What's he like?"

Tessa stopped for a moment to contemplate her answer. "He's alright, I suppose," She then looked at Jordan with a softened expression. "You shouldn't torture yourself with this. It's not healthy,"

Jordan looked down, avoiding her gaze. "I know, I know," he muttered. "I'm perfectly okay with being her friend, but I just wanted to know if he made her really happy,"

Tessa tilted her head and smiled at him. "That's a nice sentiment." She then turned back to her painting. "Lately, it seems like Arya isn't as into him as she once was,"

That certainly got Jordan's attention. He prompted her to go on.

She rolled her eyes but smiled. "I mean, maybe it's because of the distance and the fact they haven't gotten to see a lot of each other," she looked at him with a faint smirk. "Maybe it's because of something else."

Jordan took in the information he was granted, turning the ideas over in his head. He knew this didn't really mean anything. Maybe Tessa was wrong. Perhaps they just disagreed and would make up again soon. He had to remind himself he was Arya's friend at the moment and only that.

"Who would you have chosen, Tessa?" Jordan asked after another moment. He looked up to see her reaction.

After a moment of confusion, her lazy smile was back. "It's not my choice to make, now is it?"

Yeah, but you'd choose me, right?

"Maybe in another lifetime,"

Jordan grinned. "Maybe"