New Life : A Second Chance

"You almost kissed her? What stopped you?" asked Ali.

"Xing Han," Sam confessed.

"When?!" Xing Han exclaimed, "Don't accuse me randomly now! I wouldn't have stopped you. I would have taken pictures!! Then blow them up!! And frame them!! And ..."

"I'm not accusing you randomly," Sam said, cutting in before Xing Han went on his tirade, "It was during that time when you saw me with her."

They heard Xing Han slap himself, "Oh gosh! I'm so stupid. I should have kept my mouth shut! Why didn't I think of that? You guys were close, but it didn't look like you were going to kiss her!"

"I almost did," Sam admitted, "It's just that ... when I held her like that ... my mind went blank. All I could feel was how soft she was, how cute she was, how enticing her lips were and ... aaaaarghh! Make it stop!"

Sam took his pillow and put it on his face, mortified. Saying it out loud sounded worse than him going through it in his mind.

All of them were quiet, not teasing him at all for they could hear how deeply affected he was by it. Problem was, none of them could really emphatize with him as they had never been in his situation before.

"We-llllll," Xing Han began, trying to be encouraging, "Maybe that's a good thing?"

"In what way is it a good thing?!" Sam exclaimed, "She's going to slap me for sexual harassment!"

"She didn't look like she was protesting when you held her," Xing Han pointed out, "Maybe she doesn't mind? Like, she likes you?"

"Oh please, Xing Han," Sam said, "We've only met twice. How can you like someone so fast?"

"I did," Xing Han said, "The moment I saw Kyle, I knew he was the one."

"Ye Gads, Xing Han, this is not the same!" Kyle protested, "You're talking about BFF, while Sam's talking about a girl liking him romantically."

"Same difference," Xing Han replied stubbornly, "Feelings are feelings. Sometimes, you look at someone and bam! You just know, you know? It's like, when I saw you all those years ago, Kyle. You were so dashing and cool, the way you stood up to the teacher and all. I just knew it, without a doubt, that you're the one for me."

"You seriously need to work on how you phrase things," Kyle said with a laugh, "That sounded like a confession."

"Pah, you know what I mean," Xing Han said, "Just go with the flow, Sam. If she's receptive, why fight it?"

"Because the only reason I'm feeling this way is because my body is out of whack," Sam said patiently, "If she did feel something for me - which I highly doubt - it would not be fair on her, would it? My feelings are not real."

"So what are you going to do about it? Avoid all girls?" Ali asked.

"No," Sam said, "It's only her. I'm fine with Beatrice and Irene from the Student Council, as well as Sage Class members. Maybe it's because they're older? Or that I know them already?"

"Or maybe it's because Betty is like a bunny," Kyle suggested.

"That too! I keep getting this image of a human bunny and I just want to rush over and hug her," Sam wailed again, "She's so cute that it's lethal. I even feel like putting her away so no one else can see her."

"That's bad," Xing Han said.

"I know!" Sam sighed, putting the pillow under his head again, "That's why I need to know how to overcome this. What did you guys do? Except Kyle, of course, since he's abnormal for some reason."

Ali shrugged in the darkness.

"I do what I feel like to. If I want to hold her hand, I do. If I want to hug her, I do. etc etc etc," Ali said, "Then again, these girls are my bride candidate so some form of skinship is allowed. If we can't even do that, then it would be weird and uncomfortable later, right?"

"So, that's your solution for me? To get it out of my system?" Sam said.

"Only if she doesn't mind," Ali clarified, "I always go half-way and let her end it. If I feel like holding her hand, I would offer my hand and it's up to her to take it. Things like that."

"Urgh," Sam grunted, "I can't do that."

"Heh heh," Xing Han laughed softly, "You've already gone beyond that, I would think."

Sam was quiet for a while, his face burning as he remembered how he grabbed her hand and walked off with her. He groaned.

"She didn't get angry at you, did she?" Xing Han queried.

"No, but I used wanting to escape from you as an excuse," Sam replied, "I doubt she'll accept me just suddenly holding her hand or something. Ali has the ultimate excuse. I don't."

"Why don't you just get to know her better?" Kyle suggested, "Right now, you're just seeing a bunny. Maybe, after spending time with her, you'll see her as human and you'll be able to get that bunny image out of your mind."

Sam thought about it.

"That's true," Sam said eventually, "Right now, I guess all I am attracted to is this bunny figure. Not the person. So once I get to know the person and I can start seeing her as a person, the weird attraction will disappear. Great idea!"

Kyle hmmmed, Ali nodded and got off Kyle's bed and Xing Han snuggled into the covers. They spent the rest of the night just talking small talk and eventually fell asleep.

The last thought Kyle had was that his 'advice' may actually make Sam fall in so deep that he has no chance of escape ... but that's something only Sam would be able to know. Kyle didn't believe in love at first sight for he felt that's just a fairy tale.

He did, however, believe that one could be attracted to someone at first sight but it was only after one gets to know a person would he - or she - truly know. The former was a rather flimsy reason that could easily break.

[I believe in love at first sight, brother]

Kyle heard his sister's voice just as he was about to fall asleep and he groggily answered as he was yawning, [I hear you, Kay but I still don't believe it in. Why are you suddenly saying it, though?]

Kyle didn't think he had said anything to Kay. Initiation Days were rather private though Kay did know the gist of what they were doing ie wave d*cks and talk heart.

[You didn't realise?]

[Realise what?] he asked in puzzlement.

[Several times your thoughts were so strong that I could hear it. Just bits and pieces rather than whole sentences, but the feelings and a gist of what was behind those feelings were very strong. I just needed to connect the dots.]

[What? Really?!]

[Yes]

[Huh. That's new. I've never felt anything from you though. Not even during that Jason incident]

[Maybe it's a new development? Our connection is getting stronger?] Kay mused.

[I guess so. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?]

[Why would it be bad? Doesn't this just means we're so much closer?]

[Yeah, but if you're starting to kinda hear me when I have strong feelings about something ... what'll happen when one of us is having sex or something?]

[EUW. KYLE. OH GOD NO. Why did you have to say that?! Now I can't get that thought out of my head. Just why? Why??]

Kyle laughed, saying [Sorry, not sorry. You can't deny it though. So I guess jerking off is a no-no for me?]

[GOODNIGHT, brother]

[Maybe I should test it?]

[Shut up]

[I'm not getting married anytime soon but a man's gotta have needs, right?]

[Urgh. Don't tell me when you do. I'll just tell you if I feel anything or ask me if I don't. I don't want to keep wondering when you're going to do the deed.]

Kyle laughed even more at that [Seriously, one can't help but be curious ...]

[GOODNIGHT, brother]

[Goodnight, dear sister]

In truth, Kyle never did 'jerk off' as he said, so that was not a worry. He didn't think their connection would be evolving and become even stronger. He had heard such a type of bond between identical twins when one would feel the pain that the other was experiencing. As fraternal twins, that type of bond wouldn't normally be present.

The bond they had was more mental than that sort of feeling, so he doubted that they would share the sort of bond that identical twins felt. Pain and sorrow. However, he had always wondered why it would only be limited to pain so that's why he decided to tease his sister about it.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

That night, Kyle had a dream he hadn't had for years.

He was back as Kylie, reliving the last moment of his life. It alternated between that, to scenes of her husband, her children and the man who had killed her. All the dark emotions he had felt then and the intense fear multiplied.

The next thing he knew, Ali was shaking him awake.

He got up, his whole body covered in sweat as he was breathing heavily.

"You were having a nightmare," Ali said in concern. Kyle patted Ali's shoulder to show his appreciation.

"Thanks, man," Kyle said as he got up and headed for the bathroom. As he looked at himself in the mirror, the fear still lingering in his heart, he wondered what that nightmare meant.

He needed to find out what's happening back home, with Kylie.

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