Saving the Villain

"Luke." Cosette whistled at Luke to get his attention. When Luke didn't seem to hear her as he was focused on painting the wall, Cosette flung her roller mildly, sprinkling a bit of white paint on him.

Luke snapped his eyes, getting out of his immersion to look at her with a frown. "What?"

"Look." She grinned, pointing proudly at the spot she painted. "Better, right?"

"Ahem!" Luke straightened his back and presented his spot. Unlike previously, when they could still see the original color of the wall, it was way better now.

"I didn't know it's easier." He grinned triumphantly, seeing Cosette grin back, and showed a thumbs up.

Cosette then turned her attention to Maxen. He was almost done and had shifted from roller paint to paintbrush for the edges. She was only halfway done, and Luke was around seventy percent. In other words, they can take a short break.

But her eyes shone with mischief as she giggled evilly.

Cosette carefully tiptoed towards Maxen, holding the paint roller behind her. When she stood beside Maxen, her lips were stretched sweetly.

"Hey, Max," she called, hearing him hum gently. "Let's take a break. I'm hungry."

"Mhm. Sure. In a moment…" Maxen focused on the corner of the wall and then paused when her finger poked his cheek. He blinked, looking back at her, only to see the mischievous grin on her face.

"Hehe." Cosette raised both her fingers, showing a peace sign. The end of the gloves had white paint on it, which only meant Maxen's cheek now had paint as well.

"Co —" Maxen abruptly stopped when a pair of hands soaked with paint pinched Cosette's cheek from behind.

"Cozie, have I ever told you, you are so cute?" Luke chuckled giddily while Cosette stood frozen.

'He'll die,' was Maxen's initial thought, glancing at Luke, who was standing deviously behind Cosette.

Her expression died as she felt the stickiness of the paint on her face, but her eyes remained on Maxen. Slowly, Cosette turned around to face Luke, looking at him dead in the eye.

"Really?"

"Haha." Luke took a step back and raised his hands to his shoulder level, laughing nervously. "What? I just avenged Maxen."

Cosette raised her paint roller, eyes glinting menacingly. "Come here. I'll make sure you'll become one with the wall!"

"Kyaah! Maxen!"

Maxen cocked his head to the side as Luke ran away while Cosette chased after him with a paint roller. He would understand the fear if she was holding a butcher knife — or even just a small knife. But she was holding a paint roller!

"Pfft —!" Maxen bit his lower lip to stop himself from laughing, but the two looked so silly he ended up bursting into laughter. His laughter, however, didn't last long when a splash of paint landed across his body.

He looked at the two of them, only to see Cosette and Luke holding their laughter in.

"You two…" Maxen slowly picked up the paint tray, and that was their cue to run.

"Kyahh!!" Cosette screamed when Maxen tossed the little bit of paint, which landed on the covered floor.

The rest of the day was full of screams and waves of laughter, playing around with the paint and being covered with it. They almost didn't finish their agendas today because Luke and Cosette were equally mischievous, but they did.

Fortunately, Luke was surprisingly a fast learner and somehow, he enjoyed painting the wall. Hence, it wasn't just Maxen who needed to do all the work. It was safe to say Cosette was the one who was almost useless, but well, she bought the furniture and appliances.

They finished around seven and ate dinner together. Since Cosette already told Conrad about Luke's situation, driver George picked her and Maxen up in Luke's place so the two wouldn't have to go through the hassle of commuting.

Thinking about their day, Luke couldn't help but laugh. Idling outside the apartment unit with the door and windows wide open to let out the smell of paint, Luke rested his arms on the railings. A speck of paint was still on his arms, but he didn't mind.

"Ah… that was fun. I thought she'd kill me today." He laughed, thinking he would die today after smearing paint on Cosette's face.

As he recalled today's activity with those two, his eyes fell down. The smile on his face gradually disappeared, recognizing the car that stopped outside the building and the person who hitched outside from the back passenger seat.

Asher.

"Ahh… he found me a bit late," mumbled Luke, glancing over his shoulder to check his apartment unit. "I guessed they were busy to even notice his little brother is missing for almost a week now."

Since there were many things Cosette brought to this place, Luke decided to come down the building instead of waiting for Asher. He didn't want Asher to ruin the good memory he had created with Cosette and Maxen in this rundown apartment.

"What?" asked Luke the second he came face to face with Asher, standing a meter from his brother.

"Let's go home." Asher didn't beat around the bush, scrutinizing his brother's figure from head to toe. It only took one glance for Asher to detect something changed in Luke; it was not the slightly dirty clothes and appearance, but something in his little brother's eyes. He couldn't tell just yet.

"I am home," Luke said.

"Luke."

"Brother, if you came here to tell me to return to your house, I won't. Tell dad his most handsome son wants to be independent…" Luke trailed off, thinking of an excuse for Asher. "... or just tell him, I was being rebellious and wanted to prove something which you are certain I won't be able to."

He smiled. "I'm sure he loves his son so much that he'd let me grow on my own."

"Lucas Quinn, I don't know why you are doing this. However, do you think you can survive without our family's help?" Asher's eyes squinted, unsmiling. "Go home now and do not embarrass yourself when you come home because you cannot take responsibility for your decision."