Saving the Villain

Cosette didn't want to be nosy and intrude on another person's private matters. However, when she picked up Luke's phone so he wouldn't look for it later, the phone vibrated with a message. She looked at it on instinct, only to realize she shouldn't be looking at it.

But she already saw it.

She already saw Asher's cold one-word reply, "no," and caught the snippets of Luke's series of complaints. Hence, she was bothered by the relationship between the brothers.

While everyone was having fun in the pool, Cosette sat down in one of the lounge chairs. Watching everyone have fun, wrestling or splashing waters at each other, a shallow breath slipped past her lips.

'Luke...' her eyes were fixed on Luke, who seemed to be very happy as he jumped into the pool with three boys, inducing complaints from the rest of the big splash. 'Why would he talk to Asher like that?'

Cosette was aware Luke's temper was explosive and most of the time, he was insensitive. But he was, overall, a good person. But after seeing the harsh words Luke had sent Asher and the latter's indifference, her concern increased ten times.

'I'm like a mother worried for my children.' — First, she was concerned about Maxen and did everything she could to prevent him from becoming a villain. And now she was worried about the Quinn brothers.

In the novel, Asher and Luke already had a strained relationship. Although it wasn't to the point they would kill each other, they would always press each other's nerves. Well, it was mostly Luke testing Asher to get a reaction from him because Asher was too mature and never — as in never — responded to Luke's 'pranks', for they were 'childish.'

Of course, Asher was simply the big person and didn't want to argue with his brother. But his indifference did more damage. It only made Luke feel unheard and often thought Asher didn't understand him. She wasn't saying it was Asher's fault; they were both at fault.

The only time Asher explained why he didn't react to Luke's taunting was when Luke was already knocking on death's door. It was heartbreaking... because when Asher finally told his brother how much he loved him, Luke died with a smile.

'What should I do?' she wondered, sighing for the umpteenth time after reviewing the original plot of the story. 'I don't want the two of them to grow apart and hurt each other.'

Although Luke seemed happy with his friends, at the end of the day, the family was still different.

"Cozie! Cozie!" her brows rose when Luke waved at her from the pool. "Come! Join us!"

"Cozie! Why aren't you swimming? Let's go!"

"Come!"

A weary smile turned up on her face as she shook her hand. "Later," she told them, but then felt this sense of dread creep up her spine.

"Bwahaha!" she shivered when Luke's laughter went all evil. "Baptize her!"

"Wait..." Cosette raised her hand slightly as she looked up. She gulped a mouthful of saliva when her classmates surrounded her, and before she knew it, a loud squeal came out of her mouth as they tossed her to the pool.

SPLASH!

Cosette drank a bit of water and resurfaced, coughing. As soon as she recovered, she glared daggers at Luke as he laughed continuously.

"You..." her voice shook before she dived once more, swimming towards his feet and pulling him down. When she resurface once more, Luke's laughter was gone and was replaced by their friend's laughter.

"Baptize me, huh?" the side of her lips curled up triumphantly, casting the rest a victorious look.

Her brows arched when Luke didn't resurface after five seconds. The waves of laughter subsided as everyone looked in the area before Luke disappeared.

"Luke?" she called worriedly and, without a second hesitation, she dived once more to check if he got drowned.

"Is everything alright?" Sarah murmured worriedly as she gazed at where Cosette dived. Every second felt like minutes, increasing their worry as no movements were seen for at least five seconds. When the two finally resurfaced, some of them jolted in surprise.

Luke's voice instantly broke the silence.

"Luke!" she ground her teeth and slapped the water between them, which came into his big mouth. "That's not a good joke! I got really worried!"

"Haha!" he coughed and gagged. When he recovered, he looked at Cosette teasingly. "Really? You got worried?"

"Geez!" she splashed water on him lightly.

"Haha!"

Splash!

"Hah!"

Splash!

Cosette kept splashing water on him until he could no longer laugh.

"Wait —!" she continued, biting her lower lips until he raised his arms to shield himself. "Wait! Help!"

She continued until he had enough and flung with arms on the water to fight her. Soon, the mild splash of water grew into large waves as the two fought fiercely. Some joined in, while the rest just cheered by the pool as they rested.

"Goodness... they look so good together," mumbled Amie as she watched Cosette and Luke laugh and tease each other. "They will make a good pair."

Fay, who was sitting next to the lounge chair where Amie was resting with a towel around her, nodded in agreement.

"They should become a couple." Fay's face suddenly turned sour. "But I don't think that is possible."

"Why is that?" Amie asked out of plain curiosity.

Fay sighed and shot her a knowing look. "Maxen. Don't forget, Max is a strong contender in Cozie's heart."

"But Max and Cozie are just friends."

"Amie, Amie. You are so clueless." Fay shook her head mildly, reclining in the lounge chair, and enjoyed the midday breeze under the enormous umbrella. She folded her arms and closed her eyes, a bit exhausted.

"Max might be aloof, but he is also a little possessive. Haven't you noticed his glares when someone from the opposite sex approaches Cozie? Also, Luke is the only one who gets on Max's nerves because, well, Luke had always announced his feelings for her." She then peeked from one eye and instantly caught Amie's gaze. "That's what you call rivalry. Max wouldn't react to Luke that much if Luke wasn't a threat to his love interest."

Amie nodded in understanding before she looked at Fay in disbelief. "Are you reading more webnovels than I am? Since when did you become a love guru?"

"Tch! I don't! I just know how to read people!"

"Oh, come on! You don't have to be shy about it! What sort of genre are you into?" Amie tugged Fay's arm as she listed down all sorts of genres until the latter flinched when she mentioned, "Boy's Love."

Amie froze as her eyes went round. "Really?"

"What?!" Fay gasped as she snatched her arm from her.

"You like it too?!"

"No! I mean, what is that?!"

As the two moved on to another topic, Sarah, who was sitting on the other lounge chair beside Fay, sighed. She glanced at Fay and was a bit surprised at what the latter spoke of just now. Fay wasn't the type to talk like that, or at least, she would simply choose to keep her thoughts to herself and go with the flow.

'I thought I'm the only one who noticed Max's attitude towards Cozie.' She heaved a sigh of relief and then glanced at Fay once again. 'But then again, I think I'm the only one who is worried here.'

Maybe she was just getting worried for nothing, Sarah thought. She was probably just scared of Maxen, so she was concerned. Cosette only had good things to say about Maxen; although there were times her friend would complain to him.

'I shouldn't think about it.' Sarah shook her head, telling herself everything would be alright and things would work out on their own, eventually. But a second later, she felt a chill down her spine when she felt murderous intent from behind her.

Slowly but surely, Sarah twisted her neck to see what it was. Her face froze, and so was her entire body. Her blood ran cold the second her eyes fell on the person standing by the entrance.

There, leaning against the jamb with a dead expression, was Maxen.

It was hard to read what sort of expression he was sporting, but it made Sarah's heart thud against her chest nervously. When Sarah gulped a mouthful of air, she glanced at where Maxen was looking.

Her heart sank when her eyes fell on Luke, who was now on the concrete ground. He held his hand out to Cosette, helping her to get out of the water. However, a shadow walked past Sarah and before she knew it, Maxen was already standing behind Luke.

With his hands shoved inside his pocket, Maxen raised his foot and placed it on Luke's buttocks, kicking him back to the pool.

SPLASH!

"..." Sarah was rendered speechless as the loud splash resonated in the air. Most of them also went silent, while the others just laughed it off.

'I'm terrified of him,' Sarah thought as the dangerous aura she sensed from Maxen disappeared now that he was standing in front of Cosette.