❝Something 'bout the way we be acting, babe, we are magical ❞
- Kehlani, Undercover.

Saturday morning, I rubbed my eyes and made my way to the kitchen to have a glass of cold water. The house was somewhat silent and I started to wonder if Tanner was home. I walked to his room, peeking inside, but it was empty.

"Tanner?" I called, but there was no answer. Tucking my hair behind my ear, I walked out of the house and saw him in the garage, washing his car.

"Hey, you're finally up. I thought you would sleeping till 2 seeing as it's almost 1."

My eyes widened at Tanner's words. It couldn't be. I knew I must have slept for a while but 1?! Me and River had made plans that he would pick me up by 12! Or didn't he come at all?

"Tanner, are you messing with me?"

He laughed, "Yeah. It's only minutes after 9."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Why? Have plans for today?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

"What's up?"

I shrugged lightly, "Just a hangout with a friend."

"Do I know this friend? Is it Logan?"

"Nope," I shook my head.

"Are you and Logan ever trying to go out on a date again?" He slung a small towel over his shoulder.

"No, not for now at least."

Why I hadn't told Tanner about River, I didn't know, but I got the feeling he would find about him today when he came to pick me because he had insisted on coming to pick me.

"I'll be taking Kendall to see her grandmother in an hour, and from there, we'll probably go somewhere to chill. I don't know when I'll be back home. You have to stay safe and keep me updated with whatever's going on," he told me.

"I'll be fine. I can take care of myself," I emphasized on the word 'can'.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can. It's just better to be safe than sorry. You know I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happens to you," he walked to where I stood and kissed my forehead.

I looked up at him, "You've met Kendall's family already?"

"Her mom and grandmother, yeah," he nodded. "Her sister is married and she lives in Manchester with her husband. Her dad's mostly away. Why'd you ask?"

I shook my head almost immediately as thoughts of Zee came flooding into it. I could swear about two years ago that she and Tanner would get married. Our family and hers were so familiar with each other... and it really had just felt that way. It was like there was a connection they both had, that wasn't hard to miss at all. I couldn't see it between Tanner and Kendall, and that's how I knew he didn't love her as much as he loved Zee.

I didn't see Tanner get so playful and play pranks on Kendall. I didn't hear him tease Kendall about a particular way she did her things. I didn't see him stay up late in the night to have deep talks with Kendall. I didn't see or hear Kendall express profound gratitude to Tanner for getting her something she'd been wanting, and that was because Kendall could get anything she wanted. Without Tanner. Anything at all.

I might not know how things really were in the relationship, but I knew my brother wasn't himself around Kendall.

I sighed and flung my arms around Tanner, hugging him tightly, "I love you."

He hugged back, "I love you too, but where did that come from?"

I shrugged, "Can't a girl just hug her brother and tell him she loves him?"

Kaleb's car pulled up and he got, walking to us. After doing a handshake with a Tanner, he looked at me, "You look like you got beat out of bed."

Tanner chuckled and I pouted, shaking my head.

"Renée says she's hanging out with a friend?" Tanner raised an eyebrow at Kaleb.

"Yep," Kaleb nodded. "And I know the person. You can always trust me to look out for her."

"I know, I can count you," Tanner said to Kaleb, but sent a wink at my direction.

Kaleb grabbed my hand and pulled me to the house, leading me to the kitchen as he started to fix himself a bowl of Cheerios.

"Don't you get fed at your house?" I watched him, laughing.

"Shut up," he chuckled. "I have to eat well while I'm young."

"Fix a bowl for me too, please," I told him.

"You know, I don't know whether to be upset or happy that you're hanging with someone today."

"You should be happy. Finally, he asked to hang out. You always wanted this to happen, haven't you?" I looked at him.

"Yeah, but me and you had plans for today. I don't want a case whereby you start cancelling our plans because you want to hang out with him," he said lowly.

I smiled sweetly at him, "If you're thinking things will change between us, I assure you, nothing will. Your friendship means more than the world to me, Kaleb. You don't cancel our plans when it comes to Sydney, and even when you do, I genuinely understand. I'll ensure it doesn't happen. Besides, this is just a friendly hangout," I hugged him.

His arms wrapped around me, "You're turning me into a softie."

I chuckled, "Hush, you've always been one," I pulled away, "It's cute when you get bothered about things like this, though."

He had a smirk on Hus face as he said, "Have you brushed this morning?"

"Nope," I answered, already knowing what he was about to say.

He nodded, "Your breath stinks."

*****

"Hi River!" I greeted as soon as I got into the passenger set next to him.

"Hey, I've never heard you sound so..." His voice trailed off as he pulled out of the neighborhood. At this time, Tanner was out and I left Kaleb sleeping on my bed.

I looked at River, "So what?"

"I don't know... Perky?"

I chuckled, "Well, one. It's a Saturday. I love weekends, and then, maybe I'm just excited because it's my first time going to an art gallery."

"How do you spend your weekends?"

"Uh, sometimes I'm home, or over at my best friend's. We'll see movies or just ride around town or something."

"Or walk into Salt and Straw for ice cream?" He threw a quick glance at me, a teasing smile on his face.

"Frozen yogurt, actually. I love frozen yogurt."

"Tell me about it, I'm a sucker for the cookies and cream flavor. Vanilla and Oreos is so satisfying, and it feels good in the mouth. Always. Its legit my all time favourite. That, and the red velvet flavor. They're so good."

It was so cute hearing him literally fanboy over frozen yogurt.

"I love how you're so passionate about those flavors," I laughed.

"But, really," he chuckled, "I would have them for breakfast, lunch and dinner."

"I don't have a favorite flavor," I said.

"Then, definitely you haven't had the red velvet flavor. Now I really crave some, but it's a good idea to just get to where we're going."

"So, how often do you visit the art gallery?" I leaned back into the seat.

"I spent most Saturdays there. I usually go with my buddy Xavier, just that he couldn't make it today, but maybe that happened for a reason?" He gave me a smile while I flushed.

Minutes later, he pulled up to a large building named Sterling Knight Building.

"Whoa. Its huge and nice," I said.

"You've not been inside. Come with me," I followed his lead into the building and I was amazed.

"Art galleries are meant to be small, but this place has loads of fascinating stuff, and its existed for quite some time now."

I looked around, "Does one pay before seeing artworks?"

He chuckled, shaking his head, "Nope. That's the best part."

My eyes roamed the place and I noticed a lot of people around, and I voiced my observation.

"Yeah, that's the way it is. People are going out and coming in every time, everyday," he took my hand, "I want to show you my favorite place in this building."

With my hand in his and the giddy feeling I felt the first time we held hands, I followed him. We took an escalator and River led me to a room where paintings were hung on the wall. I felt the hair in my arms rise, but I couldn't tell if it was from the full blast of the AC, or it was because of the beautiful paintings on the wall.

The butterflies in my stomach returned when I felt his arms snake around my waist, guiding me to move further into the room. I really was at a loss for words, but I wasn't sure why.

"Did people really paint these?" My voice came out in a whisper.

"What do you think?" He had a smile on his face.

I swallowed, "Can I touch them?"

"Go ahead," he nodded.

I stepped up to a painting, staring at it and touching it. It was a dancing woman who had beads around her ankled, wrists, waist and neck

"This is beautiful."

"Yeah. It's a depiction of a beautiful African woman."

My eyes landed on another painting.

"That one's abstract," he told me.

I looked around for a while, very aware River was watching me. I looked at him, walking back to where he stood. "You were right. I love these. Really, I've never seen anything like this before."

He hesitated before speaking, "I want at least one of my paintings to be in here one day."

I"Hey, you really are talented. You're young and you've accomplished some things already. I know that one day, more than one of your paintings will be in this gallery."

He looked at me as soon as I was done speaking, his eyes sparkling and I hoped my words gave him hope. I knew it did when he said, "That means a lot." He licked his lower lip, "Do you want to know what my favorite painting is?"

"Yes," I nodded.

He took me to the painting of a girl on a swing.

"This one? Why is it your favorite?" I looked at him, and he moved closer to me, putting an arm around my shoulder, tilting his head, "Did you notice that the swing is connected to a tree?"

I looked harder at the picture, "Yes. And the tree is bent."

"Exactly."

"A girl swinging on a bent tree?"

"Yes. If you think of it, it's like the more she'll swing, the more the tree will bend, right?"

"Right," I nodded.

"The girl doesn't realize it's bending, but what do you think will happen when the tree can't take any more pressure?"

"The girl will realize the truth."

He nodded, "The harsh truth. It's going to be totally relatable to everyone at one point in our lives. That's why it's my favorite."

"That's deep," I said quietly. "Is that the general interpretation?"

He shook his head, "That's the meaning I gave to it. My interpretation."

I stared at him. How could he be so good looking and witty at the same time? He broke the stereotype of hot guys being airheads. He was different.

I didn't even realize he was staring back at me, and so, I managed to say, "That's so... neat."

●

Benefits of being a literature student!
I totally got the inspiration for River's favourite painting from a poem I learnt in secondary school. Birches by Robert Frost.

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