"I meant I would come over and babysit. I never said you could bring her here." Peter was tired of the fact that his move which had meant he'd had some time away from his sister was getting more and more undermined. He loved Lily and he loved Ivy-- although a little less-- but he would rather his first two days of moving out would not include their sudden appearance. Ivy could have at least texted first.

"You also never said I couldn't. And you sent me your address," Ivy countered, crossing her hands. "What did you expect?" Ivy looked around the room, hair whipping as her neck turned. "It's not like you have any girls in here... do you?"

"No... and don't be a bitch about it because I know you're taunting me with Kayla." Peter's gaze on his sister was stern but she wasn't fazed.

"It's not like I asked you to cheat." His sister made an innocent shrug, but the smile on her face was far away from what could be described as "innocent".

"It wasn't cheating," Peter defended.

"I'm pretty sure it was... but you can keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night." Ivy bent to kiss her daughter's forehead and whispered to her, "If you ever meet men like Peter, run for the hills, okay sweetie?"

Lily nodded even though her mother had already turned to her uncle and couldn't see it.

"I'll be back around four, hopefully. Take care of her and no cursing. I'm tired of having to explain to her teacher that I'm raising her responsibly." Making sure her warning rang out clear by attaching a well-aimed glare at Peter, she started towards the door.

A devious smile tugged at Peter's lips as he bent over, lips the same level as the little girl's ears. "You can tell that teacher to fuck off, flower."

Ivy turned, eyes going wide before she gave Peter the finger. Peter threw one back at her and in return, she used both her hands to demonstrate her annoyance. She wouldn't ever dare speak profanities in front of her daughter, but she could sure sign it.

Before the door closed shut, there had been quite a war on who could make the most obscene gestures and for the first time in a long time, Peter felt he had felt a spark from that same connection he had had with his sister long ago. It seemed like a distant memory because these days, Ivy was only a shell of her former self. Her husband had left her and it seemed he had taken the very vital force that made her herself. She was always overworked, always tired. The only time she was truly ever happy was when she was with her daughter.

"Okay, mommy's gone now. What do you want to do?"

Lily's small bow-shaped lips parted for a second, before they closed. She shook her head.

"Are you hungry?"

Again, Peter received only a head shake.

"You wanna poop?"

Head shake.

"Boy prob-"

Colin stopped Peter before the boy could probably start to drive both Lily and him insane with his questions. "Just leave the kid alone."

"She was about to speak the first time so I'm trying to guess it out of her," Peter said, even though he had no idea why he was explaining himself to Colin. "Alright. Is it puberty? Is that what you-"

"Jesus, Pikachu, just leave the poor kid alone. I'm not even the one you're asking and I'm already tired of having to hear this," Colin grumbled. It got a light laugh from Lily which resulted in Colin himself laughing.

"Come on, Lily," Peter started, ignoring Colin. "Tell me what you were about to say."

"Colors," Lily simply stated.

"Colors... " Peter repeated. He was so lost.

"Yes. You promised you'll teach me colors before you moved and you never did," Lily's voice wavered. "If you teach me I swear I'll never ask you anything again.

At that Peter grimaced. For one thing, he was beginning to see why the teacher complained. For another, he didn't know how the heck he was going to explain what colors looked like to his blind niece. Yet, he had no intention of disappointing the eager girl.

"I'd love to, flower, but you won't even get me." Peter didn't have to recount on the nine times he's ever been asked to describe something to know that. It always ended with a confused girl and an exasperated guy.

"I'll try so damn well to understand Please, Peter," the dark-haired girl begged. Her hands found Peter's and her small fingers held on tightly in another plea.

"I'm sorry but-"

"I can help!" Colin chimed in. "It won't be a problem."

A sceptical look passed Peter's features as he assessed Colin. "And how are you gonna do that?"

Colin answered Peter's question with three words. "Watch and learn."

A few minutes later, the trio of guy, slightly older guy, and girl, we're all standing outside on the grassy lawn in front of the building.

Peter looked at Colin, wondering what trick the brunet had up his sleeve, while shielding his eyes from the sun which had decided to come out despite the recent dull and cloudy weather.

"What do you feel?"

"Irritated," Peter answered.

"I wasn't talking to you, Grinch. I was talking to the beautiful one."

Lily smiled and Colin grinned and Peter rolled his eyes, tired of standing outside while he could be cozied up inside.

Seconds passed and Lily spoke. "I feel... hot."

"Was hoping so," Colin started, smiling that smile that unnerved Peter. "What you're feeling is red. Red is the color of a burn, from heat, embarrassment, or even anger. Peter is red most of the time," Colin added.

If Peter wasn't already turning red from the scorching rays, he'd have certainly turned red now. He wasn't sure whether Colin implied that it was irritation or embarrassment that made his face flush. Right now, he wasn't sure which it was either.

A burst of laughter came from Lily as she started jumping around, arms spread wide. "Again again again! Teach me another one."

Peter looked to Colin who seemed to be thinking hard. He hadn't expected Lily to understand but she had. And his curiosity was piqued regarding what Colin would do next.

He was satisfied sooner than he thought when Colin walked them to the pool. It was surrounded by four apartment blocks, one on each side. Peter had plans to go for a swim one day, maybe he could get it done now.

His thoughts were off track as none of them got into the pool. Colin, however, let Lily crouch at the edge and put her hands in the water.

As Lily moved her hands around wildly, Colin began his second lesson. "The sensation you feel, that calmness. It's the same thing you feel while swimming, an ever-present coolness. That's blue, it's relaxation."

Again, Peter was impressed and he mentally applauded his roommate. He could have never thought of using a method like this, where his niece could feel the colors and not just hear about them.

Colin showed Lily one last color after her consistent pleading even though he had nothing else in mind to teach. It came to him shortly though, and they trudged back to the lawns.

This time, Colin pressed soft leaves and wet grass into Lily's palms and asked her to hold them. She did, and Colin gave his final lesson. "This is green. Green feels like... life. It's what gives birth to newness."

Lily was quiet for a while, leaves smoothed in her closed palms. In a quiet voice, she said, "This is my favorite color."

°

"Pass the remote," Colin mumbled, taking a big gulp from the can of Smirnoff Ice in his hand.

Peter complied and after a couple of minutes, the strength of which Jason Mamoa's voice came out of the TV was more imposing. They were binge-watching Game of Thrones, the only activity they had been doing for five hours now-- after Ivy had come for her overly happy daughter. She had thanked them for whatever they had done to make her that way, and had even offered to pay. They both rejected it.

"There's too much sex in this and you've also turned up the volume that high. Someone's gonna think we're watching porn," Peter said, drinking from his own can after taking a bite out of the Hawaiian pizza they had ordered. In both their opinions, pineapple did belong on pizza. It seemed that was their only common ground.

"Who cares?"

Peter thought about it and realized no one did and ended up shrugging in response. Even if they did, they couldn't do anything to make Colin turn down the volume.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something and your sister mentioning it reminded me. How exactly did you cheat?"

"It's really none of your business."

"Pikachu, you're living under my roof for free this entire month. I need to know the type of person I'm involving myself with."

"I didn't exactly cheat. I was testing out a theory."

"A theory, huh..." Colin trailed off, tone laden with doubt.

"Yes! No one ever listens to me when I try to explain but I really-"

"I'm listening," Colin pointed out, taking a sip of the chilled liquid.

It dawned on Peter that Colin was serious and was actually going to be the only person who had listened to his side of the story-- fully. So he didn't hold back.

"So, Kayla has this bestfriend who I greatly suspect has a thing for her. I've told her a lot of times but she just things I'm crazy or jealous when I do because he claims he's gay." Peter let out a strained noise. "I know he's a fucking liar from the way he looked at Kay, like he wanted to fuck her or something. You don't think that when you see a girl, right? No homosexual guy does?"

"Not really."

"Exactly! So I had this theory that Kyle wanted my girlfriend and had to test it out, you know, by making him prove that that he's gay."

"And I suppose you did that through?"

This was the part Peter dreaded talking about. All the other details, he could spill freely. It was a whole other story with this one.

He downed a whole lot of the Smirnoff to get himself in a state when what he said would hurt his ego less.

"I kissed him."

Colin didn't burst out laughing, neither did he make any remark that would have made Peter feel worse than he was already beginning to feel.

"Figured so." That's all he said.

"You're not shocked?"

"Nope. Just... happy. My gaydar didn't fail this time either," Colin commented with the slight hint of a smile. "What would have shocked me was if you had told him to suck your dick or something. That would have been weird."

Peter nodded in comprehension. "Kayla walked in on us when it happened. She had gone to the bathroom and it was short but she saw it."

"Ah... got yourself into that one."

They both went quiet as they ate and stared at the faces of Jon Snow and Daenerys. Colin was the one to start the next conversation.

"Lemme ask you something. When you kissed that guy... did you enjoy it?"

"Dude, I was drunk and I only wanted him to prove something. You really don't think I'd be thinking about that kind of thing, do you?" Peter replied with a serious face.

Colin shrugged, looking at flatscreen TV. After a while he spoke again. "Do you want to try it? I mean, so you know whether you like it or not."

"No. I can't believe you still think I'm gay."

"Well, you technically forced another guy to kiss you so... doesn't leave much to consider. That's not very straight."

Peter swallowed, groaning in the process. "Don't talk about it. I'm not gay," he said looking at the screen too. But he couldn't help thinking about what kissing Colin would be like.

That didn't make him gay, did it? And the sudden urge that made him want to turn and look at Colin also wasn't gay. People looked at people, it was normal. What seemed strange was the fact that Peter felt it as a primal urge. A kind of craving.

He looked once, just a glimpse, and faced the screen again. But even that small look didn't satisfy him half-way. So he peeked again. A glance that was enough for him to catch the illumination from the screen that lit up Colin's features. It was like contemporary art, the way hues of blue and black and grey fell in fractions on his face.

Instead of Peter taking satisfaction, he only wanted to look again. A longer gaze was what his eyes strived to take in, like a sip from salt water, only increasing the thirst for more and more and more.

He turned, and what happened was so fast that it took his brain a while to comprehend the entire occurrence. One moment his head was slowly turning, and the next, his face was held in Colin's hands, their lips were pressed together. It was unexpected and his brain was slow to process why his body wasn't budging.

He didn't want to think about why it felt nice to have another guy's soft, almost marshmallow-like lips on his. And he didn't want to think about why he was kissing Colin back now, and why his tongue tingled with the sweet taste of the not-nearly-boozy-enough alcohol.

With kissing Kyle, Peter had been drunk and could hardly sort out his thoughts until Kayla had screamed. With Colin, he was tipsy but fully aware of what was happening. And he liked it.

Colin's lips were still connected with Peter's when he whispered in a raspy voice, "Told myself that if you look at me like that, like you want me to kiss you badly, I'd do it." A sigh comes, followed by a well-meant smirk. "Damn, you are the definition of red, Pikachu."

OH MY USSGUWSGHUASH! Was this entire chapter hot and sweet or what???

Personally, this chapter is one of my favourites! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it♡

Thoughts on this chapter go here ~>

Don't forget to vote!☆

Also, I have another book called Lies and Other Necessities and it's a whole gem! If you're into books that will have you emotional and invested, don't hesitate to check it out!

This part is dedicated to -cynicaloptimism- and BethieSimone
Your books are such inspirations!!❤