Winter was lying on the bed, bored to death, as Zane was at school. However, she wasn't well enough to endure seven-hours of torture of school yet, so she was watching Netflix since morning in Ellie's room after she went to work.
When Winter got bored with Netflix, she chatted with Kalen for a long while before she came back to her room and decided to think about her feelings for Zane. But the more she thought about it, the more confused she got. She even started to get confused about his feelings. He said that he liked her but the word 'love' slipped his tongue pretty often. Therefore, with no other ray in sight, she sought help from her now second-savior Mr. Google.
She googled about the differences between like and love. According to the website, the symptoms of Zane clearly fell in the 'love' category because he often talked about the future with her and accepted all of her flaws without liking anything in particular about her, rather he liked everything about her. Even so, she would dare not assume anything about his feelings.
On the other hand, she didn't know in which category she fell into. Did she even fall into either category? Most of them belonged to the 'like' category, and others were in the 'love' one.
"Am I in the process of falling in love with him, then?" She rolled over the bed in confusion. "Ugh, I'm so perplexed. I can't help thinking about it."
"Are you thinking about me?"
"Yes, I can't stop—" Winter stopped saying what she was and sat up straight, looking at her boyfriend with a huge grin blooming on her face. "You are back!" She got on her knees on the bed and threw her arms around his neck. "You have no idea how much I missed you."
Zane chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose. "But I can't say the same." Winter squinted her eyes at him. "I was busy collecting previous notes and listening to lectures."
Winter rolled her eyes and said, "No wonder you didn't send me any text. But I'm willing to forgive you if you watch Netflix with me."
"I have wo—never mind. Let's do that." Zane wanted to keep her company so that she wouldn't get lonely. He even skipped his basketball practice for her today. "Bring your laptop to my room. I'll take a shower by then."
Agreeing, Winter followed him to his bedroom with her laptop. She made the arrangements, comfortably setting the pillows and laptop, and a bag of potato chips on her hand. While Zane was in the shower, Winter looked at the photos in his room and adored the smaller versions of her boyfriend. Everything in that room had his touch and fragrance, and she loved that.
When Zane stepped out of the bathroom in a grey t-shirt and trousers while wiping his wet hair with a towel, he found Winter staring at his medical books. "Why are you looking at that?" he inquired.
Winter snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at him and bit her lips. "Are you seducing me, Zane?"
"Huh?" Zane was confused at first but understanding her words, he feigned innocence. "Can you be more specific?" He rubbed the towel on his hair, letting a few droplets rub down his neck.
"Forget it. You will catch a cold. Come here quickly," Winter instructed.
Zane placed the towel to dry and sat beside Winter on his bed and pulled up the blanket as he was starting to feel cold. He put on an alarm to change the next set of her bandages, which was in an eight-hour interval. "Why aren't you starting it?" he asked.
"Oh, right." Winter pressed the play button and they both started watching a movie. She rested her head on his shoulder while he had his hand on his waist, occasionally feeding the chips to each other.
Once the movie ended, they leaned into each other's touch more after placing the laptop aside, lying down on the bed, close to each other. Her head was placed on his hand, and her hand rested on his waist.
"What has got your mind so preoccupied?" Zane noticed how Winter zoned out in between a few movie scenes. "Are you worried about Ahan? Don't stress about it. Cedric will handle that."
"No, I'm thinking," Winter said and made a thoughtful face.
"About what?"
She sighed deeply and snuggled closer to him before blurting out, "Do you love me, Zane?"
"Where did that come from?" Even though he had come to a realization that he loved her when she was in the hospital a few days, he didn't want her to know about it and feel pressured to reciprocate his feelings.
"Just answer it," she insisted and started drawing hearts over his chest.
"I don't want to answer that," Zane replied straight-out.
Winter already knew he wasn't the type to beat around the bushes. If he didn't want to tell her, he would just tell her that he wouldn't. She pouted as her mystery remained unsolved.
"How about you? What feelings do you have for me?" Zane inquired with curiosity. Did she start having feelings yet or not? he wondered.
"I don't know. Everything is so confusing. I can't figure out whether I like or love you," she let out.
Even though he was disappointed with her reply, Zane didn't let it bother him and joked, "Maybe you lust for me." Winter narrowed her eyes at him after listening to him. "I mean, you aren't sure about your feelings, yet you don't feel hesitant to stay in my bedroom when no one is at home," he mused.
Winter shuddered, scooting a little away from him but he pulled her closer. Her breath hitched in her throat. "Zane," she breathed out, closing her eyes.
There was a trace of fear in her eyes that he noticed. You said you will wait, he reminded himself and took a quivering breath.
What's he going to do? Should I not oppose it? Should I let him— her thoughts were cut short as she felt a pair of soft lips touch hers. He pulled away when her eyes fluttered open in surprise.
"I was kidding." It was hard for Zane to control himself. However, he would never force her into anything. "Let's get up now. Otherwise, I might end up going further than kissing your lips." With that, he sat up with her.
"I'm sorry if—"
"You have nothing to apologize for. I understand," he assured her.
"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Winter found herself asking this question quite often nowadays while looking at him tenderly.
Zane shrugged his shoulder and glanced at the clock. It was about time his mom returned from her friend's boutique where she went very often.
"Zane, come down," Kalen hollered from downstairs.
Zane and Winter both went down to find Kalen in the kitchen. Apparently, she was back quite a while ago but those two failed to notice that. She had been feeling a little weak since coming back home, so she asked Zane to help her cut the vegetables.
"Uh, why don't leave the cooking to me, Aunt?" Winter volunteered.
"No, no, you are our guest." Kalen waved in dismissal.
"Didn't you say I was like your daughter?" Winter put her hand on her hip and made a puppy face. "I guess I was not, after all." She made an upset face. Kalen sighed and handed her the spatula, which made Winter grin ear to ear.
Zane was looking for the chopping board when he let out in confusion, "Aunt?"
"Yes, Aunt. I could never call her by her first name. In Bangladesh, if I did such a disrespectful act, people would isolate me," Winter replied as she recalled how she used to address everyone as uncle or aunt in Bangladesh.
"She is such a lovely girl, isn't she?" Kalen expressed, and Zane nodded in agreement. "She can also cook. I won't have to worry about Zane if I die now—"
"Mom, how many times have I told you not to say things like that?" Zane snapped.
"Well, it's true. If not for this cancer, I would inevitably die one day or the other. You never know what happens with life," Kalen said, and Zane gritted his teeth.
"You know what you mean to me, Mom. Then why do you keep talking about it? Yeah, we all will die. We will see when that happens, so please don't bring this up," Zane declared.
Kalen lowered her head, feeling guilty. Winter dared not get in between them and focused on the frying pan. The kitchen fell silent for a brief moment before he spoke up again, "I'm sorry for raising my voice. I just…" he couldn't continue as he was starting to feel too bad. He worked so hard for his mom's treatment, yet when he heard her say such things, he felt like what he was doing was meaningless. It was small moments like this that made him want to cry. "Excuse me for a moment." With that, he went out of the kitchen to his bedroom.
Winter wanted to follow after him but Kalen stopped her. "Let him be. He needs to be alone now," Kalen said. "I'm sorry for spoiling the mood."
"Um, but I think—"
Kalen sighed. "When I said you were like my daughter, I really meant. Because I can see you in his future." Winter startled and looked at Kalen in surprise. "I don't know why but I get the feeling that you would be his last."
"Why do you think like that?" Winter asked in a meek voice.
"I just feel like that. That's why please take care of him on behalf of me," Kalen expressed with a sad smile.
Winter hugged Kalen and said, "Thank you for putting your trust in me. I'll try my best not to disappoint you. On the other hand, you should focus on getting well and living a long life."
Kalen patted her head and said, "Thank you, dear."
"I will go check up on Zane." Winter pulled away from the hug and turned around to find Zane standing at the entrance, a gentle smile on his lips.
"It's every man's dream to see the two most important women in their life get along," he admitted and went towards them. He put his arms around each of them and jostled, "On this happy occasion, I shall cook for the two of you."
"No, please don't," Kalen and Winter spoke up in sync before bursting out laughing.
"Wow, what a connection!" Zane rolled his eyes. After that his mom and girlfriend started ganging up against him, leaving no other choice but to elope the kitchen once his sister returned home as well.
Zane received a call from Cedric when he was climbing the stairs to his room. "What's up?" he greeted.
"I have a gift. Now tell me what you will give me in return," jeered the gang leader.
"Depends," Zane answered.
"I have caught that bastard Ahan Kin," Cedric said.
"What? Why so quickly?" Zane didn't sound amused at all. "Now Winter has to go back to her grumpy dad's place," he mumbled.
Cedric chortled. "I have a way. How about I keep him with me for a few days?"
"Wouldn't I be lying to Winter?" Zane hesitated.
"You have no idea how many times I lie to Lucy just to keep her close to me. Also, lies like these are harmless," Cedric explained.
"Maybe you are right."
"I'm always right," Cedric boasted. "And yeah, I can torture him, right?"
"I was just about to say that." Zane clenched his jaw as he remembered everything that Winter told him about Ahan. "Make sure he gets back every pain that he caused to Winter."
"Leave that to me." With that, Cedric hung up the call and looked at the brown man, who was tied to a chair in front of him. He ordered his man to throw boiling water on that man to get him to wake up.
Ahan started screaming as boiling water was being poured on him, burning his skin.
"Hello, my new toy," Cedric greeted with a sadistic smirk when Ahan glanced at his way. Before he could take a step forward, his cell phone started ringing. He picked it up in a heartbeat and said, "Hey, babe."
"You messaged me that you caught that asshole Ahan. Is it true?" Lucy asked.
"Did I ever lie to you?" Cedric feigned innocence while motioning his men to make Ahan quiet.
Lucy rolled her eyes and guessed, "Are you torturing him right now?" As he didn't reply, she sighed. "You are, aren't you? Cedric, you have to hand him over to the cops. Alive," she emphasized.
"I will," he assured her.
"Okay, good. Come to pick me up in an hour. Bye." With that, she hung up.
Cedric slid his phone in his pocket and looked back at Ahan and let out, "Where were we again?"
'Boss, Lady Lucy sai—" Cedric interrupted his left-hand man.
'She mentioned to hand this piece of shit alive, but my dear girlfriend didn't mention in what state as long as Ahan is alive," Cedric said and took out his pocket knife. He walked towards Ahan and sat on the chair in front of him.
Looking at his tied hands, Cedric started peeling Ahan's nails one by one.
'Mathew," Cedric called out one of his men. "I only have an hour before I have to pick up my lady. So I am starting with peeling his nails, then I shall remove the entire nail of his hands. You will do the same with the nails of his leg."
'Okay, Boss," said Mathew.
'Also, bring the forceps. After Ahan's manicure, I am yet to be his dentist." Cedric gave an evil smirk and glanced at Ahan saying, 'I will keep you alive as my lady demanded."
