I sat up groggily, mentally exhausted from yesterday. Not to mention a particular dream that I haven’t had in years. 

“Fuck..” 

I walked down to the kitchen and was greeted by a pleasant sight.

Kenzie, Miyuki and say we’re sitting at the table eating. 

Once Kenzie saw me, a flash of something passed across her face, but she didn’t say anything about it. “You’re late.” She commented as she shoved a spoon full of eggs into her mouth. 

“Sorry, just a little tired.” I quickly responded. 

Kenzie gave me a long hard look. “I bet.”

Why did she say it like that? 

“Good morning.” Saya spoke, appearing to be lost in thought as she played with her food on her plate. 

My de facto seat was next to Saya and as I sat down she hugged my arm tight. 

This is.. odd? “Are you okay?”

Saya nodded her head, but didn’t say anything. 

Kenzie glared at Saya, but didn’t say anything. 

“Is there something that I should know about?” I decided to address the tension. 

“Is there something?” Kenzie asked rhetorically before taking a sip of milk from her cup. 

I looked to Saya for an answer, but it looked like she wasn’t in the mood to talk. 

Well, I guess I’ll have to ask her when we’re alone later. 

“Hey.” On another note, Miyuki was finally out of her room! She looked way better than before and seemed to have regained some of her vigor. 

“He!” I was so excited to have Miyuki speaking to me again, that I nearly forgot how random it was. “y….” 

“You’re surprised too, huh?” Kenzie commented from the side. 

Miyuki seemed to be contemplating something with a deep frown on her face. After a couple of seconds, she finally spoke. “Do you remember when we went horseback riding?” 

“Oh! I remember that!” Kenzie visibly perked up and started reminiscing softly. 

“Do you?” Miyuki asked again. 

I knew something like this might come up. How do I lie my way out of it? Maybe I should just tell her I don’t remember? That’s a half truth, right? 

“I..” I don’t know where it was coming from, but the sound of static was blaring inside of my head. 

My head started throbbing in pain and I instinctually my head. 

“Are you okay?” Saya asked with a hint of worry. 

“I…m fine.. I’m fine..” Blurry, staticy, memories hit me like weight being dropped off of a 10 story building. 

The memory was of me riding on a horse with a younger Miyuki in front of me. She was smiling and laughing adorably with a little cowboy hat and get up. Kenzie was on a horse of her own and there was a man behind her… but his face.. I can’t see it.. 

“I do…” The pain stopped and I felt.. clear and level headed. 

What the fuck was that? “You were scared to get on the horse at first. I had to talk you into it with candy and a promise to have a tea party with you.”

Miyuki’s mouth hung open and she dropped her fork. It was as if she didn’t expect to hear that answer. 

“You two were so cute!” Kenzie squealed like a little girl. 

Miyuki’s eyes watered and she looked away before getting up and exiting the kitchen. “I’m full.” 

“What?! You only ate half!” Kenzie whined as she fake reached out for Miyuki. She blew a big huff of air before flopping down on the table in a dramatic pout. “Whatever!” Kenzie quickly recovered and pointed at me. “After you’re done eating, you’re spending the day with me.” 

“Doing what?” I asked, losing my train of thought. 

“Don’t tell me you forgot?” Kenzie gave me a blank stare. “You asked to spend some time with me!” 

“Shit.” I accidentally muttered. 

“Shit is right!” Kenzie shouted. “I have an entire day planned for us.” 

Despite how angry Kenzie appeared to be, I could tell from her voice that she was looking forward to it. 

“Sure. I’d love to spend time with you.” I expressed genuinely. 

“You better!” Kenzie pointed a finger at me, and her tone was sharp, but the smile on her face confirmed my guess. 

For whatever reason, Saya looked a bit nervous at this announcement.

I got ready and came down to be greeted by a dolled up Kenzie. Well dolled up isn’t the right word. She was dressed up far more than she normally was. She had on a sleek black jacket, pants, and cute black high heeled boots. With a blue scarf hanging over her neck. Not to mention she applied a little bit of makeup which accentuated her features. 

I on the other hand wore a plain black jacket, blue jeans and converse. 

Now that I remember, didn’t Jason promise to help me with my wardrobe?

I pushed the thought to the back of my head as Kenzie and I got ready to leave. 

“Ready?” I asked.

“One second.” Kenzie tidied me up a bit and finally with a smile.. “Ready!” 

We stepped out of the door together, arms locked together. 

The first thing on the agenda was a painting class Kenzie scheduled for us. 

We took the subway there and on the way Kenzie showed me a few pictures from the company's website. Everyone looked to be happy and having a good time in the pictures. And the artwork and rooms were pretty nice. 

After Kenzie and I got off at our stop, we arrived at the painting class in just under a five minute walk. The building was a plain brick and mortar building with a flowery sign hanging above it. 

We walked inside and Kenzie’s eyes lit up. She happily took a seat and pulled me along to take a seat right next to her.

There was a colorful bouquet of flowers centered in the middle of the room. And speaking of the room, it was pure white with very few colorful objects around. 

It seems like Kenzie and I were the first people to arrive and Kenzie happily got herself prepared. 

She must’ve noticed my confusion and decided to help me get ready to paint. 

Not too long after a young woman who appeared to be in her mid twenties stepped into the room. She greeted us and introduced herself as the instructor for the class. 

Not too long after more people came and we were painting. Or rather… I was sloppily applying paint to a blank canvas. 

I peeked over at Kenzie to see her progress and… her painting was.. really fucking good to say the least. 

People were gathering around her to see the painting that she was creating. Kenzie looked to be having the time of her life as she proudly displayed her painting. 

But, that wasn’t the thing that really caught my eye. The bright smile she had and the look of content resting in her eyes. 

She looked absolutely stunning in her natural state and I even found my heart skipping a beat. 

I couldn’t help but smile as I watched her in silence. 

“I haven’t painted since… Miyuki’s dad passed away.” Kenzie commented with a slight frown. 

I didn’t know what to say, this was the first that she had mentioned of him. And the game offered no explanation as to who Miyuki’s bio dad was. 

As if to fill up the silence, Kenzie continued speaking. “He.. was a gentle man. He was an artist. Not like me, but an actual artist. He was going to art school and sold a few of his paintings. I know you’ve seen them hanging up in the hallway. 

I never paid much attention to the paintings hanging up. “I didn’t know those were his…”

Now that I think about it..why don’t we have any family pictures hanging up? 

“Yeah.. I.. don’t like talking about him.” Kenzie struggled to say. It looked like she was in pain just from talking about it. “But, I feel like it today for some reason. Maybe it’s because he and I used to do things like this together.”

Sometimes I forget that people had a life before I arrived. I wonder.. How much of an effect did I have on their lives? “I’m sorry..” 

“Don’t be.. it’s not your fault.” Kenzie smiled sadly. She didn’t speak up any more and resumed painting. 

“What about my dad?” I didn’t intend to ask, but I was curious. I’ve always been curious since I’ve arrived here. 

Kenzie froze, and ever so subtly her eye twitched. A flash of sadness passed by her face and she shook ever so slightly. “He.. “ 

I had a weird feeling in my chest, something was telling me that I shouldn’t have asked. 

There was a long stretch of silence before Kenzie resumed speaking. “I’m sorry. Forget I said anything.” 

Though I was relieved that Kenzie changed the subject, my curiosity was not sated. 

The awkward silence was eventually broken when drinks started being served. Kenzie chose wine as her drink of choice. While I on the other hand got cranberry juice for obvious reasons. 

Everyone started loosening up a little more once there was alcohol involved. It soon went from silent chatter to full on joking, banter and laughter. 

“That’s a handsome man you have with you.” One of the women commented. 

“Yes he is!” Kenzie shouted with a puffed up chest. She linked my left arm with her right arm and leaned against me with a big grin on her face. “He’s my handsome man!” 

Obviously, symptoms of being the ignored guy in the background finally reeled their ugly head. My face started heating up and my chest felt tight. 

“Please stop..” I whined underneath my breath. 

“Awee! Look, you made him blush!” The women commented, gathering the attention of more women around us. 

Much to my dismay, I was surrounded by women who proceeded to comment about how cute it was that I was embarrassed. 

I am not a small animal!

The nightmare ended not too long after and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. 

Kenzie grabbed her paintings and mine, and I carried the bag that she placed them in. 

Kenzie’s cheeks were a little flushed, and she was way happier than usual. Not that it was a bad thing.. but..

“Let’s go!” Kenzie raised a fist in the air as she grabbed my arm. 

“Where are we going?” I asked with a bit of trepidation. Kenzie seemed to have been far more affected by that wine than I first thought. 

Kenzie placed a finger on her bottom lip. “How about a walk in the park! We’ve been sitting for so long!” 

“I don’t think-“ 

Without so much as a care to what I thought, Kenzie dragged me to the park. 

It was the beginning of fall and the color of the falling leaves were vibrant and beautiful. The air had just a slight chill to it, but not enough to be much of a bother. 

As we were taking a stroll in the park, maybe due to her slight inebriation, or her fascination with cute animals, or maybe a mix of both, she stopped every minute to pet someone’s dog. 

“We’ve been here petting dogs for at least an hour now.” I finally spoke up. 

“Oh shush!” Kenzie waved me off as she dusted herself off, just finishing petting her last dog. The owner looked slightly uncomfortable for how long it lasted. 

Kenzie pointed to me with a serious look in her eyes. “You shouldn’t be complaining right now. You think I don’t know, but I do.” 

What is this drunk talking about?

“Oh! You must think I’m some type of drunk babbling, but no!” Kenzie explained, apparently reading my mind. “I know what sex smells like!” 

My eyes widened and I quickly covered Kenzie’s mouth with my hand. I quickly checked to make sure no one heard her. Especially any children or their parents. 

What is she-

I suddenly remembered Kenzie sniffing me before I left for the taste fest with Jason. 

“Oh shit…” 

“Shit is right!” Kenzie spoke after she swatted my hand away. “You had one rule! And you couldn’t even do that!” 

“Okay! Okay.. I’m sorry.. I just-“ 

“I’m jealous..” Kenzie muttered underneath her breath. 

I was thrown through a loop and didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Ugh! I want another drink!” And Kenzie got what she wanted after dragging me to a liquor store and getting a very small bottle of vodka and gummy bears. 

She tried to offer me a sip, but I refused, much to her dissatisfaction. Kenzie relented and drank the gummy filled vodka.  

Kenzie burped after downing the alcohol.

Did I mention we were in the alleyway? 

Yeah I had to drag little miss drunkard out of sight to lessen the risk of being charged with public intoxication. 

“Oh!” Kenzie pounded her left palm with her right fist as if an idea had just hit her. “Let’s go to the movies! I forgot all about it!” 

“No! We’re not going anywhere else!” I yanked her arm to stop her from leading me anywhere. 

“Ow!!” Kenzie grabbed her arm and started making a scene. “You can’t stop me! I want to go!” 

Kenzie kept screaming and I tried covering her mouth, but she fought me every step of the way. This, I found myself once again relenting and following after Kenzie. 

We took a train to the movie theater and guess what was there? 

“Let me get a cherry martini.” Kenzie walked up to the bartender and announced. 

In just a few seconds, the bartender was done making her drink and she had a red drink in a small glass in her hands.

“If you’re good, I might just share a bit with you.” Kenzie laughed as she took a swig from her drink. 

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” I’m not good with drunk people! 

“Pfft.. No! I can let loose from time to time! Stop being a buzzkill!” Kenzie yelled with a slight slur to her speech. Which elicited a few chuckles from people stared at the bar. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed what I could only describe as a silver fox steadily approaching Kenzie. He was dressed in a sleek black suit with a black pea coat to match. He had a brown and black scarf draped over his shoulders and sleek black suede shoes. He had sharp blue eyes and peppery gray slicked back hair, and of course he also had a chiseled jawline. 

“Hey, how are you today?” The man spoke with a sly smile on his face. “What are you and your little brother going to see?” 

Kenzie looked taken aback and slightly embarrassed. 

…Why the fuck are you looking that? 

Kenzie opened her mouth to respond, but I cut her off. “It’s none of your fucking business!”  

“Jeff!” I ignored Kenzie as I stood up between Kenzie and the gray haired fucker. 

I glared at the old bastard, and he just smiled in response. He took one last look at Kenzie before turning around and casually walking away while shaking his head. His attitude seemed to be reflected by the few people seated at the bar as proven evident by their hushed snickers and laughs.  

“Yeah! Fuck you!” I didn’t mean to let those words slip out of me, but I just couldn’t contain myself. 

“Jeff! I can handle myself! You’re not my guard dog!” Kenzie yelled, snatching my hand and dragging me into the movie screening. “Let’s go see the damn movie before you bite someone!” 

The movie Kenzie had picked out was a romantic tragedy/comedy. 

The movie was called Moonlight at Dawn. It was about a socially awkward billionaire tycoon who falls in love with a beautiful eccentric struggling artist. But, due to his work and his social ineptitude, the socially awkward billionaire constantly runs away from the eccentric artist, only to return at a later time as if nothing happened. Eventually the artist has enough and tells the billionaire about himself and leaves him. Later, after some self reflecting, the billionaire acknowledges his feelings for the artist and makes up his mind to win her back. Unfortunately, he’s too late and the artist passed away from an illness that she had been silently battling. Distraught, he collapses to his knees as the credit rolls.  

I heard sniffling beside me during the movie and turned to see tears cascading down Kenzie’s cheeks. 

I was confused for a moment until I remembered her story in the game. Her husband was a workaholic and in the two year span of the game he never returned home. And though it was never confirmed, some fans surmised that he was cheating on her and possibly had another family. Who knows what her fate would be if not for the protagonist?  

Is that.. Is that her fate in this world as well? 

I grabbed Kenzie’s left hand. She slightly shook before turning to face me. I smiled at her and she weakly returned a smile as well. She laid her head on my shoulder and interlocked her fingers with mine. And that was how we stayed for the rest of the movie. 

After the movie finished, Kenzie had to go to the bathroom to clean herself up. After she was done, she got a couple more drinks from the bar despite my protest. And she got another drink from a corner store on the way home. Which left her.. 

“I’m not drunk!!!“ Kenzie bellowed as we walked through the front door.  

We made it home late at night, and I was hoping to keep her quiet so as to not wake anyone up. But, that obviously didn’t work out the way that I planned.

“Yeah..yeah…” I really shouldn’t have relented so easily. I understand that she’s an adult and I don’t control her, but what a fucking handful?! 

I would have let her head to her room herself, but after her almost falling over multiple times. 

We finally arrived at Kenzie’s room and I had to help to her bed. 

I sat her down on the bed gently and had to help take off her coat. “I can’t believe you let yourself get this drunk.” 

“I’m not drunk… I’m… I’m just… lonely..” Tears started falling down the side of her cheeks and she gripped the edges of her sheets. 

I began to wipe the tears from underneath her eyes. 

Kenzie silently watched me as I did it, finally speaking up abruptly. “Why doesn’t he want me?” 

A sour taste filled my mouth as I caught the last of her tears. Anger, pity, guilt and a few indecipherable emotions hit me all at once. 

I took a second to compose myself before I spoke. “You’re beautiful, intelligent, caring, fun, gifted and amazing. Whoeve doesn’t see that is a fucking dumbass.” 

Kenzie grabbed my hands as I got ready to remove them. Her gaze was intense and burning as she stared into my eyes. 

There was a long stretch of silence before Kenzie shattered the silence. 

My heart nearly leapt out of my chest when Kenzie planted a hot kiss on my lips. 

In the next moment I was on top of Kenzie and we were engaged in a deep passionate kiss. 

She invaded my mouth and greedily sought my tongue. She tasted sweet with a hint of alcohol. Her moans were delicious to my ears and I found myself being swept up in her pace. 

I found my hands caressing Kenzie and my breathing was starting to match her’s. Rough, hot, erratic and excited. 

She desperately wanted affection, and I was desperately providing her with it. 

Her hand traveled to my lower half and she slid her hand inside of my pants. While my hands landed firmly on her large and soft breast. 

My head felt cloudy and I was utterly intoxicated with lust. 

Kenzie separated her lips from mine, leaving a trail of connecting saliva between us that broke in the next second. 

For just a moment, an ounce of clarity returned to me. Something was screaming and fighting inside of me. As of to say, ‘What fuck are you doing?!’

“I..I’m sorry.. I-“ 

She softly caressed my cheek as her gentle eyes reflected my image. In an almost whiney voice, she begged. “Please..” 

The inner voice was screaming incessantly, but there was something else inside of me. Something that wanted the exact opposite. “I-I can’t do this… I can’t!” What I said wasn’t directed at Kenzie, it was directed at myself. “It’s wrong...” 

A splitting headache overcame me, memories flooded my mind. Those of Kenzie, Miyuki and our makeshift family. 

“.. please…” Kenzie’s eyes moistened and her plump lips parted, releasing a voice as sweet as a siren. “Love me..” 

It was at that moment the internal battle inside of me had ended and the victor was decided. 

I snapped, or maybe I was already broken.

I didn’t care about the consequences. I didn’t care about the feelings of disgust bubbling inside of me. I wanted Kenzie. I didnt give a fuck about anything else. 

“I love you..” I whispered as I stacked my lips on top of hers. Embracing her to my heart's content.

I didn’t realize it then, but later I would realize just how bad I fucked up.