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cynicallystiles · 4 years ago

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Sel’s Birthday

Disclaimer: While this is set in the Seasons of Love world, this has NOTHING to do with the actual series!

Author: @cynicallystiles

Request: None.

Warning: Fluff, drinking.

Notes: So, this is for @learning-howto-be-myselfx3! Happy Birthday! And thank you for your interest in my triplet series! My series is still set to come out this month, just later than expected because October was way crazier and busier than I expected it to be! Thanks for your patience! Please COMMENT/REBLOG if you enjoy it!

Pairing: Peter x Sel, Kallie x Shawn

Masterlist

Words: 900

Kallie's heels click on the pavement as she and Sel make their way back to Sel's apartment after a full day of fun. Their arms are looped together while they laugh, the lamplight giving an ethereal glow to Sel's dark skin. Kallie unloops her arm so that Sel can unlock the door.

"Thanks again for today!" Sel smiles gratefully, to which Kallie just rolls her eyes.

"Stop thanking me! Friends take their friends out for their birthdays!"

"This is honestly the best one I've had in a while," she sighs contently.

Kallie gives her a knowing look, mischief glinting in her hazel eyes. "Well...your birthday isn't over yet!"

"What do y-" Sel's words are silenced when they enter the dark apartment, only to have the lights turned on abruptly.

A loud chorus of the word "surprise" rings in their ears. Kallie giggles excitedly, taking in the shock on Sel's face before dragging her to greet the guests. She pulls her up to Peter first since it was his idea, after all.

"You were keeping me out all day so they could set this up?" Sel deduces.

Kallie nods, bottom lip between her teeth to contain her energy. "Mhm! Peter planned the whole thing!" She confesses.

"Kallie!" Peter groans, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. She mouths an apology before quickly excusing herself to go find Shawn. "I'm surprised she kept the secret that long," he chuckles.

Sel laughs, melodious and hypnotizing. "Well, maybe she knew I'd have mixed feelings about all this." She gestures to the party, which is now in full swing.

"You...you don't like it?" Peter's eyes widen.

She shakes her head quickly. "No, I do! I love it..." she sighs, looking around at all of her friends gathered in one place. "But, it seems to me a little like you're trying to steal my gig as the best host of the group," she laughs.

Peter chuckles lightly, "I could never." Their gazes linger on each other just a beat longer than normal. He clears his throat and looks around. "I'll let you catch up with everyone else. Happy Birthday, Sel."

"Thanks," she hums as he wraps his arms around her shoulders for a too short hug before hastily going to refill his drink.

A few hours later and the party is in full swing. Kallie and Sel are dancing on the makeshift dance floor while Peter converses with Shawn and Raul on the sidelines. Sel's eyes linger on Peter's soft profile. Kallie immediately notices her attention is not on the dancing.

"When are you gonna tell him you like him?" She whispers in Sel's ear, catching her off-guard.

She slightly jumps before surreptitiously glancing at Peter again. "Probably never," she admits.

"Oh, come on!" Kallie squeals, pulling on her arm excitedly. "How long have you liked him?"

Sel feels her cheeks heat up. "Since the day he picked you up from culinary class that day that Shawn had to work," she groans.

"Exactly! So ask him to dance! Use those hip hop dance team skills to seduce him or something!" Kallie laughs, the alcohol in her drink clearly having too much effect on her.

Shaking her head, she begins to argue, "Oh, no, no. I couldn't-"

"Too bad!" She whispers before making eye contact with Shawn and gesturing for him to come to the dance floor and to bring Peter. "This is for your own good," she giggles.

Sel gives her a severe look as Shawn whisks her a few feet away to dance, leaving Peter lingering awkwardly. "They're not very subtle, are they?" Peter points out.

"About all the subtlety of train wreck," she giggles. The tension breaks, but neither makes a move for a moment.

They look over and see Kallie and Shawn slow dancing despite it being an upbeat song. She rests her head on his chest and hugs her arms around his waist while he hugs his around her shoulders, head resting gently on top of hers.

"Dance with me?" Peter asks abruptly, holding out his hand for her.

Her mouth parts softly. "Really?" She confirms.

"Yeah," he chuckles with a nod of his head.

Bashfully, she takes it and they also begin slow dancing when the song changes to an actual slow song. "This is nice," she murmurs with her cheek against his shoulder.

"I've liked you since the first day I met you," he blurts out. She pulls back to look at him in shock. "You had flour on your cheek and raspberry filling on your lip and you looked as beautiful as you've looked every day since..."

His eyes widen as if he realized he might've said too much. But, he's able to breathe again when her lips pull into a soft smile. "I like you too..."

Slowly, magnetically, Peter leans his head down so that he can brush his lips over her soft ones. It only lasts a second, but the electricity of it leaves their skin tingling for minutes after while they dance.

Kallie glances over, seeing that her meddling has paid off. "I told you they just needed a little push," she gloats.

"Yeah, yeah," Shawn sighs sarcastically before noticing that she's still staring at them. "Hey, Cupid. Why not give them some privacy, eh?"

She shakes her head and looks back to him. "Sorry!" Kallie laughs as he spins her away.

9 notes · View notes

cynicallystiles · 4 years ago

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Meet Kallie Hayes:

Youngest sister

Long, wavy, brown hair with red tint

Sings and dances (not well/just for fun)

Has “Real or Not Real?” tattooed on right wrist

Matching tattoos: Russian nesting dolls with sister and moms, meditation guy with the boys

Theater actor with Shawn

Incredibly kind and compassionate

Obsessed with the sky (day and night)

If “good vibes” was a person

Very into poetry

Knit sweaters and ripped jeans

For sure has her nostril pierced

Multiple earringsss

In university studying Business/also in Culinary Arts school

Very carefree

Little depressed

Likes Starbucks’ Pink Drinks

Met the boys on the same day/refuses to say who she’s closest with

(They’re all best friends now tho)

Kallie def loves all the boys, but fell in love with one over the others without realizing it

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cynicallystiles · 4 years ago

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Seasons of Love: The One with the Cabin

Disclaimer: Moodboard made by me. Pictures found on Google!

Author: @cynicallystiles

Request: @itrocksmysocks basically requested this by making me obsessed with the triplets a year ago.

Warning: Swearing. Slight sexual content.

Notes: Chapter four is here! The whole thing still isn’t finished ahead of time like I wanted. Annnnndd I’m already falling behind schedule lol! Thanks for your patience! Please COMMENT/REBLOG if you enjoy it!

Pairing: Kallie Hayes (OC) x Mendes Triplets

Masterlist Series Masterlist

Chapter Three Chapter Five

Words: ~5.37k

"Kalliope!" The sound of her name accompanied by excessive knocking stirs her awake abruptly.

She startles and rolls off the bed onto the floor. "Ah! Jesus, fuck!" She groans and sits up, rubbing her shoulder.

"Is everything okay?" Her sister asks through the door, and Kallie can hear the amusement in her tone.

Pulling herself upright, she glances at the bed and sees Shawn's smooth, muscular back. "Fuck," she mumbles, barely holding in a laugh. "Uh...yeah! I just tripped getting out of bed!" She calls back with a little chuckle.

"It's nine right now, goober. Figured you'd want to be up in time to shower and help with breakfast," Cassie chuckles before her footsteps recede down the hallway.

Releasing a breath of air, Kallie turns back to the bed to find two brown eyes looking at her. "Jeez!" She gasps and closes her eyes to normalize her fast-beating heart. "When did you wake up?" She asks when she opens her eyes again.

"Hard to sleep with all the noise around here," Shawn teases. He rolls over and stands, allowing the sheets to slide off of his almost naked body. Kallie's eyes watch his muscles tighten as he stretches his arms above his head. "I can feel that ya know," he laughs.

She scoffs and stands to make her bed as he finds his clothes. "No, you can't," she argues with warm cheeks as she finds a loose shirt to pull over her shoulders. "I told you you weren't supposed to sleep here!" She groans and starts pushing him toward the window.

"Hey!" He protests as she gets the rope ladder. "You're the one who told me to hold you more," he reminds her and opens the window quietly.

As she secures the ladder to the window and rolls it down the side of the house, her eyebrows furrow. "No, I didn't," she denies, focused on making sure he won't injure himself.

"Yeah, Kal, ya did," he insists while hanging halfway out of the window.

Kallie shakes her head. "Well, I don't remember. Now, go! Before, anyone sees you," she giggles and places her palm flat against his forehead to push him down the ladder.

Shawn quietly enters through his front door and tries to sneak upstairs. His foot doesn't even hit the first step when a voice behind him makes him jump. "Where the hell have you been?" Turning, he sees Peter and Raul entering from the living room.

"Just went for a morning jog," he chuckles nervously.

Peter squints at his attire and crosses his arms. "You don't look like you went for a jog," he accuses suspiciously after seeing no sweat despite him wearing pants and a hoodie in hot weather.

"It was a light jog," he shrugs innocently, "didn't want to stink too much for breakfast since you two always take the hot water."

Raul rolls his eyes and shoves his hands in the pockets of his shorts. "Well, I showered last night. So, there's water left to clean up before we head over," he explains casually.

"Wait," Shawn stops leaning against the railing and takes a step forward. "You never shower at night," he states in confusion.

He just shrugs. "Yeah. Kal and I got a little messy last night," he chuckles and heads back into the living room, ignoring the twitch of Shawn's eye.

The boys arrive at Kallie's just as she's setting down the final plate of food on the table. Her hair is still damp around her shoulders from the shower, barely curling as it dries. Conversation flows chaotically while the boys catch up with Cassie and her moms.

Shawn catches Kallie's eyes as she takes the last sip of her almond milk. She asks him what's up by pinching her brows together. He nods subtly toward the kitchen. Concerned, she stands up.

"I'm gonna start clearing the dirty dishes," she informs everyone as she gathers some plates.

Shawn follows suit. "I'll help," he offers.

"But, cleanup is my thing," Peter points out in confusion.

Patting his shoulder, Shawn takes the dishes he's holding around the table. "Relax, for once. I've got it covered." He disappears into the kitchen after her.

"What's going on?" She asks in a hushed tone as she leans on the counter next to the sink.

Setting the dishes in the sink, he crosses his arms and turns to her. "What exactly did you and Raul get up to last night?" He sighs.

A chuckle slips past her lips before she sees the distraught in his eyes. "We just got ice cream and went to the park," she explains with a shrug.

"And that's it?"

Kallie lets her mouth part in surprise. "Should there be something else I don't remember?" She didn't like the accusation in his tone and Shawn's increasing jealousy was starting to irritate her.

"No," he deadpans, looking out the window above the sink. "It's just that Raul said you guys got messy but you didn't have dirt or anything on you when I came over."

Kallie clicks her tongue and scrunches up her face. "Are you kidding me?" She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms as well. "We got a little childish and were fighting with the ice cream, Shawn."

"But, you-" he begins but she inhales deeply and he cuts himself off.

"I got it in his hair, but he only got it on my arms. It was easy to wash off in the sink before you came," she scoffs.

He drops his arms and steps toward her. "Sorry, I just-"

"I know what 'you just'," she sighs in disappointment. "You can't keep getting jealous every time I hang out with him. Or Peter."

Looking at his feet, he mumbles, "I know."

"I think we should pause this," she declares quietly.

He quickly looks up to meet her eyes. "What? No! I'll stop being jealous. I'll-"

"It's not about that," she lies. She could feel things getting complicated between them and she didn't want that. "We're gonna be at the cabin all summer and there won't be time for it anyway. I don't want to ruin our last summer there with the drama if we get found out."

Nodding slowly, Shawn starts to calm down a little. "That makes sense. But, what about when we go back to university? I mean, we all still live together," he points out.

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet," she admits. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." As Kallie finishes her sentence, Peter wanders into the kitchen. "What's up?" She asks with a gentle smile, causing Shawn to look toward the door.

He shuffles shyly toward them, causing her to giggle. "It felt weird sitting out there not doing the dishes with you," he admits with a small grin.

"Then, come help me, Penguin. Shawn is terrible at rinsing," she teases. Shawn meets her eyes with a silent look of fading sadness as Peter sidles up close to her with an enormous grin at one of her many cute nicknames for him. He watches them bump shoulders and giggle before leaving with a sigh.

Later in the day, the boys help load Kallie's bags in the back of Shawn's Jeep before they start their trip to the lake. After hugging her moms and Cassie, they all head out of the house.

"Lemme guess...Kallie gets front seat as always," Raul teases, heading for the backseat.

Shawn nods with a cheeky grin, but Kallie also heads for the backseat. "Actually, I wanted to share the back with Peter..." She sneaks a glance at Shawn who has shock written on his face. He's worried that this 'pause' might be about more than she's letting on.

"Why though?" He clears his throat as Peter catches up to them after saying extended goodbyes to her family.

She shrugs while Raul is already riding shotgun. "This time we're learning sign language." Kallie then looks at Peter as she teases, "We've only got around two weeks left to become fluent."

His eyes flit between Shawn and her, picking up on the unsaid tension between them. He's quiet. But, he's not stupid. Peter lets his features melt into a smile that puts Kallie at ease.

"Sweet!" Peter jostles her by the shoulders excitedly before opening the door for her. With a small glance at Shawn, she gets in the backseat. "Wait...is the sign for 'cabin' this...or...this?" He asks to distract her from whatever is upsetting her. She chuckles as he slides in next to her practicing two gestures that look similar, but neither are anywhere close to meaning 'cabin'.

Clenching his jaw, Shawn slides into the driver's seat and pulls out of the driveway. The usually short two-hour drive to Muskoka was going to feel a lot longer without Kallie up front with him.

The first time that the Mendes' took Kallie to their beautiful cabin at Lake Muskoka was the December after she had first met the boys. Before she was allowed to go, their parents had to meet her parents. They ended up getting along so well that they invited her parents and her sister along as well.

After finally pulling up next to the cabin, Shawn flings off his seatbelt and races toward the door. "I gotta use the bathroom!"

Both of their parents chuckle. "We told you not to drink a whole hot chocolate before we even left Pickering, son," Manny reminds him playfully.

The adults work on unloading the bags, while the rest of the kids pile out of the vehicles. Kallie's eyes are immediately drawn to the lake nearby, covered in white. "Woah," she breathes out, a little intimidated by how big it is.

"You remembered your skates right?" Peter asks from a few steps behind her. She nods silently, not wanting to say that they all had to go out and buy new ones for this trip.

Before Peter can make more conversation, Karen calls out to them, "Lunchtime first! Then, you can skate all you want!"

"I'm starving!" Kallie declares with a giggle as she loops her arm through his. He's a bit surprised but he doesn't say anything as they walk quickly back into the house.

Peter is helping Kallie shed her coat just when Shawn comes back from the restroom. "Kallie, come sit next to me! I'll share my Oreos with you," he entices her.

"Oh, okay!" She says with a small glance at Peter. Shawn is so excited that he runs to the dining room without looking back to save their seats. Leaning toward Peter, she whispers conspiratorially, "You can sit on my other side if you want."

He nods happily and they join everyone else for a quick but filling lunch. Raul is the first to finish. He practically flings his dishes in the sink before issuing a challenge. "Last one on the ice is a loser!"

There's a brief second of silence before the sounds of chairs scraping on wood and dishes clanging overlap. Each one hurries to put their dishes in the sink and get their winter gear back on. Shawn is second out the door not long after Raul, both carrying their hockey skates by the laces.

Cassie and Kallie are neck in neck as they fly through the door in their many layers with brand new ice skates in their mittened hands. They get to the edge of the lake and make quick work of changing their footwear. Cassie throws herself onto the ice in third place, not even caring that she has no idea how to work the skates.

When Kallie knots her last lace, she stands up and puts her mittens back on to dust off the snow on her jeans. She hesitates at the edge, uncertain of how to get started. Her right blade almost touches the ice when she hears the door close in the distance. She looks back to realize that Peter wasn't racing with everyone else.

He takes his time to make his way to the lake while the grownups file out of the cabin behind him. They go about getting the fire pit going so they would all have somewhere to warm up in between activities.

Peter has a bag slung over his shoulder that looks a lot like the one he keeps his drawing stuff in. Kallie was going to wait for him to catch up, but Shawn skids to a stop mere inches from her.

"Let's go, Kal!" He urges and takes her hand to pull her onto the ice. "Once you get going, it'll feel easy!" She tries to protest as he pulls her further onto the ice, too far away from the bank to leap to safety.

Her skates glide along easily as Shawn skates backward, pulling her by the hands. She looks up to see Raul skating in a figure eight, while her older sister seems to be catching on fast. Raul breaks his formation to speed past and bump Shawn's shoulder.

"Hey! I'm gonna get you for that!" Without thinking, he lets go of Kallie's hands to chase after Raul.

She automatically bends over slightly to gain some kind of balance, arms outstretched in front of her in case she falls. Slowly, she pushes off one foot to slide a little faster. An excited giggle escapes her as she continues to practice this in a safe little circle.

Deciding that she's got the basics down, she stands up straight. Her arms stay poised to catch her if something bad happens but she manages to skate in a wider circle. She picks up speed and feels the cold wind whip at her face.

A little further ahead, she sees that her path is going to cross with Shawn and Raul's. The two of them were done with tag and were now racing in a circle. This makes Kallie realize very urgently that no one taught her how to stop.

Panicking, she tries to veer to the left. The tip of her skate catches a chip in the ice and sends her sprawling toward the bank of the lake. She sits up with a hiss, clutching the knee that took most of the impact.

"Kalliope!" She turns toward the sound of her name and finds Peter gliding toward her from the bank. She watches the way he tips his foot upward to use the back of his blade as a brake. He squats down beside her and looks at her knee. "Are you okay?"

She purses her lips and looks away, embarrassed about the crash and burn. "Yeah, it's just scraped," she mumbles, noticing his drawing materials scattered around his bag as if he dropped them in a hurry.

"Then, let's go again," he replies simply and stands up while holding out his hands for her. Kallie turns her head sharply toward him. "I promise I won't let go of you until you want me to."

His reassuring but crooked smile made all of her embarrassment go away. He doesn't care that she's bad at skating. It also made her happy that he would stop doing his favorite thing to teach her how to skate. So, she grabs his hands and lets him help her up.

Peter begins explaining all the "do's and dont's" of skating on lake ice. Apparently, it's different from skating rink ice. He tells her a fun fact about penguins and she laughs, bringing Shawn's attention back to her once again.

He skates over quickly and takes her hand that's not clutching Peter's forearm. "I can teach her from here! You probably want to go back to drawing anyway," he dismisses Peter.

"I don't wanna slow you down," she offers. "You play with Raul while I learn the ropes and tomorrow you can teach me hockey!" He looks at her skeptically, glancing to Peter on the other side of her who is pretending to be very interested in his skates. "Promise."

He nods. "Okay, if you're sure..." Kallie smiles in return and Shawn can't help but smile back. "Be careful, okay?"

"Always, duh," she teases before turning back to Peter. Shawn hears the conversation fade as Peter leads her around the lake. "So, penguins really build nests out of rocks?" She laughs.

He nods with a chuckle before spending the better part of two hours patiently teaching her how to skate. Once he's sure she's got it, he lets go and watches her glide ahead of him. She's so enraptured in skating that it takes a minute to realize he's not holding her hand.

Kallie immediately digs her heel into the ice and turns back. "Hey!" She crosses her arms with a pout as he skates up to her.

"What?" He laughs, "you were doing amazing!"

Her lip quivers the slightest bit and she avoids looking directly at him. "You promised you wouldn't let go," she murmurs.

"Kalliope," Peter breathes out her full name guiltily, "I'm really sorry. You were just doing so good and that's how mom and dad taught us how to ride bikes...so I figured..." he trails off with a shrug.

She sniffles and he's unsure if it's because she's sad or because of the cold. "Don't do it again," she pleads before carefully unfolding her arms to her sides.

"Promise," he instinctually replies. She raises her eyebrows at him. "For real this time." Peter grins and takes her hand tightly in his. Kallie can't help but smile as he pulls her along the edge of the lake.

"Moms! Look! I'm doing it!" She yells in excitement at her mothers. They both get up and quickly make their way to the edge of the lake with their cameras.

Proud looks cross their faces as they capture the two of them skating close together, hands tightly clutching each other. Manny and Karen come up behind them and share a knowing adult look. Cassie skates over to get in the pictures before Raul and Shawn join. Soon there's a picture of the five of them all wrapped around each other that they have framed and hanging on the living room wall of the cabin.

Kallie runs her fingers along the wooden frame of that picture in the living room, in the exact space on the wall that it's been hanging for about twelve years. She grins momentarily, the nostalgia quickly fading to sadness as the reality of it all hits her. This is probably the last summer they're gonna spend together here.

As the door creaks open and the boys clatter inside with arms full of bags and laughing, she shakes herself out of the sad mood. "I could've helped carry my stuff in, ya know!" She chuckles and moves to close the door behind them.

"That is absolutely not happening on our watch!" Shawn spouts nonsense while he struggles to keep a grip on her duffles.

She nods empathetically before taking them out of his hands with zero effort. "Seems like you need to hit the gym, Mendes," she digs at him as he automatically stands up straighter without the extra weight of her bags.

Kallie makes her way upstairs toward the bedrooms while the boys stare after her. "How is she doing that?" Shawn muses out loud and with a little envy.

"When did she get more ripped than you, bro?" Raul teases to Shawn's chagrin.

Peter interrupts as he walks backward toward the stairs. "She's always been able to carry her weight. You two have just always been too busy staring at her ass to notice." With a smirk, he spins around and jogs up the stairs, bags slung over his shoulders.

"Okay..." Shawn stretches out the word. "But, when did the runt start lifting like that?" Raul laughs out loud while he jostles Shawn's shoulders and shoves him toward the stairs.

When they were younger, the boys would share one room, the girls another, and both sets of parents had one to themselves. Since they're here by themselves, each could have their own for the whole summer. Kallie stands in the hallway debating which one to take as the boys catch up to her.

"What are you doing?" Raul questions with a chuckle. "Unpack so we can hit the lake before dark!"

She looks between the four doors and then the three boys. "Who's staying in what room, though?"

"Well, which one do you want?" Peter asks her and she quirks her brows together.

"Whichever one is left after you guys pick." She says it so simply. Like it's the most obvious thing in the world. The boys loved that about her. She always made sure they were taken care of.

"Dibs on mom and dad's old room, then!" Raul shouts before taking off toward the end of the hall.

"No fair!" Shawn shouts after him.

"I'm the oldest! Of course, it's fair!" He calls back.

Peter chimes in with a laugh. "Technically, Kallie is the oldest! But, whatever!" He shrugs.

"Guess I'll take our old room," Shawn sighs, unhappy with being cheated out of the master bedroom.

As he wanders back in the direction of the stairs, Peter touches Kallie's elbow gently. "You okay?" She'd gone quiet since looking at the door to the girls' old room.

"Mhm," she takes a deep breath and zones back in on Peter's concerned look, "promise." She forces a small smile.

"You can have the room your moms used," he offers kindly. "I don't mind staying in the smallest one."

When she glances back at the door, she can't bring herself to disagree. "Thank you..." she says quietly. He nods in understanding. "I haven't been able to go in there since..."

"I know." He takes her hand and squeezes it before going to settle into his room. She stands there for a second more before heading to her moms' old room and unpacking briefly.

That room holds a lot of memories for her. For all of them really. Not all of them good ones, though. She finds her favorite swimsuit and throws it on before putting her hair in a single braid. Meeting the boys out front, she doesn't fail to notice how all of their gazes linger on the dips and curves of her body. She shakes it off and heads to the water with them in tow.

Later that night after everyone's showered and dinner was long over, she sits on the bed in her room scrolling through Pinterest for new recipes to try. A knock draws her attention to the doorway where Raul leans against it.

"Hey," she sets her phone in her lap, "need something?"

He shrugs, almost stepping into the room but hesitating. "Just wanted to make sure you're doing okay," he confesses. Kallie takes a deep breath. "We haven't been back here since senior year..."

"Yeah, I know," she deadpans and looks toward the window. She closes her eyes and sighs. "Sorry. Thank you, I'm fine."

This time, he doesn't hesitate to enter and sit at the edge of her bed. "You don't have to apologize. It's okay to not be fine." He sets his ringed hand atop her knee over the blanket.

"I know," Kallie pauses, "I know that." She sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than him. "It just feels wrong to not be fine, ya know?" She shrugs and plays with the yarn of the blanket.

He chuckles lightly. "It's also okay to be fine." She glances at him before he continues. "I know you miss her. But, you can miss her and move on. Lin wouldn't want you to be sad forever. That's not who she was," he comforts her.

"I don't wanna move on, Raul," she whimpers finally and reaches her arms out to him. He instantly brings his arms around her waist and squeezes her tight.

"That was a poor choice of words on my part," he admits into her hair. "I meant..." he pauses, struggling for the right thing to say as he rubs her back soothingly.

Kallie rubs her nose along his neck and he stills. "I know what you meant." She sniffles and pulls back from him, wiping at her wet eyes. "Thank you."

"I'm just down the hall if you need anything," he promises as he gets up. She smiles softly at him as he leans in and kisses her forehead. Sighing at the soft gesture, her eyes close in response. "Night, Kit Kat."

She fights a grin. "Night, Playboy."

Kallie lays back on her pillows as Raul leaves. She's about to turn out the lights when Shawn walks by toward his room. "Hey," she calls softly. He freezes and backtracks a few steps to be in the open doorway.

"Hey, Kal," he replies while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. Her eyes flick to his chest and his lack of a shirt before reeling in her thoughts. "Everything okay?"

He heads into her room and closes the door behind him by habit. Her eyes widen and he realizes what he did. Shawn turns back to open it but she stops him. "It's okay, you can leave it closed," she chuckles.

"Right..." He makes his way over to her and sits gingerly on the bed. For a minute, they just sit in silence. It stretches on awkwardly since they haven't really talked since she asked for a 'pause' on their pact. "I'm really sor-"

"I just wanted to-" They both pause after talking over each other and giggle. "You go." She nudges his hand with hers, leaving it close by but not touching.

He nods. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for how I acted this morning," he begins timidly. "It was wrong of me to accuse you of anything and to not trust you."

"It's okay," Kallie responds automatically even though Shawn shakes his head. "No, it really is. I get the whole sibling jealousy thing. It's not as intense with my sister but I get it," she chuckles and he cracks a grin. "You're all my best friends and I don't want to cause trouble between you three..."

Shawn sighs. "Is that why you paused us?" He questions. Slowly, she nods and he closes his eyes to compose himself. "Thank god," he breathes out. When he opens his eyes, she has a confused look on her face. "I'm relieved that it's not because of me or something," he laughs.

"No!" She laughs too. "I guess I just wanted to cut it off before any complications started messing with our Musketeer dynamic." His eyebrows scrunch together, wondering what she meant by that. "Never mind," she scoffs, changing the subject, "I'm glad we cleared this up though, eh?"

He blinks a couple of times, his mind trying to find what exactly has been 'cleared up.' "So, this means..." Shawn stalls, hopefully sending the message for her to finish the sentence.

She giggles and finishes it, "That once we go back to Toronto...we can unpause." His lips pull into an elated grin, causing her cheeks to blush for no reason. "We're all gonna be really busy, but if our schedules allow...then, yes. We can unpause," she informs him.

"Yes!" He cheers before catching himself and regaining composure. Clearing his throat, he responds, "I mean, thank you. I would very much like that. And I promise to keep my jealousy in check from now on."

Kallie nods like it's an appropriate response. "As you should," she giggles.

"I'm gonna leave before you change your mind," he declares. Before he does, Shawn leans in and places his lips on hers briefly but passionately. He pulls back with a knowing look. "Just to leave you wanting more until the next time, eh," he teases as he practically sprints to the door.

She throws a pillow at him and misses. "Goodnight, you heathen!" He rolls his eyes and disappears down the hall.

After a moment, Kallie turns out her light and closes her eyes to go to sleep. She tosses and turns for a while before throwing the blankets off of her in frustration. She grabs her phone and unplugs her charger from the wall before creeping down the hallway.

Quietly, she raps her knuckles on the bedroom door a few times. A few seconds pass and she hears him call out in a whisper-yell, "It's open!" She carefully opens the door, trying not to make it creak, and peeks her head in.

"Hi." She hesitates in the doorway, looking around and then at her feet. Taking a deep breath, she tip-toes in, closing the door behind her with a light 'click.'

Peter turns his book over and lays it open in his lap when he realizes she just walked into the room she hasn't step foot in in almost four years. "Hey, Kalliope." She smiles softly as her full name leaves his lips. Kallie doesn't know why, but he's always called her by her full name. And he's the only one who does.

"I forgot to bring Copper," she admits, dragging her feet as she walks toward the bed. Silently, he flips the blankets over so she can crawl in next to him. He knows she can never sleep without her stuffed fox. The only way she can is if she can cuddle someone in his place.

Kallie quickly tosses him her charger to plug in. Then with a childlike grin, she crawls over him to settle in under the blankets. Peter looks away as the T-shirt that she's wearing lifts up, exposing her underwear slightly. He didn't want to, but he notices that they were men's boxer briefs and he has to stifle a laugh. Kallie always prefers comfort over anything else, gender norms be damned.

She's about to cuddle into his side when she realizes that he's shirtless. Swallowing slightly, she tries not to rake her eyes over his smooth chest and the way his butterfly tattoo accentuates his bicep. You wouldn't know it when he's wearing his sweaters, but Peter stays fit.

"I can put on a shirt if it'd make you more comfortable." He snaps her out of her daze when he notices her staring.

Kallie quickly makes her eyes meet his warm caramel ones. "No, you don't have to do that," she breathes out, "I was honestly just thinking about the last time I saw you shirtless."

"Oh..." A blush crawls along his neck and up to his cheeks. "It's been a minute, eh?" He chuckles. She tips her head to the side and pulls up one shoulder in a shrug with a giggle.

With a comfortable atmosphere, she scoots closer and he lifts his arm to make more room. Kallie leans up and kisses him on his cheek, lingering a second longer than usual. He breathes in deeply, notes of cherry blossom drifting from her hair. When she pulls back she looks at him for a second before laying her head down on his chest.

He makes sure she's comfortable before pulling the blankets back up and positioning his book so that he can hold it with one hand. His other gently caresses her side and rubs circles into her back. Peter begins to read out loud even though Kallie doesn't know what the book is about. Truthfully, she never cares. She likes him reading out loud to her because of the sound of his voice mixing with his heartbeat under her ear.

Occasionally, he lifts his hand up to play with her hair or run his fingers along her scalp. She hums contently and cuddles closer when he does. He finishes his chapter and sets the book on the nightstand before turning out the light. He wraps both arms around her and settles into the pillows.

His hand finds hers in the darkness laces their fingers together. Carefully, he brings her knuckles to his lips and lets them linger there. When he's finished, he rubs her knuckles with his thumb. "Goodnight, Kalliope," he whispers, assuming she's asleep.

Kallie's head nuzzles his chest and he feels her lips brush the skin of his collarbone before pressing in for a long moment. She angles her head up to his ear and whispers back, "Goodnight, Peppermint."

Tag List: @marissje @mariamuses

23 notes · View notes

cynicallystiles · 4 years ago

Text

Seasons of Love: The One with Prom Night

Disclaimer: Moodboard made by me. Pictures found on Google!

Author: @cynicallystiles

Request: @itrocksmysocks basically requested this by making me obsessed with the triplets a year ago.

Warning: Swearing maybe.

Notes: The long awaited series is here! The whole thing still isn’t finished ahead of time like I wanted. So, we’ll see if I actually stay on schedule with this one. Credit to @thotmendes for imagining the triplets into existence about a year ago! Thanks for your patience! Please COMMENT/REBLOG if you enjoy it!

Pairing: Kallie Hayes (OC) x Mendes Triplets

Masterlist Series Masterlist

Chapter One Chapter Three

Words: ~3.6k

She cheers as she pumps her fist in delight. "Yess!" He chuckles while she jumps to her feet and does a cute little dance. "Can we go now??"

"After dinner." He watches her push out her bottom lip and sit down next to him again. "Kallie," he groans slightly. "Mom's almost done with dinner. It'd be rude to skip," he reminds her.

She sighs, scooting in and laying her head on his shoulder to watch the sunset. "You're right," she concedes. "But, right after?" She tilts her head slightly to look up at him.

"Right after," he promises. She goes back to looking at the multitude of colors in the sky, while he rests his head on hers. He loved being the one that she counted on for comfort. It was something that had started on the night of their prom during their last year in high school.

Raul sat on the couch in his living room the night of their last prom of high school. He swirled the thumbsticks of his controller vigorously to complete a challenge while his brothers were in their rooms getting ready.

Prom was in about two hours and despite their and Kallie's begging, he had decided he wasn't going. He didn't have a date (not for lack of girls asking), and he didn't like dressing up anyway. It wasn't his scene and nothing was gonna change his mind.

Peter and Shawn enter the living room in varying degrees of being dressed for the prom. Raul barely looks at them as he continues with his game. "Are you sure you don't wanna come?" Peter questions.

"It's gonna be our last big thing together before graduating," Shawn reminds him. All he does is roll his eyes with a sigh.

Shaking his head, the only thing that sounds in the living room for a moment is the clicking of his controller and the low level of the game on the television. That is until a pounding sounds on the door. The two boys not preoccupied with the game look toward the front of the house.

"Who's that?" Shawn questions.

Peter just shrugs as he takes a step toward the door. "Your fly is still open," Raul points out without looking. Peter looks down and frantically zips it when they hear the door open and rapid footsteps head toward them.

Kallie appears in the entryway, hair already done professionally by the salon she loves but no makeup covering her ivory features. She's breathing heavily and for a moment, Shawn thinks it's because she sprinted from her house down the street.

But then he sees the light glint off of her wet cheeks and notices her red nose and the puffiness forming around her eyes. He rushes over as she fully enters the room and takes her by her shoulders to look over her.

"What happened?? Are you okay?" His eyes don't see anything physically wrong, which is a relief. But, that still begged the question of why she was in such a state.

She sniffles loudly and opens her mouth to explain. "Eli...he, uh," she tries to get through it but she hiccups and her face scrunches up in sadness. "He texted..." a whimper falls from her lips and she can't even finish.

At this point, Raul has paused his game and is turned on the couch to observe the situation. Peter is standing in stunned silence by the other entrance to the room. Shawn carefully takes the phone clutched tightly in her hand to scroll through the messages from her boyfriend.

His eyebrows furrow together and he clenches his jaw. Make that her ex-boyfriend. Without a word, he pulls her into him and carefully lays his hand on the back of her head as not to mess up the stylist's work. He doesn't even care that he's wearing pants without a belt and his shirt isn't buttoned at all.

"I'm gonna kill him," he promises through clenched teeth. No one hurts his best friend and gets away with it. He feels her shake her head as she pulls away.

"No," she murmurs, the tears finally settling down. "I kind of felt this coming...I just didn't expect him to do it on prom night." She sniffles and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. "I don't know if I can go alone and see him with her..."

Shawn shakes his head. "Of course, not. I'm gonna be your date now," he offers.

"Shawn," she sighs. "I'm not letting you ditch your date to take me." Peter steps forward and opens his mouth. "No. Nuhhuh!" She warns as she looks between the two. "Neither of you are dumping your dates for me. I can suck it up for one night."

Shawn and Peter frown. Neither of them thinks that she should have to go alone. How dare he ruin her months of planning to go with another girl. Their thoughts are interrupted by a serious tone, "No, you won't."

The three of them turn at the same time to see Raul standing up and the television has already been turned off. She sniffles again, brows scrunched in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he sighs, walking over to them. Peter silently does the same. "You're not going to prom alone. I'm gonna take you," he declares.

Peter snorts but quickly tries to cover it up and Shawn starts to laugh. Kallie just stares at him incredulously. "Wha-but you hate this stuff," she points out.

"I don't hate you." He arches one eyebrow and looks away as if that explained everything. She gapes at him for a long moment. "What color is your dress?"

Kallie stutters out, "It's, uh...it's lilac purple. Why?"

"Don't worry about it," Raul instructs and shoves his hands into his sweatpants. "Go home, finish getting ready...I'll be over to pick you up in an hour and a half."

Exchanging bewildered glances with Peter and Shawn, Kallie does as she's told and finishes getting ready at her house. She sits on the couch anxiously after finishing up. Not five minutes later, there's a knock at the door.

She quickly answers it to find Raul a couple of steps back with his head down. Hearing the door, he lifts his eyes from Kallie's feet to her face. His eyes twinkle a tiny bit seeing her all dolled up.

Kallie notes how odd it is that his tie and pocket square match her dress so nicely this last minute. He pulls his hand from behind his back to produce a plastic box with a tastefully sized corsage and boutonnière made of actual lilacs.

She raises her eyebrows. The surprises just kept coming apparently. "Shawn and Peter are picking up their dates. They'll meet us there," Raul clues her in and moves to put the corsage on her left wrist.

Fastening his flower on the lapel of his black jacket, she whispers, "I'm not even gonna ask how you pulled this together so quickly." A slight amusement tinges her voice and a smirk pulls at his lips. "But, thank you..."

"Any time," he responds. She looks up from the lapel. Her green eyes pop against the black of her mascara and the light purple shimmer across her lids. His breath catches slightly before he clears his throat and offers his elbow. "Shall we?"

"We shall," she giggles in return.

Raul was the perfect date the whole night. From pulling out her chair for her to refilling their drinks. Despite all the single girls clamoring for his attention (his bad-boy exterior had every girl crushing hard), he stayed glued to Kallie's side.

And when she sat watching Eli, her ex, dance with the girl he left her for, Raul made sure to take her out to the floor to dance. He made a fool of himself with his long limbs and no idea how to use them. But, it brightened her mood and so he didn't care.

He even slow danced with her, making sure that Eli was looking in her direction when he spun her under his arm producing her beautiful giggle. It was magical. After the king and queen were crowned, he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Wanna get out of here?"

Kallie nods immediately. Despite having spent ages planning and looking forward to this night, she wanted nothing more than to go do something else with Raul. He laces his fingers with hers and leads her out to his car where he holds open her door.

They find themselves at a local park, walking the concrete running path with absurdly large waffle cones clutched in their hands. She had traded her heels for silver sandals she had packed in case her feet started to hurt. His tie was abandoned in the car, leaving his shirt unbuttoned slightly.

The silence between them was comfortable. It always had been since they started hanging out. He wasn't really much of a talker, and with her, he didn't really need to be. She found comfort in the silence that filled the air between them and she liked that he wasn't one for shallow conversations.

After finishing their cones, they wander across the grass to sit side by side on the swing set. She lets the tip of her toes slowly rock her back and forth. Raul grips the chains of the swing, allowing him to lean back into the open air lazily.

Kallie flips a curl out of her eye as she turns in the swing to face him. "Hey," she says softly.

"Yeah?" He leans back up and shifts to look at her.

She smiles to herself and meets his soft hazel eyes that look more brown in the dark. "Thank you...for being my date tonight." He chuckles slightly and rolls his eyes. "No, I'm serious," she laughs. He returns his gaze to hers while she continues. "You didn't have to save me from embarrassment and you did."

"I didn't," he argues casually. Kallie's eyebrows twitch together briefly. "You were never gonna be an embarrassment, Kallie. Date or no date, you were the prettiest girl there."

A furious blush rises to her cheeks. "Thanks." She smiles despite feeling suddenly nervous under his gaze. Her body shivers and she inhales slightly.

"You're cold," Raul realizes and moves quickly to take off his suit jacket.

"No, I'm fine-" she tries to argue but he's already settling his jacket on her shoulders. Kallie watches how his brows knit together while he makes sure the jacket is securely resting around her. Her eyes flit to his hands where they linger as he plays with one of her curls.

When she looks back up at him, the distance between them is less. Raul looks back up from his hand to her eyes with a soft smile. For the first time since she's known him, Kallie notices how innocent he looks. Normally, he's a bad boy. A player. Innocent wasn't in his vocabulary.

But at that moment, she remembers that he has the same face as her other best friends. The same one as Shawn, who cries while watching romantic dramas with her, and the same one as Peter, who doesn't have an insincere bone in his body. And she wonders how she never saw it.

"It's all fake isn't it?" She blurts out.

He tilts his head curiously. "I don't know what-"

"Your reputation," Kallie interrupts. "You're not a player at all..."

Raul chuckles and hangs his head for a moment. He looks back up and all of his aloofness is gone. "You figured me out."

"Sorry, I didn't sooner," she whispers, her gaze flicking to the playful smirk on his lips. He shakes his head slightly, his smile growing.

Licking his lips, he leans closer. Her breathing gets shallow and her eyelids flutter closed. Raul's lips brush against hers sending a shockwave of goosebumps over her. With a slight jitter, he slides his hand to the back of her neck and pushes his lips forward.

It's a soft kiss. He doesn't kiss too fast, or too much. Just his plush lips against hers for a few long moments. Raul doesn't want to pressure her or make her uncomfortable. It was sweet. When he pulls back, he nudges his nose against hers and swipes his thumb along her cheek quickly.

She lets out a tiny, content breath and opens her eyes. Before she can say anything, a buzzing sound startles her. Kallie clutches her chest and giggles while Raul reaches carefully into an inside pocket of his jacket.

"Yeah?" He deadpans when he puts the phone to his ear.

"Yeah? Man, where did you guys go?! You've been gone for like an hour!"

Kallie chuckles when she hears the boys on the other side of the line. He rolls his eyes and responds, "We left. Whole thing was getting lame."

She watches carefully at how easily he puts on the disinterested tone. It really marveled her to watch him play the part. As she tunes back into the conversation, she hears the end of it.

"Yeah, we'll meet you at home. Drop your dates off at home...this is for Musketeers only." With that, he hangs up and looks at Kallie with a wink. "Let's go."

He grabs her hand and stands up to lead her back to the car. When they meet back up with Shawn and Peter, the two automatically act like nothing had happened. But both of them never forgot about it.

It was an innocent kiss. One that was a result of being caught up in the moment. Kallie didn't know why he had kissed her that night, or even why she kissed him back. But, she never brought it up. So, neither did he.

The two of them head back into the house and settle in at the table for dinner. Neither of them notices the slightly curious looks from Shawn and Peter. Or if they do, they ignore them. Dinner is yummy as usual, but a little less energetic than it would have been if not for the sale of the cabin.

Kallie and Peter help Karen clear the table and load the dishwasher before heading back into the living room. Shawn and Raul have already immersed themselves in a video game round and they're equally matched. She clears her throat loudly from behind the couch.

Shawn answers before Raul can, "One sec, Kal. I've almost got him, then we can chill."

"Sure, you do," Raul chuckles as he promptly wins the round and sets the controller on the coffee table in front of them. "I promised her ice cream after dinner," he explains as he stands up.

Peter plops down in his seat and picks up the controller to play with Shawn, but he sets his down as well. "Oh, sweet. Let me get my jacket and we can all get some," he says happily unaware as he heads toward the stairs.

"Actually," Kallie calls after him with an apologetic look, "this is kind of just me and Raul's thing. Like a tradition..." Her voice is soft as she lets him down gently. It was never easy for her to exclude any of the boys from her activities with the others. But, they all had their separate things with her. It was only fair.

Peter sinks lower into the couch, the awkwardness from the exclusion making him uncomfortable. "Right..." Shawn concedes slowly.

It stung a little considering this was the first time she was admitting to having a 'special' thing to do with him. He was okay when it was with Peter because he didn't feel threatened by him anymore. But, with Raul it's different. He's always had the jealousy bug when it comes to him and he could never quite shake it.

Seeing the disappointed look, she crosses the room and pulls him into a hug by his neck. He returns it gratefully while sneaking a glare in Raul's direction. He just rolls his eyes at the envy. "Stop that," she whispers, knowing what he thinks he's getting away with. "I'll text you after he drops me off," she promises.

"Okay." He grins into her shoulder at that comment, knowing that he'll be the last one she sees tonight.

After releasing Shawn, she heads over to the couch and leans down to kiss Peter on the cheek. He returns the gesture softly like he always does. "See you at breakfast," he says quietly with a smile. Peter never seemed to care that she split her time with all three of them. He was just happy that she enjoyed the time they spent together as much as he did.

"Not if I see you first, Picasso," she responds playfully with a wink.

Raul grabs the helmets for his motorcycle and leads her outside. She gives one last tiny wave before closing the door. Shawn immediately sits back down to resume the game with Peter. As the two click away on their controllers, Shawn breaks the silence.

"You have to tell me that you're at least bothered by her getting on that death trap with him," he laments exasperatedly.

Peter shrugs one shoulder. "Yes! Of course, it bothers me," he sighs. "But, I have to trust that even though he's reckless...he would never be reckless with her."

"...you're right. That helps," Shawn breathes out, a little calm washing over him at Peter's wise words. Though he said the words out loud, and also had her promise, there was still a little weight in his chest that wouldn't go away until the next time he sees her.

Later that night, Shawn paces around his room with occasional glances out his window to see if Raul was home. It was just before midnight and they had already been out for hours. There was no way that they had only gone out for ice cream. They had to be doing something else.

The rest of the house is asleep when the sound of Raul's motorcycle cut through Shawn's anxious thoughts. He quickly scrambles to turn off his desk lamp so it doesn't seem like he was waiting up. Though, he peeks through his blinds to watch him walk up the driveway to the porch.

Once he was out of sight, Shawn jumps into bed and pretends to be asleep as he hears Raul try to creep past his door to his own room. He was terrible at being stealthy. Shawn waits for the opening and close of Raul's door before sitting up in bed.

He glances at his phone, counting backward, "Three...two...one..." Like clockwork, Kallie's name flashes across his screen and he grabs it on his way out the door. He didn't need to read it, it always said the same thing.

He creeps downstairs, much better than Raul ever could, and quietly leaves out the front door. He pauses under the roof of the porch to throw his hood up and then takes off at a sprint down the street. Shawn hasn't even broken a sweat by the time he reaches her backyard.

Shawn sends a short text as he looks up at her window and waits. The lamp next to the window turns on and it quietly shifts open. Kallie leans out over the sill to beam down at him. "You're getting slower, Mendes," she teases.

"As if, Hayes," he scoffs. "Send it down," he demands impatiently.

She rolls her eyes and disappears from the window before a rope ladder unfolds down the side of the house. He begins to climb the homemade contraption, quickly but carefully. They had to get innovative after Shawn almost broke the trellis he used to climb and they almost got caught.

After carefully maneuvering through the window, Shawn helps her tuck the ladder back under her bed for now. He kicks off his shoes and takes off his jacket as she closes the window and her blinds before turning back to him. She leans against it coyly with her legs crossed.

Shawn can't help the way his eyes trail up the smooth skin of her legs to her pajama shorts. Kallie notices and raises a brow at him. "Stare much?" She chuckles as she stands and walks toward him.

"Well," he begins, his cheeks slightly red. He meets her in the middle of the room at the foot of her bed. "I can't really help it," he laughs.

She looks up at him, the foot of height difference stretching between them. "Is that right?" She smirks. He shrugs, returning the same look. Slowly, she grabs the hem of her shirt and twists it over her head. Nothing underneath but bare, soft skin.

Shawn chuckles, the sound coming out strangled and weak. He chews on the inside of his cheek as he smiles reluctantly. "That's not fair," he groans out.

"It isn't?" She plays innocent as she closes the space between them. He shakes his head, not hiding the flicker of his gaze to her chest. Kallie stands on her tiptoes as she rests her hands on Shawn's chest to whisper in his ear, "Then, why don't you do something about it?"

His eyes immediately gaze into hers, the lamplight making his usual dark brown eyes seem slightly golden. He grabs her suddenly by the waist, pulling her hips against his. She lets out a surprised gasp as her hands slide to his biceps. "I will," he almost growls.

With that, he leans down and crashes his lips into hers.

21 notes · View notes

cynicallystiles · 4 years ago

Text

Seasons of Love: The One with How They Met

Disclaimer: Moodboard made by me. Pictures found on Google!

Author: @cynicallystiles

Request: @itrocksmysocks basically requested this by making me obsessed with the triplets a year ago.

Warning: Swearing maybe.

Pairing: Kallie Hayes (OC) x Mendes Triplets

Masterlist Series Masterlist

SOL Teaser Chapter Two

Words: ~3.5k

Anais Nin once said, "Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

The first encounter Kallie had with the triplets was a memorable one. This could be because she didn't know they were triplets. She had just moved to town with her family and started her first day in the middle of October.

Kallie was just eight or nine years old, but she was nervous about starting a new school way behind the other kids. Once her parents dropped her off with the principal, she was led to a small classroom. The teacher smiled brightly as he welcomed her in.

"Hello! It's very nice to meet you..." he trailed off, expecting her to reply. Her gaze was anxiously flitting around to all the other students staring at her curiously. So, he cleared his throat.

With a slight jump, she whipped her head back to him. "Kallie, sir." She held out her little hand and gave him a firm shake. Well, as firm as an eight-year-old could give an old person with hands the size of baseball gloves.

"You're very polite! I can't wait to meet your parents," he beamed at her, not noticing the small flinch of her eye. Things don't always go nicely when her parents come to school. It's why she's always on her best behavior. "Well, I'm Mr. Flannigan."

He stood up straight and turned toward the class with a smile that was bright against his tan skin. "Class...this is Kalliope Hayes." So, he already knew her full name before she came into the room?

There was a pause as the students ceremoniously said, "Hi, Kalliope!"

Mr. Flannigan nodded as if the response was what he wanted. "Kalliope, why don't you tell us three fun things about yourself, and then we'll go into the lesson plan for today?"

Funny. He phrased it as if it were a question. But, when adults ask questions like that, they're more likely strong suggestions. So, she took one step forward and cleared her throat.

"Hi," she squeaked out. "My full name is Kalliope but I like Kallie better. Three things about me are..." She stalled a moment, forgetting every single fun thing about her. "Uh...I like bike riding...I'm really good at holding my breath!...and...I've never ice skated?"

Her green eyes look up to the teacher for approval as everyone claps politely. He's about to point to her seat when a small voice cuts him off. "How long??"

"Huh?" She asks as she scans the other kids for the voice.

The boy in the last row, second from her right and wearing a forest green hoodie peers past the rest of the students. "You said you're really good at holding your breath! How long?"

"Um, like, thirty-five seconds? I think," she responds uncertainly. It's been a while since the last time she had her sister time her. His brown eyes stare at her for a moment longer.

Then, he nods. "Nice." He grins at her in approval. She smiles a little wider in response and Mr. Flannigan tells her to take the only open seat left.

She walks toward the back, finding the open seat next to the kid who had questioned her breath-holding skills. As Mr. Flannigan starts the lesson plan, the boy leans over and offers his hand.

"I'm Shawn!" The eagerness of his voice makes her relax. Maybe she just made her first friend here. She takes his hand and shakes it a little. "Let's make up a secret handshake later at recess, okay?" She nods enthusiastically before they turn forward in their seats to pay attention.

Later at recess, Shawn and Kallie are standing under one of the shady trees on the playground, mixing an unnecessary amount of steps to their secret friendship handshake.

"Hey, Shawn! Come play tag!" Some other kids begin to call him to play games with them.

He looks over at Kallie. "Wanna come play?"

"No, thanks," she shakes her head causing her light brown hair to rustle in the wind, "I don't really like tag." He shrugs and squints at her a little, but accepts her answer before running off to join the game.

She decides to take a stroll along the fence to see if she could find some cool rocks to take home for the new garden her parents were gonna plant. As she does, she sees a boy crouched down with his hands cupped around something. He's wearing a jean jacket over his white T-shirt.

As she approaches, she calls out excitedly, "Watchya got in your hand?" The boy startles, his hands opening to let a frog jump out. He hurriedly reaches out and catches it again as Kallie takes a step back. She notes how carefully he cups his hand around it.

"A frog," he says plainly and he sounds slightly similar to...who does he sound like?

Her face contorts in minor disgust. "Why?" Is all she asks. When he turns to look at her, her eyebrows knit together in confusion. "I thought you went to play tag!"

"What?" He asks in genuine ignorance.

She looks him over and her brows come even closer together. "How did you change your clothes so fast, Shawn?"

"I'm not Shawn," he rolls his eyes with a sigh.

"What do you mean? You said your name was Shawn in class today," she reminds him.

He silently sticks his tiny closed fist through the fence to release the frog toward its home. Standing up, he wipes his hand on his jeans. "That's my brother. I'm Raul." He sticks out his frog contaminated hand.

"Oh, so you're like twins?" She swallows her squeamishness and shakes his hand quickly, then wipes it on the back of her shorts.

He shrugs. "You could say that." With that, he walks past her without another word. She turns and watches him run to another group of kids who are playing on the monkey bars.

She heads back to the tree, collapsing against its bark to enjoy the rest of recess. Her relaxing doesn't last long as something drops into her lap from above. "Ow!" She exclaims and opens her eyes to find a notebook in her lap.

"Sorry!" A voice calls out from above. She looks up quickly and finds an increasingly familiar face looking down at her.

His puppy dog eyes match his apologetic smile. Kallie sighs deeply. "Now, when did you get up there??" She was seriously starting to think she'd never woken up this morning.

"I've been here all recess!" He replies with an adorable smile. "Can you hand that back to me?" He asks, laying on his stomach to reach down.

She stands, stretching on her tiptoes to hand it back. Kallie then sees that he's wearing neither a green hoodie nor a jean jacket. Instead, he's wearing a blue, plaid button-up shirt. She frowns. "Don't tell me there's another one of you?"

"Huh?" He quirks his eyebrow for a moment. "Oh! You mean my brothers! Shawn and Raul?" She nods, but in her mind, she hopes it stops at three. Already, she could tell she'd never be able to tell them apart. "I'm Peter!"

"Why are you in a tree with a notebook?"

"It keeps me from getting hit by the dodgeballs while I'm trying to draw." He scrunches up his face like it's obvious. "Duh," he adds on.

The apparent obviousness of the statement makes her giggle. "What are you drawing?" She asks curiously.

He pauses for a long moment, sizing her up. Then, an adorable grin spreads across his lips. "Climb up here, and I'll show you," he half-invites, half-challenges her.

"Okay!" Without hesitation, she rolls the sleeves up on her Princess Belle shirt and scales the tree with only minimal effort.

Peter watches her settle in on the branch next to him in awe. "That was really fast!"

"Thanks!" She beams at him. "My sister can't climb so when she chases me with gross stuff I had to find somewhere to hide," she informs him happily.

He laughs and scoots next to her as he opens his notebook across both of their laps. Slowly, he flips through the pages to show her the different drawings. "These are really good!" She compliments him.

"Really?" He asks shyly. Kallie nods vigorously and continues to marvel at the sketches. Peter smiles and watches her admire his work for a few minutes more.

But, they're not alone for much longer. "Kallie? Where'd you go?" She looks over the notebook below them. Shawn is looking around the base of the tree.

"Up here!" She giggles. His head turns toward the sound of her voice. "Peter was showing me some drawings!"

Shawn covers the urge to frown with a bright smile. "Come down! We gotta finish our super-secret handshake before recess is over," he reminds her.

"One second!" She calls down and turns to Peter. "I gotta go. Thanks for letting me see your notebook!" Then, she carefully climbs down the tree.

Once she hops onto the ground, Shawn slings an arm around her shoulders as he leads her away. "Our handshake is gonna be so awesome! And it'll be just for us! You know what else? You can come with me and my family to our lake house to ice skate in the winter since you've never been!" He chatters happily as he leads her further away from Peter.

From that day on, the two of them were inseparable. That day was the first time the boys had gotten jealous or competitive over Kallie. But, it wasn't the last.

It was disorienting at first, never knowing who was who. Except for Shawn, of course. Kallie could always tell which one was Shawn because out of the three, those two were the ones joined at the hip. Not to say that she didn't grow close with the rest of the boys. Just that Shawn was who she was close with first.

Throughout the years, they were like the Four Musketeers. Getting into all kinds of trouble and mischief. They enjoyed the best of their times throughout the year at the Mendes' cabin in the Muskoka Lake District. Since the very first year they became friends, their parents were kind enough to bring her along on all of their little trips.

Occasionally, her parents and sister came along. Which was nice because a majority of the other parents didn't take kindly to hers. She loved that they were so kind and included them in their trips. That cabin became like a lifeline to them as the years wore on.

They shared every holiday, celebrated every event, and recovered from unexpected hard times at that cabin. Christmas time? They went to the cabin. Someone's birthday? The cabin was there. The worst time of their lives? The cabin saw that too.

The four of them could never imagine not having that cabin, or each other to get through life. Which is why it hurt all the more when they got the news. After graduating high school, the four of them went on to university. Together.

While they all had different majors, it was hard to find time for each other at first. So, they made it a rule to have dinner every Saturday night at one of their dorms. Rotating between them as hosts to the gathering. Which became easier when they all moved in together after the first two years of having to live in the dorms. They were now coming off of their third year of university with one left to go.

As the four of them piled into Shawn's Jeep for the trip home with their bags stuffed in the back, excitement floated through the air to finally be able to relax for a time before heading back to Toronto for the most important year of schoolwork.

"Shotgun!" Kallie, Peter, and Raul call at the same time as they race toward the front seat.

The three slam into the side of the vehicle with laughter. Looking to Shawn to be the referee, he rolls his eyes. "Kallie got there first," he chuckles.

"C'mon!" Peter groans.

"You always let her have it," Raul mumbles as he slides into the backseat.

"My Jeep, my rules," Shawn shrugs and buckles into the driver's seat with a chuckle.

Kallie happily hops into the front seat, smiling at Shawn before turning to grab her seatbelt. "Thank you!" As she buckles it, she exchanges a secret glance with Shawn and he winks at her.

"Anytime," he responds as she bites her bottom lip to contain her laugh.

With that, the four set off toward home. Well, more like toward the cabin. They were planning on stopping at their houses to see their families first and then spend the rest of the summer in Muskoka.

Half an hour later, the boys drop Kallie off at her parents' house before heading down the street to theirs. "Dinner at ours at six?" Peter confirms as she grabs her bags out of the back.

"Mhm," she replies and walks around to his window, while Raul gets out and gets in the front seat. "And then breakfast at mine at ten tomorrow?"

He nods with a grin. "We'll be here!" She mumbles a 'perfect' and leans through the window to kiss his cheek and he kisses hers at the same time, something they've gotten in the habit of doing when they part ways. Shawn shifts his grip on the steering wheel as he watches them in the mirror.

"See you tonight!" Raul calls as his eyes trail after her, lower than they should be when she disappears into her house. Shawn reaches over and slaps the back of his head. "Ow!!" He rubs the new sore spot with a chuckle as Shawn pulls away from the curb.

Later, as promised, she enters the Mendes household as if she lives there. She's right on time for dinner, but it's unusually quiet around the house. "Hello?"

"In here!" Someone calls after a long moment of silence.

Kallie makes her way into the living room where the brothers are seated on the couch. "Hey! What's going on? Why is it so quiet?" She questions as she sits in between Shawn and Peter's legs, stretching her own across Peter's lap and resting her feet in Raul's.

"Mom has news," Shawn says surprisingly seriously. It's then that Kallie notices the shock on their faces and that Karen is sitting in one of the other chairs.

She leans her torso back into Shawn and shrugs. "What is it? Bad news?" They nod and she looks at Karen as she takes a deep breath.

"Well, sweetie," she begins sweetly. "As I've just finished telling the boys..." she pauses, gathering the strength to tell her. "We've decided to sell the cabin."

Kallie's expression falls into the same shock that the boys wear and she feels like her whole body goes numb. "Wh-no. H-how...why-no!" She finally stutters out.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I know how much that cabin means to you all," she sighs. "But...we just can't afford to keep up with it year-round anymore. Especially, since we haven't been back since you all were in high school."

Her eyebrows furrow together in confusion. "Wha..." she breathes out, unable to think straight. To stop her mind from spinning, she focuses on the things around her.

Like the feel of Shawn's heartbeat against her back and the rhythm of his breathing. Like the goosebumps on her legs caused by Peter lightly tracing his fingers over her knees. Like the cold metal of Raul's rings as he squeezes her ankles comfortingly.

"When are you selling it?" Raul asks, taking charge of the situation. It's something he tends to do as the oldest of the three brothers. When things get tough, he steps in to steady everyone.

Karen shrugs. "We haven't found a buyer yet."

"Well," he sighs. "Then, we're still gonna go out for the summer. And every chance we get until you sell it. We can clean and pack up stuff along the way."

She smiles gratefully at him. "Thank you, honey. I hope you all enjoy the summer there...you deserve it before your last year at university!" She smiles, the tension slightly diffused but not dissipated. "Dinner will be ready soon."

Then, she silently heads to the kitchen to leave the four of them alone. Kallie shifts her body to stand up and face the boys. One hand goes to her hip as her eyes train on the carpet. With the other, she pushes some loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"I'm gonna..." she trails off, not having any words. "I'll be outside," she whispers and immediately exits the room.

Shawn leans forward to stand up. "I'll get her-"

"No. Lemme handle it," Raul interrupts and follows her without another word.

Sitting back down defeatedly, Shawn looks at Peter. "The hell was that about? Thought I was her best friend..." he grumbles.

"We're all best friends," Peter reminds him. "Besides...they have been closer since the twelfth grade." He shrugs and pulls his sketchbook out of his bag.

Shawn's brows crease together and then rise on his forehead. "You don't think they're-" He stops himself short because he doesn't even want to go there.

"What?" Peter looks up from the sketch he's working on. His face falls flat when he sees Shawn's panicked look. "Oh my god! They're not. Raul isn't even Kallie's type," he scoffs and focuses on the bright green irises he's drawing, only slightly concerned that Shawn may be right.

Shawn twists his features into an offended sort of confusion. "Her type? We all have the same face!"

"Yeah, but none of us are dating her...are we?" Peter scoffs dismissively.

"No," Shawn grumbles as he sinks further into the couch and crosses his arms grumpily.

Raul steps out onto the porch, barely squinting his eyes at the now-setting sun. Kallie's ash brown hair catches the light stunningly, almost as if it were milk chocolate silk. The red undertones give her hair a cinnamon-like shine you can only see under the sun. He sits next to her on the top step as she hugs her knees to her chest and rests her chin there.

He doesn't say anything as he leans back, letting his palms press into the wood. Time ticks by and he doesn't talk. She doesn't talk. Her body just slowly tips toward Raul until she's collapsed into his side. He feels her sigh heavily and he scoots closer to circle his arm around her waist.

"This isn't the end of the world," he promises like he always does when she gets like this. She huffs, annoyed that he seems to always downplay her sadness at first. "I'm serious."

She sits up, turning on the step to stare at him direly. "Oh, are you? I couldn't tell," she deadpans. "I know it's not the end of the world, Raul...that doesn't mean this all still doesn't suck," she murmurs as her hands move to her words.

"Life's allowed to suck," he chuckles. She watches the light dance in his hazel eyes and sighs. "You're even allowed to wallow about it," he continues.

She throws herself into his lap dramatically. "Then, let me wallowwww," she whines playfully. He rests his arm across her torso.

"But-"

"No...no buts," she begs as she turns her face into his stomach to hide. She curls her legs up until she's almost in a ball on her side.

Raul gently strokes her back. "But," he says pointedly, "you're not allowed to wallow forever. Eventually, you have to pull on your big girl pants and show life who it's messing with."

"You're so lame," she laughs and ventures a peek up at him.

He tilts his head and smiles smugly. "Got you to laugh didn't I?" She nods slightly. "I know how much the cabin means to you. It means that much to all of us," he soothes her.

"I somehow always forget that you guys feel it too," she whispers.

Raul moves his hand to brush her hair out of her face. "I'll make you a deal," he begins. Her attention peaks because he always offers her the same deal and she'd never pass it up. No matter what it is. "Suck it up for now. You can wallow when the place is actually sold."

"What do I get for pulling on my big girl pants?" She challenges.

He scrunches up his face in obvious sarcasm. "What do you always get?"

"Prom night?" She replies hopefully.

"Prom night," he confirms mischievously.

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