Take My Breath Away

As soon as they reached their apartment, Wesley told Blair, "Your things are in the bedroom. Why don't you go and unpack them?"

She nodded curtly and said, "Okay." As she went to his bedroom, he walked to the kitchen.

Much to her astonishment, Blair found that Wesley had moved all her things from the company dorm to this apartment. This could only mean that he wanted to make her live under the same roof with him.

Nonetheless, she wasn't going to ask him about it. In silence, she began to unpack her luggage and sort out her things. She neatly hung her clothes in Wesley's closet.

After a while, Niles arrived, carrying bags of snacks in his hands. As soon as he entered the apartment, he looked around and said, "Wesley, where's my sister-in-law?"

Wesley cast him a stern glance. "Who are you visiting here?"

"Of course Blair, my sister-in-law. Did you think I came here for you? Don't make me laugh."

Wesley was speechless. 'Didn't he say he missed me and wanted to see me a while ago?'

Paying no heed to Wesley's sullen face, Niles quickly left the plastic bags on the table and went to look for Blair. "Oh Blair, my dear sister-in-law, where are you?"

Despite his anger, hearing Niles address Blair as his sister-in-law was like music to Wesley's ears that immediately made him feel better.

Blair was inside the bathroom, putting her toiletries in order. When she heard Niles' voice, she popped her head out for a second and responded, "I'm here!"

Niles scampered into Wesley's bedroom and hopped up in front of her like a naughty boy. "Blair, come with me. I've brought a lot of snacks for you. Let's eat them together."

Niles wasn't always so enthusiastic of people. Only the ones he was fond of.

Blair didn't have the heart to turn down his hospitality. She nodded with a smile and said, "Okay, but..." Suddenly, she stopped talking and tugged at the corner of his shirt to stop him.

Niles turned around, looking at her in confusion. "What's up?"

"Um... Please don't call me 'Sister-in-law' anymore. Your brother and I..." Her voice trailed off as she felt the pain stabbing at her heart. There were still many unresolved issues between them. She wasn't sure about their future.

The happy smile on Niles' face faded away. He became serious, brows furrowed, and asked, "What happened between you and my brother? Do you want to talk about it?"

What they didn't know was that Wesley was standing at the doorway. He felt more and more uncomfortable with each minute Niles spent alone with Blair, so he put down the vegetables he was washing and quickly strode to the bedroom, looking to get

mission with me. You'll come to learn that even a tree bark can be delicious food." In truth, he wasn't going to let Blair and Niles eat the porridge. He was going to make them another pot and leave the burnt one for himself.

Wesley wasn't happy about wasting food.

Niles got goose bumps. He could never forget the horrible training he went through last time at the military base. 'Go on a mission with him? No way!' He shook his head dramatically. "No, I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm a fragile man. I can't suffer something like that."

Wesley rolled his eyes at him. "If I see you waste food again, I'll beat you to a pulp. Now get out of here!"

"Okay, okay. I'm going!" Niles hastily dashed out of the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Blair just pried about a box of cookies with her nails. When she saw Niles come out, she raised a cookie in her hand and said, "Want some?"

Niles vigilantly turned around to look at the man in the kitchen. He was busy with the cooking again. Heaving a sigh of relief, Niles took a cookie and casually asked, "What do you think of my brother's cooking?" Wesley wasn't happy about Niles throwing out the overcooked porridge and even blamed him for being wasteful. Niles, however, thought that Wesley was just being too mean.

He wondered what kind of life Blair would have with his thrifty brother. 'Is this why Blair wants to leave my brother? Sounds like it! I would want to leave him too if I were Blair!' Niles thought.

He looked at Blair with sympathy in his eyes.

"I think it's edible... Hey, what's that look in your eyes?" Blair stopped eating the cookie.

"Sister...no...Blair, maybe I should help you escape from my brother."

'Help me escape?' "How and where would I go?" she asked curiously.