The Beautiful Nightmare.

(KAIRA'S POV)

The large iron gates opened, and I felt the familiar weight of panic settle behind my ribs. I pressed my sweaty palms against the expensive leather while my body stiffened in the backseat.

I wanted to close my eyes but somehow I couldn't. I sat, like a programmed robot, and watched as the car drove into the Horton empire, my first time taking the main gates instead of the staff' entrance.

It was a reminder that things had taken an impossibly different turn.

I've spent the last four years avoiding Slade Horton with every fiber of my being.

And now, after the bombshell of my mum and his dad, I discover that I will be forced to live in the same house with him.

We are about to become siblings.

My bully as my stepbrother?

"We don't have to go on with it. You are my priority, so if you don't want this, then I won't do it," Mum had said to me after she watched me turn into a ghost as I processed the news.

Of course I wasn't in support of the marriage. But Mum has sacrificed her life for me. I would be a brat not to support her. So I shoved all my feelings down like a big girl, told her I was happy for her and that we could move whenever she wanted.

I didn’t expect it to be so soon, still. But turns out Tom wanted us to move in immediately.

Two hours later, with hidden tears and my belongings, we were being driven through the best roads, perfectly trimmed hedges and trees.

Tom Horton stood, at a large water fountain that reminded me of my fear for water when I looked a second longer.

The car door opened and my heart started pounding in my chest.

This was really happening.

"Are you alright?" Mum's soft voice made me turn to her. Her eyes bore guilt, the same guilt they had been wearing from the beginning. .

"Yes. I'm fine," I lied.

I wasn't, but there was not much I could do. Mum got out first and then helped me out too.

Tom appeared in front of us in no time, wearing a warm smile on his face as he stared at Mum.

"Hi," he greeted her softly.

"Hi," Mum greeted him back. I noticed the faint blush on her neck and my hands grasped each other.

It was a surprise that instead of getting lost in a bubble, Tom turned to me, a funny look now settling on his face.

"Hi Kaira. How are you?" He asked, and he sounded different from the regular Mr. Horton I was used to. Less warm and friendly, more nervous and uncertain.

"I'm fine, sir."

"I'm sorry about… this whole change. I hope you understand that your mum and I don't want to rush you into this." He spoke so calmly that I almost believed him.

"Yeah," was all I said. All I could say.

He held my eyes like he wanted to say more, but then he turned to Mum and I can swear that I noticed them exchange eye contact.

"So," he said, beginning to lead us toward the house. "Why don't we all come in and get settled? There's chocolate cake coming up soon. We can eat that and wait for dinner." He threw a wink at me. "Kaira, your mum told me about how much you love spaghetti and meatballs. I hope the chef does justice. I want you to have the perfect welcome home meal."

My stomach clenched at the words "welcome home," but Mum glanced expectantly at me and I forced a tiny smile onto my lips while I muttered, "Thank you."

They had no idea that my legs were trembling as we climbed. They had no idea that I was struggling to breathe as the giant front doors were opened and as we passed through.

A wave of relief washed over me when I was welcomed by the empty hallway.

He's not here. Maybe he isn't home. That would be perfect. It'll give me a couple of—

"Welcome. I really hope you love it," Tom said. His warm smile had returned as his eyes lingered more on Mum.

"Your home is beautiful," Mum said softly, as she marveled at the art pieces and portraits hung at strategic points in the house.

"Our home, dear," Tom corrected, and another exchanged glance between him and Mum did not go unnoticed.

Then he turned to me and that guilty look came on again.

"I hope you like it, Kaira," he asked. I wasn't paying attention to anything as we walked but I nodded at him.

"It's nice," I added even though what I really wanted to say was ‘Gee thanks. I always dreamed of moving into the house where my bully lives.

Tom smiled and then surprised me by getting in between Mum and I. He took both our hands in his, just as a pair of workers opened another set of doors after a bow.

"Shanice, Kaira." He glanced at Mum, then, me. I was already looking up at him.

"I want you both to formally meet my son, Slade."

My body froze immediately and I felt suffocated. Tom was staring ahead now and even though I didn't want to, my gaze followed his.

I could still hear Tom speaking but I couldn't make out words. He tugged me along so that my heavy legs moved forward and my eyes fixated on the same pair of emerald eyes that had mockingly watched me this morning and humiliated me. My lungs forgot how to work.

Slade Horton towered over me like a beautiful nightmare.

His silky looking hair, perfectly combed; his unfairly handsome face, placed in his usual strict expression. He wore a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt that contrasted his dark hair and his inky tattoos peeking from his neck and chiseled chest. A silver neck chain rested perfectly in place.

I wasn't supposed to feel lightheaded; I thought I had prepared myself. But clearly not.

As for Slade, the shock was clear. A glass in his hand slipped to the ground and shattered noisily. For one terrifying second, his mask disappeared, a second time for me.

"Good evening," He greeted.

Cold. Smooth. Composed. Like he didn’t just drop a glass.

I swallowed a lump and muttered inaudible words while his eyes imprisoned me to the spot.

"Slade, can you give Kaira a tour of the garden lake house while someone cleans this mess?" Tom turned to me an apologetic smile on his face. “I know how much you love flowers Kaira, your mum talks about it all the time.”

I swallowed a heavy lump in my throat.

No. Let him say no.

Things are bad enough as it is!

"Of course," Slade answered. "It will be my pleasure."

And for a split second, I thought I saw a tiny smirk flash across his lips.