80 Millionen

"80 Millionen" - Max Giesinger

🎵 Ich weiß es nicht doch ich frag es mich schon / wie hast du mich gefunden / Einer von 80 Millionen / Hier war das Ufer unserer Begegnung 🎵

The week went by rather well, thank God!

Sure, I was still forced to deal with Dominik and his general weirdness, but at least I got a break while at school. It may solidify my overall nerdy status in life, but school has become my sanctuary.

I also do have to admit that Dad's idea about me and Dominik keeping some space between us had turned out to be a major blessing. I wound up sleeping on the couch, and despite my initial reservations, the couch was super comfy! What was strange was that it was always really difficult to fall asleep on it due to the massive dip that was in the middle, yet as soon as I was out, I always had the best sleep of my life!

I have no clue what sort of mystical properties the IKEA couch possesses, but the mere second I drifted off and seemed to be stuck in that realm between consciousness and the dream world, everything was wonderful. It always started with a floating sensation, as if I were being cradled and carried off to a soft, pillowy paradise that was built specifically for me. Maybe it was the back cushions, but I would always huddle up as close to them as possible, enjoying the way I molded into them. Plus, the blankets were always so nice and tight around me, keeping me securely in place. As always, my favorite part was the pillow that was perpetually warm and firm in the right manner, in which it made me feel totally at ease as I rested my head on it.

Yet, for some even stranger reason, the moment that I would wake up on the couch, I couldn't help but feel as if the cushions were completely lumpy and horrendous. I don't get it.

At least school was getting better.

Dominik still begrudgingly dropped me off and picked me up everyday. I know that he works for Alaric's security company, so shouldn't he have been more preoccupied with his job instead of making sure I got to school on time? Whatever. He must owe something to my father; I mean, why else would he want to drive me everywhere? It makes no sense.

Still, I suppose he and Alaric really did work together because Dominik would always be seen with his father whenever I was at home. Alaric would say stuff like, "Du musst für mich einspringen, während ich weg bin." I have no clue what it meant, but whenever he'd say it, Dominik would pale slightly.

Regardless, when I was at school, my new friends were always kind enough to offer me a much needed distraction from my stepbrother. I have no idea how they knew, but each and every one of them seemed to be aware of the Mediterranean cruise that my father and Alaric were going to leave for; they kept referencing it. Like, it was as if "I have something to tell you on Friday" seemed to be their catchphrase. I don't know why they were reluctant to let me in on their supposed secret before my dads left, but to each their own, I guess.

Anyways, my school day would always begin with Dominik dropping me off and him barking at me to, quote, "Behave". Meh. I'd usually just flash him a thumbs up and walk away as fast as I could.

My first period would always begin with Mr. Abin looking over the moon to begin class. Even some of the other students would comment that he wasn't in such a bad mood anymore at the beginning of the school day. I don't know, but he's always seemed nice to me. He didn't even mark me down for the numerous grammatical mistakes I'd made on our exam the other day. Mr. Abin is so sweet, and he will even bring me a cup of hot chocolate from the teachers' lounge since I'd told him that coffee is too bitter for my taste. He also taught me how to say, "Ich gehöre Herrn Abin", which translates into "I am being tutored by Mr. Abin." What a great guy!

In second period, Engel and I would always work together to complete whatever Calculus assignment there was. We always worked in tandem to complete our assignments, being the first ones to finish. We totally dominate the class when it comes to GPA, and it's kinda fun too. It gives me a little boost to my ego. Plus, Engel has plenty of nerdy interests like me. He'd even brought in his Switch the other day to trade me a shiny Midday Lycanroc that he'd hunted for in Pokémon Violet all out of the blue. He's such a great friend!

In third period, I would frequently rely on Lars for translations. He came off as the strong, silent type. He was a man of very few words and whenever someone else would talk to him, he would bare his fangs at them and unleash one of those odd growls that reminded me a lot of Dominik. However, each and every time I'd ask him a little question or I needed his help, I could see the way he'd perk up slightly. Lars would never let an opportunity to help me out go to pass. He must really be a helpful good samaritan, assisting the foreign kid. Plus, he was a legit lifesaver because he'd always printed out English translations of the works we were going over for me. Whenever I'd thank him, that rare smile would flash upon his gruff face for less than a second. He's such a nice person!

I'd actually finally taken to eating lunch in the cafeteria like a normal student. It was awesome too because all of my friends would eat with me at the same table, as if they weren't afraid to be seen out in public with me! Sometimes Erik would even go out of his way to grab my lunch for me. He's such a gentleman!

In fourth period, Anton and Jakob would always team up with me, frequently complimenting me on my intelligence. It felt pretty nice, actually, having two hunky twins relying on me to help them pass Anatomy and Physiology. For a brief moment, I worried that they were only being nice to me to help them out with their grades, but after some time together, I learned that they were genuinely nice because that's just how they were. I learned that Jakob was the more sporty one who liked to play football (or soccer); whereas Anton was the artsy one who preferred to paint. In fact, while Jakob had claimed that he'd scored the winning goal at his last football game for me, Anton had drawn me a portrait of me. It was super cute! I don't know what they meant by "ménage à trois" since my French is even worse than my German, but they would bring it up a lot, saying that they'd teach me. They're such great friends!

Fifth period was secretly my favorite since I'd gotten to have some close and personal time with Erik. He would always sit next to me with his buff arm around my shoulder, keeping me close to him. Erik was really nice and he actually engaged me in meaningful conversations, letting me know that he basically worshipped the Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern (or FCK, which is pretty close to something else, hehe) and he wanted to become a Polizist since he liked to help people. I let him know that my favorite person in the whole world was Mariah Carey, and he even said that if she ever comes to Germany, that he'd take me to go see her. He'd won hella brownie points with that, I'm just saying. The whole time we'd talk, Levi would just sneer at us.

Finally, sixth period PE had turned out to not be the worst time of the day surprisingly. Of course I was nervous having to change in front of so many other people. However, Lars had been my saving grace since he would use his broad, bulky body to act as a shield from prying eyes. Whenever someone would attempt to direct their gaze towards me, Lars would puff out his big chest and narrow his yellow eyes at them, forcing them to look away in an instant. I'd be able to change with some semblance of peace, although I'd always be extremely self-conscious about my mysterious scar. Despite everyone staring at it with wide, yellow eyes, no one would dare to comment about it.That would usually end up with me feeling way out of the loop, as per usual. Other than that, myself and my new friends would have PE together. Erik, Engel, Anton, Jakob, and Lars would treat it as some sort of dick measuring contest. Each one of them would always try to outdo one another when it came to the exercises that Coach would give us— they'd fight to be the fastest, stronger, and most agile. This usually resulted in me just straying from the group so that I could focus on the program and get a good grade in class.

Then once school would let out, Dominik would be on time to pick me up, somehow always managing to always be in the parking waiting for me. Since he was my ride home, I would not get the opportunity to take up Mr. Abin on his tutoring offer, nor have I managed to go to Engel's to watch Godzilla Minus One yet. All in due time, I'm sure.

After Dominik had inadvertently broken my phone, I'd practically had to beg Dad to buy me a new one (which he reluctantly did after giving me a hella long lecture on responsibility). Unfortunately, I'd transferred the SIMcard to my new phone, so that creepy tracking app was still on it... whatever. Every time I'd tried to bring it up to Dad or Alaric, Dominik would magically make an unwanted appearance into the room and immediately change the subject, often bringing up that he'd heard from a "friend" of his that I've been struggling at school— which I so was not! But because life's a bitch, the topic would miraculously shift to my Dad worrying about my education and having me sit down at the table to study.

Eventually Thursday rolled around, and it meant quite a few things. Dad and Alaric would be leaving for their cruise today, leaving me and Dominik by ourselves for the next three weeks. Plus, Dad and Alaric planned on having Dominik be in charge of me while they were out. Dominik is older, so it does make sense on paper; but damn it, Dominik sucks! He's either going to disappear for the full twenty-one days, or he's going to be incredibly domineering and never leave me alone. I pray it's the first one.

If he does, then I would also be able to actually have some real weekend plans for the first time in life! I can actually do whatever the hell I actually want to do! And thanks to having all of my new friends' phone numbers logged in my phone, I can make plans for the first time in my life!

Goodbye solo social life, because I finally have several friends who actually act like they enjoy my company! Erik already said that he plans on taking me to Werwolffest on a date. Holy moly, that's gonna be my first ever date, and the sheer thought of it makes me feel all warm inside. I'd grown so used to that hole that exists within my chest due to being forever alone, yet lately, I haven't noticed it. At first I'd believed that I'd gotten one-hundred percent used to the painful loneliness, but now I'm starting to think that it might really be healing! Then Engel and I will have a Toho Godzilla movie marathon and possibly get to play some video games together. Lars, Anton, Jakob, and Mr. Abin would all be at school next week for me to enjoy their time tutoring and being tutored.

All in all, everything is at last beginning to look up for me!

When Thursday finally rolled around, I'd once again found myself experiencing that trademark mysterious property of the Alaric's couch in which is was the worlds best place to sleep, hands down. It was so warm and soft that all I could equate it to was resting against a giant teddy bear that was extra cuddly.

"Ich verspreche, dass ich mich sehr gut um dich kümmern werde, mein Hase. Ich liebe dich von ganzem Herzen," echoed a deep voice, followed by a quick sensation of something gentle and soft pressing against my forehead—

My eyes shot open and I yawned loudly, instantly feeling the rock hard lumpiness of the odd couch digging into my back. I really do not understand how it does it, but the couch legit went from feeling like I was sleeping on a cloud to feeling like I'd been tossed onto some jagged rocks.

The sounds of thudding feet bolting upstairs echoed out.

Dad and Alaric were setting their luggage by the front door so that they could load it up into the van after Dominik uses it to drop me off at school. Normally, we'd take his motorcycle, but since there was a near downpour outside, we were going to use the van.

After getting ready, I made sure to say my goodbyes to them before leaving the house.

Dad and I hugged, with Dad annoyingly having to add, "Be good and listen to Dominik." Look, I can either be good or listen to Dominik, but I can't do both at the same time!

"Yeah yeah," I muttered, trying to be on my best behavior for him so that he wouldn't stress out the whole time during his dumb cruise.

Dad then turned to Dominik who was getting a cup of black coffee. "Please take care of Maxie," he asked the annoying dude.

Instead of rolling his eyes or clapping back with a smart ass retort, Dominik gave a curt nod as he looked my father in the eyes. "I promise I'll take good care of Max," Dominik said, his deep voice clear and strong and I swear that it even looked like he puffed his chest out.

It took every ounce of my self-restraint to not gag.

I began to head off to the kitchen to grab a cinnamon raisin bagel that I could munch on for breakfast when Alaric's big ol' body blocked my way. He had on a nervous smile that made it look like he had to poop as he held a dark brown leather-bound book in front of him. He glanced over his broad shoulder at my dad who was blissfully guzzling down his coffee.

"Um, Maxie," Alaric mumbled, scratching at the back of his thick neck, "this book will help answer any questions that may arise."

"Oh, um, you really shouldn't have...?" I muttered as I took the book from him. I flipped through it, discovering that it was written entirely in German and that the word "Werwolf" popped up frequently. Obviously I was far from being fluent in German, and it may come as a shocker, but Mr. Abin's class didn't exactly go over folklore vocabulary. I knew how to ask when the next bus was, but I had no clue how to ask if someone was a werewolf or not. Priorities, I suppose.

Dominik looked our way, his yellow eyes zeroing in on the book in my clutches. His gaze then darted towards his father who seemed to take a step away from me in response.

I can't wait to not read this book. Wanting to keep the peace in the house, instead of tossing the book into the trashcan, I stuffed it into my backpack.

I managed to snag my bagel too and I wrapped it in a paper towel before shoving it into my backpack so that I could eat it at school. After one more goodbye to Dad, Dominik and I left the house. He stomped over to the van and opened the passenger door for me.

"What did my father say to you when he gave you the book?" he asked me, his yellow eyes still narrowed as usual. He just always seems to be in a bad mood. The dude needs to get laid, then maybe he wouldn't be so grouchy. But who's gonna take the bullet?

"Why?" I questioned, mainly just because I know it irritates him when I answer his question with a question of my own.

Like clockwork, Dominik's stubble-covered jaw clenched and he sharply exhaled. I knew it, hehe. He slammed my door shut once eI was inside and angrily rushed over to the driver's side and hopped inside.

"What did he say?" he repeated through clenched teeth, starting up the van with a roar to emphasize his frustration.

"He said you have a big forehead," I scoffed as I pressed the dials on the radio to turn on some pop music. "Besides, it's just a book. What does it matter?"

Dominik's chiseled jaw was clenched tightly as he began to drive down the road towards my school. Every so often, his yellow eyes would dart my way and he'd clear his throat as if he were going to say something.

I kept changing the stations, searching for something to fill the awkward silence in this tiny van. I remained quiet as I searched, keeping my backpack secured on my lap as I frequently turned the dial on the radio, switching between German songs and morning talk shows. All the while, Dominik drove using just his left hand, keeping his other hand on the stick shift.

For the thousandth time, he cleared his throat. "Mein Hase, with it going to be just you and me for the next few weeks, I think there's some things that we need to talk about," he muttered in his deep voice. I could see his Adam's apple quivering in my peripheral. "And... um, there's something that I need to tell you too."

"Hm?" I hummed, still searching for a station to settle on. Britney Spears's "Gimme More" was playing on a station and I turned the volume up to full blast.

Dominik grumbled and pressed down on one of the radio dials to turn it off.

"Hey!" I whined, but after one pointed look from the older guy, I buttoned my lip.

My stepbrother took another deep breath, avoiding my annoyed glare as he started to talk. "It's sort of difficult to explain," he muttered, his voice trailing off for a brief moment. "I guess it'd be easier to begin with... um, do you know what my father does for work?"

Huh? Dominik wanted to talk to me about his dumb family history? And here I thought that he was actually going to say something important. "He owns a security company," I answered. I mean, I usually saw Alaric spending his spare time around the house with my dad, or the two of them would often times walk around the small community where we lived. Come to think of it, Alaric was more of a mayor if anything.

Dominik's frown deepened. "That's... a way of putting it."

I'm so lost. "What are you talking about?" I asked him, twisting my body so that I could directly stare him down.

Dominik continued to focus his gaze out the front windshield, which I guess was the smart thing to do since he was driving after all. However, I was starting to get the sinking feeling that he was alluding to something that was supposed to be extremely important during our three weeks together. What it was though, I haven't got the faintest clue.

That being said, there was about a million and one things about Dominik Stubbe that I didn't quite understand. Shoot, I could write a damn book about how strange the man was.

"It's hard to explain," Dominik sighed, his face starting to turn that familiar shade of pink. For a second, his eyes darted towards my backpack which contained the book Alaric had given me. "I'd rather you wait for me to read that book to you."

"Well, it's in German, so I can't read it by myself," I pointed out. Although, I could ask Mr. Abin if he could translate a few pages for me; if he has the time, that is. I'm certain that he has a busy schedule grading papers and drafting lesson plans. He probably doesn't have the spare few minutes to translate a couple pages of some old book just for me.

Dominik shrugged, knowing that I was right. "Still," he said, his voice getting lower as the school appeared in the distance, "you and I need to have a talk... tonight." His knuckles were bleach white as they tightened on the steering wheel, indicating that something was one-hundred percent up.

"Um, about what?"

He swallowed loudly as he pulled up in front of the drop-off zone. "You'll find out soon," he stammered, a shaky quality to his voice.

Okay, something is definitely wrong here. I have no clue what the hell Dominik wanted to talk to me about, yet based off the way he was avoiding my gaze, the pink blush on his face, and the tiny beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead, it was something that made him feel uneasy.

I was definitely lost, having absolutely no clue what it was that he would want to talk to me about. Truth be told, I'd honestly believed that once our dads left on their cruise, Dominik would disappear for three weeks, being a menace to the whole European Union while I would be left alone. Sure, I used to dread the thought of being all alone as a child, and yes, I still experienced that aching hole in the middle of my chest, but I really hadn't minded the idea this time. Hell no, I didn't want to spend three weeks alone with my strange stepbrother.

Knowing him, Dominik wanted to lay down a list of rules that he expected me follow while he watched me. And knowing me, I would do everything in my power to break every single one of his rules out of spite.

"Fine," I groaned, "we can have a weird little chat tonight. And if you need to find me, you can just use the tracking app." I narrowed my eyes at him as I held up my phone, still irked over the whole scenario.

Dominik had the balls to smirk. "I sure can," he grinned. Bitch.

Rolling my eyes, I made a move to leave the van when I spotted Erik standing near the entrance of the school. Even through the droplet-covered window, I was able to see his muscled body perk up as soon as he spotted me. His smile stretched out over his handsome face as he happily waved my way.

"Maybe I should walk you in?" Dominik suggested, his voice sounding rougher than usual.

I turned back to look at him, jerking back at the way Dominik's upper lip was curling over his teeth as his intense stare zeroed in on my new friend. It was hard to tell if the rumbling noise that resembled a growl came from Dominik or from the van's engine; but either way, it totally added to the menacing aura. I have no clue what sort of beef they have, but if I were a gambling man, I would've bet a few euro that Dominik was about to leap out of the van to pummel Erik. And sure I'm Team Erik all the way, but even I had to admit that Dominik was both taller and more muscular than him! Therefore, mine and Erik's first date might be at Erik's funeral...

My phone slipped from my hand, landing right by the stick shift in between Dominik and me. Both of us made a move to retrieve it, and the universe decided to be a total bitch...

In a moment of horrific circumstances, I leaned forward at a horrendous angle at the same millisecond Dominik did. The mathematics and physics accidentally lined up at the same time, creating the worst case scenario that I could ever think of: as both Dominik and I leaned forward and bent downward, our faces lined up and our lips accidentally made contact!

I was stunned at first, my brain slowly registering the fact that Dominik's lips were surprisingly smooth. Yet, his thick stubble that surrounded them was all prickly and it poked at my skin, leaving little tingles all over it.

Back home in Vancouver, I'd often drag my sock-covered feet over the carpet in our apartment and then giggle as I touched metal, laughing at the resulting spark from the static electricity.

That same electric phenomena was replicated the mere second Dominik's lips touched mine. There was a jolt that rippled through me which made the tiny hairs on my arms stand perfectly erect— and I know that I wasn't the only one who felt it too. Dominik tensed up as well, but he didn't pull away.

In fact, my stepbrother had actually moaned out a delightful, "Mmm..." as I felt him lean even closer to me.

I pulled back immediately, my eyes nearly popping out of my skull and my heart beating like a jackhammer against my ribcage. Despite my terror and absolute disgust over the horrifying fact that Dominik had just kissed me, I couldn't ignore the tingles all over my lips that I didn't one-hundred percent hate. Oh no!

Even Dominik's eyes were wide and his blush had completely taken over his face, making him look like he was crossbred with a cherry. Yet, instead of bitching me out or punching me right in the center of my face, Dominik... smiled?!

The dude legit had a full-on toothy grin all over his red face, his large canines poking out over his bottom lip.

But then his smile fell as soon he realized what had happened. His blush deepened even more, turning into a dark violet and he stammered as he tried to think up an excuse. "I... uh— what... uh," was all that came out.

I practically leapt out of the van as if there was a bomb in there, needing to put as much space in between me and Dominik as humanly possible.

This was horrible! My first kiss cannot be with my stepbrother! I'll never live that down if that's the case. This cannot count! Really, it was an accident. I swear. I never meant to kiss that jerk ever in my wildest dreams. Even if my life depended on it, my lips would never ever go anywhere near that douchebag's!

This doesn't count. This wasn't my first kiss. Nope. My first kiss is supposed to be with Chris Evans when he eventually finds out who I am and that he's desperately in love with me and then he'll fly to Germany to rescue me from this bullshit circumstance!

Dominik Stubbe is not my first kiss!

In my haste to escape the van, I realized that I'd forgotten to grab my backpack. Unleashing a full body sigh, I reluctantly turned around and opened up the door to retrieve it.

"Yes!" I spotted Dominik cheering to himself as he even did a fist pump, his other hand tenderly touching his lips. Once he spotted me at the passenger side door, he looked like he'd burst into flames. "Oh... um..."

I silently grabbed my backpack, cocking my eyebrow at the weird man before slamming the door shut. He must have a screw loose, for real.

My pace was fast as I scurried up the stairs to the entrance of the school. Despite how badly I wanted to pretend that Dominik and I didn't just accidentally kissed, I was fairly certain that my own face was bright red with humiliation and my anxiety made me worry that the entire school had seen everything go down. Shit, I feared that it'd be in Bedburg's local newspaper! I could imagine the terrible headline now: STEPBROTHERS CAUGHT IN INCESTUOUS MAKE-OUT SESSION! or however you say that in German!

Oh God, I hope incest is illegal in Germany so that I can send Dominik to jail. I mean, sure it's not technically exactly incest since we don't share any DNA (a fact that brought me about one percent relief), but damn it, I felt as if I needed a chemical shower! My lips still tingled much to my chagrin.

Erik must've witnessed the entire thing because his own eyes were wide as fuck as I approached, and his fists were tightly clenched. His jaw was agape and he struggled to form a coherent sentence, just stuttering in place as his red face stared at the van as it sped down the street.

And since life hates me, Levi walked up and laughed loudly. "That's gross," he chuckled, shoulder-checking me as he passed. "I thought you were from Canada, not Alabama, yet there you were, making out with your brother."

"He's my stepbrother," I corrected before flinching. "AND, we didn't make out!" I must've been a little too loud because the other students in the vicinity paused whatever they were doing to look at me in confusion.

Damn it all. I just wanted to find a shovel and dig a hole, jump into said hole, and then bury myself. This was horrible. I did not kiss Dominik! It didn't count!

Dominik is my stepbrother and there will never ever be anything between us! Ever! In fact, since it's going to be just me and him for the next three weeks, I vow that I will do everything in my power to be the biggest brat ever so that he leaves me the fuck alone!