Nevermore

Chapter 17

S H A W N

There was another meeting being held at the Scriptores Club that evening, but Shawn had a feeling that they weren't going to be discussing their newspaper at all tonight.

There was still half-an-hour left to their meeting at midnight. Nicholas was still in the library to catch up with his studies, which left Shawn in a restless state when he found himself all alone in their quiet dorm.

     Before, he had rugby to keep his nerves in check, but now he felt helpless against his own mind. So, just to keep himself busy, he betook himself downstairs and out of the dormitory building, walking relentlessly down the campus until he reached the printing room.

Nicholas was usually the one who had the printing room's key in possession, but to Shawn's luck, he saw that the lights were on in the room. Inside, the door to their parlor was prepped open, and when Shawn walked in, he saw that Luca was already there, knelt on his knees in front of the fireplace as he tried to light the fire.

"Hey," Shawn said softly, announcing his presence.

At the sound of his voice, Luca turned his head to look back at him, a little smile stretched on his pink lips. "Hi."

"I didn't know that you —" Shawn was saying with a smirk, but he managed to stop himself half-way.

He was about to say 'I didn't know that you were handy enough to make a fire', but he reminded himself of Nicholas's words.

I suppose I do tease him too much, Shawn thought to himself, and so he bore on a smile, saying instead,

"I didn't know that you would be here so early."

"I got the key from Niko so I could warm this place up a little before you guys arrived."

Shawn wanted to tell Luca that he was being too nice for his own good, or that it was a very thoughtful thing he'd done for them, but he didn't know how to pay a genuine compliment without making it sound sarcastic, so he merely nodded.

"Why are you here so early?" Luca said with a playful grin as he stood to his feet, dusting off his hands. "You're usually the last person to arrive, just to make sure you have a dramatic entrance."

Shawn laughed. "That's true."

"Well?" Luca asked again, this time more gently. "Why so early?"

"I... dunno," Shawn mumbled. "It was too quiet up in my dorm. I don't like it when it gets too quiet."

Luca nodded in understanding before turning his back to Shawn again and lending his gaze to the growing flame in the fireplace.

"Luca, listen..." Shawn said before he could stop himself, walking closer to Luca. "I... I wanted to apologize."

"You don't need to apologize." Luca shook a hand at him in reassurance. "I get why you were upset that I wasn't there at the beginning of your game. I should know how it feels," he whispered the last few words, but Shawn didn't throw a second thought at it.

"No, no." He shook his head. Luca had never seen him look this nervous. "I — I'm talking about the thing I said that night... when we were sitting on the rugby stands..."

"Oh..." Luca muttered in realization after a few moments of silence, during which time their eyes had been locked with each other.

Your lips... they look so kissable...

Even thinking about it made Shawn feel horrible for saying it.

"You — you were drunk that night," Luca tried to reason with himself. He then tried to lighten the mood by saying jokingly, "you say all sort of rubbish even when you're sober. It obviously has to get worse when you drink down a whole pub."