Gravitating : Book 1 (The Defying Series)

Chapter Five

Never before had Mia found her gaze stuck to a face for so long, all through her life she had shied away from eye contacts but she found it hard to take her eyes off today. He was way too distractingly beautiful. Maybe it was because of his beautiful blue eyes, or maybe it was for the way he held her gaze. Each second that passed made it impossible for her to look away.

"This is Xander, my cousin" Nick said in clear voice, Xander broke his gaze and gave her a curt nod almost at the same time Mia lifted her hand to shake his. A wave of disappointment washed over Mia but in the next second her hand rested in Xander's hand. His eyes widened for a fraction of seconds, like he couldn't actually believe what he had just done. He looked up to meet Mia's gaze one more time before dropping her hand as abruptly as he had held it.

"Let's go inside" Suzanne announced grabbing everyone's attention.

Still shaken from the suddenness of everything happening around her, she let Nick guide her inside. She was finding it hard to keep pace with Nick, she felt that everyone was moving in a blur and she'd lose them soon if she even blinked. She wanted to risk another glance at Xander's face but all she refrained after their last exchange.

"Are you okay?" Nick's worried whisper distracted her from the thoughts in her head. "You look stoned" He added.

Mia glared at him when she noticed the smirk playing on his lips. "You exaggerate things like anything" She muttered. "Do I look that bad?" She asked after a breath, letting her hands pat her hair to submission.

Nick's eyebrows went high enough to disappear behind his hairline. "From when did you care about that?"

"Forget I ever asked" Mia said. As if Nick was ever going to say she looked good, she'd always be the awkward girl in ponytail for him. Even though her hair stays open all the time now, and she never cared about how it looked.

"You're worrying me over here" Nick urged.

"Shut up Nick"

Aunt Suzanne cast a threatening glance at them. You should not behave like that in front of the guests, she meant to say. Nick straightened and so did Mia before continuing the rest of their walk silently.

Once they were all settled in the living room, Mia peeked a glance at Xander again, involuntarily she swore to herself. His jaw was set so tight that it looked like he was trying his best to not get up and leave the room as soon as possibile.

Mia diverted her gaze.

"Mia are you-"

"If you ask me that one more time Nick, I'd kill you" Mia grumbled.

Nick rolled his eyes and huffed. He turned to Xander, then followed his gaze to Mia. The frown on his face deepened. What the hell is going on? He cleared his throat and made sure that his best friend was free of Xander's scrutinising gaze. "I'd go ahead and show Xander his room" He stood up and turned around before anyone could object.

Xander followed him wordlessly, once they were halfway to the guest room Nick paused abruptly. "You should stop staring at my best friend like she's food"

"She's not my type, and I wasn't staring at her because of that"

"Then wha-" Nick stopped but he didn't need to tell Xander why he did so, a few seconds later Mia's footsteps echoed through the hallway. She took the turn that led to Nick's room and the guest rooms but found the hallway empty. She tried to balance the tray which had 3 cups of hot chocolate on it with one hand and started walking again.

Once she was in front of Nick's room she decided against knocking because the tv's sound was way too loud. Nick rushed to catch the tray from her hand while Xander remained unresponsive to her arrival. He was sitting so stiffly that someone would mistake him for a statue at first glance.

"Will you be staying tonight?" Nick asked Mia, handing over the black mug to Xander.

Mia shrugged. "I don't know but I'd be staying till dinner" She raised the cup to her lips and sneaked a glance at Xander, again. What the heck is happening! He still looked like a sculpture, his hot chocolate was untouched within his hands. However after noticing Mia's gaze on him, he turned around to look at her.

She quickly diverted her gaze to the tv and brought the cup to her lips. She was about to sip on it but Nick moved forward and moved her hand away. "You'd burn your lips if you sip it that hot" he warned.

Mia brought her cup down on her lap and glared at Nick. He rolled his eyes and sipped on his own hot chocolate and winced simultaneously. As he had said, his hot chocolate was hot too.

"Cartoon" Mia muttered under her breath before blowing air in to the cup to make the contents cool down a bit.

Xander rose up, the cup of hot chocolate in his hands. "Well I'll go unpack my luggage, see you at dinner" He addressed to Nick but did glance at Mia briefly, probably to convey that he was expecting to see her at dinner too, before leaving the room.

Nick waited for Xander to leave before turning to Mia. "What's going on between you two?" He asked.

Mia groaned and threw her head backwards. "I have known him for like ten seconds. He hasn't even said a word to me yet. Are you kidding me right now?"

"Alright, alright. You were just looking at him so often."

"Well I was looking at everyone. New faces, takes a while to get used to." She rose up from the chair and decreased the volume of the tv. "Are you having hearing problems or what? Who turns up the tv so loud?"

Nick shrugged and returned to drinking his hot chocolate.

"You're such a drama queen" Mia sighed.

"You never listen to me" Nick complained. "Never ever. Don't you understand that all I want is your safety?"

Mia sighed, she understood really well that Nick wanted her safe. He had taken up the role of her elder brother every since he gained his senses. Protecting her was almost like his reflex action, but the way he did it would probably leave Mia to be a bachelorette till eighty. She simply nodded her head and stayed quiet, she didn't want to argue with Nick about someone she didn't even know yet. If situations turned, then maybe she'd but not now.

"So you want to tell me why you've been running away from me in school this whole week"

There was no way Mia could escape his question right now. That sneaky little monkey was waiting for the right time to take the words out of her. He already gave her the emotional dose of 'I just want to protect you' and stuff, so he knew she wouldn't try to hurt his feelings now.

"I haven't been getting sleep" She paused and waited for Nick's reaction. He simply looked at her like telling go on, I know there's more to it.  "I just need to get used to living alone. That's it"

"You know you don't need to Mia, what I don't understand is why you force yourself to stay there, you can be independent by staying here too. We're your family too, you know."

"Don't play that emotional card on me Nick."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Right. Let me get real then, first you are a scaredy cat who gets scared with the simplest of noises, second you can't cook to save your life and thirdly you're hell of a forgetful person, you forget half of your things everywhere and then drive everyone crazy in search of them. I can list more if you want. "

If glares could burn, Nick would've been a pile of ash now. All Mia wanted to do was grab the nearest object and beat him to death but she couldn't because she knew he was speaking the truth. Finally a defeated sigh escaped her lips. "I'd talk to uncle Sebastian about moving in my things here during the dinner."