FORNEVER | ✓

CHAPTER 20 - LOVE? LOVE.

HIM

"I swear on the god above! I am too tired to shut this window. Who opened it anyway? I am so cold. Where does Akka keep her covers? Can I manage being frozen until the morning? Where is this stupid duvet?"

I mumbled rubbish in my sleep as the chills down my skin stirred me up from my deep slumber. I delved the bed sluggishly as I huffed into the pillows.

"Ugh!" I let out just when my eyes shot open and I hoisted my head from the pillows, almost in slow motion.

"Oh my god. A burglar?" I thought as my hand had landed on what felt like a full-fledged person.

"For the love of god I am too exhausted to fight you," I said groggily as I rubbed my eyes and tried to situate the switch of the lamp. The soft moonlight accentuated the silhouette of the apparent burglar as they lay there, facing me.

"Why is he so petite? And not to mention, perfectly curved and why would he sleep with me if he were a..." I gasped incredulously as the lit lamp reflected the person's face to me.

"Oh...My..." I let out inaudibly as I saw her, snuggled in my covers, deep in her sleep. A smile crept along my lips, as my mind asked a thousand questions.

"But when did she...how...how deep was I asleep..." I wondered. Her tresses rested carelessly across her face, making her features only partly visible. She looked like a fallen angel making me forget how stonkered I had been.

I switched off the lamp and laid awake smiling like a seventeen-year-old, in love. There could have laid at least two full grown-ups between us, yet the proximity made me nervous.

"Was she still drunk when she decided to be here?" I asked myself as I turned to look at her, breathing. Just as I closed my eyes, my thoughts wrapped around her antics, she crept in closer to me, whimpering in her sleep. I raised my head to see if she was okay. The moonlight could only reveal her contorted face as if she were having a bad dream. She nestled into my chest, my presence making her visibly relaxed. I touched her forehead to see if she had a fever. She felt warm, but her hand that was now on my chest was cold. I panicked, praying for her to wake up alright, as I didn't want to disturb her. I held her hand, making her eyebrows go back to their original position. I held her tightly, drifting off without realizing.

HER

"'You'd be like...heaven to touch'

Okay, but why are trumpets blaring in my head?

And why does my ankle hurt like it's been on fire?

'Pardon the way that I stare'

Where is that coming from? Where have I heard that before?"

I tried to turn around as something around my foot constrained me. My head felt like it would disintegrate off my body and stand aside. I tried to open my eyes, making sense of the surroundings I wasn't aware of. I looked around, without moving an inch, realizing I was in Akka's room. I felt a strong presence near me, it didn't touch me, but I touched him. And not just touched it, I basically clung to it. And it smelled - familiar. I looked up just the slightest bit, afraid that he would already be looking down at me. To my relief, he was fast asleep.

"Oh my god. Why am I here in his arms?

And why do I like it so much?

How did I get here?"

I kept staring at him as if my life depended on him. I would have definitely scared him to death had he opened his eyes and met mine precisely at that time. I laid there, not even trying to untangle myself from him. I took my own time, to admire the man I clearly loved, ignoring my jigsaw puzzle of a brain for the moment.