Sunlight on your face (Shuri x reader)

Chapter 13: tense

"I'm gonna meet Ava in an hour, I hope that's alright with you... you can hang out here or go explore the city, whatever you wanna do..." I informed Shuri as she returned from the shower.

"Oh, okay... well, I'll just ask Riri if she has time for me then," Shuri answered with a weird look on her face.

As it seemed, Riri wasn't busy, and they would meet up at the same time as Ava and me, which meant that Shuri and I would drive to the city together. The atmosphere was tense, and we didn't say a word for the whole ride. Ava was already waiting for me when the taxi driver dropped us off.

She greeted us, oblivious about what was going on. After the usual small talk was exchanged, we stood in silence, waiting for Riri to arrive. I was relieved when she appeared around the corner, waving at us. We parted ways, Shuri and Riri heading to time square, as Ava and I went the opposite way walking to the café we went to regularly.

"So, that was tense..." Ava stated as soon as we were alone.

"Yeah, it's been like that the whole day," I answered, pressing my lips together.

"What happened? You were all over each other yesterday, I thought things were going good?"

"A lot happened; I'll tell you when we're at the café..." I muttered, feeling a heavy feeling in my chest at the thought of last night.

A frown slowly formed on her face as I told her about the events of last night. About our encounter with Kim and how Shuri got mad. I didn't go into detail about what happened after we left the club. She was shocked as I told her about how Shuri just casually dropped that this was nothing serious.

"That literally makes no sense... one moment she acts all cute and gets jealous, then the next moment she says this?" Ava said, furrowing her brows.

"I know right?! She confuses me and I don't know what to do..." I was relieved that I could finally talk to someone about it and that Ava thought it was weird too.

"Honestly, in every other situation I'd tell you to drop them, but I think you shouldn't give up just yet..." She paused to think for a second, "Either you talk to her about it, or you don't mention anything and just act like it isn't bothering you... Maybe she comes to her senses if you pull back a bit, don't give her an attitude or anything, just be busy every now and then, don't be available all the time but act normal when you're with her, you know what I mean?"

It took me a minute to process what she was saying.

"I think I get it, talking to her about it would probably be the more mature thing, but it could scare her away..." I thought aloud.

We agreed that I should try to lower my effort. It was simple, I just wouldn't be available for her all the time and act unbothered by the situation, but I would still act normal when we were together. Hopefully she would come to her senses quickly because I'm not made for this hot and cold thing, I thought to myself.

I felt way better about the situation when we left the café two and a half hours later. Shuri had informed me that she would get home later, so I had some time left for myself. After I made myself a hot chocolate, I went downstairs to the studio. I completely forgot about the time as I started to learn a new song on the guitar. Hours went by as I sat on the old couch in the corner with the guitar on my lap, learning the new song note by note.

After what were probably two hours, I had managed to play the whole song more or less without mistakes, softly singing the lyrics. I was so focused; I didn't even notice Shuri standing in the door frame.

"You look so peaceful playing the guitar," I jumped at the sound of her voice, making her chuckle.

She approached the couch, sitting down next to me.