metulji - jan peteh

Chef

'Fine.' I sighed heavily, collapsing onto the mattress with a bounce. The bed was incredibly uncomfortable on my back, allowing no comfort at all. 'Fuck me.' I cursed under my breath, a wave of aching reverberating up my spine. Jan glanced at me quizzically, not understanding my use of British slang. 'It doesn't mean what you're thinking, Jan.'

'What did you think I was thinking?' He stared straight into my eyes flirtily, ready for me to admit my dirty thoughts.

'Well,' I started, stuttering, unsure of where exactly I was going with my words. My brain decided to jumble itself, not helped at all by my head injury.

'I'm joking, lokvanj.' he laughed, sending me into a nervous giggle, still debating as to whether he was trying to get me to let my guard down. Instead, I threw myself towards Jan to kiss him, wrapping my arms around his neck as I caught him by surprise. He flinched slightly at first, totally unprepared for my gesture, but soon accepted it gratefully.

~o~

The last thing I could remember was finally drifting off to sleep, Jan holding me in his strong arms, whispering promises into my ear to soothe me.

'I don't want you to feel alone again.' he had told me, as I folded my head into his shirtless chest. Too tired to speak, I had tried to nod, provoking a low chuckle from him, which reverberated around my body due to our closeness.

Now, I was confused as to why I couldn't feel his support anymore.

He was gone.

Of course, he couldn't be far - but I was too worried to leave the room, knowing that one of the band members could lie not too far behind the door. Fighting my inhibitions, my entire mind urging me to just stay where I was, I rose from the bed slowly, making my way towards the exit and bracing myself for a social interaction.

When I stepped out into the corridor, I was lucky to find that nobody was there. A strong aroma of breakfast attracted me into the living room, where I discovered Jan stood through the archway that lead to the kitchen, just in front of the stove. He didn't appear to be able to hear my entry over the loud sizzling erupting from the pan he was using, which he checked repeatedly and dodged as it spat. His hair was swept into a messy ponytail which sprouted from the top of his head, to keep it away from the food. A man with good hygiene? Count me in.

Not wanting him to notice me, I tried to back away again, yet somehow managed to step straight onto an insanely creaky floorboard, which immediately alerted him to my position. Sheepishly, I put my hands in front of me, deciding against admitting how long I had been stood there admiring him for.

'Did I wake you up?' he asked worriedly, beckoning me into the kitchen so that he didn't have to leave the stove.

'When I woke up, you were already gone.' I informed him, evoking a deep exhale of relief on his part. 'So, unless you can teleport, then no.'
I clarified.

'How did you know?' he joked back, pretending to look wounded. It wouldn't have shocked me to find out Jan had special abilities - the hold me already had over me after just a few days was an abnormality that needed to be studied.

'What are you making?' I asked suddenly, changing the topic to avoid my thoughts from wandering off elsewhere.

'Breakfast.' he stated bluntly, looking at me as though I was stupid.

'I figured that much.' I retorted, crossing my arms. 'What breakfast?'

'Well, I was making eggs, but if you wanted something else-' he began, but I quickly cut him off, not wanting him to overthink.

'Eggs is perfect. Thank you.' I replied gratefully, now taking a seat at the table, which was already laid for the pair of us. I was unsure as to how long he had been awake, preparing this for the two of us - it was so thoughtful and well planned. He must have seen my face, because he turned to me, completely ignoring the pan now. I noticed that he was wearing a waist apron, which was a red tartan; somehow managing to suit him despite being pretty comical.

'You like it?' he asked, suddenly looking proud - he sported a gentle smile at first, which grew as I started to nod.

'It's..' I struggled to fit all of my thoughts into one word. 'Beautiful.'

His features softened gently as he subconsciously swept his hand up into his ponytail, swirling the thin mop around his fingers as he brought his lips into an incredibly smug grin. Seeing that I was catching onto his self-satisfaction, he immediately shrugged, attempting to become humble again. 'I thought of it myself.'

Immediately after saying this, he cursed, swivelling back to face the pan, which was now spitting and bubbling more ferociously than ever before. He expertly flipped the eggs over onto two plates that were sat on the kitchen side, which were already equipped with buttered bread. Once he was satisfied, he brought them over, setting one down for each of us, before taking a seat on the other side of the table.

'What's the plan for today, then?' I asked, immediately regretting it, since there might not have been a plan at all. Luckily, Jan was prepared.

'I was thinking we could do some tourism. Go and see things.' he detailed, motioning with his hands. 'Last time I was here, there wasn't much time to do anything that wasn't... band related.' he paused again, like he was leaving something out. Choosing not to press him on it, I nodded.

'Good idea.' I responded, now picking up my cutlery to begin eating.

'The  rest of the group haven't mentioned about doing anything today. I don't want a repeat of yesterday.' he reminded, reminiscing on stolen moments.

'It'll be nice to get away.' I admitted. Of course, the boys were nice, but we'd barely been able to scrape a couple of hours alone yesterday, which wasn't ideal for either of us. Deciding not to comment further, I began to shovel the food into my mouth, absolutely starving and, admittedly, slightly hungover. Looking down at myself, I realised that I was still wearing the clothes from yesterday, that green lace-lined top and jeans - suddenly figuring out why Jan's eyes regularly wandered to my chest. 'Shit.' I swore, feeling awful for not changing into something clean before going to bed; I had been wearing these clothes since changing at that random bar.

'What's up?' he asked, glancing at my plate to see if the food was the issue.

'I never changed into my pyjamas.'

I noticed his eyes slowly dissociate, moving downwards again, no longer meeting mine.

'I see no problem, lokvanj.'