those years between us

[17] MY OH MY

"Alright, dude. Come on, let's get you downstairs. You need a good long sleep tonight, bro."

Cami and I walked downstairs behind them, and soon enough we were out in the street. We walked a short distance away since there were far too many people waiting in Lan Kwai Fong, and it took us a while before we found a taxi.

Dean helped me push Orion into the backseat, and I slid in beside him. Giving the two a wave, I slammed the door shut and turned to the driver to give him the address.

Squinting, the driver turned his head. "Your boyfriend's not going to vomit in my car, right?"

"No, he's going to be fine. And he's not my boyfriend."

"Huh. Let's hope he's not going to make a mess, then."

"I am... I am not... going to... vomit." Orion managed weakly, his eyes pressed shut together. "Not going to vomit."

"Good." And the driver started the car, and I quickly moved to help Orion with his seatbelt.

"Orion... seatbelt." I leaned over his lap, trying to grasp the seatbelt between his seat and the door. The car suddenly took a sharp turn, and I was practically thrown into him.

Somehow, he caught me just in time, arms wrapped around my body, eyeing me. "Be careful, Salome..."

Blushing, I pushed out of his hold. "Put your seatbelt on, you idiot."

He did, though it took a few tries, and I moved back to my seat and strapped the seatbelt on too, turning my face towards the window and staring out at the night sky. The streets were quiet at this time of night once we'd exited the red light district and we entered a more residential area. I wasn't usually out this late at night, and I took the chance to admire the sleeping city—at least the sections of it that were asleep, because certainly there were parts of Hong Kong that never did.

It wasn't that long a trip back to our home. The driver dropped us off on the street of the mall our apartment was atop of, and I paid him before carefully moving Orion out of the taxi. He could stand on his feet, actually, but I didn't want to take the risk, so I looped his arms over me and tried to move him step by step towards the lobby.

He was heavy, my god, and his body pressed against mine was not a position I necessarily wanted to be in, but I gritted my teeth and went ahead anyway.

"Salome.."

"Orion?"

"You're really... really pretty, you know?"

I swore, in that moment, my heart practically stopped beating. And if this was a television show, or maybe a movie, perhaps the background music would have started playing, the atmosphere and the tension rising.

But this wasn't a movie. This was real life. So all that accompanied me was the sound of my breathing and his, mingled together.

"Orion?"

"I don't know why I said that." He still sounded tipsy, letting out a slight hiccup. "Should I have said that?"

"No. I don't think so." I continued pulling him along, but he wouldn't budge. I frowned, propping him against the wall and temporarily releasing myself of his weight. I stretched my shoulders, staring at him quizzically with my head tilt.

He met my eyes. His gaze was hazy, a layer of heat clearly visible as he stared at me. I propped my hands against my waist, glancing around. No one was here. We were completely alone. The streetlight casted illumination down upon us, and it felt like that night in Upper Fifth again, when he gave me his hoodie. Like it was magical, except this time I wasn't sixteen and still harbouring hopes.