Within the Flowers

Chapter 9 - Complicated Feelings

My eyes widen as I see Alejandro standing frozen in the doorway. His face flushes red and he freezes. Mateo's head turns slowly towards Alejandro as if he's in a drunken state. We all just stand there frozen for about 10 seconds until Mateo puts me down and steps in front of me.

Alejandro puts on an awkward smile, "I- I just forgot my textbook and I need to get it..." Mateo nods and puts me down, pushing me further into the room while wrapping one of his sweaters around me. Alejandro grabs his textbook and swiftly exits while closing and locking the door behind him.

I stood there, my face flushed with red. Mateo turns around towards me, "Are you ok?" I nod as I clutch his sweater wrapped around my body, "Y- yeah.." His eyes linger on me; he's still turned on. I don't know what to do.

I feel extremely awkward. I look away from him, "I- I think I should go back to my dorm and do my research. Y- you should get ready for class." "My class doesn't start in over four hours-" I cut him off, "It's fine, I'll see you later." I grab my bag and rush out of his dorm and into mine. I close the door behind me and take deep inhales and exhales to calm myself down.

My heart is beating extremely fast and my body still feels hot. I look down and realize I still have his sweater on. I take it off and hold it in front of me, replaying the events that just occurred. We've never gone that far before, but it felt so good.

I look down at the sweater and put it up to my face as I scream into it. I needed to release this built up energy somehow. I feel bad for leaving Mateo in that... state. But I couldn't go back to continuing after Alejandro walked in.

I throw the sweater onto my bean bag and plop on my bed. I close my eyes for a few seconds until I hear 2 notifications on my phone. I pick it up, fully expecting to see a text message from Mateo, but it's a text from Leo.

L: Hey. Is everything good?
L: I heard you scream.

I decide to text back and he responds almost immediately.

S: Yea.. jus a lil stressed

L: Do you want to come and relax over here? I can't sleep.

I smile at the thought and jump off my bed. I need to stop thinking about Mateo right now, anyways. I text him back and he immediately responds again.

S: Yea sure. I'm jus gonna change into more comfortable clothes

L: Ok. Just to lyk I'll be shirtless.

I feel my cheeks starting to get hot. I take off my bra and put on a black tank top with black biker shorts. I slide on my black Chanel slides as I respond to his text.

S: That's fine lol

I grab my phone, headphones, and charger as I walk out and lock my dorm. I hear loud music coming from Mateo's dorm and I know he's either taking a nap or invited a girl over. I roll my eyes at the latter option and knock on Leo's door. He opens the door with slightly messy hair, no shirt, and black and red pants.

I try not to look him up and down as I notice his multiple tattoos and slightly muscular build. He smiles softly and lets me in. I walk in and take a look around his room.

He seems to really like the colors red, black, white, and gray. He has a window across from the door and his dresser with a TV on it is to the left, while his bed is to the right. Next to the dresser, closer to the door, is his desk with a wooden chair. His laptop and other accessories are on it. Next to the desk is the door to the bathroom. At the foot of his bed is an armoire closet, a small couch and next to the couch is a trash can. Right below the window is a mini fridge.

I take another look at his bed and notice it's a full-sized bed, I look back at him as he closes and locks the door to his dorm, "You paid for a full-size bed?" He looks away and nods as he walks towards me, "Yea, I like the extra space."

I put my things on the desk and sit on his bed, feeling out his comforter. He chuckles as he walks towards me. He stands in front of me and looks down at me, "You like it?" I nod as I smile like a kid, "I've never had a comforter of my own, but they're really comfortable." His smile slowly fades, "Why not?" I shrug, "My family didn't have money like that and comforters are a little expensive." He nods understandingly, "I'll buy you one."

I look up at him, surprised, "What?! No, you don't have to. It's fine." Leo scrunches up his face and rolls his eyes, "Fine, fine. Whatever you say." I smile and laugh softly as he turns on the tv and sits next to me on the bed. "What do you wanna watch?" He asks while scrolling through Netflix. I think for a second, "A horror movie; I haven't watched one in a while." He smiles and puts on a horror movie while he gets off the bed. I watch him walk over to the lightswitch and turn the lights off, "Gotta set the mood." I laugh softly as he sits next to me and starts the movie.

About 15 minutes into the movie, he lays down behind me while he rests his head on his hand. I turn around and laugh, "Getting comfortable, huh?" He nods, "Of course, I love horror movies." I face forward again, "Same. That's why I picked it."

Five more minutes pass and the movie starts getting good. I start paying attention to details, trying to predict when a jumpscare is gonna happen or which characters are gonna die first. Leo and I discuss which characters are our favorite so far and share that we both dislike the dumb blonde for being oblivious to everything around her.

An unexpected jumpscare comes and I flinch hard. He chuckles, looks at me, and speaks sarcastically, "Aw, do you need me to hold you?" I choose to catch him off guard, "As a matter of fact, yes I do." I see a shocked look on his face as I lay down in front of him and put his arm around my waist.

It takes him a few seconds before he says anything, "Fine then. But let me hold you properly." My eyes widen as in one swift movement, he pulls me closer to him. My back is touching his chest and my ass is in his crotch area. His hand snakes further around my waist and under me as he holds me protectively.

My eyes widen as I whisper, "I was not expecting that.." I can almost feel him smile, "Good." We continue to watch the movie and his grip on me does not loosen. It's actually very comfortable. I start drawing small circles on his arm as we watch the movie. At first he shakes his arm to get me to stop, but when he realizes that I won't listen to him, he just leaves it be.

The movie starts to end as 3 of the 7 main characters make it out alive and run to the police station, covered in blood. Surprisingly, the dumb blonde was one of the 3 to survive. The movie ends a few minutes later and I start to stretch, but he tightens his grip on me. I stop stretching and poke his arm. He loosens it a little, "My bad." I turn around to face him with his arms still around my waist. As I look up at him, he looks down at me, "Hey." I laugh softly and smile, "Hi."

A few seconds go by of comfortable silence in a dark room, only illuminated by the black TV screen rolling credits. He pulls me closer and puts his forehead on mine as he whispers, "Sei così bello." I raised an eyebrow at him and he translated, "You're so beautiful." I avert my eyes as I feel my cheeks become hot, "Th- thank you.." I see him smile from the corner of my eye as he takes his hand under my chin to guide me to look at him. We look at each other for a few seconds, my eyes fluttering between his eyes and his lips.

He smirks seductively and places a gentle kiss on my lips. He pulls away just as quickly as he kissed me and I freeze, just staring at him. He chuckles and licks his lips, "I can do it again if you want." I nod slowly, feeling like I'm in a trance. He takes the hand he was using to rest his hand and puts it on the side of my face. He pulls me closer and kisses me gently again.

I don't know what I'm feeling, but I don't want it to stop. And I want more.

Word Count: 1560 words 

Hey guys! I feeeeeeeel like a lot of y'all will be disliking the main character because of this chapter, but that's a given. I don't want any character to be 100% likeable. But I do want to know you guy's thoughts on this chapter. Things got a little.......................... heated ;) 

But I hope you enjoyed reading and the next chapter will be out in a few days <3 Also, don't mind the picture, that's not exactly what his room looks like. I just put the picture there to set the ambiance :)