Take It Slow (NCT U's TEN)

Chapter Fourteen.

They stood by her front door for a while.

"Are you okay?" He asked again, this time with a lot more sympathy.

"I will be," She answered, looking at the floor of her porch. She remembered this was where Jaehyun and herself shared their first kiss. She felt tears brimming her eyes again.

"Hey," Chittaphon said, putting a hand of her arm when he saw her lip start trembling again. She looked up at him. "He does care about you," He told her. As much as he hated it, Jaehyun made her happy, and she needed to hear the truth. "He really does. He used to talk about you a lot, but we don't talk much ourselves anymore. . ." He trailed off, not sure if he was willing to tell her why. She gave him a small smile.

"I've noticed. It's strange," She commented, her voice wavering slightly. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do," She told him, a sad smile on her face as she looked into his eyes. Chittaphon put his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and shrugged.

"Do what your heart says to do," He suggested, and Skye swore she saw his eyes twinkle. She sniffed, taking in a deep breath and nodding. "Don't overthink it, just rest well," He told her, stepping down the stairs of her porch and standing on the paved ground.

"Thank you," Skye said to him. He chuckled, making Skye's heart flutter at his smile.

"For what?" He asked, a smile still on his face. Skye laughed this time.

"Just. . . Being here, I guess," She said with a shrug. "I'll buy you a new cape," She added, looking at his lipstick and foundation stained shoulder. He looked down to see the marks, not noticing before. He looked back to her and smiled again.

"No need, I don't wear a cape often," He assured. Skye nodded with a frown.

"Right, sorry. My head's a little foggy," She told him, then felt sad again as she realized why her head was foggy. Chittaphon noticed her face change, his smile fading.

"Try to get a good amount of sleep," He reminded her. She nodded in understanding, smiling. "Good night, Skye." He turned away from her, much to his displeasure. He was rather enjoying being alone with her again, but he knew the earlier she slept the better.

Skye felt a wave of sadness overcome her as she watched him walk down her garden path. It was dark and late outside, Hallowe'en making the streets more unsafe than usual. Was he walking home? She thought to herself. He was practically on the pavement outside her garden when she called his name.

"Chittaphon?" She said. He looked at her in surprise, not expecting her to say anything else. "Can- can you stay?" She asked. Chittaphon's heart started racing.

"You mean, over your house? Overnight?" He questioned.

"It's OK if you'd rather not," She dismissed. Chittaphon walked back through the small gate at the bottom of her garden, closing it behind him.

"If you want me to, then I will," He agreed.

"If you want to go back to your hostel you can," She told him, her voice firm.

"I'll stay." He nodded his head once. She smiled at him.

"Thank you," She said quietly, opening her front door as Chittaphon walked up the path and onto her porch. "Go straight up, my room is the first door on the right. I'm going to tell her you're here so she doesn't have a heart attack in the morning," She told him, laughing towards the end of her sentence. Chittaphon nodded then proceeded to go up the staircase and through the door that was first on the right whilst Skye went into her kitchen.

Chittaphon wandered around her room looking at the different objects she had lying on each surface. She had a diverse collection of guitar plectrums on the shelf that her guitar was leaning on. Near the plectrums was a photo of what he could only assume was her family on holiday. By the looks of it she had an older brother with darker hair but with a paler complexion. He noticed a variety of posters splayed out on one wall, each with a different face or band on.