A Month Of Kaider

Twenty Three: That Feeling

Cinder grins to herself as she pulls out her keys.

The keys to her own apartment.

She still can't believe she has a place to call her own.

The eight of them had collectively decided to move out of their family residences and share apartments, as close to each other as possible.

Their apartments used to be just one house but the landlady had split it into four living areas, two upstairs and two downstairs. All four apartments are connected in some way, and share the same staircase, but each couple has their own one to personalise.

Wolf and Scarlet had taken a ground floor apartment so Wolf could easily go running and Scarlet could easily access the garden to grow her fruits and vegetables.

Jacin and Winter had taken the other ground floor one, Winter has wanting to care for the floral section in the garden and Jacin wanting to be near an exit at all times like he'd been in his old house.

Cress and Thorne had taken the upper floor apartment because Cress claimed the WiFi was better there and Thorne had no problem climbing in and out of the window if necessary.

Naturally, Kai and Cinder had taken the second upper floor apartment, partly because it was the only one left, partly because that one had two studies so they wouldn't have to cram all their work in one, and partly because it had an attic and a balcony to watch the stars from.

She'd loved the idea immediately, using it as an excuse to get away from her technical guardians.

Pearl had been ecstatic at the idea of her leaving and Adri couldn't have cared less. Peony hadn't said anything and Cinder had almost felt bad for leaving her, but there's no way she'd have chosen anyone else over Kai.

Everyone else's parents had encouraged their decision as well, knowing that they weren't too far away and that this would help them become more independent – or rather, less dependent on adults and more dependent on each other.

As she climbs the stairs, she glances at the clock, feeling guilty for staying out so late.

"Kai?" she calls as she locks their front door behind herself.

"Study!" he calls back.

"You have got to stop staying up so late, you nerd." Cinder frowns as she sees Kai writing something, once again embracing his tendency to neglect sleep.

"Stop frowning at me, this is important," he says without looking up from his desk.

Cinder stands behind him and wraps her arms around his neck. "You need to rest."

"It's Torin's birthday soon..."

Cinder shakes her head, knowing he won't stop until he's finished with whatever he's doing. They're both pretty stubborn people so she can't exactly blame him for that.

As she watches his hand move across the paper and create flawlessly calligraphic lines of writing, she can't help but mentally compare his perfect handwriting to her messy scrawl, sighing as she does.

"I, for one, love your writing style," Kai says as if he can sense her self-doubt.

Cinder smiles gratefully, "Well, I love you."

He hums his version of the three words in response so Cinder unwinds her arms from around him and kisses the top of his head.

"Get some sleep," she murmurs softly.

Kai nods. "There's not much left."

Cinder shakes her head at him but ruffles his hair before leaving, planning to get some sleep herself.

She gasps as her arm hits the radiator, annoyed at the thought of a bruise.

She stretches, making a note to actually move the bed instead of just complaining about it every time she gets a small bruise. The two of them always plan what to do in the middle of the night but neither of them ever remember in the morning.

Yawning, she checks to see if Kai is back, rolling her eyes when she sees the empty bed. She hadn't really expected him to be there, even if she had hoped.

Pulling herself out of the warm duvet, she quietly opens their door and walks down to the study. Her face shapes itself into an expression of fond concern as she catches sight of Kai: He's slumped on the table, his head resting on his arm in what has to be the most uncomfortable position known to humanity.

Cinder kisses his forehead before gently shaking him and whispering, "Kai, wake up."

He stirs sleepily before blinking. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, you idiot."

Kai groans, rubbing his eyes, "What time is it?"

Cinder almost laughs, "Time for you to sleep. Did you finish?"

Kai smiles proudly, "Yeah... Why aren't you asleep?"

Cinder shrugs, pulling him with her as she makes her way back to their bedroom.

Since the apartment has two studies, they can only have one bedroom. They'd moved both the single beds into one room and slid them together, Cinder finding comfort in Kai being with her.

The two of them barely manage to stumble into their beds, giggling at their own sleepy laziness.

Kai's eyes shut as soon as Cinder lets go of him.

Amused, she sighs and throws a blanket over him, her mouth quirking as he sleepily kisses her cheek before sliding into unconsciousness once again.

Quite often, one of them will forget about their natural sleep cycle and stay up so late that the other one has to make sure they actually get into bed.

But Cinder knows that, despite arguing about it, neither of them mind too much.

Watching Kai collapse from exhaustion is frustrating and Cinder hates being helpless, especially when it comes to people she cares about.

Because she does care about Kai.

She cares very much.

She shakes her head, briefly wonders if this is what love should feel like, then stops asking herself that question because she already knows the answer.

She knows it is.

That feeling of another person acting as your querencia. That feeling of warm butterflies in your stomach whenever you're around them and the need to share smiles with them for no particular reason. That feeling of immediate comfort when you see them and the way you can talk to them about things you didn't even know you wanted to say.

That's the feeling of being in love.

That's the feeling she gets with Kai.

And she wouldn't trade it for the world.

This story has just under thirty three hundred views on ffn and five hundred reads here! I cannot even. I am unable to even. I literally don't know how to even. Also, I've had two people ask for another kaider fic and one ask for a Cresswell fic so, unless that changes, there won't be an epilogue, just another fic at some point :) Thanks to sasswarrior and butterflyweird for voting!! Hope you enjoyed and see you tomorrow!