Titi Iku: Until Death (Sequel To Irikuri)

7-Until Dejection

I waited in front of my house for a second before Ade's car pulled up. He looked at my bags and sighed, stuffing them into the trunk, then he slid into the drivers seat and pulled out of the driveway.

"Well...what happened?"

"I'm your new roomie."

"Clearly, but why?"

"Hey, if you don't want me to live with you, I have savings. I can live somewhere else, no pressure."

'Don't put fucking words in my mouth. You know I hate that. If I didn't want you with me I would say it. "

"Okay so...what's the problem?"

"Please don't tell me this is how you gonna be."

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean the weird shit you been on lately. Mad for no reason, refusing to be straight up with me...is it that you only fuck with me when you got no other choice?" He looked at me expectantly and I remained silent, hoping he'd drop it. After a minute of silence he pulled over the car. "Nki. I have never ever been upset at you before, don't make me start now." he stared me down and I sighed, finally deciding to give in.

 "My father gave me an ultimatum, so I left."

"What was the ultimatum?"

"Not important."

"Nki-"

"I told him we're married and he wanted me to get an annulment." I huffed

"So you left?"

"Well he said either that or I leave so of course I left. The annulment would defeat the purpose of the entire marriage and you could still have to testify." Also i'm like totally in love with you and kinda wanna stay married to you for the rest of my life. "Unless you want an annulment.."

"I don't want an annulment Nki, I'm the one that proposed."

"Yeah but we were both stressed and tired and we had just been through hell. It's okay if you changed your mind."

"You're not gonna get rid of me for a very long time, so let's make one thing clear now. If I don't want something, you're gonna know." Ade squeezed my hand and I fought a smile but continued to look at him intensely as we began speeding down the highway once again. "What now Nki?"

"I'm sorry I just...I don't want you to resent me. I know you may think it's what you want now, but what if you change your mind? What about when you want to get married for real?" There was an edge to my voice as I grew slightly irritated thinking about Ade annulling our marriage to marry someone else. He smirked at me and shook his head.

"I won't."

"But how do you-"

"I'm a very decisive person if you haven't noticed. I decided to pursue coding when I was 4, and look where it led me. I followed my gut when I married you, and my gut hasn't been wrong yet." I rolled my eyes at his certainty. Inside, I was a bundle of nerves. I was not convinced. I realized that on any given day he could meet someone and decide to be with them instead, all because I was being too much of a pussy to say something. I kept waiting for the right moment, but honestly what is the right moment to tell your best friend you're in love with them? I broke out of my thoughts and decided to grow a pair.

"Ade?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we're more than best friends?" I felt his pulse speed up from where his hand held mine.

"Well yeah. Definitely. But what do you call someone who was there for you during your lowest lows and knows the worst of you better than the best? What do you call your literal partner in crime? The type of crazy shit we've done...the things we've seen each other do...I mean I guess when I say it out loud the description of best friends fits it best, but of course we aren't just 'best friends' in the traditional sense. " My stomach did somersaults.