Tale of Two

3. I'm Only Me When I'm With You

So Reign smiled and urged him to continue.

"After leaving the party I couldn't stop thinking about her so I asked Paulie for her number and after some persuasion he gave me. We have chatting since then and Reign, I have never met a girl like her."

Reign takes a sandwich from the lunch and so does Nikolai. College cafeteria is worse than high school and although there are some cafe nearby, buying costly lunch every day is not an option when you already have so much student loans piling up.

So every alternate day Reign and Nikolai would bring lunch for both of them except for Wednesday when they would go to the cafe. It was like a routine that always worked for them.

"Tell me more about her," Reign asked.

After swallowing his bite he says, "Well, her name is Riley. She likes to call Paul as Paulie and insists that everyone does the same. She is a quasi-feminist so I guess you will quasi-like her," at this they both chuckled before he continued. "She is into sports which is why she is the track runner in her college. Also, she thinks that Area 51 conspiracy is true and the government just wants to hide that from us."

Nikolai's eyes sparkled with mirth as he said the last part as if remembering an inside joke that must have passed on between them. Reign ignored the flicker of jealousy and focused on being a better friend.

"She sounds quirky."

"Say that after you meet her. She has a sarcastically blunt remark for every answer."

Reign didn't know if she really wanted to meet her. She didn't have any problem meeting his past girlfriends but this time the way he was talking about her after meeting her only once made her feel nervous.

"Must be quite a character," she said swallowing her nerves along with the sandwich bite.

"Oh, she is," he replied not noticing her expression which she was thankful for.

Had he seen her forlorn expression he would have asked questions, questions she couldn't answer without professing her crush or love whatever god forbid she has developed for him and she wasn't ready to do that now when he was talking about another woman.

Right now she would just be his best friend no matter how much her heart yearns to tell the truth and come clean.

For his heart, she will stop listening to hers even though she wasn't sure if it belonged to her anymore.

"She asked me out," he said a tinge of pink dusting his cheeks as he tried not to smile like a schoolboy. Reign cleared her throat and forced a smile, resting her back on the chair in a better position, "A date?"

Nikolai scrunched up his nose, "I really don't know."

Reign raised her eyebrows so he continued.

"She asked me to come with her to the Miles Fair. I didn't want to push my luck by asking her if it was a date so I just said yes."

"So you just consider it's a date even though she hadn't made it clear?"

"Hey, if not a date, then at least it's a half date considering the fact that I hold half the power and for me it is."

Reign rolls her eyes but couldn't help as a small smile graced her lips, this time a real one.

The alarm set for Nikolai's next class rings and he picks up his half-eaten and sandwich and starts taking quick bites.

Reign shakes her head and takes out her water bottle from her bag knowing fully well that he would be asking for it after almost choking on his food.

As if on clue, Nikolai starts coughing and reaches for the water bottle.

Reign shakes her head slowly. She doesn't know whom she wants to blame. Herself for knowing him so well or him for not noticing how much she cares.

Nikolai keeps the almost empty water bottle on the table and grins at Reign when she reaches for it to take a sip. Picking it up before she could he takes the last one sip and then passes her empty bottle to her.

Reign scowls at him as he gets up, takes his bag, and leaves for his maths class all the while laughing at her.

He turns, never stopping his steps as he reaches the door and gives her a wink before blurring in the crowd.

Reign looks in his direction even though he couldn't be seen anymore among the swarm of people and tries to calm the butterflies in her stomach as they come alive as if on Red Bull.

Although while keeping her half eaten sandwich back in the box and wrapping up her lunch she couldn't help but think about the girl he was talking about. Nikolai easily fell in love. He always thought that he had finally found the one but then the cycle would repeat and he would return to her.

She was his home just like he was her's. And she couldn't help but pray for him to choose his path home.