CHAPTER 34
"Erìhe, wait. Please."
Neteyam jogged to catch up to the girl. After the first few awkward minutes spent in that pod, Erìhe had been the first to get up and leave. Seeing his chance, Neteyam had hurried to follow her.
They stood along the shore - opposite of the direction that Erìhe had seen Lo'ak and Tsireya disappear off to.
She had sort of counted on the fact that Neteyam would follow her, and that was why she had chosen to walk toward the quietest place she could think of.
Erìhe did wait for him.
She missed talking to him - though she would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that fact. So instead she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for Neteyam to step in front of her.
Neteyam had smiled when he saw her stop walking, but now that he saw her scowl that smile slipped. "Erìhe," he said cautiously.
"Neteyam," Erìhe responded. She studied his face - quietly and secretly admiring his features as he stepped closer to her.
Just her saying his name was enough to jumpstart his heart and make his heartbeat accelerate. "How are you?" He breathed.
Erìhe looked down at her hands, which fumbled with the bracelets she wore. Neteyam also glanced down at her bracelets and noticed Aluva's one hanging loosely from her left wrist.
"I am alright," Erìhe finally replied to him, her eyes glued to her hands.
The atmosphere was tense - awkward. Though the view was gorgeous.
Neteyam looked around briefly, admiring the purple hue of the sky and the light sparkle of stars. But the prettiest view was stood right before him.
That day Erìhe wore one of her old tops which had rows of beads falling vertically over her chest. Neteyam's favorite detail about the clothing were the claws which had been sown into it. He strongly believed that they were the ones that she had found back in the forest as a child - when they had been friends.
Neteyam especially liked her clothes because they reminded him of home.
In actuality - she reminded him of home.
He had heard her saying that she was alright, but he also knew it was a lie. Stepping even closer - so that there was barely any space left between them - Neteyam placed a hand on her upper arm.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered.
If it were anyone but Neteyam, Erìhe would have tried to make him feel as horrible as she could. She would want to hurt them for having made her cry.
She had cried in front of Neteyam before, but just like him - she did not want to seem vulnerable. She was determined to not cry today, so she decided to not get into it.
After thing for a minute, Erìhe realized that she had many things to be apologetic for as well.
"I am sorry too," she told him.
The smallest frown made its way on Neteyam's face, "What for?" He placed his other hand on her shoulder as well - so that the two now stood excruciatingly close.
Their breaths mixed together as Erìhe looked up at Neteyam. She noticed that he was tilting his head the smallest bit to better look into her eyes.
As she felt her heartbeat accelerate, she cleared her throat and moved half a step back. She was getting too flustered being so close to him.
"I know I've done many things to anger you," Erìhe mumbled as she averted her eyes from his.
"Like what?" Neteyam now wore a smile - void from any humor, "Being friends with my siblings?" He questioned, also looking away from her, "Yeah, no. It's not something I ever should have been angry about."
"But why did it upset you?"
Neteyam's eyes flickered back to her and the corner of his mouth stretched into the smallest smile. It was an apologetic expression. "It's not that big of a deal."
Erìhe had not forgotten his outburst when they'd found out the sky people were after his family - but she understood how he had been vulnerable in that moment.
So she decided to push down that anger. "What is it?" She urged him to tell her.
Neteyam grimaced as he let go of her with one of his hands. He lifted that hand to sweep his braids over his shoulder. "I was just jealous," he told her sheepishly. Upon seeing her confused expression, he chuckled and continued, "How you were acting like an older sister to them - it made me jealous."
Erìhe found it admirable that he could admit his jealousy so easily - he had done it before too. She could never do that. It was one big flaw of hers. Then she suddenly laughed lightly and pushed him gently, "That's ridiculous."
"It's really not."
Erìhe blinked and her smile slowly disappeared. Then she sighed and took his hand in both of hers. "I'm sorry," she repeated her earlier apology as she brought his hand up to her chest - still encased in her hands, "I was not trying to make you feel that way."
Neteyam's eyes bore into hers as he felt her tightly holding onto his hand. The feeling made tons of butterflies erupt in his stomach, flying around and relentlessly batting their wings. Then he suddenly pulled his hand away from hers - gently lifting one of her hands to rest on his shoulder. Erìhe was wary of his advances - he could tell by the frown that had formed on her face.
"What are you doing?" She asked in a mere whisper as Neteyam brought her closer by hooking an arm behind her waist, pulling her toward him. She had not realized that their relationship was close enough that they could simply hold each other whenever they wished to.
However she did not mind it one bit.
"Hugging you," Neteyam responded as he brought his head down, resting his chin on her shoulder.
Erìhe almost shivered as their chests made contact. They had hugged once before - but that had been under very different circumstances. She had been upset and crying that time. Now she felt slightly awkward.
Neteyam felt as though he was hugging a board - Erìhe had not yet moved one bit. Standing straight with one hand awkwardly balled up on his shoulder - it was not a comfortable hug. He sighed as he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, hoping that she would feel less awkward soon. Otherwise he'd just feel stupid.
Luckily for him, Erìhe did hug him back. After a minute of holding an uncomfortable grimace on her face, Erìhe's face relaxed and she found herself melting into the embrace. She took a subconscious step closer to him as her arms locked behind his neck.
The initial awkwardness had since disappeared and now Neteyam smiled as he happily ran his hand up and down her back. "I really am so sorry for saying what I did," he turned his head to whisper in her ear as he remembered that she'd never said she forgave him.
Erìhe also turned her head so that she faced him, "It is okay," she assured him in a soft voice.
Neteyam thought he would melt. Her voice sounded so sweet and genuine as she gazed at him with her pretty eyes - it was becoming too much.
Erìhe's eyes studied his face, especially admiring his smooth skin and the stripes on his forehead - just his forehead seemed as though his skin was a darker blue whereas his stripes were lighter. His beautiful skin was decorated with the bioluminescent freckles that dusted his features.
Then Erìhe found her gaze lingering on his lips.
She had not even realized what she'd been staring at until Neteyam's breath hitched. It seemed he had noticed as well. Glancing back up into his eyes, Erìhe tried to make sense of his expression.
Would he be against it if she kissed him?
Perhaps she should have asked, but in that moment when she was so caught up in her own feelings - she did not.
Erìhe slowly moved forward, closing the small gap between their mouths as their eyes delicately fluttered shut.
When Erìhe's hand found it's way to the back of Neteyam's neck, he suddenly jolted back, seeming as though he had been burned by a hot wire.
Erìhe blinked - suddenly realizing her mistake. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, drawing her hands back from around his neck, "I should have asked. I'm sorry - I really am."
Neteyam could not answer. She had kissed him. He'd always thought that he would be the one ending up making the first move. Did this mean that she liked him? Did she return his feelings?
As Erìhe stepped away from him, Neteyam tried reading her expression. He could not. He had no clue what her feelings for him were and that scared him. Was he going to end up like Ao'nung, whom she kissed only to reject soon after?
Still mumbling apologies, Erìhe turned and started walking away.
Neteyam's arms that had previously been wrapped around her waist fell limply by his sides as he stood as still as a statue. He now missed the warmth that she had provided him by being so close.
Though he stood unmoving - his mind was racing ahead as he thought of all the possibilities and outcomes.
Erìhe was not an open book. It was something he both loved and hated.
-
A/n:
I have really been testing y'all's patience lately, I'm sorry
But I'm gonna do it some more <33
ALSO EW I can't with myself
I'm gonna fall behind and fail my philosophy exam but at least I'm getting this shit over (by that I mean publishing this chapter)
And for my own mental health I will not be checking all the comments because girl - I myself cringe sm at this