Astra went to the Flynns' which was located two houses away from them to bid goodbye to her best friend.
She rang the bell and fidgeted with her fingers while waiting for the door to open. When it came to Darian, Astra had always felt nervous, and yet comfortable.
Comfortable, for he was indeed her best friend. Nervous, for he was the man she loved and adored.
The door was flung open and revealed Darian in nothing but his jeans. She was taken by surprise, but that did not stop her from eyeing his toned up body.
He's been killing those workout sessions, Astra thought to herself.
"Hey..." He showed his famous pretty smile and engulfed her in a tight hug. Attempting to ignore the increasing heartbeat in her heart, Astra faked a small laugh and put her hands on his bare back.
Omg I'm actually touching his body, she thought.
The fake laugh did not seem enough to cover her nervousness because Darian loosened the hug and looked at her.
"Are you nervous?"
Astra stood there, smiling with two question inside her head.
Is he talking about uni? Or my first time hugging him with him being half-naked?
While Astra was weighing out her questions, Darian chuckled softly and put his hands on both sides of her shoulder.
"Astra, do you hear me? I'm asking if you're nervous...about uni."
"Oh..." Astra laughed in relief and nod her head. " Yes, yes. Of course, uni. I'm actually quite nervous. I mean, you're not gonna be there. Who else is going to sit with me during breaks?"
Darian rubbed her shoulders lightly and lifted her chin up so that she would be looking directly at him.
Another round of butterflies hit her stomach. There were a lot of first things that Darian was doing in this farewell.
Letting her see his hot bare body and touching her face like that...Those were the first times.
"Look at me. You will do just great. You're smart, witty, and fun to hang out with. You'll find friends in no time. Trust me."
She gave him a reassuring smile.
"Thanks, I really need that.".
Darian hugged Astra one more time. Only this time, it was longer. Both did not seem like they wanted to let go.
"I'm gonna miss you so much, Darian."
Darian caressed her hair softly and whispered "I'm gonna miss you too, Astra. Please take care there."
They were both lost in that hug and finally let each other go when a familiar voice called out for Astra.
"Astra, my dear. Are you leaving now? Come in."
It was Mrs Flynn, asking Astra to come in.
Astra stepped into the house, followed by Darian behind her.
Mrs Flynn hugged her, and placed a soft peck on Astra's forehead. A gesture Astra hoped her father would have shown her.
Mr Flynn came down the stairs and smiles at Astra.
"My dear, you're leaving already?"
Astra answered with a "yes" and received a warm hug from Mr Flynn too.
After a short conversation with the Flynns, Astra bid them one last goodbye before going back to her house. Darian put on his plain grey t-shirt and offered to walk her home.
It was small thing like that, that made Astra fell for him.
But it also might have something to do with the fact that no one has ever been that sweet to her. Or at least pay attention to her. She was a wallflower afterall. And a straight woman at that. So Darian being the only one who ever paid attention to her made it easier for her to fall in love with him.
But over years, Astra found herself to be more in love with him than ever. Everything he did was beautiful and amazing in her eyes. It was not just because he was nice. At least not anymore.
Walking back to Astra's house, Darian was in complete silence. They both were. The silence was not deafening at all. They were comfortable with it.
Darian slowly moved closer to Astra and hold her hand. This took Astra by surprise, but she was too stunned to move her hand away. Probably because her heart actually wanted to hold hand with him. Even just for one minute. This was also the first time he ever hold her hand properly. Most of the times it was when he wanted to help her with something or accidental hand holdings. Nothing more.
"You know, our universities are exactly the opposite sides from home right? Mine is a four-hour flight from here to the west, yours to the East. And you're leaving so early. I have another two weeks. It's...I can't believe we're actually going to be living in two different places from now on."
Astra did not say a word the whole time. She wanted to listen to everything Darian wanted to say.
"You have been around me for years, Astra. You have been the place where I feel safe and comfortable. And I trust you with my whole life. You saw me at my best and my worst, and I, with yours. This adulting things isn't fun at all. Why do we have to choose different courses at different uni?"
Astra loved the warmth she felt from holding hand with Darian. She wanted to salvage it while it lasted.
"Well, I'm not exactly the sporty kind. And you don't like Psychology. It's obvious why we chose different universities. Or would you prefer I take sports instead? Maybe horizontal running? Or sports in talking the most within 30 minutes? I don't think they have those kinds of classes there."
Darian and Astra laughed at that. She was trying to make things easier. She did not know that this would be hard for him, as it was for her.
"Oh, I'm certainly going to miss your talking. You usually speak about things for hours. And I have to say, I was going to ask for breaks in between ..."
Astra laughed at Darian's words.
"But now...I think I will miss it. Badly."
They both sighed and fell into silence again.
Astra and Darian finally reached the Evans' front door. She was hesitant to get inside because Darian was still holding her hand, and he did not seem too keen on letting it go soon.
Darian took Astra into a hug again, taking her by surprise.
"Safe flight, and just text me or give me a call when you arrive. Okay?"
"Okay." Astra answered shortly with a mumble because her face was buried in his chest.
Sometimes she wondered if they look okay together. This hug, for an instance. When they hug like this, does it look beautiful? Do they match each other like those aesthetic Pinterest couple photos?
But she shook those thoughts away. She wanted to focus on Darian only. At least in that moment.
"Is your dad sending you to the airport?" Darian asked after they loosened the hug.
"Um, actually no. He has a meeting this morning and mum is taking Iris to her swimming competition so ... Grab ride I guess." Astra blamed herself for not getting a driver's license sooner.
(P/s Grab is like Uber in some countries, specifically the one I'm living in)
Darian furrowed his eyebrows, looking a bit of confused, and disappointed?
"Well, l have a car."
Astra looked at him and scoffed.
"Well, that's obviously a new fact. What else is new?"
Darian crossed his arms across his chest and raised his right eyebrow, looking at Astra as if he was daring her to be more sarcastic than that.
"I can drive you, Astra. I live nearby, and I'm your best friend. Why wouldn't you ask me?"
Astra's mouth opened a bit, and she looked like she had just discovered some secret.
She clapped her palms together and said, "ahhh, yes I totally forgot about that. I don't want to trouble you anyways."
"I just said that we're best friends. You're not troubling me, you're making a good use of me. Now you take your stuffs and wait here. I'll go take my car."
Astra was about to protest, but Darian was already jogging towards his house.
She just let out a soft sigh and went inside.
Astra said goodbye to her family and her father helped her to take her things outside. At least he was helping her after all those ignoring he always did.
Iris hugged her tightly, something she never thought her younger sister would do.
"Not gonna miss you, but take care, yeah?" Astra smiled at her sister's words and chose to go with it.
"You can take my bed occasionally but I know you'll love it more if I'm home."
Iris scoffed, but Astra could see that she was trying to hide her smile.
Her mother gave her a hug too, followed by her father who only patted her on the shoulder for a few times, wishing her the best.
After everything was uploaded into Darian's car, Astra got on and her parents thanked Darian for taking her to the airport.
They all said goodbyes one more time to Astra, and off they go to the airport.
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This is a longer chapter, but I do hope you like it :)