She's smiling. Smiling. I came over to her house to say thank you for the baking yesterday, expecting her to tell me to go away.
Instead, Amira welcomed me in with a small smile on her face and asked if I wanted to join her to watch a movie.
She was very shy when asking, making sure to add that I didn't have too if I didn't want to.
It was cute actually, how embarrassed and nervous she was asking me to simply hang out.
Her face went all red and she couldn't look me in the eye.
Of course I fucking said yes as soon as I heard it.
So now we are trying to pick a movie to watch, and we keep arguing back and forth on what movie to watch.
We aren't actually arguing of course, more like banter.
"No, horrors are way better!" She says, a pout on her face.
"Oh shush, they have no plot." The real reason I don't want to watch a horror movie, is the simple fact that I don't want to scream like a little girl in front of her.
When it comes to anything scary in real life, I'm the guy to ask. I hardly ever get scared or worried. I can handle myself in most situations.
But anything supernatural in movies scares the shit out of me.
Eventually I give in and we watch a horror. It's not that bad to be honest.
I'm aware of how close we are, but of course I don't mind.
We are sitting on her huge couch in her living room and she is a couple inches away from me, her head resting on the couch and her feet outstretched.
I can hear her breathing, feel her eyes on the movie.
She looks so beautiful doing something so simple. She looks enthralled by the movie and that's all that matters to me.
About half an hour through, I look at her and notice she's fallen asleep. It brings a smile to my face, as I know how she has had trouble sleeping in the past.
Amira looks so peaceful in her sleep, unlike her usual alert vibe she has to her. She can never seem to relax.
Her phone dings from her lap and I grab it so that it doesn't wake her.
I don't mean to look.
It just catches my eye, the random number.
So, I decide to read the text she received.
I know it's wrong. But it can't be that important, if it's coming from an unknown number.
My eyes widen and my curiosity and confusion only deepens when I read the text.
"Jackson told me about your night with him. Flirting with my friends now, are you? He said you're looking as sexy as ever. Maybe I should come and pay you a visit?"
I read it over and over, trying to make sense of it.
The only explanation is that Jackson is the blonde, buzz cut dickhead that I saw her with the other night.
So, who could possibly be his friend? And what does he want with Amira?
Common sense says that he already knew her, whoever this unknown number is.
I put her phone down, deciding to ask her about it later. This guy sounds dangerous and I'm going to find him.
I drape a blanket gently over her before going to the kitchen.
She never seems to eat much, I've noticed.
I start to whip up a meal using the ingredients in her kitchen.
From the minimal supplies I have, I decided to make some chicken pasta. She seems to have all of the basic ingredients to make it.
I've always loved cooking for the people I care about. It lets them know that I'm here, and that I love them.
I also enjoy it too. Putting on some good music and cooking something delicious is a great combo.
After about half an hour of cooking and just before I'm done, a tired Amira comes into the kitchen and sits down on one of the bar stools.
"What are you doing?" Her hoodie is over her head and her long hair is cascading down to her waist. I can see her prominent eye bags when she looks up at me- something she must have covered before.
"I'm making you some food. It's almost ready." She nods, obviously too tired to respond.
I wonder if she had seen the text yet. Probably not, seeing she just woke up. I would probably be able to tell a change in demeanour if she had seen it too.
I serve her up a plate and put it in front of her, sitting down next to her with mine.
"Asher this looks delicious."
I smile at her, "Thanks Mira, it's my own recipe."
"How did you know?" She says and the question catches me off guard. Know what? Does she know that I saw the text, somehow? Is she asking me about that?
"Know about what?" I keep my voice casual.
"That I love pasta." She looks at me, a small smile on her face and she bites her lip. She fucking bites her lip.
There's no way she doesn't know what she looks like doing that.
"I'm just smart like that." I tap my head and she lets out a small laugh. Music to my ears.
We are silent as we eat, an understanding that we don't need to make conversation right now.
I debate if I should talk to her about the text I saw or not. On one hand, I want to know if she's safe or not. On the other hand, she might be mad that I looked at her phone. I would be. It's a violation of her privacy.
I decide to go with the first option, because that seems more important right now.
"Listen, while you were asleep... I saw a text on your phone. Have you seen it?"
She looks at me, wide eyed and jumps up headed for the living room. She grabs her phone and reads it. I can tell her heart sinks. I can see her breathing quicken. I can figure out the fact that she is scared.
"I can help you, just tell me what it's about."
She looks at me, and it seems like a part of her wants to tell me everything. She looks like she is close to just crying in my arms right there.
Amira takes a deep breath, and looks up from her phone.
"Asher, you shouldn't have read my texts."
Her lower lip is wobbling, and she looks like she is about to cry.
"But I just saw it. Are you safe-"
She cuts me off as soon as I say that, her eyes trained on her shoes.
"Please just go."
Her voice is unstable, and I don't like the idea of leaving right now. She needs someone. She needs me.
I stand my ground, looking at her with concern and worry in my eyes.
"Asher, I'm fine. My dad's going to be home soon anyways. You need to leave."
I take a deep breath, and decide that I have to leave. If she wants me to go, I can't stay out of my own free will.
"Okay, okay. But please call me if you need me. I'm only 5 minutes away okay?" She nods and walks me to the door.
Once I'm outside, she immediately goes back inside and I want to do nothing more than go back in and take her in my arms.
But that isn't what she wants.
So I go home, with my phone next to me waiting for it to ring.
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A/N
NOT EDITED LOL
WC: 1291
Hey guys!! Thank you so much for 200 reads, I really appreciate it!! It actually makes me so happy. I wrote this chapter completely on my phone at 3am. Why? I don't know. I was about to fall asleep and then I had this chapter idea. Anyways, we are getting to the good stuff now.
Please tell me if you are enjoying my book!! I love hearing (kind) feedback.
Next chapter teaser: Amira is worried about the text, while also thinking about how Asher is getting too close. She has let her walls down, and the consequence of that is that he saw evidence of the one part of her life that she wants to keep hidden from him.