I quickly looked around the room for the door, and when I spotted it I speedily walked toward it.
I couldn't be in her room right now.
I twisted the doorknob and slowly opened it. I didn't know who would be on this floor. After the door opened I peered out and the floor was...
Wow.
I was completely speechless, from the massive living area and kitchen, to the beautifully decorated floor, it was apparent that this was Nova's floor. It had to be.
I creeped towards the elevator trying to make as little noise as possible until I heard a slightly familiar voice.
"Are you okay?" Nova asked, her voice raspy and low.
I glanced over to where her voice was coming from. She was sitting up from the couch she was on, her hair was messy and her eyes were low.
She was wearing the same outfit she had on earlier today, except this time she had on a black tank top instead of a compression shirt.
My mouth watered looking at her toned arms and tired appearance.
"I- um, yeah...?" I stammered trying to recover from the sight in front of me. "I'm going to go," I said, turning on my heel towards her elevator.
"Wait,"
"You don't have to leave or anything– I'll even make you breakfast again," Nova added, getting up from the couch and walking towards me.
"...We can make breakfast...?" She trailed off.
I dramatically hummed, tapping my chin, pretending to think.
"Sure... only if you get rid of those shorts." I said jokingly.
"Aww, I thought you were going to like them now." She replied with a light tone.
"I don't know... I think they're starting to grow on me." I said, glancing down at them.
"Good, cause I got 4 more pairs, all different colors just for you." She added chuckling,
walking in the direction of her kitchen.
"Can't wait to see them." I said, following behind her.
"Soooo... this is your floor?" I asked curiously.
"Mhm." she hummed, opening the cabinet and taking some ingredients out.
"I could definitely see that." I said glancing around the floor, I immediately noticed the sun was shining through the large windows.
"What time is it?" I added turning to face Nova.
"9 or 10, you've been up here a couple of hours,"
"How many hours has your girlfriend been up here?" I asked, feeling a bit of boldness enter my body.
"Who?" Nova asked, looking at me.
"That blonde girl who was on my floor a couple days ago," I explained, sitting on the island behind me.
"Angela?" Nova asked.
"If that's what her name is." I said blankly.
"She's not my girlfriend," She said, giving her full attention to me.
"Obviously she is if you kissed her." I retorted, furrowing my brows, even if it was a few days ago, I couldn't stop replaying the kiss in my head.
I watched as Nova opened her mouth and immediately closed it after, like she was about to say something.
"I don't know how to explain it," She finally said.
"Is there really anything to explain? You kissed her." I spat out.
"I did."
"But she's not my girlfriend, she's not even important." Nova added.
"Do you always kiss unimportant people?" I asked, raising a brow.
"Are you always jealous?" Nova said with a smirk on her face.
I immediately felt a blush creep on my face.
"I-I'm not jealous," I said, scrunching my face in disgust.
"I think you are, cause you mentioned her in the past 2 days more than I ever have," She said, lazily raising her eyebrows.
"But in all seriousness–" Nova said standing up straight "–I told her I was becoming the leader and that was her reaction. I didn't want to make it awkward so I just went along. Noah also told her about the party and got her an escort to take her there, she didn't come with me."
"You kissed her back because you didn't want it to be awkward?" I reiterated slowly.
"Yeah..." She trailed off squinting her eyes.
"So what, you guys were past flings or something?" I asked putting the pieces together, why else would she be so content with the kiss.
"Something like that, I guess,"
"So what happened with you two? I haven't seen her here this whole time." I questioned, knowing that they couldn't be that serious if she didn't show up until now.
"She wanted more than I could offer, so I broke it off. She wasn't supposed to be here in the first place." She said blankly.
More than she could offer?
I forced myself to avoid asking anymore questions about their relationship and slowly tried to change the subject.
"And you didn't drive her to the party?" I asked.
"I don't drive anyone in my car." Nova said, keeping a blank expression on her face.
"What about me?" I mean she's been the only one driving me around.
"Special exception."
As soon as the sentence left her lips a silence grew between us. And so did the butterflies in my chest.
I couldn't even recall a time where I had this feeling toward someone else.
I only felt like this around Nova.
And I couldn't figure out if it was a good or bad thing.
"Can we make breakfast now?" Nova asked, finally breaking the silence.
"I was waiting on you," I said, pushing myself off of the island.
"Really? because I was waiting for you to lose the staring contest," She said, taking a couple of steps toward me.
"I was not staring." I replied slightly irritated at the accusation.
Was I staring?
"You definitely were, but I'll let it go just this once." She said turning to face the counter.
"Why thank you Casanova, I couldn't be more grateful for this change of heart," I said teasingly.
"The usage of the full name?" She dramatically questioned while grabbing some ingredients from the counter.
"I'm going to start using it more often," I replied, watching her set everything on the counter.
"I'm not complaining."
I quickly cleared my throat before obviously changing the subject, "What are we making?"
"Pancakes, eggs, bacon, but if you had something else in mind we can do that too." She answered.
"Let's start the bacon first." I said, opening the package of bacon.
I watched as Nova grabbed a pan from one of the cabinets and turned the stove on, placing it on top of the fire.
Once the pan was slightly heated I grabbed some of the bacon and lined them next to each other in the pan.
When the bacon started sizzling I turned to Nova, "Pancakes now?" She asked. I hummed in response and helped her take the ingredients to a free part of the counter.
"You've ever made a pancake before?" Nova asked, pouring melted butter into a large bowl.
"Seriously?"
"It's a genuine question, you could have never made a pancake in your life," She said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Yes Nova, I have made a pancake before." I said slowly, playfully rolling my eyes.
"What's your favorite ingredient when making one?" Nova asked while reaching into a bag.
"What do you—"
I was instantly cut off when Nova blew a handful of flour in my face. I quickly wiped my face before reaching for the flour bag. I grabbed a handful of flour and threw it at Nova as she was running away.
"Since you wanted to be funny," I said, while laughter escaped my lips.
"Yeah I thought it was—" Nova paused in the middle of her sentence as she reached in the bag of flour "—Hilarious." She finished her sentence as she threw some flour back at me.
I continued laughing while running to the opposite side of the island, away from Nova.
I watched as she reached into the bag and pulled out another handful of flour. I averted my attention back to Nova who had a full on smile plastered on her face.
Everything about her was mesmerizing. From her personality to her smile— I just wanted to know every little detail about her until I knew it all.
I paused my thoughts when I noticed a clump of flour coming towards me. I quickly ducked, making Nova miss entirely, only leaving a few tiny flour particles reaching me.
I stood back up to my original height and reached across the island in an attempt to get the bag before she did. But once I saw it in her hands I leaned off of the island and began making my way to the side Nova was on.
I managed to get to her side before she could pull out another clump of flour and briefly grabbed the bag from her.
The bag was in my hands for a few seconds before Nova grabbed it back and held it in the air.
"I'll let you get a free hit if you can get it from me." She said, looking down at me.
"You're so corny," I said giggling.
"All you have to do is take it from me," Nova said, dangling the bag in the air.
I looked at the bag, and then back to her. She challengingly raised her eyebrows and I averted my attention back to the bag.
I jumped up and reached my arm out in an attempt to take it from her but she quickly took a step back.
"You never said you could move." I said taking a step toward her.
"Unspoken rule."
I jumped and reached for the bag that was in the air once again. And once it was slightly in my hand Nova let go of the bag completely, letting the flour fall on both of us completely.
I stood there with my lips parted in shock, and I watched as a smile grew on Nova's lips.
I was so lost in the moment I didn't even notice how close we were.
I intently stared up at her, as a silence grew in the kitchen. We kept our eyes locked on each other and neither of us broke the silence.
I knew I shouldn't have.
That there was a chance that this wouldn't end well— and a high one at that. But even with these factors I couldn't stop myself from lowering my gaze to her lips.
And when my eyes darted up to hers again, I noticed that her eyes were on my lips.
But neither of us closed the gap, because we both knew we weren't meant to.
Novas eyes slowly trailed up my face and back to my eyes.
I knew this wasn't meant to work out for the both of us.
But please let me have this one thing.
I glanced back down to her lips and began leaning towards her.
I looked back into her eyes before closing mine, and I don't think I've anticipated something more in my life.
That was until I heard a familiar sound and quickly pulled back. We were about 2 feet away from each other now and the only sound throughout the whole floor was Nova's ringtone.
She reached in her pocket to grab her phone be before speaking, "Excuse me,"
I watched as she walked to a different part of the floor to take the call.
A wave of disappointment and realization washed over me as the high from the situation completely faded.
I kept my gaze locked on the spot Nova was standing as I relived the short moment.
Again.
And again.
As I stood in the middle of her kitchen covered in flour.