Ama scrunched up her nose in displeasure at the sight that greeted her as she stepped into Daniel's apartment. She had been ringing the doorbell nonstop with no response only to push the door open to see him sprawled all over the couch looking like a disaster.
It wasn't him, as much as the state the room was in that displeased her. There were plastic plates strewn all over the floor which led her to believe he had been ordering food and hadn't cared enough to pack up afterwards. There wasn't an alcohol bottle in sight though, which made her feel a tiny bit reassured. She didn't need to get worried over him getting sick considering the fact that he looked like he hadn't even moved from where he was for the past few days.
Her gaze drifted away from the whole mess and landed on him once more. He looked like a dead man with his arms and legs spread wide on the couch, dressed only in boxers with his shirt and pants among the pile of rubbish on the floor. The only thing that indicated he was breathing was the steady rise and fall of his chest. It further displeased her to see that the shirt and pants were the same pair from Angel's birthday. She refused to contain the thought that he probably hadn't had a bath since then. And that was two days ago.
Letting out a drawn breath, she tapped him gently on the shoulder to wake him up. When he didn't budge, she tapped him harder. He stirred then became still almost immediately. Her hands were poised to tap him again when his eyes suddenly flew open, startling her and she jerked back in surprise. In an exaggerated motion, her hand flew up to cover her scrunched up nose.
He squeezed his eyes shut then open again as if to readjust himself to his surrounding. Slowly, his eyes focused on her as if he was only just seeing her. With a subtle eye roll, he sat up slowly and said, "Stop being overly dramatic, Ama. I don't stink and no bad breath either. I've not been here like this all these while."
Ama's eyes scanned the room again and landed back on him with a raised brow. "I find that hard to believe."
"I'm just drained, really," he stated with a sigh. "And cleaning up a room has been the least of my problem."
Her eyes narrowed and she clucked her tongue as if deliberating something. Coming to a decision, she slowly brought her hand back down. She moved closer to him and bent down until they were about eye level and proceeded to sniff him.
"Are you serious right now?" He asked with incredulous laughter.
Ama shrugged, unbothered although she felt immensely pleased that she'd at least gotten a laugh out of him.
He flicked her nose with his index finger and that minor touch was enough to send her whole being buzzing. She was suddenly reminded of why she avoided getting too close to him. She jolted back up with a start, pushing his hand away. He looked at her weirdly but didn't say anything.
Flustered, she gestured wildly at the expanse of the living room. "You might be clean but you need to clean up this place. Your living room's a total mess." She looked back down at him. "And so are you, lack of bad breath regardless."
He frowned as if she'd just asked him to shoot himself in the head. His gaze traveled round the room just as hers had done. "Yeah... No. At least not yet. Like I said, I'm too emotionally exhausted."
"Every word out of your mouth screams excuses," she said with an eye roll. Sighing, she took time to study his profile. Worry lines were visible on his forehead as he was still frowning. His whole face was drawn and he really did look tired. In a tone softer than she'd intended, she asked, "Are you okay?"
He shrugged and rested back against the couch, shielding his face with his right arm. "I don't know. It just really sucks, you know?"
"Have you talked to her?" As much as she loathed talking about Sharon--or was it Rose?-- she really wanted to know if the girl had made any move to reconcile with him after she'd practically bolted out of Alex's house two days ago at Angel's birthday party.
"About a hundred missed calls," he replied blandly.
Her eyebrows raised at his cold reply. "And you don't feel you should talk to her about it?" Go ahead, Ama. Shoot yourself in the leg.
His hand dropped away from his face and he was staring at her with a bewildered expression. "About how she's been dating both Raymond and I and God knows how many other guys at the same time... Yeah, no thank you. Crazy part is... We both met her at a mutual friend's place."
Ama hadn't been aware of that. She couldn't help the pleasant feeling his answer spiked in her even though she knew it was selfish of her. Halfheartedly, she started, "I just thought--"
He interrupted her, "Doesn't matter, Sharon and I are done. Why are you defending her anyway? You never liked her."
"No, I..." She sputtered. Had she been so obvious about it? She'd never liked the girl and had always felt something wasn't quite right about her but Sophie had thought she was just being jealous so she'd tried her best to at least be civil whenever she was around her.
Daniel was looking at her expectantly, waiting for a reply. She shrugged instead, letting the sentence trail off. "You just sound so... Unaffected for someone who has spent the last three days mopping."
"Unaffected? Is that how I'm coming off?" He questioned, raising an inquisitive brow.
She shrugged in response.
"There's no point dwelling on it. I really did like her and she had all these attributes that just made her look like the perfect woman, you know? Lesson learned though, never judge a book by it's cover." He continued when she didn't say anything, "But I don't think I was really in love with her. I thought I was, but if I was, this should hurt more than it does right now."
Ama could feel her heart smiling. Pathetic, she chided herself. "But if you didn't love her, why is your living room in this state?"
"Because I am still emotionally exhausted. Love or not, I invested a lot into that relationship for it to just go down the drain like that. Besides, they do this in movies, right? Hero is heartbroken, his living room suffers for it. I should have been getting drunk as well but you know I puke at the slightest taste of alcohol."
Ama gaped at him, gobsmacked. She wasn't sure which shocked her more; the fact that he was mourning his lost relationship rather than the girl he had thought himself in love with or that he was comparing his life to some romance movie. She didn't know when a smile blossomed onto her face. Talk about a person being impossible.
He studied her keenly, watching as a smile crept up on her face. He could hear his heart pounding against his ribcage. It had always been like that, ever since they'd met in the university. For a while, he had dismissed the feeling, refusing to dwell on it for long. He had figured it'd disappear sooner or later. It hadn't though, and it had only seemed to grow stronger with time to the point he had felt like it would consume him. Sharon had come around briefly, and he had been momentarily distracted. Now that she was out of the picture, there was no denying this feeling. It was stronger than ever.
He didn't realize he was doing it, not until he'd grabbed her hand and tugged on it. She let out a shriek as she wobbled awkwardly and landed on the couch next to him, dangerously close to him. She was half sitting on his laps and her face was about a centimeter away from his. He tightened an arm around her waist to keep her fastened to him.
"W-what a-are y-ou d-doing?" Ama cringed at herself. She was stuttering?? Stuttering was for Sophie, not her. But her heartbeat had escalated and it was like she had lost all sense of reasoning as blood flowed through her head as it tried so hard to keep up with the realization of how close she was to Daniel.
"I love you, Ama."
Her eyes budged out of their sockets and she could have sworn her brain stopped functioning entirely, along with her ears because there was absolutely no way she could have heard him right. "W-wh-at?"
He sighed, lifting one hand to cup her face. "I love you. I always have, ever since we were in school. I didn't tell you at first because you had a boyfriend at the time and when you eventually broke up, we had become so close I was just so scared of losing our friendship."
"B-but... You... Sharon..."
"Yes, I was serious about her but it never stopped the way I feel about you. I know I should have told you a long time ago and it was cowardly of me to have held back all these while but it's better now than never, right?"
She was trying so hard to keep up with everything he was saying, "What has changed? We're still friends and if things don't work out, it could still end our friendship."
"I know but I wasn't sure it would be worth the risk then, It's different now. Seeing how happy Sophie is these days has me picturing how happy we would be if we gave in to our feelings for each other. And I really want to believe you have feelings for me as well."
"I don't want to be a rebound, Daniel." Ama was grateful for the clarity in her voice this time. She really didn't want to go down that road.
"You're not, I promise. If anything, she was," he reassured her. With a silent sigh, he intertwined their fingers. "I want to kiss you, Ama. If you don't stop me, I'm going to take it that you feel about me the same way I feel about you."
She shook her head slightly, finding it hard to find her voice.
His lips curled into a smile as he bridged the gap between them and pulled her into a slow kiss; one which Ama eagerly returned because she loved him as well. So much.
**********
This chapter is for Antracia and everyone who wanted closure on the last chapter.
Raymond will be getting his own story. I'm not sure how, or with whom just yet but you guys stay tuned to find out.
Till then, beautiful people.
Love y'all❤.