A/N:
Thank you for 3000 reads
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"How did we end up here, Derrek?" I asked, exasperated as I glanced at Derrek who had a sheepish smile on his face. I had only woken up to find myself in front of his apartment building.
"Uh, I took the wrong turn?" He shrugged. He was supposed to drop me off at Tosin's but here we were.
"This is kidnapping! You brought me here against my will!" I glared at him, crossing my arms and he just grinned, turning off the car's engine. I watched as he unbuckled his seat belt and pushed open his car door.
"This is hardly kidnapping, Tiara. What Ana did? That's kidnapping. This is simply a change of destination." He said with a glance in my direction before getting out of the car.
I unbuckled my seat belt and got out of the car to face him. He was patiently waiting for me at the other side of the car and once I had shut the door, he pressed on a button on the car keys to lock it up, then, he stuffed the keys into his pocket.
"This is kidnapping!" I repeated as Derrek rested his arms on the top of the car and placed his chin down on them. He had looked so cute from that angle but I didn't let his cuteness distract me.
I slammed my palms down on the top of the car and the sudden, loud action caused him to jump from fright. His eyes grew wide and he jumped back from the car as he tried to process what had happened for a split second. He frowned at me a moment later and I laughed hard, mimicking his earlier scared action.
"Ha ha. Very funny. You nearly gave me a heart attack." He scowled at me as he circled round the car to head towards the block of flats where his apartment was located in.
"Serves you right for kidnapping." I said, hurrying after him. He couldn't just walk inside after bringing me here. I had promised Tosin I was coming over. He had to take me there.
"Once again. This is not kidnapping."
"Is too." I argued as I chased him to the stairs. He moved really fast, thanks to his long legs. I was finding it hard, keeping up with him.
"Is not and I'm not having this childish argument with you, Tiara." He countered.
"Is too and I'm going to keep arguing childishly until you take me to Tosin's."
"Alright then." He turned around to face. I tilted my head back to stare up at him as he towered over me from two steps above. "We're here because I almost fell asleep behind the wheel."
"What!" I screamed. We had nearly escaped death. Had he been that tired?
"Almost. I said, almost." He put his arms up in defense before continuing up the stairs. "I called Tosin while you were asleep and told her you couldn't make it tonight but I promised to drop you off on my way to work tomorrow." He informed as we climbed into his apartment floor.
"You have her number?"
"I didn't. I got it off your phone." He said casually and my eyes widened in shock.
"You did what?" I screamed and my voice echoed down the empty hallway. I cringed afterwards, hoping I hadn't woken anyone up. "Why the hell did you go through my phone without my permission?" I rushed up to him as he walked down the hallway to his apartment door.
"You looked so tired. I would've felt guilty waking you up."
"You should have! You don't go around snooping through someone's phone without permission, that's invasion of privacy, you idiot!" It wasn't at all cool what Derrek had done. How dare he just browse through my phone like that?
"You should really put in a screen lock if you don't want people snooping around then." He said as we paused by the door, then, he fished out his keys from his pocket and proceeded to unlock the door.
"And you should learn to respect people's privacy!" I countered as he pushed open the door but he seemed to be done with the conversation as soon as we stepped inside.
"Thank you, Jesus! We're home, finally." Derrek exclaimed as we got into the apartment and walked over to the longest couch to crash down on it. I ignored the fact that he had said 'we're'. This wasn't my home but he had made it sound that way and I kind of liked it. "It's been a long ass day." He groaned as he closed his eyes and put his feet up on the arm of the couch. I gasped in horror at the sight.
"Are you crazy? Don't put your shoes up on the couch!"
"What?" He opened his eyes. "Why the hell not? It's my bloody couch."
"You'll ruin it." I walked over to him and attempted to pull his shoes off his feet.
"Tiara, what the hell?" He pulled his knees to his chest with eyes wide as they eyed me. His shoes were smack up on the seats now. It made me cringe but I was too tired to argue. It was his couch anyway. He could deal with whatever stains he imprinted on it.
"Whatever, Derrek." I yawned. "Good night."
"Sweet dreams, Annoying ass." He teased, using his new found nickname for me but I was too tired to respond, so, I ignored him instead.
*
I squeezed my eyes shut as the bright light almost burned them. The kitchen lights had switched on out of nowhere.
"What the hell are you doing?" I heard Derrek say and I slowly opened my eyes, squinting slightly as the brightness still hurt my eyes. The moment my eyes found him, I screamed. He had a knife in his hand as he stood just two feet away from me.
"Jesus! Are you planning on stabbing me with that?" I took a few steps away from him, just in case. I couldn't trust anyone holding a knife as "accidents" happened sometimes.
"It's 4am, Tiara. What are you doing?" He repeated, setting down the knife on the kitchen counter. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and I felt bad for waking him up. I had been moving very silently, however, I had no idea that there had been a pot up on the edge of the counter. I had ended up knocking it down and the loud sound most definitely woke Derrek up. Thankfully, the pot was practically empty.
"I was hungry." I told him. "Go back to sleep, I'll make something to eat."
"Its too late for that. I'm already up." He walked over to the pot discarded on the floor and picked it up, then, he set it down in the sink and looked inside. "Ugh! Luke was here. I told that idiot to always clean up after himself. I'm going to take back my spare keys from him. He's starting to feel like he owns the place."
"Agreed." I said as I walked over to grab the broom and dustpan as Derrek discarded the remaining pieces of food in the pot into the waste bin. Luke was something else, really. It was about time Derrek ruled him with an iron fist.
I crouched down and packed up the pieces of food on the floor before walking over to the bin beside Derrek and emptying the pieces into it. Derrek glanced down at me with a look I couldn't recognize but I couldn't attempt to decipher it as he turned his attention back to the pot in front of him.
"What are you craving?" He asked as he started to wash the pot.
"Hmm?" I hummed as I set the cleaning tools back where I had taken them from, then, I turned back to Derrek, who was scrubbing on the pot with an iron sponge. I walked over to him and leaned on the counter behind him.
"You said you were hungry. I'll make you something to eat." He clarified and I straightened up, stepping beside him.
"That won't be necessary. Just go back to sleep. I'll take care of this as well." I reached for the pot and he pulled it away from me.
"I'm already up and you're a guest here. I don't expect you to do my dishes."
"You've barely had any sleep. Just ho-"
"I can't fall back asleep!" He cut me off in a loud voice and abruptly dropped the pot in the sink. I jumped back from fright. He cleared his throat twice before speaking in a calmer tone. "Sorry."
I blinked, not knowing what to say next. Why had he reacted that way when I had asked him to go back to sleep? Was there something wrong with what I had said? I was just worried about him and I felt guilty for waking him up.
"What would you like to eat?" He repeated his earlier question.
"Anything would be fine, really." I answered and Derrek glanced over his shoulder to stare at me for a few moments before nodding and turning away.
"I'll make some chips and egg sauce." He announced before walking into the door by the left side of the kitchen. He returned a few seconds later with a green basket full of Irish potatoes.
"You want some help?" I asked as he set the basket down on the counter and he shook his head before proceeding to peel off the potato skin.
After retiring to the stool by the kitchen island, I spent the next couple of minutes watching Derrek make me a midnight-well, early morning-snack. He was so engrossed with the work at hand and had even hummed some songs along the way. His features had relaxed and there was even a little smile tugging on his lips. It was so obvious how much he enjoyed cooking and I very much enjoyed watching him cook.
"Bon Appétit." Derrek said as he set down a plate before me. He set his plate down byo the left of mine and took a seat on the stool beside mine. I tried not to think of the fact that he was so close to me and began to munch on the chips.
"This egg sauce is really good. What did you put in it?" I nodded in approval as I swallowed. The sauce was really good. It was probably the best one I ever had and there was an amazing but unfamiliar flavour that I couldn't make out.
"Huh? I thought you were paying attention with the way your eyes followed my every move." He said with an arched eyebrow as he slipped a chip into his mouth.
"Oh, uh...I probably zoned out or something." I gave a nervous laugh, feeling embarrassed that he had known I was staring at him all that time. I hope he didn't think I was a creep or something.
"Okay." He simply shrugged and continued with his food. I glanced at him, surprised that he hadn't teased me about it like he usually did.
"Uh, yeah." I said quietly, feeling a bit awkward now. I just wanted to run away to the guest room and lock myself in it.
Derrek and I ate in awkward silence for a bit before he spoke up. He set down his fork and clasped his fingers together on his thigh.
"I'm sorry I snooped through your phone. It was wrong of me to do so." He apologized and I glanced up at him, surprised. I hadn't expected him to apologize for that.
I nodded in acceptance and he gave a small smile before turning back to his almost empty plate.
"You want a rematch?" I said a few minutes later once I was done with my food and he glanced at me with raised eyebrows. "I promised to kick your ass for cheating, remember?" I had just recalled how we had been playing video games the other day and I had called for a rematch because Derrek had cheated his way into winning.
"You shouldn't have reminded me." He said, getting down from the stool. "Now, I'll have to whoop your arse once again." He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at me. I scoffed and got up to my feet, slipping the last two chips on his plate into my mouth.
"In your dreams, Dune. In your dreams." I glared at him as I stepped closer to him to look intimidating but it was kind of hard to do when I stood a couple of inches shorter than him.
"We'll see. Now, won't we?" He leaned down so he was on eye level and I swallowed hard at how close our faces were to each other.
He seemed to have noticed how uncomfortable I had gotten and he leaned in even closer, causing the tip of our noses to brush for a brief moment. With a smirk, he reached up and ruffled my hair before pulling back and leaving me dazed.
"First one to the controllers gets to choose the game!" He announced as he ran out to the living room where he had stored the gamepads. That was his plan. That was why he had leaned so close to me. He had wanted to distract me just so he could get the controllers. He was despicable.
"You're a cheater, Cady! Cheater, cheater, cheater!" I called as I chased after him.
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Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all🎄
Here's a Sunday update to kick off the week 😊