Stay with me [8]
Title: Stay with me
Chapter: Eight
Author: me, nayami :3
Genre: Romance
Rating: general viewing
Disclaimer: I do not own the image above.
I'm sorry If I'm not always updating this, that's why I thought about finishing it. Maybe after this request, I'll be open for requests again :D I apologize again in advance for the typos and possibly some grammatical errors here and there 'cause I don't read it before I post it so I might misspell some words.
[Want a spoiler? ]
With Chiaki gone from Keito's care and control, everyone in the house is worried. And what's worse is that a temptation comes; to replace and forget about Chiaki. Keito isn't really one to give in to temptation, but with all the depression and pain he's facing right now, will he give in to the love and comfort provided by another?
I awake in the morning, screaming and jerking around in my bed that's soaked in sweat and my pillow in tears. I bolt upright from my bed, trying to remember why I'm like this. Then I remember what happened last night. Chiaki gone. Haruki in control of it all. Me sitting here helpless.
What's worse is what my imagination has done to the entire scene, making it worse than it already is. My dreams play the whole thing differently. I try and talk Chiaki into going with Haruki, but then she yells at me, saying "I was already planning with going with him, anyway. It's annoying to be with you. You're too much to handle!" Then she pushes me to the ground, Haruki glaring at me tauntingly, teasing me with his victory. He spits on me, adding insult to injury.
She walks away with him, laughing happily and obnoxiously as they leave me there. JUMP comes out from the restaurant which has now turned into our house, all the lights turned off and only the lamp in the living room open, where we stay. Me on the floor and everyone else looking down on me. They all have their share of anger and scolding while I sit on the cold floor crying.
She was too good for you.
You don't deserve her.
You should have seen this coming.
What made you think she'd stay?
He'd take better care of her.
You actually think she loved you?
Get over it.
This whole thing wasn't real in the first place.
She made a good choice.
She never did love you.
But luckily, those guys would never say this in real life. Though, these words cause me to cringe, and somehow feel a pain inside me whenever I think about them. I just shrug them off for now. With these soaked sheets, I'll have a smelly bedroom when night comes. I put them in the laundry basket and wash-up for breakfast.
Brush my teeth, wash my face, comb my hair, the usual. Turning the door knob, I leave behind here in my room all the bad feelings that fill me and replace it with a smile to greet the others with.
"Ohayo." I greet to no one in specific.
"Ah, Keito. I heard someone scream a while ago. Was that you?" Chinen asks worriedly.
"Umm, yeah. Yeah it was." I reply shyly.
"What happened?" Daiki joins in the conversation.
"Nothing. Just a bad dream." But my words betray me. It wasn't just a bad dream. It was all my worries played out before me. Although that may be on my mind, I don't tell them.
"Should we tell him?" Yuto whispers from the other side of the table.
"Tell me what?" I ask.
"Ano saa.." Yamada sighs and continues. "Chiaki was here earlier. She grabbed some of her stuff. She said three days is too long for her current clothes to handle."
Inside I'm dying, yet I don't show them.
"Sou ka." I answer with a slight smile. "Thanks for letting me know."
"Ah, Keito, I made you some pancakes. Dozo~" Kei says, obviously trying to change the subject. So I go along with it, knowing his intentions are pure.
While sitting down, I notice everyone avoiding eye contact, probably not wanting to say something that will hurt me. But Chinen breaks the ice and breaks the deafening silence.
"Maa, that steak last night was delicious!" He exclaims.
"Sou!" Ryutaro agrees. "Too bad I wasn't able to finish it since we all went outside when we saw Keito with Haru..ki....." Ryutaro trails off while everyone glares at him for saying such a thing. But I just shrug it off.
"Ah, I need to leave early today." I say.
"Eh, nande?" Yabu casually asks.
"I have summer classes." I reply.
"Summer classes? You failed a subject? You?! Fail?!" Daiki goes eccentric while I just laugh in my seat.
"No, I actually want to advance on a couple of subjects. That why I entered summer classes." I explain while everyone nods in comprehension.
"You better hurry," Inoo says like a mother to her child.
Choking down the huge stack of pancakes, I leave the plate in the sink and brush my teeth while I'm there. One step after the other, climbing each step in speed. I swing my bedroom door open and find my room exactly as it was when I left it.
After bathing, I choose a set of clothes that are a bit different from the fashionable type I usually wear. Today, I choose clothes that are kind of say that I'm a little laid-back. A pair of shorts that are until my knees, a simple red shirt and a hoody over it. For my feet, just a pair of flat, lace-less sneakers.
Now I'm ready to go. I swing over my shoulder a bag filled with a few notebooks and a pen, all of which that I might need. Downstairs, some are watching TV and the other half are cleaning up in the kitchen. We exchange goodbyes and I head for the door.
Just when I exit the house, I remember how I used to always walk out these very steps, hand in hand with a girl whom I now cannot claim mine when I used to. That very thought ruining my good mood that I tried to keep intact from the moment I woke up.
That's why I end up going to school with such a glum expression on my face, immediately noticed by my friend Nikki.
"Ehhhhhh, it's morning and your aura is as dark as midnight!" She scolds. The usual thing I hear from her that makes me let out a light chuckle.
"It's nothing."
"It can't be nothing if it's enough to ruin that charming smile I always see." She shoots back. Yet another of her come-backs that brighten up my day.
"It's just.. I need to tell you something."
I drag her into a corner where no one can hear anything we both say. She's my best friend. I tell her everything, good or bad. I feel comfortable telling her all that's in my mind and she doesn't judge me. That's why I love being with her.
"Wow. That's tough. And on your birthday, too."
"Yeah, I know."
"I'm surprised you even got up this morning."
"Uh-huh."
"If I were you I'd really have no reason to live."
"Okay, that's enough."
"Why, I would've hurt myself physically if I were you."
"Yeah, enough already."
"I'm surprised you haven't committed suicide!"
"Okay, enough!" I yell, trying once again to make her shut up.
"Oh, sorry." She giggles in guilt which is enough to make me forgive her at that very moment.
She pats my back a bit, wanting to give me more comfort than she's already given me.
"You know, just because this didn't work out like you planned, doesn't mean it's the end of your happiness." She gently whispers. And all I can do is look at her with tears in my eyes.
"Really?"
"Guaranteed. Life isn't supposed to be as simple as that. It isn't laid out to you like in a restaurant where the waiter just said 'enjoy!' or 'bon appetit!' You're supposed to cook for yourself. Get a few cuts and burns here and there, but when you're done, you'll realize all the hard work is worth it."
"Restaurant food? Really?" I chuckle at her example.
"What? I'm hungry! I didn't have breakfast you know! Be glad the example was still decent." She curls up her lips to the side, offended by my words.
To make it up to her, I bring out my ham sandwich with extra mayonnaise that we both love sharing during lunch. Although this time, since she helped me and she's hungrier than I am, I'll give it to her whole. Her eyes widen at the sight of it. At first, she's planning to grab it right from my hands. But hesitating to do so, her hands retreating slowly back to the side of her body.
But when I hand it over to her, she doesn't think twice before taking off the tissue I wrapped it in and tucking in the moment the tissue is out of her way. Another thing about her that I love. That attitude of hers that always does what's on her mind, not caring what other people think.
"Ahh, Nikki, you have some mayonnaise here." I point to the corner of my lip where the mayonnaise is on her lip.
"Eh? Where?" She says when she finds nothing.
"Here, let me."
I reach for the stray mayo, our faces growing undeniably close. She thanks me, but all I can notice is her lips moving without letting out a sound. Or at least, not one I can hear. She's now very still, while I haven't taken a step back from my position. My attention is on her lips, pink, soft, and moist in the slightest way.
My body moves by itself, my lips nearing hers while she stands frozen. The tip of my nose brushes over the tip of hers, making her move back a bit. And at the moment I lean closer, making our lips meet, she's frozen. But it doesn't last long until she drops the sandwich on the floor, abandoning it for something she craves more.
Her hands circle my waist, while mine slither up her torso, one ending up on her back and the other behind her head, pushing her to me more. We separate slightly, enough for me to let out my tongue. It slides slowly across her lower lip, until she open her mouth enough to let my tongue in. At first, only mine is moving, dancing around the inside of her mouth, when finally hers move and entwines with mine a few times, and we separate to breathe.
As soon as she realizes what really is happening, she takes a step back.
"That wasn't just my imagination, right?" She asks.
"No.. I don't think so."
"So.. what now?"
"I think.. I think this should be a secret for now." I suggest.
"Okay then." She answers, and doesn't react beyond nodding.
We both walk to our first class, acting like nothing happened for the sake of the people around us who have been used to seeing us act like brother and sister.
Class has started for about 10 minutes already and no information has made it's way to my mind. Heck, I can't even think straight. I walk her to her house. What with all the jerks that hurt girls for no reason, I can't leave my best friend alone on the way home.
At the front of her house, she climbs up the front steps, and as I wait for her to go inside before I leave, she turns to me, her expression filled with dread.
"You know, I liked you for a long time now. That's the only reason I agreed to be your best friend." She pauses, looks at the ground, and then at me. "But as much as I want to be called yours and I to claim you mine, think about what you're getting yourself into first. I don't want to be just someone you treat as a replacement. I don't want to expect too much and only see in the end that I'm just someone you remembered when you needed me and forgotten when you were in a deep state of happiness."
With that said, she turns back to the door, not looking back again, leaving me there. Dumbfound. Speechless. Frozen.