The Plant

On the safe side

As my parents still hadn't entered the kitchen we snuck out and up the stairs to my room. I realized that there was more voices in the living room than just my family. Maybe they have visitors or something. But that's even better. Now I can do stuff without them realising anything.

"Why are we sneaking around in your house?" He asked as I closed the door behind me.
"Because... uhm... just in case..."
"I see" he said looking at me suspiciously. "You're hiding me away to yourself, huh?"
"What? No... I just..."
"Relax. I was just joking." He laughed. "And don't worry about my ... our secret. I will take care of that. It's my problem, not yours."
"Hmm... I guess. But from what I have seen there's nothing wrong about it. You could do so much good with it."
"Like what?"
"Like... the day you showed me the rooftop view by lifting me up with the plants. That was great!" I smiled feeling eager to come up with ideas. "Oh. And you could easily beat those that come to bully. And maybe you could... ah. There's so much you can do with that."
The room had suddenly gone quiet as I noticed he sat there staring at me, listening carefully. Slightly nodding. Maybe I have said too much?  "... let's watch a movie!"
"Sure"
"Which one of these?"
"Maybe this one?" He pointed out something. I nodded. This really is a good movie.
We made a wall of dune to make my bed look like a couch and sat down close to the wall. The film was about to start and we both looked excited at each other and smiled. I clicked play and we emerged(?) ourselves completely to the movie.

There was a scene that came so suddenly that we both jumped/twitched a little.
"Haha. That was unexpected"
The movie had some scenes of mystery and the moment something popped up I felt something creeping up on my other shoulder. I got the chills and jumped, looking up to find a plant covered hand on my shoulder. Then suddenly another one on the other shoulder.
"Hey!" I yelled at him followed by a mumble. "Startling me on purpose..."
He just laughed. "I just had to try it. It's so fun."
"Oh. I see..." I said and leaned closer to him so I could poke him everywhere I knew he was ticklish. We both laughed.
"So I guess this is your revenge, huh?"
He took hold around me to tickle but it lasted only short as something interesting happened on the screen. I looked at him getting absorbed into the scene while still holding me. His hands was warm with the plants but warmer without them. I wished to stay like that for longer but the moment the movie ended and he became aware of it he pulled away.
"Oh..." he said. "I didn't know I was still..."
"No. Just forget about it. It's okay." I said turning away so he couldn't see my face. The mood got a bit awkward. And silent. Too silent. I wasn't sad or anything, quite the opposite. But the silence that came was just too much. I hadn't dared to look until now, at what his expression was. When I turned around he was about to scare me again. His hands was closing in behind me and stopped in midair when I looked at him.
"Not this time!" I said smiling confidently.
"Ah. Shit. Too late." He just seemed to want to play around for a while. So I threw myself into a tickle fight with him. Even though I was all over him, he still managed to win most of the battles. How does he do that? He's planning his strategies at the speed of light.
"...At the speed of light." Came out loud and he stopped to look at me.
"What is?"
"Your tickling strategy planning"
"That's funny. Am I too fast for you?"
I nodded slightly embarrassed.
"But you're pretty fast too."
"Really?" This time he was the one nodding, with a truthful smile. He just seemed genuinely happy with whatever we did. I kept wondering how he could just keep smiling warmly and having fun without any visible worries. Even after all those times he seemed to keep to himself. Even after the bullying that once made him cry. So sensitive as a child. But now he just seemed different. More confident. And laughing freely. Before he met me he was.... no. It can't be just me...?

Well. I guess I should just enjoy this moment. Maybe there's a chance?

"Hello? Are you awake?" He asked waking me up from my deep thoughts.
"No. I'm sleepy" I said fast and leaned my head on his shoulder. He seemed to freeze in time the moment I hit it. But soon after he began to relax again. Oh. This is interesting. So he really gets nervous too.
"Can I just stay here for a while?"
"Sure... Make yourself comfortable... I guess."
For some reason there still was a lot of awkward silence and inactivity. I took his hand and dragged his arm around my shoulders and closed my eyes. He did say to make myself comfortable after all. And besides... I wanted to test his reactions. He seemed uneasy only for a moment before he was completely relaxed. So I was almost disappointed at how little reaction I got. But I guess that's how it is.

When all seemed so good...
"Uhm... are you done yet? I really need to go to the bathroom." He got up on his feet fast and let me fall to the pillow. "Where is it btw?" He said close to the door.
"Oh. Just around the corner. At the end of the corridor here." I said and he smiled and hurried out. I just lay there staring at the roof, the door and around the room. It was only past lunch time yet but I still didn't feel awake. At least we're both as sleepy so I don't need to worry but it all went so slow. Time seemed to jump a little every time he was close by. Every awkward silence felt like an eternity.
And soon he stood on the doorstep again, looking really confident he entered the room and sat down at the edge of the bed. I wonder how it is to be him. It must be a completely different world.
Since I didn't make space for him to sit and just continued laying there he began to lift my legs up and put them on his lap instead.
"Ah." I said as I got a bit surprised by it.
"I want to sit too, you know."
"Sorry. I'm just still sleepy."
"Hmm... maybe we should meet up another day or something?"
"No. Don't leave." I said realizing how desperate it sounded.
"Hehe. Well. Maybe we should play a game then" he said and pointed to my game console.
We picked up each controller,  found a game and started. The light and the focus I had to pour into it kept us both occupied. I didn't even realise how much time had passed. It was a big world to explore and so many things you could do. Cooperate or run freely. The visuals was magical with a lot of harmonised colors. At least on the surface. The underground caves was dark and mysterious. A realistic contrast in an otherwise imaginary world.
Monsters to kill and things to pick up. In the caves the things worth picking up was shiny and looked useful and special. Probably since it became harder the deeper you went. Every time we went up to the surface it felt like breathing fresh air again because of the colors and visuals. Nature was blooming wildly. The sky changed color by day and night making it even harder for us to pay attention to the real time in reality. But today all I wanted was to have fun with ____ by my side. We built a virtual house together which made me wonder how it would be if we had lived together in the future.
I looked at him still absorbed in finding some materials suitable for what he was making. I wasn't sure if he noticed me or not but he suddenly turned to look at me.
"What?"
"Nothing." I answered with a smile.
Our stomachs growled in synchronisation and we both laughed.
I thought about dinner and it slowly came to me that my parents were the ones making dinner and we always used to sit together while eating. How could I have forgotten that? How am I going to sneak food in to my room like that. They would all be asking questions or become suspicious if I couldn't tell my own family.
____ saw my worried face and seemed to be thinking too.
"Is there a problem?"
"Well... my family usually sits together when eating dinner... but you...uhm..."
"Well. Let's just meet your parents then. Why are you hiding me in the first place? It will only make it harder for you."
"I... don't know..." I answered. But in a way I kind of knew. I'm sure they will ask questions like everyone else. And what if we struggle to answer them or someone mentioned something awkward. But he was still right.
Maybe if they ask how I managed to sneak him up to my room without anyone (but my sister) noticing I would just pretend like it was normal and say that they just were too busy to hear it. Yes. That must be the perfect plan.
"Okay. Let's go down for dinner then." I said trying my best to hide any worries.
He just smiled and poked my chin with a grin. How was he so sensible and logical in these situations? But also constantly playing around?