home.

Chapter 7

We left the cafe and reached our dorm. It was empty, I went to my room in the first place washed my face and untied my ponytail. I went down, he had changed his shirt. And again he was wearing something that covered his neck. We both chopped potatoes, he fried them and I sat on the slab beside him.

He was in deep thoughts since we left cafe. "what's up?" I asked. "and you act as if everything is okay." He said in a hurt voice. I was a little taken aback that he was still thinking about that. "it's okay, I'm used to it, Ryan." I felt a thrill after saying his name, and he shivered. He was embarrassed.

I wanted to say you don't need to be embarrassed about anything in front of me but I stopped myself.

We ate quietly on the sofa. I willingly sat close to him so that my knees would be touching his. "if hypothetically you date someone, how would you express your feelings?" he asked thoughtfully. "I am warning you beforehand that it is going to be weird." He laughed at my statement.

"So when I like someone I'd be comfortable enough to touch them. Touching sense play a really important part. If you have noticed, I never hugged anyone here, or even shook hands." He was amused about something then shook his head as if to clear it. "Why?" he asked.

"apparently I used to hug my mom once or maybe twice a year. And me and dad, it's quiet complicated, I sometimes flinched when me and my dad would accidentally touch. And I was not close with Zodiac and Raquel. And Grace is one of those persons who everyone call touch-me-not. I only shook hands or sat close with Alex or Monty. Once in a blue moon maybe hugged them."

I finished my speech and looked at him, he was shocked. "I told you it was going to be weird." He laughed and said "so you're saying you never felt loved or appreciated...like in touch gesture." I smiled sadly at his choice of words. "I don't even remember how it feels when you hug someone." I said and his big blue eyes were going to pop out. I stared in his eyes and then looked away. I knew he was still looking. He always does when I look away. He abruptly stood up. "I'm going to my room" he said blankly.

And now he knows how weird and boring I am I thought.

I went to kitchen started making pasta. I was chopping vegetables and all my mind could think was Ryan and would he be ignoring me from now on. I tried to concentrate on dinner. It was half past seven in the evening and Piper and William walked in the dorm hand in hand. I smiled at them. "so there's a new couple in town?" I said cheerfully, Ryan came down and whistled at them.

"you guys look so cute!! Oh my God, I'm totally shipping you both!" He squeaked in girly voice, perfectly mimicking fan girls. I laughed really badly that my eyes were wet. He looked proud.

"Zack will be spending every weekend with his girlfriend, so he won't be here tonight. Katie will be staying with her sister every weekend because she gets scared alone." William said teasingly to me, as we all sat down. "so it will be just the four of us." I said excitedly.

Piper laughed and said "no, it will be just the two of you" she waved her hand between me and Ryan. "W-why?" I asked a little nervous. "Because if you haven't noticed, Piper spend every weekend with her grandma. And I spend with my brother, Liam." William said. I looked at Ryan and he nodded in agreement.

I was embarrassed.

"who are you noticing from past month that you didn't get time to look at me?" she asked faking hurt while looking at Ryan. I blushed furiously and tried to say something in defence but she cut me and said "it's okay I understand." Ryan blushed.

We all ate dinner together William and Piper sat together. And only talked to each other, while I felt like a third wheel. I looked at Ryan and his face told me he was thinking the same thing, and we both laughed.

William and Piper left just after dinner, I was going to wash the dishes but Ryan interrupted "you made amazing pasta so now it's my duty to do dishes" and without looking at me he started washing them. I was probably looking tenderly at him.

He splashed some water at me, and laughed at my expressions. "this means war!" I splashed water at him too and we both had water fight. I didn't remember when I had this much fun last. We both were completely wet. After about an hour, I was shivering. "we should stop or you'll get a cold." He said worried, I nodded and went to washroom, I took a long shower, shampooed my hair thoroughly, brushed my teeth, changed into an oversized hoodie with a lower.

I went downstairs and was scrolling my Instagram. When Ryan came, he was wearing a jumper which was zipped completely, which of course hid his neck. I was confused why he would always wear something like that. "what are you thinking?" he asked. I shook my head because I knew if I tried saying something, my voice would definitely crack.
He seemed to notice that I was avoiding his question but he let it slide. "How did you and that guy got together accidentally?" he asked trying to hide his smile. "you know, you can laugh" I said as I rolled my eyes, he laughed. "one day he texted me, and asked me out. I denied. Then he said 'but I will marry you' I thought he was joking. I said 'yeah, for sure' after that he texted me daily saying 'love you' and 'miss you' and can you believe he also told everyone that we were together. I tried to discuss things with him but I couldn't just say that I was joking, because he also used to tell me the same thing after his lies. And I was in that mess with him for a month. And then he gladly decided to cheat on me. And I was free again."

He looked happy that I was telling this story so happily. "it won't be counted as a relationship" he said matter of factly. I nodded and said "I never counted as one."

It was eleven in the night, I was sleepy. I rested my head on the sofa and was facing him. We both were just looking at each other and somewhere between that I fell asleep. The next morning when I woke up, there was something heavy but gentle on me. I opened my eyes completely.

Ryan was sleeping on me, his head on my chest and his hands were resting beside my head at both sides. Our legs were entangled together. My hands were in his soft messy hair. I tried to push him gently and in answer he unconsciously rested his head at the crook of my neck. He was excited downstairs.

"Ryan? Wake up." I whispered so he won't be freaked out. "Ryan? Wake up." I repeated a little louder. "hm? Just five more minutes. Please." He said in a sleepy voice which sounded sexy to me. I couldn't argue, after five minutes I awoke him again. "Ryan? Wake up." I said as I ruffled his hair.

I didn't want him to wake up. I was liking it way much than I should. "Five more minutes please." He said as he looked up at me, he smiled tiredly and then he suddenly sat away from me. He wasn't even looking at me. He was embarrassed, and I knew why.

"Why didn't you wake me up before?" He said embarrassed. I sat and shifted close to him. "because you said just five more minutes." I said. That embarrassed him more. "hey!" I said as I touched my toe to his feet and was tracing it. "you don't need to be embarrassed by anything, it's natural." I said to calm him.

"you shouldn't let people sleep on you and let them be...excited in the morning." He said, his skin more pink now. "I let you sleep on me willingly for five minutes because it was you, Ryan. I don't go around people and say 'wanna come sleep on me?' It happened accidentally with you, and those five minutes, I willingly did." He laughed and tucked my hair behind my ear. I blushed at his small casual touch.