𝕊𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕥 ℝ𝕙𝕪𝕞𝕖𝕤, 𝕊𝕞𝕠𝕠𝕥𝕙 ℝ𝕙𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕞𝕤 - Aryia X OC

ℝ𝕙𝕪𝕞𝕖 𝟝 - ℝ𝕠𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 ℙ𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤

Hi everyone and Happy Tuesday!

I'm really sorry about being so late with Chapter 5. I was going to update it this time last week but unfortunately (as stated in my last update), my laptop decided that it wanted to refresh my files and whilst doing this it found that my battery also needed replacing. I've thankfully managed to resolve these issues though, so my laptop is running a lot faster and the battery lasts much longer, so that means I'm able to write more parts to this story 😄!

I'm currently writing chapter 6 and I'm hoping to have it up by Saturday. I'm also changing my uploading date to Friday for the next few weeks as I'm getting really busy with university and my placement work starts tomorrow too, but this shouldn't affect my uploading schedule 😊. I hope you guys are all doing well and having an amazing day and that you enjoy this latest chapter!!

Summary: The roommates return and Evra and Aryia share what happened while they were away.

Chapter song: Stereo Hearts - Adam Levine

WARNINGS: Language, Mentions of Nightmares about Traumatic Events

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On the ride home from picking Kévin up from the airport, I sat at the back of Aryia's car while the two best friends talked in the front seats. I felt kind of awkward sitting in the back by myself but I couldn't help but admire how happy Aryia looked.

'Best friends.' I thought before looking at the back of my hand, remembering our pinkie swear – childish even though we were adults – and my thoughts drifted back to the conversation we'd shared a couple of days earlier when Aryia had made the offer for me to move into his room.

<<<

"I'll sleep with you."

Aryia blushed. "You're sure?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "But I wanna do something first."

"Move your stuff up here?"

"That as well... But I need to do something important before I do that."

"What do you need to do?"

I felt tears prickling the corners of my eyes. "I wanted to apologize to you."

"For what?"

"Everything..."

I paused before explaining myself further.

"I'm sorry for being so selfish."

Aryia looked at me worriedly as he held my hand in both of his. "You don't have to apologize, Evra. You've done nothing wrong."

I stared back into his eyes, feeling as if there was something more than a connection between us. It was a barrier preventing me from being completely upfront with him about wanting to save myself a little longer. I loved him, I just didn't want to move things too fast and have us both end up regretting something later down the line.

I was caught off guard slightly when he wrapped his arms around me, but his warm embrace allowed me to feel a sense of comfort and clarity which washed all of my apprehension away.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you how I felt before." I apologized. "After everything that happened with Jason I just... I wanna take things slow."

"It's okay Evra." He reassured me. "I promise you, it's okay."

"It's just, I know you have needs too. I don't want you to feel dissatisfied or–"

"Evra." He whispered my name, touching his forehead to mine. "It's okay. I'll wait for as long as I have to. I don't mind."