Romani Noor is an aspiring chemist- well, possible ex-chemist, after she can no longer afford the rise in her university tuition fees.
Her best friend and sister, Juno, is living across the country with her wife, sending Romani occasional cheques t...
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I make a sound I can only decipher as fear and worry into the phone.
"Just get here, okay? I'm worried." Hudson says, voice softening a little before he says a quick goodbye and hangs up the phone.
"Who was that?" River asks me from behind, arms tightening on me, blocking my escape out of the bed.
He suddenly sounded wide awake.
"A friend from class, I'm late!" I say back, wiggling in his grip so I can get dressed.
"Friend." He repeats the words with disgust in his voice but ultimately lets me out of his death grip. Baby hops from the sofa to investigate all my commotion.
I choke a strangled laugh, "Yes friend. I'm guessing you're not familiar with the concept." I shoot back, and he sits up in the bed, glaring at me.
He ignores my previous comment, "You know boys who say they're your friend are never just your friend." He says, and I whip my head to him as I pull out clothes from my draw and start stripping.
Slight anger courses through me, "Are you saying boys only talk to me for sex?" I ask, offence clear in my voice. I pull my shirt over my head, leaving me bare chested but at this point why would I bother hiding from River. Plus, I was in a rush.
River makes a show of looking at my body and then looks back to me with a pointed look, like that answered my question.
I scoff and pull on a small blue cropped tank top, shedding my little shorts and pulling on some oversized jeans I thrifted a while back. They were a little loose around the waist, but I liked them nonetheless.
"That's not a compliment." I hiss, making River sigh and rub his face with his hands.
"Sorry, I just mean I'm worried." He responds, getting up from the bed to stand taller than me as I rush around to grab my tote. "You're so good and people will take advantage of your kindness." He shrugs.
"I can look after myself, thanks." I respond, tone clipped.
River's hand finds my waist, gripping me hard to stop my frantic movements around the room. He pulls me back into his chest, his body practically curving around mine as he puts his face in my neck.
"I know." He says against my skin, and my body betrays my mind by heating, "But I think from what I've been told you instinctively worry about the people you like, whether they're capable of looking after themselves or not."
I relax in his grip, leaning back against him and bring a hand up to curl into his soft hair. He seems to accept the gesture of forgiveness when he kisses the crook of my neck and lets me go, watching as I gather my final things.
I glance down to Baby who's been following me around hopefully, and I gnaw on my bottom lip as I lean down to scratch her behind the ears.
