Piercing Hatred | ✔️

18

~Knox's POV~

I groaned as Flora flip flopped around beside me in bed the next night, her body pressing into my back for the fifth time tonight alone. For how much she wanted me to stay away, she seemed to seek me out a lot in her sleep.

When I heard her soft voice mumbling sleepily beneath her breath, I knew she was still sound asleep, so I rolled over to face her before she could try to spoon me like she had three other times tonight. I'd never pegged her to be such a cuddly person, considering the attitude on her, but it was somehow cute. Still, I liked my balls in the state that they were in and didn't particularly want to chance getting kneed there, so I gently pushed her back over to her side of the bed again.

She let out a little groan of complaint and rolled over onto her stomach, taking up over half the bed when she bent her right leg up at the knee. I eyed the pout to her lips as she pressed her cheek into the pillows and smiled slightly, rolling over again to face away from her to try to go to sleep.

And I almost did, right up until she rolled over again, this time hitting me in the back of the head when her arm slung out. I cursed beneath my breath and flipped over, leaning up onto my right elbow as I narrowed my eyes down at her. How the hell did someone move this much in their damn sleep? I was beginning to have my suspicions that she was doing it on purpose.

As if sensing me closer, she rolled towards me and huddled herself into my side, causing a heavy sigh to leave me. I debated waking her up for a split second, but quickly decided against the idea as I knew it'd just result in her getting angry and denying that she'd ever cuddled up to me. Instead I pushed her away again, this time setting a large body pillow between us if she wanted something to hold.

Thankfully, she didn't roll back over to me, and I was finally able to fall asleep.

**

Though I fell asleep after Flora had, I somehow ended up waking up before her, so I went ahead and took a shower while she kept on sleeping. I dried my hair with a towel as I exited the bathroom once I was done showering, looking up when I heard the sound of an alarmed squeal.

My eyes locked on Flora, who was now awake and had a hand slapped over her eyes. "Hey!" She exclaimed. "Why are you half naked, Knox?!" She asked, causing me to lift a brow at her. I snorted and crossed my arms over my chest. "You're lucky I'm only half naked, you know." I teased, though I wasn't really joking.

I grabbed a shirt from my closet and stepped into my room again, smiling slightly when I saw she was still covering her eyes. "You can look now." I told her, pulling my shirt over my head. She hesitated before dropping her hand, an unamused frown on her face when she looked at me. "No walking around with your shirt off. With any of your clothes off, really." She huffed. I raised my brows at the bossy tone of her voice and approached her, standing at the foot of my bed. "This is my apartment, doll face." I reminded her, but she just scowled.

"Well, yeah, but normal people don't walk around half naked in front of their guests." She argued, earning a roll of my eyes. "Fine, fine. If it makes you uncomfortable, I won't." I assured her, eyeing the tinge of pink in her cheeks as she gave me a curt nod of her head. "Good." She mumbled, glancing down at the body pillow that I had placed beside her. "Where did this pillow come from, by the way?" She asked, a furrow between her brows.

The edges of my lips tugged up in an amused, mischievous smirk. "I wasn't going to tell you, but since you're asking about it," I began, eyeing her closely. "You kept on trying to cuddle with me last night, so I had to put that pillow there to keep you away." I said.

Just like I had predicted, her cheeks turned a deep shade of pink and she scowled at me in attempt to hide her embarrassment, but I could still see it clearly. "I-I did not!" She vehemently denied, shooting me a glare.

I merely snorted and ran my fingers through my hair, raising a brow at her. "Keep telling yourself that, then." I chuckled, shaking my head in amusement. "But it'd be easier if you just admit it—you just can't resist me, can you?" I teased, knowing it'd get under her skin.

Flora clenched her fingers into tight fists, an embarrassed tint to her cheeks. "Shut up!" She grumbled, shooting me a glare before she slid off the bed and rose to her feet. I just bit the inside of my cheek, poorly hiding the smile that tugged up on the edges of my lips as I watched her stomp into the bathroom after flipping me the middle finger. The door slammed and I heard the lock click into place.

Not wanting to be in her way when she got out of the shower, I wandered out of my room and into the kitchen to make breakfast. I frowned as I opened the fridge doors and stared at the contents inside, trying to figure out what I should make. Luckily I already knew that she wasn't allergic to any foods, but I wasn't sure if she still liked the same things that she had when we were younger. What if her preferences had changed?

Even so, it wasn't like I had anything else to go off of, which is why I decided to grab the eggs and shredded cheese. I also grabbed a can of corn from the pantry because, for some reason, she used to love cheesy scrambled eggs with corn in it. Though I'd never really liked it, honestly, but I could tolerate it this once if she liked it.

After making the scrambled eggs, I cooked a couple sausage patties and links, glancing up when I heard the soft patter of footsteps entering the kitchen.

Dressed in a grey skirt and a black, oversized sweater with the sleeves covering her hands and a pair of black socks, Flora sniffed the air and approached me with a curious sparkle in her eye. "You made breakfast?" She asked, trying to play it cool even when she poked her head around my shoulder and stared at the plates of food I had prepared for the two of us. It was clear that she was interested, especially when I heard the quiet grumble of her stomach.

"I'm not sure if you still like your eggs like this, but I could always make something else if you don't." I said, holding out a plate of food to her. She grinned and took it from me with two hands. "No, I still like this." She assured me, and I almost sighed in relief.

"There's syrup there, if you want it." I told her, pointing a finger to the counter behind her. Flora used to like to dip her eggs in a little bit of syrup, as she always said that she liked the contrast of the flavors.

Grinning, she snatched the bottle from the counter and ran out of the kitchen, causing me to smile slightly as I followed her with my own plate of food. "Not even gonna give me your thanks, doll face?" I teased, joining her when she sat down at the table. Her eyes flicked up to me as she tilted the syrup bottle and drizzled a small amount in a zig-zag over her eggs. I stared, slightly disgusted and slightly amused.

After a second she put the bottle down and snapped the cap into place, fiddling with her fork. "I'm surprised that you even remembered I like my eggs like this." She responded, biting on the inside of her cheek. I raised a brow, stretching my legs out beneath the table. "Why wouldn't I? We were friends for a long time." I shrugged, watching her as she pursed her lips and frowned. "Exactly. We were, and now we aren't." She muttered, the tone of her voice making me think she was more upset about that than I had thought.

I looked at her for a moment, thinking to myself while she began to eat. "There's no reason we can't be friends again, Flora." I said, but she just rolled her eyes before leveling her gaze with mine. She seemed still mad, but more than that, she seemed hurt. If I was being honest, I hated myself for making her feel that way, but I couldn't change what I'd done then. "I know I was a shitty friend to you, okay? So I understand why you hate me, and I get why you don't want me around you." I told her.

Her eyes flicked down, focusing on the table as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "But I'm trying to fix it. I want to."