𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 {𝚁𝙴𝚆𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙴}

𝟗 | 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐮𝐭 (𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐈)

I gulped, staring at the hand below me that now rested on the back of my hand. My lips forming an O-shape and rosy cheeks became more saturated. He was asking me on a date...? No, he couldn't have meant that. Would he? I only just got to know him! And even then, we still haven't properly hung out as friends. I haven't gotten the chance to build our friendship, see if we were compatible. Maybe he just meant it as friends. A friendly date.

As I were about to speak up, the silence between us was broken by a loud clearing of throats from behind me. I turned around to find Keith and Cherry making their way over to us with their plates of food in hand. "Heyy sorry about that." Keith apologized with a nervous chuckle, placing his plate down to my right. I looked towards my best friend as he pulled out the chair beside me and sat down. "Things just sort of happened." "No worries." I assured, resuming my meal. Noticing that Pico had moved his hand away from mine.

"So are you doing ok, sweetie?" Cherry asked, taking a seat next to Pico. "Babe, not now." Keith said seriously, giving her a 'shut up' look. "It's ok Keith." I looked over to the cyan-haired male, placing a hand on his shoulder for reassurance. I turned my attention to Cherry. "I'm ok. Those guys never took anything to the extremes thankfully." I responded with a faint smile.

Cherry let out a sigh of relief, smiling genuinely. "Well that's good to hear. You hit your head pretty well on the concrete; we weren't sure if we had to bring you to the hospital." She explained. "Oh..." I looked down at my half-eaten plate of food, poking at it gently with my fork. My smile fading as I heard the news. "I see." The events of last night replaying in my head over and over again. My heart began to race slightly as I thought about what could have happened last night if Pico hadn't been there. What could have happened if he wasn't around?

"Speaking of," Keith interjected, munching on his food. "what are you going to do now that they know where you live?" "She'll stay with me." Pico declared, taking a sip of his coffee. I shot a glance up to the ginger, his comment snapping me out of my thoughts. "Hold up, what?" I asked bluntly, shooting him an incredulous look. He looked up from his cup nonchalantly. "What? I can't have you staying in those crappy dorms all by yourself." "Heyy they're not that bad!" I exclaimed with a pouted frown, placing my fork down on the corner of my plate.

"Do you even know how to defend yourself?" He questioned nonchalantly, putting his cup down before leaning over the table. His available arm resting on the glass surface as he gazed at me with his chalky white eyes. I looked up to him with furrowed brows, biting down on my bottom lip. Not wanting to admit that I barely had any knowledge on the matter besides attacking the groin. The ginger sat back in his chair, letting out a sigh.

"See, this is why you should stay with me." He said, getting up from the table and heading for the kitchen. "Keith doesn't know how to use a gun, and before you say anything blueberry: you know damn well that rapping won't work with them. And Cherry, I don't know much about you but I'm gonna take a safe guess and say that you and your daddy won't be much help either."

I sat thinking about things as this occurred, trying to consider my options. The dorms typically don't like it when you have people staying over for the night, adding to your rent if they find out someone's been there past the allotted time. "I mean, I guess? But they know where you live too." I stated, turning to face the ginger as he was washing his cup in the sink. "Wouldn't that be, I don't know, stupid?"

Pico turned the faucet off, looking over his shoulder before asking, "You got a better plan?" "No..." I muttered, looking down. "I can't move out of the dorms though. Exams aren't happening for a couple months." I argued back shortly after, looking up to the ginger once more. His focus was back on the sink, grabbing a face cloth that hung above the sink.