Short Stories/Romance Concepts

Pt. 2 (NSFW)

(noticing a theme with these pt.2 titles)

     Another. Fucking. Hour. Of sitting alone in the dark, unable to sleep. Of listening to Tyler's rhythmic breathing. Of driving myself crazy over everything he'd said to me all day.

     I might've just been losing my mind.

     I probably was, considering I ended up getting out of my "bed" and draping the duvet over Tyler, gently testing if he would stir. His breathing changed slightly, but he only snuggled himself into the blankets further before falling still again. It was kind of cute. In a pitiful way, of course.

  I'm just cold, I reasoned with myself as I lifted a leg up on the side of the mattress. I'm sleep deprived. It'll be an awful vacation if i'm tired the whole time. I slowly rested my whole weight on the bed, causing it to creak a little. He offered me the bed in the first place.

     In what felt like 20 minutes, I managed to get in the bed with minimal disturbance to Tyler. I faced the edge of the room, careful to not let any part of my body touch his. While the position wasn't exactly comfortable, it was miles better than being stuck on the floor.

     Tyler's breathing was soothing, in a weird way. Kind of like a metronome? Keeping the time. He would probably be good at ASMR.

     I shake my head a teeny bit, trying to physically remove the strange train of thought so I can go to sleep. I let out a soft, long sigh as I let myself get comfortable and relax. As much as Tyler and I refused to get along, I didn't feel unsafe with him. He was a nice enough guy, he never gave me bad vibes, I just...

     It dawned on me that I didn't have a clue why I didn't like him.

     I shuffled my feet together a little, still a little cold when I heard rustling from Tyler's side, along with a groggy, "Stop moving."
Shiiit. I mean, I knew I would have to have the conversation about why I was in his bed in the morning, but I definitely did not want to cross that bridge now.

     He was probably just asleep. Sleep talking. Yeah. I rolled a little to get comfortable, moving as slowly as I could to avoid disturbing him again.

     "TJ." His voice was kind of gruff. Definitely not asleep.

     "Sorry." I said it as quickly and quietly as I could, wondering if I could get out and run to die in a hole somewhere without him noticing.

     I heard more rustling, louder this time. "Why are you in my bed?"

     "The floor is cold."

     "And you wanted me to help warm you up?"

     This was about to be the longest conversation we've ever had and I'm far too distracted with how husky his voice got out of nowhere. "Uhm, no? Believe me, I'd rather be in a dumpster, but I didn't want to catch hypothermia the first day of this trip."

     "Why do you hate me so much, TJ?"

     The question hit me almost physically. For a long while I wasnt sure how to answer. Some feud I don't remember? Definitely not a strong argument. Without thinking, I pulled an Alexandra and went straight into panic mode.

     "I don't know how to pick one reason."

     "That's a cop out and you know it."

     Was he mad at me? I couldn't tell. "It's..."

     "You can do it," he whispered, taunting me.

     That did it.

     I rolled over to face him, pretty miffed. "It's the way that you walk. How you hold yourself. Like a toddler. The way that you talk, with that weird breathy inflection. How you absolutely refuse to say 'feng shui' right. That stupid smile on the corner of your lips when you're trying not to laugh." I took a breath. "And your stupid hair."