Back In Your Arms // DNF \\

3

"I'm his roommate." He says, chuckling. My attention quickly snaps back to him, and I stare at him wide eyed. He glances over at me and laughs and focuses on the road again.

"You're joking." I say in shock. He laughs again.

"I'm not joking!" He says through his laughs. I cover my face and start laughing.

"Yes you are!" I shout through laughs.

"I can promise you I'm not! I even have his number!" He says, picking up his phone. He quickly glances at it, unlocking it with Face ID before handing it to me.

"Go into my contacts, he should be under 'p'." He explains, chuckling.

"Why is it under 'p'? Shouldn't it be under 'n'? Or 's'?" I ask, confused.

"Well no, cause his name in my phone is 'Pandas'." He laughs.

"Pandas? Why?" I ask, confused. It was probably an inside joke I didn't understand.

"It's an inside joke, it's hard to understand."

Huh. Guess I was right.

I scroll down through his contacts, finding one named 'Pandas 🐼🔥'.

"How do I know this is actually Nick, and not just some other person you have in your phone?" I ask him. He glances over at me for a second.

"Call the number. He will pick up, I promise you." He assures. I raise an eyebrow at him and he glances over at me before quickly looking away, laughing.

"Don't look at me like that!" He jokes. His laugh was so comforting and nostalgic. Even with how much he's changed, his laugh, and his smile, and that small twinkle of light in his eyes still has never gone away. I missed that from him. Realizing I'm staring, I snap out of my thoughts.

"Well, maybe I will call then!" I laugh, clicking onto the contact.

"Be my guest!" He says cheerfully. We both laugh. I look out the front window as I see my apartment complex come into view.

"Pull into that parking lot right there and park towards the back left corner." I say, pointing to the driveway a few hundred feel ahead of us. He nods his head in understanding and pulls into the parking lot, parking next to where my car is. He puts the car into park as I hand him his phone back. He reaches out and holds it, his finger tips pressing against mine, but it doesn't take it back. He looks down at the ground.

"You should still stay in here though." He says, looking over at me. I smirk and lift one eyebrow at him again.

"I mean to like, to call Nick so I can prove to you that that is actually Nick and not some random person!" He explains, flustered. I throw my head back and laugh. I can hear him chuckle.

"You know what I meant." He says as I look over at him. He's looking away towards his window, covering his face with his other hand. I can hear his fingertips brush against the rough stubble on his face. The lights from the street lamp in the parking lot against the bright moonlight shining onto his face gave him an almost angelic look. The rain still tapping against the window as the light shines onto his side profile, I can't help myself but to smile at him. His eyes meet mine, but his head still stays away from me as we hold eye contact for a few seconds in the silence. It's not awkward, or forced, it's just nice.

"Ya know what, maybe I will!" I say tugging the phone back towards me, taking it from him, breaking the silence. He laughs and let's go of it, looking back at me with a small smirk on his face.

"What I would do to kiss that smirk off your face."

I'm taken a back at my own thoughts. That came out of left field. I shake my head, trying to physically shake the thought away.