The Possibility Of Us?

Chapter 9 - Living In Oblivion, Am I!?

Dan hugged me.

Yes! He hugged me!

That too a real hug. Not the one he gives me under the pretext of crushing me sometimes.

He held me for a really long time as I sat there frozen and limp, with my arms at my sides.

My mind couldn't process anything.

After sometime, he pulled away from me and said,

"why do you have to be so stone headed?"

He said it with a soft touch to his voice. With fragility. Almost too quite to hear if we weren't so close.

"W.. What.. Umm

What"re you trying to tell me? Last night.. About not understanding.. "

I fidgeted with the remote... didn't have the nerve to look him in the eye.

He sighed. As he was ready to walk away, I grabbed him by the elbow.

"Dan. No. Stay. Explain.

I'm done with all the sighing and the code language you've been giving me these days."

The words tumbled out in a hurry.

He softened his gaze and shook his head.

"Because you're so stupid, you don't get a thing!

I don't boss you around all the time just to give you a hard time... Okay maybe sometimes.. " And he laughed.

But he looked at me with a gaze of sincerity as he continued ,"but about that day. I really didn't want you to get hurt. And I didn't want some random guy touching you all over the place and making you feel uncomfortable..."

My eyes widened at this.

His gaze never leaving me.

When I said nothing, he said with exasperation,

"Jesus, Nat!

Are you still oblivious?

Okay. To put it simply, I care for you. I really really do.

There. I've finally said it. Put it out here in the open.

If you're still not getting it..."

I rushed up to him and hugged him. And this time when I did, when the full realization of our proximity hit me, I swear I felt something funny in my stomach.

In a nice way, of course.

I'd closed my eyes shut as I said,

"I'm sorry for being a jerk and not thanking you. And I might have over-reacted. Take it, I say, cause this is probably the only time you're gonna get it. "

His body rumbled with laughter and after a few moments, I let go.

"A little warning would have been nice" Dan said with a shrug.

I smiled meekly.

Silence.

When it comes to hurling curses at one another or fighting over who gets to watch tv, we never run out of words.

But if we have to say something nice to each other, we just aren't wired to do so. Maybe that's why he didn't come clean about it before.

I could totally understand.

I was at the edge of the table when he sat next to me and I handed him the other remote. "You game?"

He took it from my hand and nudged me. I would have crashed down if it wasn't for his firm grip on my other hand.

Hmm. Maybe him helping me sometimes wouldn't be that bad, I thought to myself.

I'd have to make sure I don't ever voice this, though. I wasn't gonna give him the satisfaction.

We fooled around for a while and then I realized I had to finish my life sciences assignment. I stuffed the robots in my backpack and got to the door.

But before I closed it behind me, I said something utterly stupid.

"I hate you, you know."

as a sheepish grin took over my face.

"I hate you more," came his reply. He laughed his genuine laugh that accentuated his dimples and made his eyes twinkle...

As cheesy as it may sound, I suddenly saw him in a new light. I could feel the warmth that the feeling brought.

And I swear to god, in that moment I just hoped that we'd never stop fighting....