Connected

Craving the Connection

"Please Lixie! I just need 10 minutes." I was kneeling on the couch in my best friend's apartment begging to use just ten minutes of his allotted time this week.

"You said that last time and ended up using half of my time!" His hands were on his hips. "There is no way I am going to let you use my time again this week."

"Felix, there is an important paper for school that I have to turn in, and my time is so inconvenient." My allotted time every week was 3:33 am to 4:33 am every Wednesday.

"And why haven't you appealed the time, like I told you to?"

I bit my lip and looked away. "It's complicated," I mumbled.

He rolled his eyes and walked into the other room. "No, final answer, Y/N."

I slumped down on the couch just as the door to the apartment opened. In walked Felix's roommate Hyunjin, "Hey love. What's the trouble?"

I sighed, "Felix won't let me borrow some of his time this week."

"Oh, I walked in at a bad time then."

From the other room Felix yelled, "You say borrow as if you plan on giving it back."

"Once I graduate you can have some of the time back. I won't need it as much anymore."

I heard him scoff and turned back to Hyunjin who was unloading groceries into the fridge. I got up to join him in the kitchen, "Need a hand?"

"Thanks," He handed me a couple boxes of cereal and I put them away in the cabinet.

"If you really need the time, Y/N, you can always use some of mine."

My eyes lit up, "Really?" I hung onto the door to the fridge.

He shrugged, "Sure. I hardly use all of my time anymore. I mostly just use it for news, but we still have television, so it's not all that important anyways."

He closed the door and I sprung into his arms, "Thanks Hyunjin." Then I yelled for emphasis, "You are the best!"

When I let him go, I saw Felix out of the corner of my eye and I stuck my tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes again, "Just make sure you hold her to it, or she will use up all of your time."

Hyunjin laughed, "No biggie if she does." He walked out of the kitchen and pinched Felix's arm, "Besides, I know one person you will share your time with." He winked at him and continued walking to his room. My eyes came back to Felix who had turned beet red.

I raised an eyebrow, "And you still think he doesn't like you?"

"Shut up," he mumbled, bringing his hands up to try to cool his cheeks down.

"Looked like flirting to me." I leaned on the counter. "When are you going to tell him?"

Felix looked back up at me, "Tell him what?"

"That you like h..." Felix's hand covered my face so fast, I barely saw him move.

His body was practically covering the island and his eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare say anything else."

I licked his hand then laughed as horror crossed his face. He pulled his hand away and held it out in front of him like it was infected. "Gross, now I have to wash my entire arm." He came around the island to the other side of me and turned the faucet on. Then he squeezed soap on his hand and all the way up to his elbow.

"Rude."

"Hey, who knows what weird internet craving disease you have."

When he had finished, he dried off his arm then threw the towel at me. "Brownies and a movie?"

"Definitely."

I woke up a few hours later curled up on the couch with Felix, a blanket had been placed over the two of us. I lifted my head up and squinted trying to make out the time on the clock. 3:37 glared back at me. I blinked and slowly moved so as to not wake Felix up. I placed the blanket back over him and stood up, tip toeing to the kitchen to grab my things.

I jumped and nearly shouted when I saw Hyunjn standing in the kitchen. "Sorry," he whispered.

I shook my head, "All good."

"You headed out?" He motioned to the shoes that I had grabbed and was slowly putting on.

"Yeah, it's late, and I didn't ask about staying over."

He shrugged then grabbed a brownie out of the dish, "It's fine with me. You take the couch, I can move Felix into his room."

"You sure?"

He shoved the brownie in his mouth, wiped his hands against each other and nodded. Then he walked past me into the living room. He moved the blanket out of the way, then effortlessly picked Felix up, holding him Bridal style.

"Can you get the door?" He nodded with his head towards Felix's door.

I set my shoes down and walked over to open the door. Hyunjin walked in carrying Felix. I followed behind and pulled the cover back so Hyunjin could put Felix down. I handed him the blanket then walked back to the door. When I turned back Hyunjin was just tucking Felix in, then he moved the hair out of Felix's face.

He took a second then followed behind me, pulling the door with him. I sat on the couch and he sat next to me and threw the cover over me.

"So..." I raised my eyebrows and smiled.

He sighed and tilted his head back. "Is it that obvious?"

"Just a little bit." I pulled the covers over my feet and sat my chin on my knee. "Tell me about it?"

He brought his hand up and ran it through his hair a few times. "I just feel protective of him. I don't want anything bad to happen to him, ya know?"

"Totally." I lifted my chin up. "Felix is so innocent. That's what I like about him too."

Hyunjin looked over at me and I held my hands up, "Purely as a friend."

He turned back to look up at the ceiling. "I want to tell him, but I like how things are now."

I nodded, "It's comfortable."

"I like the flirting and the subtlety that we have currently. I don't want to change that or mess it up."

"Hyunjin?" He turned back to look at me. "You won't mess it up." I patted his shoulder.

He nodded. "Thanks." He patted my hand on his shoulder. "Go back to bed." He got up and went back to his own room.

I settled into the couch, thankful that Felix had warmed it up previously and had squished the cushions in just the right places.

I settled down squirming a bit to get comfy and sighed. I had just closed my eyes when my phone vibrated. I swiped it open to see a short text message from an unknown number.

'We're a go. Be ready.'

I locked my phone back up and put it on the coffee table. I scanned around the room. This would probably be one of the last times I would see this living room.