ABOVE & BEYOND : IF WE ARE MEANT TO BE

CHAPTER 22

DUAA

"You took the keys, right?" "uh-hmm." Eryx replied as he closed the door behind him. The weather was damn perfect. The sky told a big storm was about to happen but the weather was not windy which was even more perfect for the badminton match.

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We have been playing for almost an hour now and I must say he is a good player. Currently I have 23 points and him 20. And we made a bet that whoever reaches 25 points first would do the dishes tonight.

I was about to hit the shuttlecock back to his court but he flinched violently due to the sudden loud thunderstorm. And before I knew I sat on the ground, laughing as loud as I could. My vision got blurry as tears appeared in my eyes.

He leaned against the tree beside him with his arms crossed over his chest. His expression clearly screaming, are you done?

And suddenly the rain started pouring so violently that I got completely soaked at once. My jaw dropped at the situation as I tried to get up from the round. Beside me I could hear Eryx's laughter. Bitch.

We both ran towards the house. Standing on the porch he was ruffling his hair with his hands while I tried to make sure none of my clothes got stuck to my body.

"Oh Mr. make sure you look perfect when you are in your room. Now open the door. I'm freezing." shrugging a bit he made his way towards the door while I tried to warm my hands. The rain was pouring  non-stop. It was getting so heavy that it was almost reaching us on the porch.

"Hurry up." I said before turning around only to find him already staring at me. "What's wrong? Open the damn door, dude." "umm..so, there is a slight problem." "what problem?" "I kind of forgot the key."

Bitch what?

"Are you freaking kidding? I specifically asked you and you said you have it!" "I thought I did but I picked up the wrong key." he swung the wrong key in front of my face and there was nothing more I wanted that punched that stupid face of his.

I gritted my teeth. There is nothing more I hated than a grown ass adult not being responsible. "Why are you so damn irresponsible?" it came louder and harsher than I wanted it to. "Ohoo chill out Ms. responsible manager." he said with a smile which made me even angrier.

"Ohmygod shut the fu..agh, you made this mess now clean it up!" "geez, cool down. I was just joking!" "well, that's all you do, don't you? Have you ever taken a responsibility seriously? I don't think so."

He just stared at me with his jaw hardened. His gaze...they were sharp and scary. Suddenly he got off the porch.

"Where are you going?" without answering he made his way to the closet window. Oh nono, don't tell me he's gonna break it. "Don't bre...."

Before I could, his fist made a loud contact with the glass. Oh god is he dumb? I thought even if he's gonna break it he's gonna use rock or something. Not his damn fist for god sake!

"Are you crazy? You're gonna bleed!" I got off the porch to stop him, not caring about the rain. Before I could he broke the glass with his last punch and opened the big window before entering inside.

What the freak just happened! The red liquid around the broken glass made my heart beat faster.

The sound of the door opening made me turn around. He opened the door. I quickly ran inside to talk to him. I have never seen him like this!

"Eryx stop." I said as he was about to get on the stairs but he didn't. My eyes went to his hand and his knuckles were bleeding? Oh my god, is this dude crazy? I didn't think he would get this angry!

I walked fast towards him as he didn't seem to hear me. "Eryx stop for god sake!" he turned around this time. "What do you want, Duaa?" he asked with a straight tone. No one would say he was hurting right now if they just heard his voice.

"Are you crazy? What was the stunt you just..." My eyes widened at his right hand. "Oh my god." I quickly climbed a few stairs to reach his level and took his bloody hand. "You're bleeding so much. We gotta stop the blood.

He snatched his hand from my grip. "I'm fine." "like hell you are!" I said before taking his hand in mine again and made my way to the kitchen.

ERYX

I looked at her soft hand wrapping around mine as she led me to the kitchen. I do not lose my control in front of people like that. It was not like she had not said those things before. And she was not the only person either.

I never cared if someone looked up or down at me. I taught myself not to care. Not after I cared for that woman and she left me anyway. But today when Duaa said those things it reminded me of her.

Why are you so irresponsible?                           

You don't take anything seriously.

You're such a burden.

I should have left you a long time ago.

And I just lost my shit. I knew Duaa didn't mean it like that. She always has been passive-aggressive with me and I never minded it. I never cared but today felt different. Hell..these past few days have been different. I seemed to care about everything she says and does.

I hate this feeling. I hate it when someone has enough power to make me lose my control.

"Sit here." her voice snapped me back to reality and before I knew I was sitting on one of the chairs. The  whole floor was a mess because of our dirty shoes and wet clothes but she didn't seem to care.

She turned around with a big bowl in her hands filled with water and ice and placed it in front of me. I looked up at her and she was searching for something.

She turned around with a first aid kid in her hand this time. "What are you waiting for? Put your hand in the water." I was not sure what to do. Usually I just let my blood cells heal the wounds without doing anything myself.

As I wasn't doing anything she put my right hand in the bowl herself. "What? Are you gonna smash the bowl too now?" I slightly chuckled as she looked like she's gonna smack my face anytime soon.

She sat in front of me and pulled out a clean cloth from one of the drawers before pulling my hand so delicately that it felt like a feather fell on my hand. Her hands were the softest thing I have ever felt and all I wanted to do was squeeze it.

"You know, you don't have to touch me so delicately. It's not hurting that bad." she paused, giving me a oh yeah? look before pressing the white cloth around my knuckles hardly, making me groan. "Yea, that's what I thought."

I stared at her as she was busy treating my wounds. She was close to me and I was surrounded by her scent but it still didn't feel enough. I wanted more. My eyes traced her side profile as water was still dripping from her features. Her eyebrow, eyelashes, cheek, the line of her jaw, her lips, her moles. She was looking mad serious right now. Her signature expression.

I wanted nothing more than to trace them with my finger. Suddenly she stood up and shifted a bit closer as she was wrapping a bandage around my knuckles. My heart was already beating so fast that I bet she could hear it. She didn't even bother to look at me and I don't blame her for it.

"Done." she finally said and turned to me. Our noses were almost touching and I wanted nothing more than to devour her mouth at that moment. None of us moved for several seconds and suddenly a thunderstorm interrupted us and she moved away from me as far as possible.

Damn thunderstorm!

Before I could bring myself to say anything to her she walked to her room and closed the door behind her. My heart kept beating fast.

Shit.

What is she doing to me?