Enemy [Kaveh x Al Haitham]

08: Friends

„ Girlfriend?!", Alhaitham gasped.

Dehya smiled.
„ Yeah. Candace is my girlfriend!", Dehya said. She turned over to her girlfriend.
„ Would you mind waiting for me? I'll then come over to you and we can head home, ok baby?", Dehya asked her lover.

„ Sure thing!", Candace said as she left.

Dehya took a deep breath.
„ I know it's surprising how I like girls.", Dehya said, „ You see, after Kaveh and I broke up, I realised I didn't find boys attractive. I realized how much I admired girls. Eventually, I came out as a lesbian."

Alhaitham was shocked. He had no chance with the girl he liked.
„ I'm happy you figured your sexuality out. I'm happy for you.", Alhaitham said smiling.
„ Thank you.", Dehya said smiling, „ Well, I gotta get going. My girlfriend is tired and we probably should get some sleep."

Once Dehya left, Kaveh approached Alhaitham.
„ Dang, looked like there was some drama there.", Kaveh said, „ What did y'all talk about?"

„ Stop acting like we're actually dating. I don't have to tell you everything!", Alhaitham yelled as he stormed off.

Kaveh was shocked to see Alhaitham angry. He wondered what Dehya and Alhaitham talked about.
Once they arrived in their flat, Alhaitham stormed to his bedroom. He lay on his bed, with his face on the pillow.

Kaveh approached him.
„ Alhaitham, I know we aren't really dating, but come on. We're roomates, you can't just hide things that happen to you!", Kaveh said.
„ Fuck off. I don't wanna tell you!", Alhaitham yelled, „ I literally hate you. Stop acting like we're even friends!"

Kaveh noticed Alhaitham was crying.

Kaveh put his hand on Alhaitham's back.
„ Look, I promise I won't be mean to you about whatever happened. Please just tell me.", Kaveh begged, „ I won't judge you."

Alhaitham lifted his head from his bed. His eyes were full of tears.
„ How would you feel if you found out that you have 0% chance with someone you like romantically?!", Alhaitham yelled.

It then hit Kaveh. Dehya didn't like him back.
„ Oh...I'm so sorry.", Kaveh apologized.

Alhaitham cried more.
„ Dehya has a girlfriend. She's a lesbian.", he explained, „ And I'm so happy for her that she's found herself. But I had a crush on her...and I guess it's always heartbreaking when you find out that your crush doesn't like you back."

That moment, Kaveh opened his arms and pulled Alhaitham towards him.

Alhaitham's cheeks turned bright red.
„ What the heck are you doing?", Alhaitham yelled, pretending that he wasn't secretly enjoying the hug.
„ Since I'm a kid, I always hug people when I feel bad for them. It's my way of saying "Everything will be ok.", Kaveh said.

Alhaitham hugged Kaveh back. He knew he hated Kaveh, but in this moment, he needed this hug.
Around 10 minutes later, Kaveh was getting ready to get up and stop hugging Alhaitham.

But in surprise, Alhaitham held onto him.
„ Let's stay like this a little longer.", he said. Kaveh blushed and smiled.

The two ended up falling asleep, with Alhaitham cuddling Kaveh. They both felt comfortable, and while they were cuddling, they forgot that they "hated" each other.

The next morning, Alhaitham was the first to wake up. He saw that he was in Kaveh's arms. Usually, he probably would have kicked Kaveh so hard, that he would wake up. But this time, Alhaitham stayed in the same position until Kaveh woke up.

About 2 hours later, Kaveh woke up. He smiled as he saw Alhaitham.
„ Good morning.", he said, „ Did you enjoy cuddling with me?"

Alhaitham sighed.
„ Even though I mostly want to strangle you, your hug really comforted me. Even if the reason I was crying was dumb...I just wanted to say thank you.", Alhaitham thanked.

Kaveh smiled.
„ Just that you know, cuddling your roomate isn't a very heterosexual thing to do.", Kaveh said after a minute.

Alhaitham rolled his eyes.
„ I'm straight, dumbass!", he yelled. Kaveh simply laughed.

Throughout the day, Alhaitham wouldn't stop thinking about the hug. Why didn't he just stop Kaveh from hugging him? Alhaitham was the type to hate hugs. He rarely hugged people, and when he did hug people, it would be for no longer than 5 seconds. But somehow, he never wanted the hug with Kaveh to end.

„ What the heck is going on with me today?", Alhaitham thought to himself.

Throughout the entire day, Alhaitham couldn't stop thinking about the hug. He was hoping that he would forget about it, but it just wouldn't leave his mind. And what was bad for him was that every time he thought about the hug, his face would turn bright red. Alhaitham couldn't even keep eye contact with Kaveh anymore because he always had to think of the hug.

It was dinner time. Kaveh had prepared some ravioli for himself and for Alhaitham.
„ I hope you like ravioli because I ain't cooking anything else.", Kaveh said smiling.

Alhaitham turned red. He couldn't even look at his roommate with a straight face.
„ What's up with you?", Kaveh chuckled, „ Have I finally turned you gay?"

Alhaitham turned redder.
„ Shut up. I'm straight.", Alhaitham yelled, „ Even if I have no chance with Dehya, I will find an other girl to fall in love with."

Kaveh laughed.
„ You're acting really strange today.", Kaveh said, „ Like you usually always yell at me, or tell me how much you can't wait for us no longer to be roomates. But today...you haven't been yelling at me. Seems like you might...have feelings for me."

Kaveh winked his eye at his roomate.

Alhaitham tried to stop blushing more than he already was. He rolled his eyes.
„ I still hate you just as much as I do every day. And even if I was into boys, I would rather kiss a toilet seat than date you.", Alhaitham said, „ Look, if you really have to know, the reason I'm acting different because...your hug last night was really comforting and I appreciate you being there for me."

Kaveh smiled.
„ You're not the first person to say that.", Kaveh said, „ My hugs apparently make everyone feel better."

Alhaitham stared at him.
„ Really?", he asked.

Kaveh nodded his head.
„ My way of cheering people up is hugging.", Kaveh explained, „ As a child, I always wanted to be hugged. My dad died when I was really young, which was difficult for my mother and for me. I was only 5 years old when he passed away. And all I wanted was for my mom to hug me. I guess I saw it as a sign that we love each other. But not even one year after my father's death...I woke up one morning and saw a note. My mom said she left to a different nation because she fell in love with a man online. She didn't even say goodbye."

Kaveh started to tear up.

Alhaitham felt bad.
„ Kaveh...I'm so sorry.", Alhaitham apologized.
„ I guess I love hugging people when they're sad...because all I ever wanted from my mom was for her to hug me when I was sad.", Kaveh cried.

Alhaitham got up and approached Kaveh. He opened his arms, pulled Kaveh towards him and hugged him.
Kaveh wiped his tears away.
„ Thank you, Alhaitham.", Kaveh said as he tried to stop crying.

Alhaitham took a deep breath.
„ You know...I think us fighting over things that happened in middle school is just pointless.", Alhaitham said, „ Even though I still would never actually date you in a million years and I won't ever change my mind...I think we should stop this nonsense and actually be friends."

Kaveh was shocked.
„ You actyally wanna be friends? After all these years?", Kaveh gasped.

„ If you make a big deal about this, you can forget being friends.", Alhaitham growled.

Kaveh smiled.
„ From this day on, let's be friends and no longer argue.", Kaveh said as he put out his left hand.

Alhaitham smiled and shook his hand.
„ Let's have a new start.", Alhaitham said smiling.