WHEN YOU'RE CLOSER

CHAPTER 5

"You're planning on staying here until your vacation is finished?" I asked sarcastically.

Landon nods. "Yeah?"

"Go get a real vacation, Landon," I say and sigh. "Stop coming here for fuck sake, Landon."

"Will you call me love? You've been calling my name these days." He pouted and sipped on his favorite coffee.

"No," I stated firmly. "Come on, Landon. There are a lot of vacation spots around here. Try them out, at least. You cannot unwind here. This is a cafe and not a vacation spot."

"Why are you so eager to send me away?" he asked like a kid.

I scoff. "Because you're overdosing yourself with caffeine. All you do here is have your usual coffee and order it five times. A day, to be precise." He became quiet. "If you think that I am shooing you away, think of it as my concern. Go get a break you deserve, Landon."

"Without my girlfriend? No thanks." He blurted, pouting his lips even more.

I shook my head in disbelief. "Do not wait for me to ban you from here," I warned.

He sighed in defeat. "If that's what you want, then." He says and stands up from his seat. 

"And Landon," I called. "We are pretending, in case I need to remind you. We also have a different life to live and seeing you like this wants me to question if what we have right now is fake or not. Do not confuse me, Landon." I smiled a little at him.

"I understand. Sorry for confusing you with my actions. I'll do my best to try not to conflict with anything. Thanks for telling me about it." He smiled gently and patted my shoulder with his hands. "I'm clingy and get comfortable easily. That must be the reason, right?"

"I see," I nod. "There's no need to apologize. It's not your fault that you're comfortable around me. I am thankful for that. It made me happy to know that someone was comfortable with my presence. And, I didn't say you should stay away from me, did I?"

His forehead creased. "Isn't that what you wanted to say?"

I chuckle, "No, silly. What I'm trying to say is, that you and I have a different life. We had things to do even before we met. And we just met for almost two weeks from now. If you keep on doing things like this — getting used to each other's presence — don't you think it won't affect the both of us? I have no problem of us getting closer and closer, I just don't want you to be like this. Like, as if we're a real thing. I get it, you are just a caring person and you don't want me to overthink things, but this act is too much. You don't need to assure me because we had a deal from the start." I explained thoroughly and calmly.

He nodded and sipped his coffee. "I'm not an outgoing person, honestly. That's one of the reasons why I don't do vacations. A real vacation as what you are telling me." He started and added, "And you have a point. I should go and clear my mind. We just met and I am getting attached to you. I just don't want you to think that I'm just here because I needed your help. I don't want you to think that way. We had a deal, yes, but I also wanted to be your friend. You are so calm and you look at me at peace. It soothes me, Aster. I like how genuine you are towards me. And it makes me think as giving my presence to you as payment."

I smiled, unable to utter any words from my mouth. Did he think that way? Oh, man, I'm whipped.

"Aster? Hey, don't cry, I'll feel bad for making you cry." He hugged me softly and instead of stopping myself from crying, I cried loudly in his arms. He gently taps my back. "If crying will help you calm down, then cry it all." He then hummed.

It took me minutes to stop myself from crying. He lent me a handkerchief and I gladly accepted it.

"Thank you," I finally said. Thankfully there's no customer so there's no one saw us in this state. "Sorry for suddenly breaking down in front of you."