Lethal | KV

NINETEEN | Moving In The Right Direction | KV

Monday

Reaching for the remote, Aspen found herself tuning into the hit sitcom The Bernie Mac Show. It was like one of her favorite comfort shows to watch whenever she was feeling down. Aspen then clicked the continue option on the left side of the screen, resuming where she left off.

Three days had gone by since that run-in with Xzavier occurred and Aspen was still a bit shaken up over it. That encounter made her feel like that scared little girl she once was.

Seeing that sadistic smirk of Xzavier's bought back flashbacks Aspen thought she had suppressed but unfortunately, every memory was still lingering in her mind.

"Aspen?" A faint knock on the door broke Aspen out of the zoned out trance she didn't realize she was in. From the sound of the soft voice on the other side, she could tell it was Khaza.

As Khaza opened the door, Aspen grabbed the remote, pausing the television show. He proceeded walking further into the cold room, observing it's surroundings.

What Khaza was seeing before him was concerning and alarming. There were clothes scattered all over the floor, the trash can by the dresser was beginning to somewhat overflow, he could tell Aspen was going through it because that type of behavior was unlike her.

"I came in here to check on you." He stated still taking in the unsettling atmosphere. Khaza even found himself stepping on disorganized homework papers from Aspen's classes.

He bent down, picking up the sheets of paper and placing them on top of the dresser. "You didn't have to do that, I'm alright." Aspen lied, wrapping the pink leopard print blanket over her. She only said that to keep Khaza from worrying.

Aspen figured Khaza had other things far more important to focus on than her. Whatever she was feeling at the moment was for her to endure not Khaza.

"Now why the hell you just lied to my face like that?" Khaza questioned raising an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting Aspen to actually give him an answer because she knew she was not being truthful.

Aspen huffed turning to fluff the pillow that laid next to her. "Honestly Khaza it's nothing for you to worry about. I'm the one who has to deal with whatever emotions I'm feeling and you know how I choose to deal with them, by sleeping."

"Sleeping?" Khaza repeated. The tone of his voice was acutely harrowing. "Hell nah. You been cooped up in this room for two days just sleeping. You can't do shit like that Aspen, just shut me out like that." He stressed.

Aspen shook her head, not trying to hear anything Khaza was saying. It wasn't that she didn't care to take what he was saying into consideration, Aspen was just drained in that moment.

"I don't see what's the big deal Khaza, it's not like I'm bothering you or anybody else by me sleeping. For a long time, sleeping is how I cope with things that hurt my feelings or when I'm tired emotionally. Yeah I know it's not the best coping mechanism but for a few hours I'm away from all the pain that clouds my heart."

Using her arm, Aspen wiped away the stray tears that escaped her eyes. That really was the first time she'd expressed that to someone. Nobody in Aspen's life cared enough to notice her excessive habit of sleeping. With her being a plus sized girly, people chopped it up to her being lazy. And you know how that goes with society nowadays.

"I'm sorry for crying like this." Aspen sniffed. "I bottle so much shit in, I'd rather sleep it off than to talk about it." She said fiddling around with a piece of string that hung from the grey sweatshirt she wore.

Khaza swiftly made his way over, taking a seat next to Aspen on the bed. As he sat beside her, the spicy but yet sweet cinnamon aroma that came from his cologne, which was the SpiceBomb Extreme by Viktor&Rolf, hugged her nose with it's captivating scent.