After The Ending (John Frusciante)

Chapter 27

"If you would have to choose between going into space or diving into the bottom of the ocean, what would you choose?" John smiled as he set aside the book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, a book Amaya was currently reading, and readjusted the pillow behind his head in order to feel just a tiny bit more comfortable.

"I don't know," Amaya laughed for a moment, sitting opposite of him in her bed, her arms tightly wrapped around her legs while only a sheet covered her naked body, "Diving into the ocean I suppose."

"Why is that?" John inquired, "Because of the book?"

"No," Amaya shook her head, "It's a whole different world down there. The outerspace is so vast and empty."

"You don't know that it is empty," John argued.

"Well, I do know that it is vast," Amaya chuckled, then took a light breath after a moment and slid her hand over John's, wording a soft, "I'll miss you."

"Yeah?" John adorably smiled, then reached his arm towards the girl and gently pulled her close, wrapping her tightly into his embrace.

"Well, guess what," he then whispered after gently kissing her on the forehead, "I will be staying for a few more months."

"What?" Amaya lifted her eyes and aimed them towards the beautiful guitarist, "How come?"

"Turns out the house needs a lot more work than I initially thought," John shrugged, then almost grinned, "So you're stuck with me, missy."

"Well, I'm not complaining," Amaya couldn't help but to smile.

"I was already afraid that Matt was going to find us yet another incredibly annoying housemate," she then giggled, trying to dodge John's tickles the second she said that.

"Oh, yeah?" John laughed, "Well, we could in fact, actually get a fourth one. Don't really remember the last time I slept in my own bed."

"Well, you are free to go and sleep there whenever you wish," Amaya only playfully whispered, a note of mischief audible in her tone.

"Nah," John shook his head, then whispered before planting a kiss on Amaya's lips, "I like it here a lot better."

"Do you think Matt is suspicious of us?" the girl then asked, resting her head on John's shoulder and getting comfortable under his arm.

"No," he chuckled, "He's too oblivious for that."

And John was right.

Matt indeed was too oblivious to notice anything that was going on between John and Amaya, how the previously hidden and awkward stares had turned into mischievous glimpses and longing looks, and how John hadn't spent a single night in his own bed ever since the night after the housewarming and how he kept on disappearing supposedly into his room the second Amaya announced that the bathroom was going to be occupied, because she was going to take a shower. He hadn't noticed any of these things and in a way it made it all even more exciting for the two of them, the pair tipping on the fine line of keeping their romance under wraps and getting caught due to their own shameless behaviour.

But even if they were rather careless around the house, they really did wish to keep their secret rendezvous from everybody around them, not even sure themselves what it actually was that they were doing. The night John appeared at Amaya's doorstep after the night of the housewarming, his mind set on all or nothing, had turned into many nights after that, the pair of them getting whisked away by the overflowing feelings finally bubbling onto the surface again.

It was all so sweet, so much reminding them of their teenage years when Amaya would let John crash in her room in secret, right before she was taken away to Japan and way before their first and rather failed attempt at a romance. Just like when they were teenagers, John kept on appearing at her door time and time again and first it was only in the dark when nobody really was around and it felt safe to softly knock on her door, but then it turned into impatient touches and stolen kisses every hour of the day when Matt wasn't watching, both of their hearts beating with excitement the moment they opened their eyes in the morning and looked at each other in the soft morning light.