𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 ~ | 𝘔𝘢𝘹 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 (2)

006 || Falling apart

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"Hey! I'm back!" I called out as soon as I got into the apartment, my suitcase getting a little stuck on the door. I wrenched it free and shut the door behind me.

Naomi popped her head out of the kitchen at the noise. I sighed. I guess that a small part of me had been hoping that she had moved out by now.

"Oh, hey!" She... smiled? I frowned. "I just made dinner, want some?" She asked kindly.

"You know how to do that?" I dropped my things on a chair and followed her into the kitchen, half expecting to see everything on fire.

"Yes!" She said it excitedly as she went to mix a pot of strange-smelling pasta on the stove. I wasn't hungry, I just came to see what she had done.

"You did this all on your own?" I frowned, walking over to her, still slightly in shock.

"Mhm. Pretty cool, right? Your friend Larry taught me. He's been here ever since you left." She glanced at me over her shoulder. Now that I was looking at her, I noticed that she wasn't wearing her usual fancy clothes. In fact, she was wearing a large Mclaren T-shirt and a pair of sweats. 

I should check her fever.

Wait, did she say Larry?

"I'm sorry? Larry?" I followed her to the sink as she strained the pasta. She squeezed her eyes shut the whole time, so most of the pasta spalashed out, but it was a solid effort.

"Yeah! Or was it Laurie? Something like that anyway." She shrugged, putting the pot back down and putting her hands proudly on her hips. She turned to look at me. "Oh, come on, you know him. He about yey high, curly hair, cute smile, cries when he laughs?"

"Oh! Lando?" It finally clicked.

"Yeah! That's the one." She snapped her fingers at the name. I sighed. "He's in your room if you want him." She told me with another smile. I was never going to get used to that.

"Uh, okay..." I pursed my lips. What was he doing here? Was I in trouble?

"Oh, and also, can you do the dishes? I'm not quite there yet." She pointed at the huge pile of dirty dishes next to the sink. I sighed, feeling odly comforted that not all of the old Naomi was gone.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes, leaving her to her pasta endeavors. Completely forgetting about my suitcase, I made my way down the hall to my room. Why was my heart speeding up? I went inside.

Lando was sitting on the window chair, hugging one of his knees. His face was turned away from me. At the sound of the door closing, he looked up. I was surprised to see the darkness in his eyes. I shivered.

"I'm back..." I began tentatively. He wet his lips a little, then turned back to the window.

"I can see that." He said curtly. I just stood there, unsure of what to do next. Normally, I would have hugged him, but something told me to stay put. 

"Where have you been?" He asked after a pause.

"I just had to get away from everything for a while. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I tried to explain myself, but he cut me off by standing up. His face was blank. He was always such an open book, so easy to read, but now he was... cold.

"Who was he?" His expression was unreadable. A shiver ran down my spine.

"W-who?" I stammered nervously. He stopped in front of me, his dark green eyes boaring into mine with a burning intensity.