My neighbour Rúben

Chapter 14

When I woke up the next day, my head hurt like hell. Everything hurt like hell, to be honest, and I wasn't sure about where I was. That wasn't my room at my grandma's house, that wasn't my bed and... And someone's arm was around my waist.

"Shit" I whispered. What had I done?

I tried to move and turn to see who was hugging me, but his grip was too firm, and I couldn't move without waking him up. Because this definitely was a man's arm.

I needed to remember. What had happened last night? I went to a party with Aaron Ramsdale. To Ben White's house. So that's where we probably were. And we drank something pink, and then... Rúben. I remembered talking with Rúben. And dancing. But what did I do after that?

"Fuck!" the man behind me said, both of us jumping when someone closed a door with too much force. "That was too loud" he said, his arm leaving my body as he changed his position. "Are you awake?"

I recognized that voice. Aaron. The man next to me was Aaron. Why was I sharing a bed with him?

"I am" I said, my voice sounding all cranky. I needed a glass of water so badly...

"I need some water" he said as if reading my mind. "Do you want some?"

"Please."

I felt him leave the bed and walk somewhere, turning a light that was too bright, both of us complain about it. While he cursed, I hid my head under the duvet. And that's when I noticed I was just in my underwear. Dear God, what had I done?

"Why are you hiding?" Aaron said next to me.

"The light. Too bright" I said, still under the duvet.

"Happy hangover" he chuckled, leaving the glass on the bedside table before getting back in bed next to me.

This was bad. This was so so bad. And my head hurt. And I needed to pee. Badly. So finding some courage God knows where, I moved from under the duvet, looking around.

"Morning" Aaron said.

"Hi" I replied, not looking at him. "Bathroom?"

"The door in front of us."

"Thank you" I said, getting up from the bed. But the moment I was on my feet, everything started moving.

"Woah, careful there" Aaron said, holding me by the arms. "Slow movements."

"Slow movements" I repeated, getting up again.

Once inside the bathroom, I made sure to lock the door.

"Ok" I said, taking a deep breath. I moved to look at myself in the mirror, see if there was anything different about me. But beyond looking horrible, my hair being a mess and my eyes red and swollen, I looked like always.

"You took your time there" Aaron said when I finally came out. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just too much liquid in my body."

"We drank a bit, didn't we?"

"I could drink a lot more. But just water" I said, getting back in bed and drinking the glass he had brought me in just one go.

"Same. Do you want me to get us something to eat? That will also help."

"Talking from experience?"

"I'm afraid so" he said with that big smile of his.

"Ok. But Aaron," I said once he got up, just wearing his boxers. "Can you see if my phone is over there? My grandma may be going nuts wondering where I am."

"She knows you are with me. When you were in the bathroom I checked my phone and I had a text from my dad saying not to worry, that they knew" he said, handing me my phone.

"Oh, great. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"This is the best meal of my entire life."

"It's just a breakfast burrito" Aaron chuckled before giving his a big bite.

"Best meal ever" I repeated. Ben had thought of everything, getting breakfast for those guests who had decided to stay. "Do you think he'll get mad if we get his sheets dirty?"

"He'll probably burn all the sheets that have been used tonight" Aaron laughed.

"Do... Do you..." I mumbled, putting down my burrito.

"Do I...?" he asked with a smile.

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

"You don't?"

"I remember us dancing and calling..."

"Rúben."

"Yes."

"I think he's gonna be a bit pissed."

"What?" I said, my voice coming out louder than I expected.

"We made out while we were dancing. Then we came here, we kept making out, ended up in our underwear, and then..."

"And then?"

"Then I... I... God, this is so embarrassing."

"What happened, Aaron? Tell me."

"Well, I started touching you down there, and you basically moaned Rúben's name instead of mine."

"Oh my God" I gasped.

"You have gone so red" he laughed. "But it's ok, don't worry."

"Really?"

"It is. It had never happened before, but there is a first time for everything" he shrugged.

"I don't know what to say, I..."

"You don't have to say anything. At least not to me."

"What do you... Oh."

"Yep."

Rúben. The call. He was going to ask me about what had happened after. And since I can't lie because my face gives it all away...

"Urgh, I'm such an idiot!"

"Hey, don't" Aaron said, holding my hand. "Not crying under my watch."

"But I... I just ruined everything before it even started!"

"You don't know that."

"Oh, c'mon Aaron. If the girl you liked got drunk and did what we did with a guy she just met, wouldn't you be mad at her? Wouldn't you feel hurt and betrayed?"

"He may understand" he said after a few seconds of silence. "You said you were single, it isn't cheating."

"We had something going on, Aaron. And now it is gone."

"Oh, fuck!" he cursed, hitting the bed and making the food go everywhere. We could add Ben to the list of people angry with us. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have brought you here, or told you to have a drink when you said you didn't drink, or..."

"It is my fault, Aaron. Not yours. I said yes to all of that, you didn't push me to do anything" I said between sobs.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry" he said, moving closer and hugging me, my body shaking while I cried.

I had fucked up. And big time.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

Author's note: You don't want to miss Friday's chapter 👀