Charmer ||Lee Minho / LeeKnow||

Chapter 29 - Rian

It was just past 4am and rather than sleeping soundly in bed, I found myself sitting up in bed talking with Lex instead, trying to find the right words to explain my shitty behaviour these last few weeks. Where do I even begin?

"So what exactly did you and Dex talk about in the car earlier?" I tentatively asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes and behind her ear.

She sat playing with the ring on her middle finger, not meeting my eyes. "He wanted to know what happened between us in the coffee shop. He said he had seen a change in your behaviour over the last few weeks and wanted to know what kind of trouble you'd been causing" she replied, looking up at me from beneath her lashes.

"Of course he's been trying to get the information out of you. He's been bugging me for weeks about it, but I've not really told him much to be honest. He knows I've been going to the coffee shop more often and he even got jealous at one point that I kept going without him. He made such a fuss about it at one point that I had to bring him with me one time just to shut him up" I confessed.

"Yeah, I remember him coming in with you one time, but you guys didn't stay that time right?" Lex said.

"That's right. I didn't want to risk him finding out about you. So I bought him a drink and took him for food instead to distract him."

"Oh, yeah I guess that makes sense" She said softly, looking down at her hands again.

"Wait. Shit no, I didn't mean that the way it sounded, Lex. I'm sorry" I said, quickly realising how what I just said could be misinterpreted. "I didn't mean that I didn't want him to know about you, like you were a secret or something. Well, I guess you were, but not in a bad way, if that makes sense. I just meant that I didn't want him to meet you and ask me loads of questions that I didn't want to answer about you and.....Shit. I'm not making this any better am I?" I groaned, rubbing my eyes. Great job Ri, solid performance. Get it together man. Just say what you mean.

"Shit Lex, I'm sorry. I'm messing this up already and I've barely even said anything. I'm not used to talking about things and when I do, everything just comes out wrong. I'm making this worse aren't I?" I asked, annoyed with myself.

She looked up at me again. "It's okay, I get it. I find it hard to speak about things too most of the time. Can I try something that usually helps me? It's a bit odd, but I think it might help both of us to feel more comfortable talking."

Okay, now I'm intrigued. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. What did you have in mind?"

"Turn off the bedside lamp and then we'll sit with our backs to each other, okay? That way we can't see each other, but can still feel each other. It usually helps me to focus my thoughts if I'm not distracted by the things around me as much" she said.

"That's interesting. Granted, I've not heard of that one before, but I'm willing to try it. Let's do it" I said, turning to reach for the bedside lamp, as she moved herself around so she was facing away from me. I moved myself into position, resting my back against hers and crossing my legs.

"So, how do we do this Lex? I've not done anything like this before, so you'll have to guide me through it. I'll try my best, okay, but please bear with me" I said gently.

"It's fine, Ri. I appreciate it's a bit weird but it helps me talk things through sometimes. I guess I'd just like to try to understand things from your point of view, if you'd be comfortable to share it with me. I'll try to offer the same. Dex told me that sometimes the way you behave isn't always what it seems, that it might mean something other than what it initially looks like. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've been confused the whole time what your intentions were. If you were just toying with me or if there was something more behind it, like Dex seems to think there was. I guess..... I guess I just want to know I've not got the completely wrong idea about things that's all" she said shyly.