Dangerously Close (Aris x Reader)

15) Temporary

Aris’s P.O.V

Apparently, Y/N is super out of it since she passed out on my side. Not just fell asleep peacefully. She just straight up laid down without looking and was out.

It's kind of sweet honestly. I’m gonna take it as a subconscious sign that she trusts me, even if that does seem a tiny bit delusional.

We’re friends. I know that so I don't get why she won't admit it. Unless she genuinely doesn't realize that? That's not exactly a crazy idea. She’s never had any before, and when she has traveled with people, they’ve been jerks.

Well, I like her, and I won't be a jerk to her. Even if she is struggling to open up a little bit, it’s worth the wait.

I know it seems kind of stupid, but there was something in her eyes when I pointed a gun at her head. She seemed so ready to give up, and it's haunted me ever since. Maybe she wasn't actively suicidal, but accepting death isn't a normal reaction.

She doesn't deserve to think that she should die. Sure. She has murdered people, but she has her reasons. Besides, she’s never locked up a bunch of innocent people, made them feel safe, and tortured them. Not that I know of at least.

I hope she hasn't. That would have been very rude of her.

I'm going to be honest since it's my head, and nobody will ever know. People not liking me is a foreign concept. So much so that I’m almost sure there's an alternative universe where I’m hated by practically everyone. If all she’ll ever see me as is not that bad and never truly like me, I would be caught off guard.

Sure. I’ve had people unintentionally be dicks to me (half the people at WCKD), but nobody's ever disliked me. That I know of at least.

Despite that, I don't really have a lot of friends. Now, it's just Sonya, Harriet, and maybe Thomas. It doesn't bother me though. I like my down time, and I desperately need it.

I wonder if my parents were like that.

I wonder if my parents didn't like me, and that's why they gave me up. Maybe I was a brat or something. Spoiled possibly. Maybe a crybaby. Maybe too chatty or too weird of a kid to want to have.

That doesn't bother me either. It's just overthinking, another not that great tendency I have.

That doesn't bother me. Not much does. When you've survived the unsurvivable and lost almost everyone you care about in the process, it takes a lot for something to get under your skin.

That's why it’s weird that Y/N gets under my skin in a way. She doesn't get on my nerves or anything like that, but she takes up a lot of space in my mind. Probably more than she should considering we don't know each other that well.

I’d like to, but she's a little iffy on that. She’s suspicious of every person ever, probably including me for now.

× ~ × ~ × ~ ×

For a while, I stayed in that spot, watching over her. Every now and then she would groan in pain and roll on her other side, but she stayed out like a light.

I laid beside her, reading her book. If she hadn't specifically told me it was romance, the sweet nature of it would actually shock me. The pure moments it has are gushy, some are cliche, but they all have a purpose. I don't know if it’s actually her taste in books or if it was just all we had, but it's good either way.