Loving The Wallflower

Chapter Thirteen: Home...

"I love that your favourite drink stays the same." That familiar soothing voice would've turned heads everywhere. Astra spun around and looked up to see Darian smiling down at her.

And in that moment, Astra's world felt different again.

Astra stood up and spun around while walking towards Darian. She went in for a hug and he gladly took her in a tight embrace.

"I've missed you, so so much." He said as he buried his face in between her neck and shoulder. He had missed her, the feeling of being this near to her, the feeling of having her in his arms.

They let each other go and Darian gave his brother a hug as well.

"Miss you too, lil bro." Jeremiah said as Darian rolled his eyes.

"I'm glad your sarcasm stays too, Jer."

Astra introduced her friends to Darian as they all took turns saying hi to him.

"This lovely person is my dearest roommate, Skye. And this is Aiden, with his roommate, Connor."

Aiden gave Darian a brief smile and mentally observed him. The person he's always curious about was now standing before his eyes. He had always wondered what Darian was about that made Astra love him so dearly.

And now he saw it. The way Darian smiled at her. The way Darian hugged her. The way Darian was very soft and gentle with her. He saw all that at the very first encounter between him and Darian. And he knew he'd see more of those all through the time during his stay here. He was not aware of how his hand had turned into a fist watching the looks exchanged between Astra and Darian.

Not until someone held his fist and he turned to see Connor looking at him. He loosened the fist, and pretended to look around the airport.

Aiden was confused. He was also feeling anger and pain.

What is happening to me?  He thought to himself.

"Nice meeting all of you. Let's go, I'll drive us all straight to the rest house. My friends are waiting for us there." Darian offered to take Astra's bags but she refused. She did not want Darian to do all that. She just wanted to be with him.

As Darian and Astra walked side-by-side, leading the others out of the airport, Aiden was feeling a bit left out. He did not know what went over him. He has never felt like this before. He tried to ignore the feelings building up in him, and tried his best to talk about other things with Connor to distract himself.

Astra sat in the passenger seat next to Darian. Astra offered to sit infront and told the rest that they'd need the extra space without her occupying more at the back.
Skye and Darian gave her a "don't say that" look and she just shrugged her shoulder.

"It's the truth tho. No worries. It'll be easier for us all. I sit in the front, so all of you skinny people can sit comfortably at the back." And she laughed at her own 'joke'.

They all did not know how to respond to that. Aiden squeezed her hand softly, and proceeded to go in the backseat first. He knew she felt awkward at that very moment, so he decided to go with the flow and hopefully, everyone will let the matter go.

And they did.

Astra gave Aiden a nod, thanking him for his action. He gave her an assuring smile as a respond.

The awkwardness was starting to fade away when Darian played some music and they all sang along to songs they knew, and mumbling gibberish to songs they were not familiar with.

"I can't wait to catch up with you." Darian said as he gave Astra a smile before focusing on the road.

"Me too." She whispered and looked out the window.