erik menendez // if you love me..don't let go

chapter twelve

"Shhh." Erik pressed a gentle finger to my lips, stopping my laughs as we walked down the quiet corridor of our hotel.

"Sorry." I mouthed, and then I held my own fingers to my lips as I tried to hold back a giggle.

Me and Erik have been teasing each other for the past hour as we tried to get back to the hotel. Well, mostly, it was me teasing him, and him just laughing or giving me the death stare. But when he hit me with a retort in the staircase, I might've just died laughing. I almost fell down the stairs.

I felt around my dress, trying to feel for an invisible pocket or something. Then I realized. 

"Shit." I whispered.

"What?"

"My key. My dad has it." His eyes went wide in pure horror, and I would've laughed if it wasn't for the difficult situation we were in.

"Knock on the door." He suggested, pointing to my room. "Maybe he's home?"

Why didn't I think about that? I quickly nodded then rose my fist and knocked on the door. No response. I did a quick look over at Erik with wide eyes. His face matched mine.

Another knock. No response. I inwardly groaned and banged my head on the door.

"Hey." Erik's hand quickly flew to my forehead before I could bang it again, and he gently pushed me back. "Don't do that."

I blushed from the touch. "Well, what do we do?" 

We stood there for a few moments. I was pretending to think, but in reality, I already had a plan. I just didn't want to say it out loud.

"Maybe," Erik scratched his arm. "You could stay in my room? At least for a bit until your father comes home?" His eyes were practically begging, but I don't think he realized.

My eyebrows flew up, he was thinking exactly what I was thinking. Or maybe it was just because that was the only option I had. Unless, of course, I wanted to sleep outside, but I don't think that was even allowed.

"Yeah, is that okay?" I wrinkled my nose and pursed my lips.

"Of course, Scarlett." His face turned into a slight smile. "Come on, it's cold, lets go." He opened the door for me to walk in first. What a gentleman.

***

The sound of the shower running was the only thing I could hear. I was perched up on the edge of Erik's bed, waiting for him to get out of the shower.

I thought Erik was like any other boy, where he was messy and didn't really care about where his stuff was. But now that I was in this room, I could tell that he was the exact opposite. His suit case was zipped up and sat on top of the table that holds your luggage. The closet door was open a sliver, and I could see that all of his clothes were neatly hung up. I could even differentiate the different categories of clothing he made, like hoodies and t-shirts. 

I was playing with a tiny string coming out of the sheet when I heard the bathroom door squeak open. 

"Hey."

I looked up to see Erik. Obviously it was him, but damn, Erik. His hair was soaking wet and dripping all over the floor, making his brown curls look so much more juicier. He had a tiny towel in his hand which was currently being used in an attempt to dry his hair. I almost lost my breath. He was wearing grey sweatpants, when I've only ever seen him in formal wear or his tennis uniform. And to add the cherry on the top, he was wearing a black shirt that was a bit tight around his biceps, really enunciating him.

"Hi." I breathed out, as I continued to graze my eyes all over this glorious man. Who was I?

Once I reached his face again, I noticed he didn't really seem to know what to do. His teeth were pulling at his bottom lip and his eyebrows were slightly raised and scrunched.

Then his eyes widened. "Oh shoot, I'm so sorry." He scrambled into the bathroom just as quickly as he came back out. "Do you...want to shower?"

Now it was time for my eyebrows the fly up. Also time for me to realize I probably stunk from being out all day, and I haven't showered in over a day. 

"Would that be okay?" I asked, not wanting to be a bargain to him.

He almost sagged, as if in relief. "Scarlett," He sighed my name. I reddened. "You need to stop asking if something is okay." I bit down a smile. "Of course it's okay."

I tilted my head down. "Okay." I whispered. Then, hesitantly, I stood up. We were now right in front of each other, him staring me down and me looking at my feet. Move, Scarlett, move! 

"I have some clothes you could wear?" He finally broke the silence.

I craned my neck up to look at him. "Yeah, sure." I squeaked out.

He then ran to his closet, picked out a few things, wanting me to have different options I guess, and then put them somewhere in the bathroom. 

"You can use any of the stuff in there," He stated. "I don't mind."

"Okay, I won't be long!" I softly yelled as I closed the bathroom door behind me.

"Take however long you need." I heard Erik from the other side. I could feel his presence close to me as I stripped down, finally able to peel off the uncomfortable dress. Heat burned my body, has me moved away from the door?

"Erik?" I whisper-shouted.

"Yeah?" Yep, he was right next to the door.

"I'm going to go shower now." I quietly chuckled.

"Yeah," He took a breath. "You do that."