Lily Of The Valley (Aris x Reader)

20) Friendly Kisses

He’s over it. The kiss. Or at the very least, he seems to be. If he’s over it, then I’m over it. It's all water under the bridge until the scenario that's all too perfect lets us make fun of the other.

“It still doesn't make sense. How quickly the weather goes from a hundred to zero,”He remarked.

“The sun is basically a weapon. Something's bound to happen when that weapon gets put away.”

“Yeah, but it's instant. Just like that, we go from needing our jackets to protect us from the heat to needing our jackets to protect us from the cold.”

“We were warned about it.”

“Doesn't mean I fully believed it.”

I sighed as I switched my gaze from the night sky to him. He was fixated on it, taking in the stars and clouds that looked like a glowing outline with the moon right behind them. With his arms resting behind his head, he seemed fairly comfortable on top of the car roof. Even the way he was chewing on the inside of his cheek, the first thing to look for if you want to know if he's deep in thought, didn't take away from that.

Sensing my stare after a moment, he looked over at me. I managed one back as we kept our eyes on each other.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“What's going on in that pretty head of yours?”

“More than whatever happens in yours.”

He rolled his eyes before pulling his sweatshirt sleeves down, covering his hands. I tugged mine to my wrists before grabbing his. He stayed silent as I grabbed his hands the way they were, successfully covering mine.

“Really?”

“Obviously.”

“Well, since you're using me for my clothes, you wanna tell me what you're thinking then?”

“You still don't have your own thoughts,”I teased. He gave me a deadpan expression, trying to make it clear he was less than amused by me. I however am aware that this was incredibly funny. So much so that even he knows it deep down. He just doesn't want to admit it.

He still wants to know though, and I give in to him pretty easily.

“You never agreed with WICKED. They definitely never knew, but I did. There was always a part of you that questioned everything about them. You stayed though. Never once did you hint at doubting them.”

“Yeah. I played the part well. Even actually participated,”He shrugged.

“Why? What was it all for?”

His expression immediately changed, eyebrows tightly knit together as he fixated on the sky. He was clearly biting his cheek harder, as though there was a correct response he had to give me.

“You liked them. They were good to you,”He whispered.

“Yeah. I know. That didn't mean they had to be good to you though.”

“No. But if they ever found out I didn't want to do it all, they could just remove me from that position. They’d probably move my room, schedule, all of it. And I’m sure they’d keep a really, really close eye on me. Close enough to where I wouldn't be able to see you ever again. And what kind of life would that be? Knowing we're in the same building and I’ll never be able to say a word to you.”

I took a deep breath against my will at the answer I could have never expected. Sure. I had no idea what he was going to say, but it wasn't that.

He turned his head, staring at me as if to assess my reaction. I could only look back, my face warming like it was back to the middle of the day.