Rikan

Chapter 9

"You can stay the night if you'd like." Cress suggested.

"Sure." Michelle said. "We've got no where else to go."

Maris smiled at her friend. "Come on. I'll show you to the room that you can stay in." Michelle followed the brunette upstairs. "I'll lend you a change of clothes. I'm sure that jeans can't be comfy to sleep in."

Michelle smiled at her and followed her into her room. Maris went into her walk-in closet and pulled out a nightgown. "Here." Michelle stared at the silky white gown, taking in all the details. It had a beautiful cream lace on the chest. The silk shimmered in the sunlight. She was scared to take it from Maris.

"Are you sure?" Michelle asked her.

"Go ahead. You're one of my closest friends, I trust you." Maris smiled at her.

She took the gown from her. "Thank you."

"I'll get some day clothes for you too so we can wash those ones." She searched the closet again and ending up pulling out a pair of denim shorts, and a band t-shirt. Michelle's eyes widened when she saw the t-shirt.

"No way! You're letting me wear this?!" It had her favourite band on it, Function Moon. She stared at the t-shirt in awe. Maris smiled at her and nodded. "Oh my stars! Thank you!" She ran towards her friend and pulled her into a hug.

"The clothes! Michelle!" She screamed. Michelle laughed. She knew that she was scared about Michelle having  wrinkled clothes, but Michelle had no care for wrinkles. She didn't care about them. She pulled away from the hug and took the clothes from her. "I'll show you to the room where you can stay the night, and also where you can change into these clothes."

Maris led her down a hallway into a spacious, and luxurious room. "Here's the guest suite. Once you're changed, you can put the clothes in the laundry shoot here." She said, showing her a hidden door in the wall that led down into the laundry room. "I'll leave you to it then." She smiled and walked out of the room, closing it behind her. Michelle locked the door and begun to change into the outfit Maris had provided her.

Once she was done, she threw her dirty clothes into the laundry shoot and then gave herself a little tour of the suite. The living room was full of cream couches and living chairs. The brown end tables contrasted with the cream, making it beautiful to look at. There were pictures of deserts hanging on the wall. Michelle rolled her eyes, but she chuckled to herself. Of course they had desert pictures everywhere. What did she expect? Carswell would obviously like to remind all his guest's that he had found love.

Aside from all the desert pictures, there was a fireplace in front of all the couches, with a net screen resting on top of it. She walked out of the living room and down the hallway. She opened the first door to her right and saw that it was a small office. Small only compared to the spacious living room. It was big enough to fit a whole family of monkey's in here. She eyed the desk chair, yearning to spin in it. Her curiosity got the best of her and she pulled it out and sat in it. She spun herself around and squeezed her eyes shut while she laughed. The chair finally came to a stop in front of the desk. Michelle opened her eyes and found herself staring at a family portrait of the Thorne's. She smiled and decided to go to the next room.

She walked out into the hall and realized that there was only one door left. Michelle twisted the door knob and walked into the room. Her jaw dropped when she saw the beautiful bedroom. The blue and cream complimented each other. Sunlight poured in from the windows that were on the opposite side of the room from the navy blue bed. A canopy covered the bed on brown bedposts. Shelves were placed inside the walls, overfilling with books. A record player was placed in the corner of the room. She raced towards it, afraid to touch it, afraid that this was all a dream. These existed in the 2nd era, and they were very rare to find then. How did the Thorne's find this thing?

She stared at it in awe, but she then noticed all the 2nd era records on shelves beside the machine. She smiled, but then she noticed a door. A different door from the one she came through. She walked towards it.

She cracked it open, but she heard a strange sound. Water running. If this is the bathroom, then water shouldn't be running if nobody has occupied it. Or is it occupied? Michelle slammed the door shut at the thought, hearing a loud crash from the other side of the door.

She ran out of the room and into the living room, frantically glancing around for a weapon. Her eyes settled on a lamp. She unplugged it from the wall, and clutched it like a baseball bat. Michelle hid around the corner.

She heard someone stumble out the bedroom, and grunt. Her heart was beating faster than a cheetah running. She took a deep breath and waited for the stranger to come her way. A foot stepped forward and she braced herself.

Then the rest of the shirtless person came forward and she swung with all her strength at the person.

Michelle paused as the person cried out in pain. It was Rikan. He fell back and slumped against the wall. She screamed in horror, realizing what she'd done.

She rushed to her best friends side, not sure what to do. Rikan was holding his stomach, where she had hit him. Tears were streaming down Michelle's face, as she didn't know what to do. "I'm sorry, Rikan." She mumbled.

He looked up at her and smiled. "It's alright. It's not like you meant to." Guilt washed over her. "I'm sorry for scaring you." She stared down at him and realized, that even though he was covered in bruises and injuries, he was still handsome. That was a prince for you. "Don't be scared."

Michelle felt her face redden as she spoke a lie. "I-I'm not." The truth was though, was that she was terrified. She was terrified of losing her best friend. She sometimes had nightmares about losing him. She also had dreams though. Dreams of him leaving Invidia for her... What was she thinking? Michelle shut her eyes, and urged her mind to shut up. When she opened them again, she saw Rikan peering up at her, with a concerned look on your face.

"I know when you're lying. I'm your best friend." He brought his hand up to her face, and wiped away a tear that she hadn't realized was there. She opened her mouth to protest, but she shut it again. It was no use, he would catch her lying again.

"You're right." She admitted. "But I can't help but worry about your safety. Like I said earlier, I'm your protector."

"I'm glad." Michelle's worried expression, transformed into a confused one. "I'm glad that it's you. I wouldn't feel comfortable if it was someone else protecting me." He explained for her. She smiled at him, and wrapped him into a hug. He grunted in pain. She tried to pull away to make sure that he was alright, but he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.

Michelle felt warmth spread throughout her as he hugged her back. A small smile played on her lips. "I needed to hear that." She spoke.

Reality came back as she realized she was hugging her best friend who was half naked. She pulled away as a deep blush crept up on her cheeks. She let a curtain of hair cover her face, hoping that Rikan wouldn't see her like this. She felt a someone lightly squeezing her hand, and realized that he was holding hers.

"I never noticed how beautiful this ring is. Not until I saw it on your hand anyways." Confused, Michelle whipped her head around to see what he was talking about. She realized he was speaking about her friendship ring. She smiled.

"I hope you know that I'll never take this ring off." Rikan, having now recovered from being hit with a lamp, stood up. He pulled Michelle up with him, but she tripped and fell into his arms.

"I sure hope not."