Aftertaste [COMPLETED]

Chapter 25 :: Ink

BERLINS P.O.V.

**

"ALRIGHT," I SAID WITH A SIGH as I stood over my bed, unpacking the last of my clothes and placing them back in their rightful place, "another night, another opportunity for me to die in my sleep from undetected carbon monoxide poisoning."

I tossed the empty duffle bag aside and was just about to climb into bed when I heard a knock at the door. I groaned in protest.

After slipping on my ratty pink slippers, I shuffled to the door.

I was more confused than shocked to see Chad standing there. He had an awkward look on his face, almost as if he felt uncomfortable just popping up like that.

"Chad? What are you doing here? And how did you find me?" I peered around the doorstop to see if he was really alone.

"Um," he took a timid step back and cleared his throat, "I was with Rory and he said you were back, so I figured I'd stop by and say hey—if  it's alright with you that is. He um, pointed me in the ditection of your dorm."

I don't know how I had missed it before, but it was then that I saw he was holding a plush dinosaur.

Okayyy?

I chose to overlook it.

"So you and Rory are getting pretty chummy, huh?" I rembembered how closely they had stuck to one another after the funeral.

He averted his gaze upward and let out a sigh. "Yeah. He won't stop calling me."

I let out a genuine laugh which he returned uneasily.

"You...wanna come in?"

"Uh, yeah sure."

I side stepped to let Chad in and shut the door after him.

He lowered himself onto the sofa and looked around. "Well this quite cosy. Have to say though, I don't miss uni at all."

"Oh?," I took a seat next to him. "When did you graduate?

"Last year," he bobbed his head. "What about you? What year do you graduate?"

He kept passing the dinosaur back and forth in his hands.

"This my freshman year actually, so I've got a ways to go."

"Well hey, one year down right? And you've gotten the hardest year done, after that it's pretty much a breeze."

"Really? Well that's good to know."

He started to say something, but he changed his mind. He looked down at the plush in his hand and gave it a squeeze; he looked back up at me.

He cleared his throat again. "So how are you?"

"Eh." I squinted trying to give him a straight answer. "As of late...not so good. I mean yesterday I thought I was doing okay, but today, I just don't know..."

"Do you want to hold cryceratops? He handed me the teal velvet dino with soft green scales. I gently took it from him, running thumbs across the soft material.