Pretty Girls

CHAPTER 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

APOLLO'S HOUSE WAS dead silent when I finally reached the property.

I had tried the doorbell, ringing it insistently but I was met with no reply. Exasperated, I reached for the key that the family hid in the potted plant by the porch. Apollo had changed the ferns at the doorstep to sunflowers. What was once an area of lush green now bloomed in sunshine yellow, the very same color I had mentioned matched Apollo well.

I couldn't help myself but chuckle a little under my breath. To think that my words, spoken randomly and without much thought, made such an impact on a person.

However, he did not do a good job caring for the beautiful flowers. The soil was dry and grainy and the flower looked ready to wither and crumble into dust at any moment. It looked as though no one had placed in much care for the plants in recent days.

I had hosed some water into the pot before entering the house, hoping it would be enough to revive the plant at least a little.

When I entered the house, all the lights were off and there wasn't a single sound throughout the entire place. Besides the eerie silence, it looked as though no one had lived in there for days even though I knew it couldn't be true. Apollo was always home in the night.

"Apollo?" I called out, lightly locking the door behind me before removing my shoes by the door. I shuffled further into the house, placing my bag of ingredients on the kitchen counter. Still, there was silence. "Apollo, are you home?"

The only reply I received was a loud crash that came from upstairs, followed by a smooth yelp that cursed the high heavens. It echoed, ringing down the halls as I quickly left the kitchen and made my way up the stairs.

Pushing Apollo's bedroom door open, I was shocked to see the floor a mess. Plates and cups were strewn over the floor, along with a heap of pillows. A table lamp had toppled over, the light flickering on and off haphazardly. In the middle of it all, Apollo was tangled with the duvet on the ground, too tired to remove himself from the fabric.

When he heard the door open, he looked up slightly, bright blue eyes now darkened by a storm. His pupils met mine, staring blankly at me for a second before his lips stretched into a tired smile, eyelids drooping.

"Oh, hi, Iridessa." He waved, wiggling his fingers slightly since he could only move his one hand. "A little help?"

"What have you gotten yourself into?" I clicked my tongue, hurrying into the room to peel the duvet covers off of his body. His long limbs were heavier than it looked and it took me some time before fully peeling the covers away from him.

I tossed the duvet over my shoulder, ready to place it back onto the bed when my feet got caught on the sheets. Tripping, I landed face first on Apollo, palms pressed against his chest as we both groaned in pain. My head had missed his own by mere millimeters, saving us both from mild concussion.

"Getting a little touchy, are we?" Apollo's words breathed down the sides of my neck due to our close proximity. In a flash, I turned over to face him, placing both my palms against the floor to push myself up.

"Oh my gosh. I am so sorr-"

Before I even got the whole sentence out, an arm wrapped itself around my waist, pulling me back down to the ground in a thud. I landed against Apollo's muscular figure, cheek pressed against him in the crook of his neck. Silently, I cursed the thundering of my heart. There was no way Apollo could not hear it. He could maybe even feel it from the way we were embraced.

"This feels good," he murmured into my hair. "Stay like this a little longer with me."

I wanted to argue against it. The rational part of my mind told me to say something, anything. It yelled in volumes that whatever was going on between us had already slipped way past the boundaries of friendship and we were no longer acting the way two best friends should. Not the tight hugs, not the flutters in the stomach, not the feather-light kisses that Apollo now pressed on the crown of my head.

His hand was gently caressing my hair, combing through the strands like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. When he got tired, fatigue ultimately taking over his body, he coughed once, careful to face away from me, before resting his hand on the small of my back. We laid there in that position for a long time even though it could never feel long enough for me.

Eventually, with my ears pressed against his chest, I could hear the rate of his breaths slow down. His chest no longer rose and fell that often and it was much more subtle, much more relaxed. Somehow, in this obviously uncomfortable position for him, he had fallen back asleep.

I didn't dare to move because I didn't want to wake him up. Laying there, entrapped in his muscular arms seemed so ordinary. It felt as though it was something we should've done eons ago. It felt right.

Slowly, I raised a hand, combing a stray strand of hair that had fell out of place. It curled across his forehead, dangling dangerously near his long eyelashes. Slicking it back, my fingers trailed down his face, past his cheekbones, and finally away from his jaw. When he was asleep with the weight of his world away from his shoulders, Apollo looked nothing like when he was awake. He looked like a child that had just witnessed the wonders of the world.

He was the sort of art that painters would wish to never stop painting. It was a beauty that a single canvas could not hold.

Eventually, all good things must come to an end. As gently as I could, I pressed a kiss to his jaw before slowly detaching myself from him. Once I was sure he wasn't about to wake up anytime soon, I grabbed the duvet, pulling it over his body. Snatching the pillow that had, too, fallen to the floor, I dusted it off slightly before raising his head, sliding the pillow beneath it so that he had something to rest on. There was no way I could lift his body back onto the bed without him noticing so I did not even try.

On my way out, I began to tidy the room, picking up all the plates and cups that were littered all across the floor. Holding them in my hands, I returned the table lamp to its original position, switching the light off after making sure the plug hadn't been accidentally pulled out when it fell to the ground.

Once I was done, I walked back out into the corridor, offering him one last glance before shutting the door behind me as softly as I could.

Much like when I had just arrived, the house was like a ghost town. Silence shrouded everything and I could even hear the persistent loud thumping of my heart that beat rapidly against my chest. It did not just ring in my rib cage but also in my eardrums, the sound nothing but a simple reminder that I was beginning to fall off the deep end.

[A/N]:

Fun fact: Chapter 28 was the last chapter of the old version. Right now (and the re-readers will know), I'd say we've only reached the three-quarter mark.

Yay or nay for the extra scenes?

xx aurora

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