Love and Decisions

Chapter 5

I remembered I was going to make brownies for Nico. My kitchen won't be useful though. I only have a sink, microwave, a small oven, and a fridge.

Jill's kitchen will help though, she lives in a bigger dorm since she shares with two other people. I grabbed my phone and headed towards her dorm.

I knocked on the door and heard Melanie's voice, Jill's roommate. "Who is it?"

"It's Eli, Jill's friend." I answered back.

She opened the door and said Jill went out with Ethan. "Did you need something? I could leave a message for her." Melanie told me.

"I just need to use your kitchen, I wanted to make brownies, if that's okay with you."

"It's totally fine! Come in!" Melanie gestured me inside and took me to the kitchen. It wasn't very pretty but what could you expect from a dorm kitchen? It had everything I needed and that's all that mattered.

Melanie offered to help and I gladly accepted. She's a really nice person. She's 18 years old, like Jill. She has short blonde hair and bangs. Her eyes are a pretty teal color. She has a refreshing smile which immediately relaxed me.

We gathered the ingredients and started mixing everything together. We put the batter in a pan and put it into the oven. Melanie suggested we listen to music and dance around while we waited for the brownies.

She was an energetic and silly girl so I said sure. She put on some music from her phone and plugged it into her speakers. She started dancing and jumping around. I guess I looked uncomfortable because she took my hand and danced with me.

~~~~~

We heard the oven begin to beep and rushed over to kitchen. Melanie grabbed an oven mitt and removed the pan from the oven. She began to look for something in the cupboards.

"What're you looking for?" I asked her.

"I'm looking for..." Her voice trailed away as she opened up cupboards and drawers.

She opened the last drawer and found what she was looking for. "Found it! I think the brownies will look cute this way." It was a heart shaped cookie cutter.

Nico might take this the wrong way. "Um, are you sure? We can just cut them in squares, like they usually are cut."

"It's fine, I think Nico will love this!" She turned to me smiling.

How did she know? Did Jill tell her? I remember telling Jill but I didn't think she would tell anyone. As if reading my thoughts, Melanie said Jill told her.

Without hesitation, Melanie began to cut out the heart shapes and placed them on a plate. She seemed happy cutting them out and began to hum a song.

There was still some brownie left in the pan and she began to crumble it. "What are you doing?" I asked her, clearly confused.

"I'm going to make the leftover into brownie pops for us. Can you look up a recipe for frosting while I do this? Preferably strawberry icing?"

I typed in strawberry icing recipe on my phone. I found an easy one and looked for the ingredients around the kitchen. Once Melanie was done shaping the brownie into small balls, she walked over to me and helped make the icing.

We inserted lollipop sticks into the pops and drizzled the icing onto them. Melanie grabbed some sprinkles and put some on top of the pops. She put them into a small cup once the icing was dry. We exchanged smiles and grabbed a cake pop.

It was actually pretty good. I talked with Melanie a bit more before I left. I walked over to Nico's dorm to give him the brownies.

~~~~~

I knocked on the door and Nico answered it. I smiled as he opened the door. "Hi Nico! I brought you a gift." I showed him the plate of brownies.

"Thanks but, um, why are they shaped like hearts?" He stared at the plate and I could see a hint of pink on his face.

"Melanie helped me and she wanted to make them heart shaped." I laughed as I remembered her searching everywhere for the cutter.

"Oh, Melanie. I can see her doing that." Nico smiled and seemed to calm down.

He stepped into his dorm and gestured me to enter. I walked in and placed the plate on his desk. He closed the door behind me and sat on the desk chair. I sat on his bed and watched him grab a brownie.

He took a bite and said, "Hey, this is really good!"

"You really think so? I'm glad." We started talking about our day.

He suddenly said he saw me sleeping in the grass by the lake yesterday. He didn't want to disturb me so he just kept an eye on me as he sat on a bench. Then he said he saw Mason look at me and walk over to me.

"Mason touched your hand and frowned. Then he picked you up and took you into the dorms. What happened?" Nico asked worriedly.

"I woke up in my dorm and found a note. He said he carried me back because he was worried." I shrugged my shoulders as I finished telling him what happened.

He seemed relieved and got up and walked over to me. He sat next to me on his bed. "I don't know what I would've done if he hurt you. I should've done something, I'm sorry."

"Nico, it's not your fault. You looked over me as I slept. I guess Mason just beat you to carrying me back." I smiled apologetically at him.

"Next time he won't beat me, I'll protect you Eli." Nico looked down at me held my hand.

I smiled at him. "Nico, you're always protecting me, ever since we were kids. Thank you."

"Eli, when you look at me like that, I can't help myself." He grabbed my shoulders and slammed me onto the bed.

He hovered over me. My heart was beating wildly but I didn't resist him. "N-Nico, what are you doing?" I tried to get up but he wouldn't let me go.

"I can't help myself Eli, especially while you're in my room, on my bed and staring right at me." His face came closer to mine. But he stopped right as our noses were about to touch.

He seemed to realize what he was doing and his eyes went wide. His face turned bright red and he got off the bed. I sat up and looked at the floor. Awkward.

"Sorry Eli. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I can't even protect you from myself." Nico stared at his bed.

"It's fine. I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Um. I'll just get going now." I couldn't stop rambling.

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow Eli." Nico opened the door for me.

~~~~~

I left his room in a hurry and made my way back to my dorm. My heart was beating uncontrollably as I walked down the corridor. I can't believe Nico just did that. It's going to be awkward in writing, isn't it?

I got to my room and looked at my phone. It was 9:56 p.m. Maybe I should get ready for bed. I went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. As I was waiting for the water to get hot, I remembered what happened in Nico's room.

I shook away my thoughts and stepped into the shower. I sighed. Since when was my life so complicated with boys?

Once I was done with my shower, I changed into my pajamas and went to bed. Why are these boys acting like this? If they have feelings for me, why won't they just tell me?

The last thought that came to my mind before I drifted to sleep was that I needed a guy who was honest with me.