Remember Me

Chapter Four

A/N: 'Sup yo! :D The exams are done and we had a caroling contest and we won and I am so happy! :D So here's another chapter for you peeps! Sorry it's so short, I'm using Wattpad Mobile so I can't see how long the chapter really is ^~^"

Anyway, here ye go!

~

I guess it's pretty awkward if you meet a random stranger who just happens to be friendly and welcomes you to his house and reads a diary for you.

Well, I think it's pretty weird. And fishy.

I'm not saying that Nero's not to be trusted; he's actually pretty nice. It's either that, or something else is going on...the nagging voice at the back of my head that there's more to Nero than what he lets on. It's like I feel relaxed around him...but tense at the same time. Relaxed in a sense that I feel fine around him, I feel casual. Like we're in the middle of being friends and acquaintances and going to the "friend" stage. At the same time, however, I'm ready to jump up and run for whatever I'm running for just in case he does something. While I'd rather be the former, the latter's getting to my head.

So when he taps me on the shoulder, I jump.

"Dalia?" he asks, raising a confused eyebrow. There is an equally clueless expression on his face, but in his eyes I see waves of concern. "Dalia? Are you alright? You've been...spacey lately."

I shake my head, unable to tear my eyes away from his face. It takes every bit of my willpower to tear my eyes away from his sea-green orbs. "I'm fine," I say, my voice cracking slightly. How long has it been? How many minutes--or, maybe, hours--have passed?

Judging by Nero's tired expression, a lot.

I shake my head apologetically. "I...I only managed to catch a part of what you read," I admit, feeling bad that Nero had read for me and yet I didn't pay any attention to him. I can't make him read it again; that makes me feel impolite...and guilty. "I...I'm sorry. I'll find another way...and I'll make it up to you..."

Ah. Now I feel really guilty as I see Nero sigh in exasperation. I guess I'll really have to find an alternative. Darn, I don't even have any money or any other belongings either...and I'll be afraid of running into Nero in town. He must be mad at me now...

But his reaction leaves me speechless.

He doesn't frown at me, he doesn't glare at me.

He breaks into peals of laughter.

I sit there, staring at him with wide, surprised eyes, as I listen to his laughter. He sounds amused, not mocking...I wonder why...?

Then I notice the pieces of paper and the pen on the coffee table, and it all dawns on me.

Before I could say anything, though, Nero beats me to it.

"I didn't read anything aloud!" he exclaims, wiping a tear from his left eye. That stupid--yet, at the same time, amused--grin is still plastered on his face. "I wrote it down! Well, I did read out loud for a while, but once I saw that dazed and glazed look in your eyes, I started writing the translation down. You were too busy staring at the very interesting wall to notice," he finishes with a wink that makes my heart skip a beat.

The heat rushes to my face as I stare at him in disbelief. The words die in my throat and my mind goes blank. I feel like my stomach is sinking at ten miles per hour down a bottomless pit. Is this what it's like to be embarrassed, or is it just me?

Nero's bright gaze never averts from my own as he gives me a paper from the coffee table. "Here you go," he says, his cocky grin fading into a felicitous, polite smile. "This one gives most info. You can read the others later, though they're not as important as this one."