An Aftermath Of Many Years (CrankGameplays)

30

22nd January 2016

Ethan was sitting on my bed, arm wrapped around me as we watched The OA on my laptop. I was practically on top of him, head on his chest, at the laptop sat precariously on my knees. The choice in Netflix show could be entirely blamed on me. I'd been wanting to watch it, and Ethan said he'd watch with me if we ever got the chance. I think he doubted my ability to make any kind of plans.

I looked up at him, his face illuminated with the light of the screen. I could feel his heartbeat and the rise and fall of his chest. I reached past him to grab my phone, which had slid off the pillow and was sitting near his hip. Flipping it over, I took notice of a few things. The fingerprints smeared over the screen, the time displayed as ten PM and the text message from Jenny, saying that she was spending the night at Aaron's place. Ethan chuckled, taking the phone out of my hands and placing it back on the bed. I paused the show and slid my laptop away, so I could stand up, even if it was an issue because we had low ceilings and I had to actually climb over Ethan to get to the door.

"Bathroom break," I mumbled, opening the door and immediately being hit with a blast of cool air. The aircon was turned on in the main room, but not in mine. It was comfortably warm in my room. Ethan followed me out but made a beeline to the kitchen to grab food. If he started making a habit of taking all my food, then we'd have a problem, but for now, it was fine. I chuckled and slid into the bathroom, aware that I, again needed to do the washing. My hamper was overflowing, where Jenny's was empty.

Eleven PM rolled around and I reached for the freshly made bowl of popcorn Ethan was holding. We'd relocated to the living room, where I had brought out my duvet and wrapped myself in it. I had managed to turn the aircon off, after texting Jenny that I was going to do so. She was the one who had turned it on, in the first place. Ethan had tried to pull the duvet off me, so he could use it, but I had already decided to be a picky bitch and keep it. I ended up stealing Jenny's to give to him.

"She isn't gonna give a shit," I laughed, throwing myself onto our overworn couch and snatching up the remote. He smiled, sitting down and still pulling me close to him. I didn't mind that much, knowing that he had done this last time we had any kind of marathon, back in December. I took in the feeling of his shirt, a rough cotton, with a few creases in it that would probably leave a mark on my skin. He was warm and smelled of both popcorn and deodorant together. I wasn't sure why I cared, but it wasn't bothering me. I looked back at the TV and just watched the show.

Midnight. I was starting to get rightfully tired, every now and then, a small yawn slipping out. Ethan grabbed the remote out of my hands, a skill that he was apparently good at, and pressed pause. He looked at me, his eyes glowing a luminescent brown in the reflection of the screen. He looked sincere, kind, gentle. And I was some kind of crazy genius that was none of those things.

"Are you getting tired?" he asked, not taking his eyes off me. I tried to grab the remote. I was getting way to invested in the plot to be asked questions right now. He moved his hand so  I couldn't reach. "We can stop if you're tired." 

"Nope," I laughed, climbing over him to try and get the remote. Of course, he was laughing as well, why wouldn't he be? He grabbed my hips to push me away and I reached for the remote again, with no luck. "Give me the remote, Ethan."

"Absolutely not," he said, squirming away from me with the remote. I wasn't too sure why he didn't want to give it to me, but I was enjoying this little game of ours. He managed to get off the couch, which resulted in me chasing him around the cramped apartment. We got tired of that rather quickly, as neither of us was cut out for running around for long periods of time. We were disaster's children.

"What do I have to do to get the remote from you, fucker," I panted, putting my hands on my hips and looking at him, standing on our kitchen counter. I wasn't even sure how he had managed to get up there so quickly, but he had and I was impressed. He was looking down at me like he was the king of my apartment and as much as I could see he was also panting, he seemed to be less out of shape than I was. He smiled.

"Nothing. You are never getting this remote from me." I gave him a look and found myself climbing onto the bar stool to get up onto the counter. It was apparently an issue for me, but it made Ethan laugh, as he watched me struggle to pull myself onto the counter. He grabbed my arms and lifted me up himself. He had put the remote into the pocket of his track pants, knowing I wasn't going to reach for it. He'd been using that method since he realised it worked. Steal my keys? put them in his pocket. My phone? his pocket. He had found a weakness and was using it for evil.

I snickered, "Pockets won't work anymore, asshole."

"Oh yeah?" he took a step towards me, arms open. "Try it. I won't stop you."

I smirked, stepping closer and not breaking eye contact. I looked down for a second, taking notice of what pocket the remote was in and how deep said pocket was, before reaching in with my left hand and pulling it out. He breathed out, giving me a surprised smile and put his arms down. He looked down, breaking eye contact first.

I sighed, "Can't believe I'm doing this."

"Hm?" he looked up, holding eye contact, as I grabbed his chin rather forcefully. I kissed him, feeling the surprise and tension in his body. I had caught him off guard. He relaxed, letting his hands slide to my waist and mine to his chest. I could feel his heartbeat, rapid and out of time with mine. His lips were dry, cracked and worn with the dryness of the daily air. Had he always been like this and I had just never cared to notice, or was this new? I just couldn't explain it.

Yet, somehow, this all felt like Deja vu to me.

TO BE CONTINUED