The Ties that Binds Us

Chapter 17 "Parting Ways"

After dinner, I immediately went to the bathroom for a shower trying to remove some of the memories of what happened. Under this cascading water is where I can think and escape from everything. I enjoy the warm water flowing on my body and just forget about everything. As I finished my shower, I decided to dress in the room where my clothes are located. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Luke who was sitting on the bed startled me. His eyes widen with surprise, his mouth fell just a little bit and he turned a bit pink when he saw me just wearing a towel over my naked body. I totally forgot that we had to share the room. Completely embarrassed, I ran back towards the bathroom. When I saw my reflection on the full-length mirror, I was beet red all over. Oh no. my clothes.

“Luke?” Oh no.

“Y-yeah?”

“Can you pass me the bag of clothes lying on the floor?”

“Y-yes of course.” I heard his footsteps as his feet landed on the floor. His steps were getting closer to the bathroom door. I opened door and held out my hand. “Syd, here you go.” I peeked through the small space and gave him an embarrassed smile. He was still a little pink and I can see that he was a little embarrassed.

“Thank you.” I scramble through the bag and chose a mint green camisole with boy short panties. Crap! I’m not prepared for this. It was my mistake that I bought skimpy evening wears. When I’m finished dressing, I shyly entered the bedroom, head down and embarrassed. When I take a peek at Luke, who was staring at me, I felt myself flush a little more. He watched me as I make my way to the bed.

“Uhm..” Luke was now the color of a tomato.

“Yeah. Let’s just go to sleep.”

“Yeah okay. But you know I can sleep on the couch if you’re uncomfortable about me being here.”

“Don’t be silly, Luke. It’s fine. Besides like what I said earlier, this is your house. You should be sleeping in your own bed. I can sleep on the couch.” I admonished.

“No of course it’s fine that you sleep here. It’s just—“

He suddenly stopped speaking. Luke shyly looked at me through his long lashes. I pulled the duvet over my body, mortified that I had to sleep with him on the same bed, wearing just a skimpy camisole and boy short panties. “Syd?” He suddenly spoke.

“Yes?”

“I meant what I said earlier.”

“Which one?” I felt the blood rushing to my face.

“Everything. Especially when I said that I would not give you up.” Oh dear God. I lost my voice completely. I couldn’t speak. I was just speechless. “Goodnight.” The bed shifted to my side and I felt Luke behind me. All of sudden his hand was on my shoulder and his lips kissed my hair. When I turned to face him, he was facing away from me. I faced away from him and immediately dosed off.

The next morning, I woke up feeling secure and completely rested. When I opened my eyes, the sun was already shining brightly through the curtains in Luke’s room. I grabbed my phone, looked at the time and was startled to see that it was already nine o’clock in the morning. Oh shit! I scramble to my feet and head to the shower. I washed myself faster than usual of course and dried my hair once I finished. I just took out whatever I saw first in my closet and put it on myself. I race towards the door, where Adam and Alex are already waiting. They were smiling at me.

“What?”

“Nothing ma’am. Good morning.” They were still smiling at me as I passed by them.