Status Quo | ✓

-1-

"Rain, rain, go away."

There were two things I absolutely hate about my current situation. First, my all soaked-up socks squishing in my wet and heavy sneakers because it had been raining heavily today. The second thing was the person standing right in front of me.

Leon Taylor.

My childhood friend who's two years older than me. 5'11" tall, brown tousled hair and intense hazel eyes.

To be exact, the hate wasn't directed at the person — it was my relationship with him. We had been friends for forever and Leon absolutely didn't see me more than that. Even at this moment when I was all drenched, with my clothes clinging close to my skin to reveal whatever curves I had on my body, he looked at me with a gaze that I was just me, just Rachelle. Nothing special.

Raising a brow, he asked, "Didn't bring an umbrella out?"

"Wasn't expecting a heavy downpour," I replied, giving him an awkward smile as water dripped from me and drenched the entire floor mat in his apartment entryway.

"Just stand there and don't move, alright?"

I nodded and waited, obediently following his request while his hurried footsteps sounded. Leon made his way through the apartment and finally returned with two towels. Handing me one of the soft cotton towels, he warned, "Take one to dry your clothes, do not wet my floor."

If I could murder anyone at this moment, I wouldn't hesitate to murder myself. If being all drenched up wasn't pathetic enough, then being less important than his apartment floor should explain how miserable my current situation was.

Annoyed, I snatched the towel from him and wrung the fabric of my dress, letting the water soak into the towel. While I was doing that, Leon took the other towel and scrunched my hair, trying to blot those raven black locks dry. It was only when I was dried to his satisfaction and shivering in cold that he allowed me into his apartment.

Leon nudged me towards the bathroom while nagging, "Go ahead and take a warm shower. I'll go get some clothes for you."

I went into the bathroom as instructed and locked the door. Sighing, I stripped the damp clothing off, letting them splat into a messy wet pile on the floor while I stared at myself in the mirror.

Is there really nothing attractive about me?

The reflection staring at me must be sighing at the mess I looked like right now. My usual black wavy hair was all damp and clinging in an unruly manner against my skin. There were times I wondered if it would be better if I had Mom's blue eyes, but I ended up with Dad's brown eyes. Maybe I should've been taller, but I had to be glad that I wasn't too short. I didn't have any killer curves or a flat stomach, but neither was I in a bad shape. Even if I wasn't exceptional, I was sure I belonged to the average with somehow likeable appearances.

Refusing to question my own attractiveness any longer, I stepped into the tub and turned the water on high. Water beat over my whole body in steamy rivulets and I closed my eyes while sticking my head into the running shower stream. The heat from the water ran over my chilled skin like a caress, allowing me to feel the comfort of a hot shower after being drenched in the cold rain.

A knock sounded on the door startled me, but I realised that it was Leon when he said, "Rae, I left the clothes on the floor. There's a laundry bag beside it, you can leave your wet clothes in there."

"Okay!" I shouted from within, trying to overpower the sound of the shower but realised that I was too loud when my voice echoed deafeningly in the shower room. At that moment, I swore I heard Leon laughing from the outside before he walked away from the bathroom door.

-

When I was done showering, I opened the door slightly and saw a nicely folded black cotton sweater on the floor. I hunched down from the inside and reached my hand out through the small opening of the ajar door while my hand fumbled a little before I caught the sweater. Bunching on the material, I brought it into the bathroom swiftly before shutting the door once again. Within the sweater, I was relieved to find a pair of cotton shorts which I had left in his apartment the other time.

I pulled his sweater over and slipped on the cotton shorts. My entire being was wrapped within the warmth of his oversized sweater and the scent of cotton and soap. Since Leon never fancied colognes or perfumes, all his clothes smell of the detergent which had a cottony fragrance.

Realising that I was almost detailing him like a total creep, I smacked the back of my head and picked up the disgusting pile of wet clothing while dumping them into the laundry bag. I brought the bag to the laundry room and threw my wet clothes into the washer. Punching a few keys on the interface, the washer hummed to life.

Suddenly, the door of the laundry room was pushed opened and Leon leaned against the ledge lazily, "Why didn't you ask if I had any clothes to wash?"

"For a clean freak who does his laundry way too promptly, I assumed you had nothing to wash," I commented.

He tipped his head back slightly and let out a laugh and I swore my heart skipped a beat or two at the sound of it. I could even feel heat crawling up the skin of my neck and I mentally slapped myself this time to get a grip.

"You know me too well," Leon laughed as he entered the laundry room. His hand reached out to ruffle through my damp hair and pulling me by the wrist, he walked me out of the laundry room and said, "Come, I'll dry your hair."

Somewhere in my heart, I wished he would stop these little gestures because I couldn't get over all the jittery feelings whenever he approached me as such. My mind debated to see if it was me overthinking the situation or it was his nonchalance. Yet, when I looked back, Leon had always been like this since we were little and I was the only one feeling unnerved by everything he did. I used to take it naturally when we were young, and I wondered why that had changed between us.

Why had I changed between us?

Walking back into the living room, Leon sat on the couch while positioning me on the floor, in between his knees. The hairdryer in his hand whirred as warm air blew strongly against my wet hair. His fingers combed gently through the strands and down, untangling them while making sure that my dry was dried from tip to end.

Thankfully, my back was facing him. The heat that rose to my cheeks stretched all the way to my ears. Calm down, Rachelle. I repeated that to myself over and over again while tucking my knees close to my chest. My heart was pounding so loudly in my chest that I could hear every single beat in my ears.

Help. 

✿

Have you ever fell in love with your best friend?