Alpha's Blue (BXB)

Chapter Fifteen

All of the pack members had already arrived and took their positions by the time Marco and I found us a corner to practice on. Not so surprisingly, it was the corner closest to Nicolas' favourite padded columns.

Although we've both heard Nicolas telling me to stay away from there, it was the only place that allowed me to be in such close proximity with him and none of us wanted to practice somewhere else. So I stuck to our corner and did whatever Marco told me to do; whether it was to race him around the boundary of the clearing or to run a lap on my own.

I waved at each and everyone present there every time I saw them waving at me whenever I passed by them. At least none of them seemed to be bothered by me and that made me happy. When I waved at Tobias, he came running over to me without hesitation.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Nicolas looking at Tobias sprinting toward me and wondered if I was disturbing their practice. Nonetheless, I bent down and allowed Tobias to cling to me.

"You didn't come see me for so long." He pouted, once he let go of me.

"I'm sorry." I said, trying not to coo at how cute he looked pretending to be sad. "I'll visit you more often now. Promise." I extended my little finger toward him.

Instead of extending his little finger too, he just stared at mine.

"Um, we do this when making promises." I explained awkwardly when he still didn't move.

I grabbed his hand and entwined our fingers together before shaking my hand up and down slowly. "This is done to strengthen the promise made."

He seemed to have finally understood as a grin took over his face and moved his hand with the same pace as mine.

"Okay, okay. Now go back." Marco said once I had my hand back at my side much to Tobias' dismay.

Marco had to turn him around to face the way he came from and push his back a little to make him go back and train. And when I finally looked up, I saw Nicolas still staring at me. Even though he looked back at the kids as soon as our eyes met, I had still caught him staring. I grinned and got up to resume my own exercise session with Marco.

Soon I found myself in the same position as the one Nicolas was in when I saw him in the morning. I had no choice but to lie on the ground to catch my breath and try to ignore the urge to throw up.

Marco was one strict trainer and I was starting to regret agreeing to his plan. And when I thought about having to do it everyday for the rest of the week, the urge to throw up increased. I closed my eyes and tried to relax as I listened to everyone else training beside me. It must have been an hour and they sounded just as energetic as before.

I didn't realize falling asleep and the next thing I noticed was that the noise from before could no longer be heard. I blinked, opened my eyes and saw a hand blocking the sunlight from blinding my eyes.

I had to blink a few more times to make sure it really was a hand. I looked over to my right to see whose hand it was and saw Nicolas sitting right beside me. He was looking straight ahead while his hand stayed extended over my eyes completely still.

His other hand was holding his bent knees and he seemed to be lost in thoughts. Other than the two of us no one else could be seen and the fact that the sun was already shining so bright, I knew I had slept for more than an hour.

I wasn't sure how to let him know that I was awake and it didn't seem like he would have noticed it on his own any time soon. So, I closed my eyes again - pretending to be still asleep and moved to my side to face him. That seemed to have done the job and I heard him shuffling away from me almost instantly.

I deliberately rubbed my eyes while I slowly sat up. A yawn escaped me naturally, adding to my act perfectly. Sitting up, I looked over to him and caught his gaze. My hands fell to my lap and he looked away immediately.

We stayed seated in silence for a minute - both of us looking at the trees in front - before I decided to speak up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"You looked tired, so I thought I should let you sleep." He answered before wrapping both of his arms around his bent knees.

"Thank you." I looked over at him from the corner of my eyes and smiled. "For letting me sleep and accompanying me."

He nodded his head slightly and rested his chin over the top of his knees.

"Is everyone done with their training?" I asked, looking around.

"Yeah." He replied but his chin stayed resting on his knees.

"They seem nice."

"They are." He replied without missing a beat. Then he waited for another few seconds before resuming. "They believe you are too."

"They do?" I looked over to him in surprise.

He nodded. "They..." He trailed off and cleared his throat quietly. "They said they like you." He said in an almost inaudible voice.

I couldn't help but beam. "I'm glad."

Another silence followed and this time I used it to gather my thoughts and practice what I was about to say.

"Does that mean that they approve of me?" I asked, quietly and almost embarrassingly.

He thought for a moment before looking over to me by resting the side of his face on his knees. His eyes roamed all over my face and I had to remind myself to breathe.

He wore a vulnerable expression on his face when he replied. "I still believe what I said previously to be true. Our worlds are too different." He blinked and his eyes stayed close for longer than the usual split second. "But everyone made me realize how unfortunate it would be for both of us if we gave up without trying."

He opened his eyes again and gazed at mine. "If you're still willing, I would like to try and make this work."

I was moments away from tearing up. My throat had already closed up and I wasn't sure if I could talk without my voice cracking. I nodded my head and closed my eyes to keep the tears in. There was something about his expressions which made me want to cry until I had no tears left.

I mimicked the way he sat and hid my face between my arms and knees. "Just give me a minute, please."

My heart squeezed in my chest when I felt his hand rest at the back of my head a minute later. His hand caressed my hair softly and I struggled to keep myself unruffled.

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You're beautiful. Thanks for reading!

P. S. Yes, I know. Took them long enough. Lol