More than Best Friends?

Chapter 19 - Late Night Confession ❤️

⚠️- Warnings for some swearing on Adrijan's part.

Adrijan awoke to the feeling of something tugging on his shirt sleeve.  He slowly turned around and could see the silhouette of someone staring down at him.  Wait... since when did he share his bed with someone?!

Oh, that's right, he thought, I let Pe stay over.  But it's still dark out... I can barely see her face.  He pulled the lamp cord to turn the light on and sat up on the side of the bed he was using.  It was then that he noticed her pale face was stained with tears.  He'd never seen a girl cry before, so he wasn't sure what to do in this situation.

"Shit. C'mere," he muttered, holding his arms out for her.  He blushed profusely as she crawled into his lap and curled up.  He rubbed circles on her back with his palm as she sniffled softly. Fuck, he thought, am I supposed to ask her what's wrong?  What the hell do I say in this kind of time?

"Sorry..." she mumbled through quiet sobs, "for waking you up...  I just can't sleep..."  He felt his chest ache as he heard her muffled cries.  He wasn't sure what was keeping her awake, but he was worried about her too much to let her keep crying.

"It's okay," he said, "Is there something bothering you?"  He hoped she wouldn't sound too upset with him for asking.

"Well..." she replied, "it's...  kind of complicated..." She fiddled with the end of the t-shirt he had let her borrow for the night.  "If you're okay with hearing a long story... then I could tell you," she said, not meeting his eyes.

"If you need me to listen, I'm here for you," he said.  Adrijan couldn't tell if she knew that he meant it; the truth was that he'd do almost anything for her.  What he wanted most was to be at her side, to always be with her.  For months he had longed for a chance to show her how he felt, and this was it.

And so Pe told him everything: how things were going in her current relationship, and her dissatisfaction with Henry's recent behavior.  She said that she wanted to trust him again, but that there would always be a part of her that would hurt from what he had done.  Adrijan felt his blood boiling after hearing what had happened and swore to himself that he wouldn't let anyone hurt her anymore.

"Sorry, I know it was kind of a long time to be talking about myself," Pe said, shaking her head, "Thanks for listening, you're always so kind to me, Adrijan-Kun."  She gave him a small smile, and his heart rate increased from the praise.  But she was curled up in his arms and could feel the rapid beating of his heart.  She looked up to find him staring at her intently with a rosy blush on his face.

"It's not fair, dammit," he spat, turning away from her suddenly.  She tilted her head to the side a bit in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked, gently tugging the hem of his shirt.

"You don't deserve that kind of treatment.  Hell, no one does!   You should break up with him.  Nobody should have to deal with anyone who manipulates them into sex*, that's fucking gross," he spoke loudly, still not making eye contact with her.  Her grip on his shirt loosened upon hearing his harsh tone.

"Ah...  you're right..." she said, "It's just that there's never the right time to talk to him about that kind of thing...  he always wants to change the subject..."

"That's awful.   There must be someone else out there who will treat you better than he does.  Does he even listen to you when you want to tell him something?"

"Sometimes, but...  I'd hate for him to be upset...  It's usually better for me to do what he asks..."  Her eyes drifted down at the mattress, and she softly continued, "I'm not happy with him anymore, though...  he's different than how he used to be..."