Under the Stars

11. Not having any regrets

Chapter 11: Not having any regrets

Mia's POV

*****

Talking to Theo was fun, but I couldn't deny the happiness I felt as soon as Layla's face popped up on my computer screen, her usual grin and sparkle in her gorgeous grey eyes. The mischievous smirk that appeared on her lips as soon as she said hello didn't go missed, and I immediately knew that she was up to something. 

"How was your unplanned talk with my brother?" She asked right after I returned her greeting, my cheeks turning pink at the sole mention of Theo. 

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" I said, finally coming to the realisation as soon as I took in her features.

She didn't even need to answer my question with words. The look on her face told me everything I needed to know, and I couldn't help but shake my head at her crazy actions. I wasn't mad at her about it, there was no way I could be mad at her for giving me time to talk to Theo, but I still could not believe that she would do something like that just so that Theo and I could talk.

"Well, I kind of have something to confess," she said, biting her lower lip, clearly thinking about how good of an idea telling me actually was. I looked at her, urging her to go on with what she was saying, curious as to what it was. "Theo was the one who asked me to tell you that I was going to be an hour late. He begged me to do so because he wanted to talk to you before meeting up with his friends."

My eyes widened at her statement. My emotions got so jumbled up that it became strenuous to try and figure out what I was even thinking or feeling. I found it hard to believe that he asked Layla something like that, but I could see it from her eyes that she was being completely honest with me. My heart tightened at the thought that he begged his sister to allow him some time to talk to me, especially when at that time he was usually meeting up with his friends. It made me happy, but it also made me scared of what was happening between us. 

I didn't miss the grin on Layla's face as soon as she caught me smiling at what she had just told me. No matter how hard I tried to hide it, my lips were stretched into a huge smile, which I could not remove. 

"So, what did you talk about?" She asked as she rested her head on the palms of her hands and looked at me directly, batting her eyelashes. I rolled my eyes at her actions, but laughed anyways as I found myself fonding at who she was as a person. 

"Nothing much, we just played some Q and A. He also kind of gave me a nickname," I said, rushing the last sentence, even if she still clearly heard it. 

For some reason, I found myself embarrassed at telling her that. The nicknames between Theo and I weren't like the nicknames between Layla and I. I often changed nicknames for Layla, and even if I loved the nickname she gave me, Theo's nickname was more personal. He was already clear enough about the fact that he wanted to be the only one to call me that. Sharing the nickname felt as if I were betraying him, and I found myself wanting to keep the nickname only between us, finding myself getting jealous even at the fact that somebody else knew about it. 

"What was that?" Layla, asked, her mouth agape though clearly stretched into a grin, as her eyes widened. 

"He said he wanted to find me a special nickname, so now he calls me Sparkle," I said, my face turning completely red as I could feel heat radiating from it by then. 

The grin I received from Layla after having given her that piece of information was probably the biggest one I had ever seen on her face. I still couldn't understand why she was so invested in my friendship with Theo, but I was certainly glad that she wasn't getting mad at me about the fact that we were getting closer. A lot of people at my school warn their friends not to fall in love with their sibling as soon as they become friends with them, and so seeing Layla so keen on knowing how our relationship was progressing made me happy.