Housemates (boyxboy)

Chapter 15

Another thunderstorm brewed above and the loud booms rattled the house while the four of us were watching a show together. It was a pleasant evening without much chatter as we watched continuous episodes of our favorite show. Of course, occasional vibrations sounded beside me as Alec's phone blew up with notifications that he hadn't bothered to check. The sound didn't bother me as much as it would have if I still held on to feelings for him because I honestly wasn't concerned anymore. He had a girlfriend anyway and I wasn't quite interested. The feeling of moving on was freeing for me. I was living in moments of bliss.

Well, it wasn't long before Vincent announced his exhaustion and headed up to his bedroom for the night, prompting the rest of us to do the same. Pushing on my door, I felt a soft tap on the back of my shoulder before I turned around to see who'd touched me.

The boy with the dark hair who stood across from me reached out a single hand and I watched an item dangle in the air as he held it out to me. Glancing up to meet his eyes, I caught sight of an onlooker who observed the exchange with an eyebrow raised behind Alec.

I narrowed my eyes at Alec who offered the necklace I'd purchased for him some time ago back to me.

"What?" I asked as if I wasn't aware of his intentions.

"Take it," Alec said, moving closer to me.

"I already told you I don't want it," I replied.

"It doesn't feel right if I keep it," he admitted. "I feel guilty."

Staring at him, I took a moment to reply.

"Good," I said. "As you should."

I hadn't waited for him to speak again and sheltered myself away in my room, leaving both Alec and the ever-so-curious Zion in the hall. My response to Alec's offering was inappropriate, I know that. My pettiness was always prevalent in the worst times though, and there was nothing I could do to take back the words I'd spoken. They'd already left my mouth. And I wasn't quite ready to apologize yet.

Collapsing on my bed, I looked up at the ceiling as I stretched my arms high above my head and released a yawn. Like Vincent, I was simply exhausted.

Closing my eyes, I figured I'd soon pass out for the night but was greatly mistaken upon hearing two knocks at my door. I wasn't in the mood to talk to Alec again.

"I'm sleeping," I said with no effort of getting up to open the door.

However, it was pushed open without me having to get up and I breathed out a long sigh before painstakingly pushing myself up in bed. 

"Thought you were sleeping," the visitor said to me with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, it's you," I said before falling back down, sprawled out on my bed.

Zion puffed out a laugh as he walked over to me, taking a seat at the foot of my bed as my housemates usually do.

"You sound as if you were expecting someone else," he said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear.

"I was," I said. "You can probably guess who."

"Alec?" Zion asked.

"Yes," I said. "You heard the way I spoke to him."

"It's fine, Cade," he assured me. "Sometimes Alec needs to be knocked off of his high horse."

"I guess," I said, covering my eyes with my arm. "Why've you wandered in here?"

I heard him shuffling through papers and pushed myself up again to get a better look.

"I wanted to show you the tattoo design I made," he said, pulling up one of the pages. "The one I thought you would like."

I crawled over to the blond-haired boy like a dog and he held out the paper, allowing me to get a look at the design. 

"I was thinking of doing it from the shoulder down," Zion said, referring to his tattoo. 

I pondered at the thought and looked down at my shoulder, imagining what it would look like if I were to get it inked. It was something I wanted for a while anyway and I appreciated how Zion took the time to sketch something for me.

"That looks awesome," I told him before removing my eyes from the paper and meeting his instead.

He offered a small smile but when I went to meet his eyes, I noticed they weren't exactly on mine. Out of sheer embarrassment of my probably dry lips, I swiped my tongue across them because he'd been looking at my mouth instead.

"What is it?" I asked the older fellow, snapping him out of his trance. "Is there something on my mouth?"

"No," Zion said, finally bringing his eyes up to mine. His stare was intense though and I found myself struggling to keep eye contact with him.

So, when my eyes fell to my bed, I shivered upon the single finger that slid under my chin, lifting my head up, forcing me to return Zion's gaze.

"Cade," Zion said, his voice deep as he dropped his hand and moved his sketches beside him.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Do you have any idea how much I am holding myself back right now?" he asked me as a strand of hair fell across his face.

It was automatic and I wasn't sure what had possessed me to do so, but I reached out and brushed the hair away, tucking it behind his ear. Bringing my hand down again, Zion caught it in his, holding it at his cheek. 

"What?" I asked as I felt my body launched forward as Zion pulled on my wrist. The sudden movement surprised me and I quickly placed two hands down on my bed beside Zion's head as I currently hovered above him.

"Woah," I said. "That was close."

Zion laughed underneath me. "You're such an idiot."

I frowned at his statement. "I don't want to hear that from you."

Slowly reaching a hand up, Zion's palm cupped my cheek briefly as I stared down at him, my body not making any effort at all to move. It was as if his touch caused me to freeze and I couldn't even find any words to speak.

His thumb brushed across my cheek once before the sound of the doorbell ringing caught us both by surprise. I instantly pushed myself off of the blond boy and cleared my throat in an attempt to mask the embarrassment that I felt.

Zion simply sighed and ran a hand through his long hair.

"Shit," he said as I looked over at him.

I raised a questioning eyebrow as he glanced back at me and gathered his sketches.

"Is someone here?" I asked.

Zion silently nodded his head before speaking.

"It's probably for me."

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thx for reading (: