A small click brought Nicholai out of his blissful sleep. It didn't take long for the giggling and flash of light to register in his hazy mind. He blinked owlishly, finally realizing that his arms were wrapped around something. Upon further inspection he realized that his head was laying on something that was subtly moving up and down. A small scream escaped Nicholai as his idiotic brain finally processed that he was cuddled close to Alexander. He flew backwards and would have fallen off the bed had Alexander not shot up and wrapped an arm around Nicholai's waist instinctively. They stared at each other for a good ten seconds before Alexander let go, cheeks glowing bright red, a small attempted smile that looked more like a grimace quickly taking over. Nicholai couldn't deny that he was attracted to both Alexander's looks and personality but it was getting increasingly more difficult to determine whether or not Alexander liked men. Sometimes he'd respond to Nicholai's attempted flirting but just as quickly he'd close up. And to be honest it was slowly driving Nicholai insane.
"Alright you two, Alexander needs to get some food in his system before he goes all sleeping beauty on us again." Flavia spoke and Nicholai finally turned to look at the doorway. Santiago was holding a camera in his hand and Milena was giggling behind him. It was far too early for Nicholai to feel any sort of embarrassment towards the situation so he got up from the bed and walked over to his side of the room to pick out some clothes.
"Before I forget, you need to wear something comfortable. If I see you come out in anything resembling a suit I'll send you right back in here." Flavia warned, to which Alexander responded by throwing his pillow at her.
"Do you feel better?" Nicholai asked awkwardly once everyone had left. Alexander hummed, standing up slowly and heading to the closet. It wasn't long before Alexander walked out of the bathroom and Nicholai almost stopped functioning. He'd never seen Alexander wearing anything other than a suit and the whole sweatpants thing was making it that much harder for Nicholai to just straight up ask if the man was gay. There was no way Nicholai wasn't bright red but he couldn't bring himself to look away.
"Are you alright?" Alexander asked him, Nicholai startled and looked up from Alexander's tattoos to his face.
"No, wait no yeah I'm fine. Perfect. Just sleepy." Alexander looked at him for a second too long but then just nodded and walked out the room.
"I really need to get my shit together." Muttered Nicholai after a couple of minutes. He closed the bathroom door and groaned, resting his forehead against the mirror. Waking up cuddled close to Alexander was definitely not the way he'd imagined the morning starting out. Nicholai didn't even remember falling asleep last night. Walking out of the door and facing Flavia's shit-eating grin was the last thing he wanted to do. But he sucked it up, knowing things would be worse if he took longer. Nicholai barely took a step out of the room when a crash sounded from Santiago and Adrian's room, the door open so that everyone could clearly hear the commotion.
"Si no dejaras toda tu mierda en el piso no pasaria esto!" Santiago was yelling at Adrian, at least that's what Nicholai presumed. His guess was confirmed when Adrian responded in an equally loud tone of voice, which was odd for the usually reserved Spaniard.
"Boys. Boys!" Flavia and Milena rushed by Nicholai, entering the boys' room. Once Nicholai got there, Flavia was holding Adrian back and Milena Santiago. They seemed just about ready to rip each others' throats out.
"What the hell?" Alexander stood behind Nicholai, looking as confused as Nicholai felt.
"Tell that son of a bitch that if he doesn't get his shit together soon I swear to god he's a good as dead." Santiago attempted to jerk his arm out of Milena's grasp, only for her to tighten her grip even more.
"Awww, did I make someone upset?" Adrian looked just as pissed, struggling every now and then against Flavia's arms wrapped around him.
"I'm surprised they held out this long." Muttered Yan-Ting as he passed by, receiving a smack on the back of the head by Sung-Ha.
"Let's talk it out." Alexander spoke, not allowing any room for arguments. Nicholai decided to not be mixed into the conversation and instead followed Sung-Ha into the kitchen. He seemed different, lighter in a sense, as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders. Nicholai was fairly certain no one else had noticed but it was there, in the way Sung-Ha hummed softly as he made breakfast.
"What the hell Nicholai!" Sung-Ha screeched, shaking Nicholai out of his thoughts. The next fifteen minutes were spent by Sung-Ha waving around a spoon and making Nicholai promise to make his presence known.
"I thought you knew I was here." Muttered Nicholai.
"I did not. Hence why I almost got a heart attack when I turned around and saw you just staring at me. What wer-" Sung-Ha stopped mid sentence.
"Ow, jesus christ Flavia. We already said we'd behave." The mentioned Italian was dragging Santiago and Adrian by their hair over to the table.
"That took less time than I thought it would." Sung-Ha spoke, only to recieve a snort from Yan-Ting in response.
"Alexander threatened to handcuff them together. Which would actually have been entertaining." If looks could kill Yan-Ting would have been six feet under.
"Anyway, I'm taking a day off today, not willingly, but that's besides the point. So please just do whatever needs to be done with your company." Alexander spoke, albeit more softly than usually. He looked much better, but the bags under his eyes were still prominent. There was a sort of permanent exhaustion that clung to him. Nicholai had noticed it a while ago. Of course, he couldn't blame Alexander, having the lives of others on your shoulders was not easy on anyone. But Nicholai was worried, he didn't know when exactly he'd gotten so attached to Alexander but he did know if something were to happen, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. Now that he thought of it, he'd gotten attached to everyone. He'd gotten attached to Sung-Ha's motherly fretting, Flavia's knowing smirks, Milena and Santiago's roughhousing, Adrian's cat-like nature, even Yan-Ting's cussing when someone woke him up. He was nervous, there was no denying it. Every time he thought of their upcoming mission, his insides would twist and turn. There was no guarantee they'd be successful, no guarantee they'd all make it out intact, alive even. Those thoughts slithered into his mind, sending a chilling shiver through him. The only thing they could do was their best, that thought did not give Nicholai the comfort he wished it did.
YOU ARE READING
Blue Rose
Teen Fiction"We're all bad people. Some of us are just better at hiding it than others." After their parents' death, Alexander and the 7 other company heirs will have to continue what was started. But when it turns out that there is much more to their parents l...
