The Road Less Traveled (Prof./Student)

Chapter 41 - Let me in

Going to sleep was almost impossible after that incident.

For hours I just lay there, eyes open, wide awake. Thinking about the kiss, about his words and about what this could mean for the things that were about to come, I couldn't fall asleep. Only at around four a.m. I finally managed to fall into some kind of doze.

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The next morning, I stood up drained and walked into the bathroom. I looked awful. My hair was messy and the dark eye circles showed just how much sleep I've had, which was close to nothing.

But sadly, none of this made a difference. I had to go to breakfast with the others and attain the discussions. Sighing, I changed into a comfortable hoodie and pinned my hair up to look a little bit more human.

Slowly, I walked through the garden area and into the large room to sit down on a table with a few other students, including Marco.

"Looks like someone had a rough night", Marco joked but I was not in the mood for laughing.

"Mhhm", was all I replied and focused on eating my bowl of cereals.

"And apparently you're in no good mood either", Marco tried again and I looked up at him.

"Yeah sorry, it's just...uhh this trip and..everything..it's just not....", I tried to explain but he seemed to miss how big my sorrow actually was as he interrupted me:

"Liz, that's okay. This trip sucks, I know how you feel." No you didn't.

Again, I just made a noise that should show that I've had heard him and hoped that this would be it. But he didn't leave me alone.
From the corner of my eye I saw how Alex stood up from a different table and excused himself to go outside to answer a call. As he passed me, I looked down, avoiding to catch his eyes. I didn't know what I should think after yesterday. Was this a step closer towards each other that we had taken? Wasn't it? Everything was just so confusing..

"Hey, why don't you come with me? My friends and I plan to go check out the area and find a nice place to do todays assignments. It would be fun to have you around", Marco's voice made me jump as I had been lost in my thoughts.

I blinked and looked into his face, before my eyes shifted away from him just slightly as I saw how Alex had returned to the table but only to say something to the other two professors. Then he left again and a strange feeling that something was wrong made me tense and I moved in my chair uneasily.

"Eh yeah! Good idea, I just...have to grab something from my room. I'll be right back", I said when I had an idea to escape this situation and quickly stood up to leave.

Walking outside, I looked for him. Where did he go? He couldn't be that far away..
I passed another small building and almost turned around to go back and into another direction, when I saw him standing in front of a railing that was build like a small balcony, overviewing the property.

He stood with his back towards me, his hands resting on said railing. His arms and back were tense, his head down.

For a moment, I debated whether or not I should go to him but my legs moved me forward unconsciously. Stopping next to him with about a meter of space between us, I followed his eyes into the distance.

Of course, he noticed me immediately and sighed deeply:

"You shouldn't be here."

Ignoring his words, I leaned against the railing and looked over at him.

"I don't care. What has happened?", I asked softly.

He clenched his jaw and looked away again, saying nothing. I guess that he hoped that I would just leave but I waited, giving him the time that he needed. For a few minutes we just stood there and glanced into what was in front of us.