The Double-Tap Accident

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Don't Do It In the Kitchen Either!

Chapter Thirty-Eight: "Don't Do It In the Kitchen Either!"

AVEN SNORED.

His hands were folded under his cheek and his long body took up most of the bed. He emitted heat like a furnace even though the only clothing on him was a pair of boxers and the red durag covering his hair.

I had only been awake for a few seconds when the leg that was draped over my own shifted. His eyes opened enough for him to recognize me. A small smile settled upon his pink lips.

I could get used to this. The sight of him in the morning. But not the alarm blaring from his phone.

"Shit, sorry." He rasped, reaching over me. Silence quickly filled the room.

"It's okay," I said with a yawn removing the scarf he had let me use last night from my head before sitting up and crossing my legs. I took my phone from the nightstand next to his, looking at the messages my roommates sent me after I told them I wasn't planning on coming home last night. Iman had explained everything to them and most of what I missed were a bunch of exclamation marks, emojis, and 500 new messages as if they weren't all in the same house last night.

Setting my phone down, my gaze drifted around the room as a warm hand came to the skin exposed at my hip. Plates of food and Twizzlers were on his nightstand. The projector that was on its stand was still on.

Last night we barely left his room, save for the conversations I had with Dev and Laurence when Aven had taken a phone call from his dad. I learned a few things from talking to them. 

One, they both were excited to see me and I, them. Laurence had embraced me tightly while muttering 'I knew it would work' under his breath. Dev had done the same except he mumbled, 'hockey night on Sundays'.

Two, Dev and his girlfriend broke up.

When I had asked why, Dev had shrugged, "A few days before Christmas. She saw me back in Calgary and we talked. Really, we fought. We'd been fighting a lot. Couldn't take long-distance anymore, you know?"

"I'm sorry, Dev." I had said.

"It's okay," He had taken off his hat, flipping it in his hands. "You know what would cheer me up? If you two made some of those cookies again."

"Seriously?" Laurence said, but he had already started to make his way towards the kitchen. "Do we still have flour?"

While baking cookies and listening to Laurence tell us about his time at a cabin with his sister and hometown friends, Dev had suggested that we play Kings for old times' sakes. In reality, he wanted a chance to get out of cleaning the kitchen we had messed up. Aven had put a halt to Dev and Laurence arguing about where the cups were when he walked in, said "save us cookies" and proceeded to yank me out of the kitchen.

Catching up consisted of the two of us speaking about December, and looking at various pictures and videos of family and friends over the break. Aven told me about how his dad had insisted to come with him to go for his flu shot and confessed his slight relief. I told him about my family, the chaos of Christmas dinner where one of my cousins broke their Christmas gift three seconds after being given it. To having shows in the background as we spoke well into the night.

When I brought up my roommates, speaking about Mariam had led to me asking Aven, "Did you talk to him?" Kyle.

"Yeah, he said sorry."

"Were you mad?

"I was pissed," He huffed, bending a Twizzler in half. "It was a mistake, but I'm still a little mad. I have an idea of how Kyle views me for him to come to that conclusion but it's not--"