Love Bites (Alhaitham x Kaveh)

Chapter 5 - Ups and Downs

-Alhaitham's POV-

After freshening up in the bathroom the next morning, I walked out of it and into the kitchen, expecting to find Kaveh but there was no sign of him. Right then was when I heard the sound of a string being strummed, producing a rather loud and wavy tune from the living room. I made my way there and found Kaveh sitting on the sofa, with one leg crossing over another and playing his sitar. Its sound box rested on his foot and its neck ran diagonally upwards in front of his body. His eyes were closed for focus, highlighting his long set of eyelashes. He hadn't heard me come in.

He continued strumming, playing a tune that progressed gradually and reverberated with a buzz, echoing tenderly against the walls of the house. If I hadn't already woken up, its sound would've undoubtedly woken me up. I decided not to stop him, but to watch him perform instead. Crossing my arms, I leaned with my back against the wall, only eyeing him from the side. I watched as he continued playing, and I had to admit that I was impressed by his skills. The tunes he played drowned out the sound of the rain pattering outside, which was already almost too gentle to hear. 

Just a few moments later, he fluttered his eyes open and stopped strumming, as if he'd finally sensed my presence. He looked up to see my body before looking me in my eyes.

"For goodness' sake, put on a shirt...Anyways, are you still feeling any pain?" He complained, then contrasted by expressing concern.

"No and no. I can wear and do whatever I want in my house."

"You mean our  house?"

"This house belongs to me. Which is also why I can demand you to stop playing your instruments at seven in the morning."

"But I still pay rent, you know. So I technically also own this house. And I was playing the sitar because I wasn't bothered enough to go wake you up on my own." He put aside his sitar and stood up, his movements made his untied golden locks fall over his shoulders. 

"Now that you're awake...Let me go look for something we can eat for breakfast." He swiftly walked past me and towards the kitchen. 

I decided not to remind him that he hadn't paid his rent for last month, because he seemed to believe that he did, or he'd forgotten about it.

 It wasn't that I couldn't pay the rent on my own, I wanted him to contribute to the mora for rent because otherwise, he'd beat himself up over the idea of living free in my home. I only collected rent from him if he was able to provide it, otherwise I'd use my own mora to pay bills and such. 

Kaveh is the type of person who goes out of his way to help others, even if they weren't explicitly asking for it- and if somebody helped him instead, he'd look for any way to pay them back, even if they didn't seek any form of recompensation. So I figured that if I let him live free in my home, it would also become somewhat of a burden for him. He'd do the household chores out of his own volition, which I believed was his way of thanking me when he wasn't able to pay rent. 

Or because he felt responsible for it, because he felt that my home had also become his home.

It was our home now.  

"Alhaitham!" He called out from the kitchen, snapping me out of my thoughts. 

I made my way there and found a platter of freshly sliced Zaytun peaches sitting upon the table, and Kaveh standing by it while getting some of his stray hairs under control with his red hair clips. As I pulled out a chair and sat down, he opened the only window in the kitchen. The muffled pitter patter of rain had now been amplified and a cool wind penetrated the space, making Kaveh tremble slightly.