Toxic But Mine

Chapter 8 - A cozy Cottage

How convenient, I thought. Stranded there with him on a rainy night, it felt surreal. Should I be happy or should I be scared? Though we decided to become friends, I couldn't get over the moment he took my trust for a spin.

"No. I wouldn't let things go out of control", I whispered to myself.

"Is there a place to stay nearby?" he asked the barista.

"There's an inn just down the street. Do you want me to ask if they have rooms, sir?"

We agreed with a nod.

While the barista made a call to the inn, we watched the rain on the outside gushing at full speed and rattling the windows. The sky lit up and started to roar like a beast of my liking. I have watched too many rom-coms to ignore the obvious setting I was getting into. There was no way out. There was a part of me that was excited about this. The part that still lingered in the past and reminisced about the days we used to plan meticulously just to get some alone time.

"Sir, they do have rooms available."

"Ah! Thank god!" Noel said, clapping his hands and turning towards me. "Shall we go?"

I followed him quietly. When we reached the lobby, the lady in the reception greeted us with two warm cups of tea. It was getting darker outside with every ticking minute we waited there.

"I'm afraid the single rooms that you asked for are full, but we do have rooms with double beds", she said.

Noel snapped back at me, hunting for an answer but I continued sipping on the drink until he finally said, "Is that okay for you? Or do you want me to go check somewhere else?"

Somewhere else? In this weather? I flipped immediately.

"It's fine. It's just one night", I said, trying to sip the tea and gulping down the panic along with it. I was dreading it with anxiety and looked away from him into the darkness that felt more like home. But sitting with him waiting in a hotel lobby reminded me of that summer weekend when I lied to my parents that I was going for a sleepover and eventually lost my virginity to him.

We had planned for weeks, if not months, to not get caught and we didn't, thankfully. My best friend, Trisha, was my savior. I've always wondered what would have happened if I was caught that day or on all the other nights I was supposedly spending with Trisha.

He turned back and fetched the keys from the lady after signing the register. We followed her through a narrow passage of dark bricks and then up the stairs to our room. Then, we found ourselves in a room that felt unusually medieval and cozy, with paste-colored walls and wooden columns running across them. I walked to the bed on the right side and took off my jacket. Thankfully, my dress was only slightly damp and I walked around to sit on the chair by the fireplace. While I sat there flicking through my Instagram feed, Noel started unbuttoning his shirt. He hadn't changed after all these years. His shoulders were broader now but his sparsely hairy chest and his flat abs were just like I remember. I didn't realize that I was staring until he caught me. I felt naughty after a long time. Though it wasn't the first time I saw his bare body, it was strange to be left alone in the same room as him.

He jumped on the bed and threw the sheets on him until his torso, removed his pants, and settled into his phone. I wouldn't try to understand what he was thinking but I was trembling—not in cold, but in angst. I was dreading the matter of the night derailing into something - more.

"Don't worry. I won't bite", he said with a smirk that reminded me of his boyish days. Whatever he said did not cool my nerves; it only worsened them. I needed to stop thinking about it. I needed to stop thinking about him.