Not-Friends With Benefits (BxB)

Chapter 7

"The truth will set you free, but first
it will piss you off"
- Gloria Steinem

FAI'S POV

For the next two days, Aiden does not show up on campus. Obviously, I was relieved, yet somehow, I was also slightly on edge.

"Fai" Nat waves her hand in my face. "Are you listening?"

"Sorry, what?" I ask, confused.

"The party" She groans. "You coming tonight?"

Honestly, it had been a weird week, and I could really use a distraction.

"Count me in" I nod. "We're gonna get so drunk!"

"Absolutely not. I'm not taking care of you like last time" Ian interjects. "You're fucking heavy."

I slap the back of his head, making him frown.

"That won't be a problem" Nat continues. "Josh's house is close to mine, so you guys can just crash at my place tonight."

"See? Sorted" I give Ian a wry smile.

"How about we pregame at my place?" She suggests.

"Done" Ian and I say in unison.

***

"I wanna watch Wall-E" Ian snatches the remote from Nat.

"No, we're watching The Exorcist" she snatches it back from him.

"You know that poster gave me nightmares" he cries.

"How long will you live in fear?" She grins. "I'm just trying to help you overcome it."

"No one asked for your help!" he shrieks.

We were at Natasha's place. The plan was to watch a movie, pregame, and then leave for the party from there. Yet, here were are, at six thirty in the evening, still fighting over what to pick. I guess it's too late to bring Jurassic Park to the table.

"That movie's half a century old anyway, I don't think it'll have the same impact as it used to" I chime in.

"Please, the Exorcist is a fucking masterpiece" Nat argues. "I knew you noobs wouldn't appreciate real cinema, so I got the 4k version as well, just to make it a little easier for you two to watch."

"Okay, I'm in" I say.

"What? No!" Ian cries.

"Sorry. Two against one Ian" she shrugs.

They continue to bicker, so I leave the room to go use the guest bathroom. Nat forbade us from using her personal bathroom after the Great Spillage of '23 (culprit yet to be apprehended).

Post-bathroom visit, I lazily head back to her room at the opposite end of the hallway. Rich people must feel exhausted walking around their house. Suddenly, I halt, noticing another room in the middle of the hallway.

Nat used to stay at the college dorms during freshman year. It's only been a couple of months since she moved into this new house. I've only been here once before, so I never really noticed this room. Given whom she was staying with, it could only belong to one person.

Aiden's bedroom door was slightly ajar, and I couldn't help but peek in. Honestly, I expected a messy supervillain's lair, but I was pleasantly surprised.