r e d

16. Ivy

I'm never going to drink ever again. I didn't even drink heavy liquor. I only had three margaritas, if I remembered correctly, and here I am with an aching head and back and no memory of how I got home. I do remember walking home at night with Zander. I can only remember a part of it though. Just like a dream. I can recall his beautiful magic trick and how starstruck I was of him, but nothing else had returned to me. I don't remember the rest of the walk home or how I ended up on my bed. I woke up wearing the same clothes that I wore yesterday, which caused me to strip them off as soon as I was conscious. I instantly ran to the shower to get rid of whatever germs and icky stuff had stuck onto me (and my bed now, so I will change the sheets later). Now that I'm getting out of the bathroom, covered only in my yellow towel, I noticed the magical boy sleeping on my couch, also wearing yesterday's clothes, laying in a funny, uncomfortable looking position.

I quietly walked over to him and bent down to observe him. He brought me home and slept on the couch, despite saying how much he wants to sleep on a bed. My sister's bedroom is available and he could have slept there, yet he stayed on the couch. I guess I should offer him the spare room now after all that he's done for me.

"Boo!" I flinched as Zander screamed and opened his eyes. I stood up straight and frowned down at him, while he grins at me from the couch, not shifting from his uncomfortable position. "Good morning." Little shit with that smug shitty smirk. "Wait!" He gasped. "Were you just about to kiss the sleeping beauty prince? Oh no! Let me go back to sleep, give me a minute!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "I was going to let you stay in my sister's old room but just for that, I don't think I'm going to."

"But I was just kidding, of course!" He rolled off the couch and crawled over to me. He got on his knees and hugged my legs. "Please, oh please, my darling Astoria, will you let me stay in your sister's old room? I will wash the dishes, clean your apartment, and scare away all the scary things that may want to come close to you." Just then, there's a knock on the door. "Ha! There's one now! Quick! Hide under the bed while I take care of it!" Zander practically pushed me inside my bedroom. "By the way, I think you're so pretty that I want to cry, too. Now, go wear clothes before someone else sees how pretty you are and I'd have to curse them to disappear."

"...What?"

My bedroom door was slammed. I heard his footsteps outside, running around before the main door was opened.

"Why hello there, Mister Long Man." I hear Zander's muffled voice greet.

I'm going to assume it was Orion who was knocking. And I'm going to assume he's here to get some answers, so I have a lot of explaining to do. The thought of attempting to explain everything had made my headache worse. I flopped down on my bed and groaned loudly with my face against a pillow.

***

Orion and I decided to have our talk at a coffee shop. He needed breakfast before going to work, and I just really need caffeine. Zander is elsewhere, looking for a certain black cat named Loki. Or at least, that's what Orion thinks. When I came to the living room, Orion was telling Zander about how his black cat had once again wandered away, and so I suggested that Zander looks for Loki while Orion and I go out for breakfast together. He made sure to give me an evil glare before smiling and nodding at the curly haired technician.

Known as Io Cafe, the steampunk themed place is not too far from Virgo, our go-to cafe. There aren't many customers yet, as it is only seven in the morning. Orion and I are sitting by a window. His breakfast sandwich is in front of him and his hot cup of coffee is steaming, yet he hasn't touched them yet even though all that we've ordered have been in front of us for about three minutes now. Orion is just staring at me intensely, hands folded together on the table, waiting for me to speak. I, on the other side of the rectangular table, have my eyes focused on my ice coffee, unsure of where to start.