delicate - rini au (sequel)

chapter 29: knock knock

Four knocks.

That's what it took for Nini to wake up, she didn't book the room service of the hotel and they weren't that insisting anyways. So her only guess was E.J.. She didn't feel like getting up, so she lust tried to fall back to sleep, but the knocking kept going. She huffed and got up. She grabbed some big hoodie she brought with her, and opened the door.

Wow.

That's the first thing she thought.

Six months. 130 days. 3120 hours.

His hair was cut perfectly, he had baggy eyes and his skin was tanner. He looked better than before. For a hot minute she forgot what he looked like, what he felt like. She had no idea if he was okay, if he was hurt. But here he was, standing in front of her with a bouquet of flowers. He looked mezmerised, because he was. She looked tired, she was skinnier, she looked sad and had big black eye bags. But he still looked at her as if she was the most perfect person in the world. He dreamed and planned what their reunion was going to be like, he thought about not giving a fuck about their reputation and people, he was going to hold her hand, hug her, kiss her, love her in front of anyone. He didn't care anymore. But this was not what he had planned. Never crossed his mind that it would be in a random hotel room, with her in that state of mind and people hating on her. They looked at each other for a minute, absorbing every detail about the other person. She stood back, letting him in. She closed the door and laid her head on it, this was the first time in week when she wasn't overthinking, she wasn't thinking. Her mind was completely blank, that's what he caused on her. He made her forget about everything and made her feel good. She turned around slowly and sighed. She felt how this heavy weight she used to feel on her back and chest vanished. He dropped the bouquet on the bed and smiled. She giggled at his awkwardness.

"Hi..." he said.

"Hey." she said.

___________________________

They were sitting on the edge of the bed, there was a tension that was driving him insane. He knew what he wanted, he knew he wanted her. But he wasn't so sure that it was reciprocated. So he stayed there, waiting for her to make the first move. And she stayed there too, waiting for him to make the first move. He was the one who left, he was the one who had to come back. It wasn't her plan to see him today and of course she thought about this. How do you tell your ex-boyfriend/kinda-boyfriend/but-still-ex that people are hating on her because they think she got in the middle of a non existent relationship with your high school bully who hated her because, according to her, she stole him from her? But he was still not even looking at her, she rolled her eyes and got up to grab a bottle of water. She sat down on top of the little desk she had there.

"So, you've been gone for 6 months and now you are not going to talk?" her tone was passive aggressive, she was mad but she sounded broken too. She didn't want to make him feel bad but she was tired. She needed him to talk, because she couldn't.

"I'm sorry, I don't know where to start. A lot of things happened while I was gone."

"Yeah, I know. I was here." she said, lowering her voice. He looked at her and saw her crossing her arms. But he also saw how she was trying so hard to contain the tears. He got up and started to walk towards her. He stopped when they were face to face, she was looking down to the floor when he whispered:

"Can I...?" and put his hands in the middle of them, asking for her to hold his hands. And she did. The moment she touched him, she looked at him. She broke down and started to cry, he joined her. All of the sudden she hugged him, so tight it almost hurted him. But he held her too. They stayed hugging and crying for what felt like ages, but it was only 5 minutes. She broke the hug, only to hold his face, him holding her by the waist. She looked at him asking for his permission, without even thinking about it, he nodded.

Wow.

That's the first thing he thought.

Six months. 130 days. 3120 hours.

Without feeling her, without kissing her. For a minute he thought he was never going to feel this way with her again. He felt an explosion inside his chest that not smiling wasn't on his plans. He tried to put all the feelings and all the missing time in that kiss, he felt as if the world stopped. As if the planet earth stopped spinning. Everyone got quiet. Everything stopped working. The only thing that was happening was them. All he cared was her. His mind went blank. That was the effect she had on him. He had spent the last 6 hours thinking and re-thinking and overthinking everything, his head felt heavy. But she made that stop. She made him feel peaceful and light, as if nothing was wrong in the world. So he held her. And he wasn't planning on letting her go. Only if she asked him too.