Let's Talk About Murder

04 | um, no touchy please

APHRODITE GAWKED AT Lex with a blank expression. Lex layered an identical look on his symmetrical face. He arched his eyebrows suggestively--waiting for her response with his utmost patience.

Her unreadable look raised his suspicion even more. She had a fair share of knowledge that no one among them had. Granted, her brother studies at the Orion Academy, but how did she know about the wall in the basement? Something doesn't add up.

Honestly, I don't blame Lex. His suspicions aren't wrong but of course, the narrator isn't supposed to have an opinion. Fucking stereotypes.

Lex lowered his vision only to focus it back on Aphrodite whose mouth let out a small giggly noise before bursting into laughter. "You think--" she paused, laughing more. "--you think. I..I am the Black Hole?" She gripped her stomach, tears of laughter rolling down her cheeks.

Lex lunged forward and covered her mouth with the palm of his hands. Her laughter muffled under his force.

"Shush!" He said. She swallowed a lump down her throat. He stared into her baby blue eyes that had turned darker with a tinge of darker blue smearing her pupil. "We're not in a place where you could laugh out loud."

Aphrodite jabbed his hand away and pushed herself a few steps away from him. "Don't touch me without my permission. And no, I'm not the Black Hole," she mumbled sharply. She huffed and spun on her heel without falling even when she was wearing two or three inches tall high heels. She began rummaging through the closet that barely had anything in it.

Tension weighed in the atmosphere.

Lex's gaze was on her. His eyes followed her move while his mouth was left slightly open. His mind was chaotic--he didn't know what to say. Should he apologise? I mean, he did do something she didn't like but what was he supposed to say?

After a few moments of uneasiness, he dropped his nonexistent attempt at apologising and went back to searching for the items. His heart, for an unexplainable reason, felt heavier than ever.

"Nothing here." Lex finally broke the suffocating silence. Aphrodite nodded and walked past him towards the next room. He followed her with small steps. She switched the flashlight of her phone off and paused at a white painted door. Lex copied her movements. She glanced at Lex and slightly pushed the door open.

A snore roared from the bedroom.

Aphrodite took a sharp breath and cocked her head back. "We can't go in there. From what I can make out, a couple is sleeping," she mumbled.

Lex was a safe distance away from her yet he could feel the warmth infiltrating through her. "We don't have a choice. Too late to back out."

"We can get caught for trespassing."

"Don't be like Yu--"

"Lex," the words rolled out of her mouth in a harsh tone, unusual to her resting soft face. He could feel his name being tasted bitterly on her tongue. "I know you don't like her but stop insulting her."

He shrugged. "I don't dislike her per se."

Sure.

"Yeah?" She mocked. "Well, your words say otherwise."

Lex didn't respond. He simply let out a faint sigh and peeped into the bedroom again. The couple was sleeping peacefully. Lex thrusted the door ajar despite Aphrodite's attempts to ask him to do otherwise. He tiptoed inside and strode towards the bed. He towered over and put his finger under the nose of the male partner of the couple. Aphrodite stood behind him wondering what the hell he was up to.

"Look for the soap in the bathroom," Lex ordered in a thick voice.

Aphrodite, despite being just an inch shorter than Lex, stood on her toes to reach his ear. "What the hell are you doing?"

Lex looked over his shoulders. They were dangerously close and it sent a shock of electricity down his spine. He wetted his lips as her breath fanned on them. He was about to clutch her arms and pull her into the bathroom but Aphrodite's previous words echoed in his mind. He silently stomped into the bathroom and closed the door once she followed him in.

"I'm making sure they're sound asleep." He said. "If they're not, even the slightest sound will awaken them. In the meantime, you search for the soap."

Aphrodite smiled. Her eyes travelled behind Lex. "I already did." Lex followed her gaze. His lips curled up as he picked the blue soap that was lying on the counter. He looked back at Aphrodite who was going through her phone.

"How are we--"

"Not we, me. I'll check if they are asleep or not and then go through the cabinets. You can go through the other unoccupied rooms," Lex said.

"How are you going to do that?"

"The lady is snoring and you can barely fake a snore, so she's asleep. On the other hand, I checked the--"

"Lex--"

He continued, "--breathing of the man. I'll slightly tickle him. If he moves and goes back to breathing the way he was before, he is asleep as well."

Aphrodite smirked. "Okay. You can do that while the rest of us can leave because Yumi just texted that they found the bracelet on the coffee table."

They gaped at each other for a second before bursting into tiny chuckles.

•••

Aphrodite and Lex ran downstairs and were joined by West and Yumi as the group dashed out of the main door. A black car was parked on the opposite side of the street with Karan waving at them through the window. The soon-to-be Black Hole jumped into the car with West calling shotgun and Aphrodite cramped between Lex and Yumi. Karan started the engine and took off.

Their faces had evident smiles from adrenaline fuelled in their veins. "I can't believe I did that," Yumi whispered. Even though she sounded worried, there was a small smile hiding somewhere.

"You broke a rule. You did it, Yums." Aphrodite grinned.

An offended looking West looked over his shoulders. "Um, hello? I found the bracelet. I did it."

Lex smacked his lips. "We. We did it."

header image by Peter Herrmann

how was the chapter? was it rushed? did everything flow at a normal pace?

could you feel the chemistry between lexodite?

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