Unconditional

Chapter 9

By the time I arrived back home, it was around nine o'clock at night. My feet ached to rest, as we walked the remaining time after we left the arcade.

I attempted to let Leo try and get to know Xia more, without interfering and it seemed to go decently well, as by the end of the night, the two were laughing together quite contently. I was happy to have spent the day with friends and to keep my mind off of my stresses. Though like all good things, they come to an end, such as when I reached home and settled into bed.

Plugging in my phone, its buzzing made me jump in my spot. My heart thumped loudly and I could feel my cool leaving me as I saw Malikai's user calling my phone. A shaky breath exhaled my parted lips, as I watched the phone ring in my hands.

After squeezing my eyes shut and taking a deep breath, I swiped the green arrow, accepting his call. Exhaling, I brought the phone to my cheek and waited.

"Hello?" Malikai's gentle voice traveled through the speaker, sending tingles down my spine.

"Hey Mal," I answered softly.

"Hey Aruna, I uh, how have you been?" He sputtered out, sounding unsure what exactly to say next.

"I've been alright, how about you?" I cringed, this awkward tension was obvious between us, and yet I was too cowardly to confront it.

"Yeah I've been okay," He answered quickly, a silence following. I parted my lips a few times, an attempt to say something, anything, yet my head was blank and it seemed all thoughts froze.

"I see,"

More silence fell over before an exasperated chuckle was heard through the line. "Who are we kidding, you remember that night don't you?"

Well, it appears my act was not star-worthy.

My eyes widened and I felt my palms begin to sweat. I tightened my grip on my phone and sighed, I guess there was no point in hiding it at this point huh?

"Yeah I do," I admitted.

Malikai hesitated, "Why did you act like you didn't?"

I was surprised at his directness, though he might not have sounded too confident, at least he had the guts to bring it up.

Taking a seat down at my desk, I tried to formulate a response. My eyed wandered over the glass window reflecting back a worried face, "Mal do you understand how terrified I am?"

"I never intended to make you uncomfortable Aruna, I'm so-" I cut Mal off before he could finish.

"No Mal, I am terrified of losing you okay? God, do you have any idea the thoughts and internal fight I've been having because of this?" My chest ached, the stress coming all back at once, knowing our cards were beginning to be shown.

"If you're so scared of losing me than why haven't you talked to me about this? You've ignored my texts only to hang out with Leon. I know I fucked up but please at least let me make this okay again."

I buried my head in my hand, rubbing my face in confusion, "I was going to talk to you but I had to get my thoughts together, Malikai. This isn't something I just want to push off as if it never happened."

Malikai got quiet, "Alright, then when can we talk about this?"

"Let's meet in person to discuss this, alright? Are you free tomorrow evening?"

"Yeah, that works for me," Mal muttered, his voice sounding like he was holding a lot back. I had to keep reminding myself we can lay everything out on the table tomorrow, and analyze with hopefully, a much clearer mind.