Loving Him

Bonus chapter: Ama&Daniel special

Ama scrunched up her nose in displeasure at the sight that greeted her as she stepped into Daniel's apartment. She had been ringing the doorbell nonstop with no response only to push the door open to see him sprawled all over the couch looking like a disaster.

It wasn't him, as much as the state the room was in that displeased her. There were plastic plates strewn all over the floor which led her to believe he had been ordering food and hadn't cared enough to pack up afterwards. There wasn't an alcohol bottle in sight though, which made her feel a tiny bit reassured. She didn't need to get worried over him getting sick considering the fact that he looked like he hadn't even moved from where he was for the past few days.

Her gaze drifted away from the whole mess and landed on him once more. He looked like a dead man with his arms and legs spread wide on the couch, dressed only in boxers with his shirt and pants among the pile of rubbish on the floor. The only thing that indicated he was breathing was the steady rise and fall of his chest. It further displeased her to see that the shirt and pants were the same pair from Angel's birthday. She refused to contain the thought that he probably hadn't had a bath since then. And that was two days ago.

Letting out a drawn breath, she tapped him gently on the shoulder to wake him up. When he didn't budge, she tapped him harder. He stirred then became still almost immediately. Her hands were poised to tap him again when his eyes suddenly flew open, startling her and she jerked back in surprise. In an exaggerated motion, her hand flew up to cover her scrunched up nose.

He squeezed his eyes shut then open again as if to readjust himself to his surrounding. Slowly, his eyes focused on her as if he was only just seeing her. With a subtle eye roll, he sat up slowly and said, "Stop being overly dramatic, Ama. I don't stink and no bad breath either. I've not been here like this all these while."

Ama's eyes scanned the room again and landed back on him with a raised brow. "I find that hard to believe."

"I'm just drained, really," he stated with a sigh. "And cleaning up a room has been the least of my problem."

Her eyes narrowed and she clucked her tongue as if deliberating something. Coming to a decision, she slowly brought her hand back down. She moved closer to him and bent down until they were about eye level and proceeded to sniff him.

"Are you serious right now?" He asked with incredulous laughter.

Ama shrugged, unbothered although she felt immensely pleased that she'd at least gotten a laugh out of him.

He flicked her nose with his index finger and that minor touch was enough to send her whole being buzzing. She was suddenly reminded of why she avoided getting too close to him. She jolted back up with a start, pushing his hand away. He looked at her weirdly but didn't say anything.

Flustered, she gestured wildly at the expanse of the living room. "You might be clean but you need to clean up this place. Your living room's a total mess." She looked back down at him. "And so are you, lack of bad breath regardless."

He frowned as if she'd just asked him to shoot himself in the head. His gaze traveled round the room just as hers had done. "Yeah... No. At least not yet. Like I said, I'm too emotionally exhausted."

"Every word out of your mouth screams excuses," she said with an eye roll. Sighing, she took time to study his profile. Worry lines were visible on his forehead as he was still frowning. His whole face was drawn and he really did look tired. In a tone softer than she'd intended, she asked, "Are you okay?"

He shrugged and rested back against the couch, shielding his face with his right arm. "I don't know. It just really sucks, you know?"

"Have you talked to her?" As much as she loathed talking about Sharon--or was it Rose?-- she really wanted to know if the girl had made any move to reconcile with him after she'd practically bolted out of Alex's house two days ago at Angel's birthday party.