''Ian Romero, the person I hate the most in the whole wide world. He turned the entire school against me, and then just left me alone in the hell he created.''
There's no one Cody Walker hates more than Ian Romero, who is the reason he has been bull...
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*Cody Walker's POV
It had been quite an evening. To be honest I had been too tired to even think about it twice: I had just placed my head on Ian's shoulder and embraced the comfort he gave me. As weird as it might sound, it was him who I could be most like myself with.
The person who was the reason I stopped talking in the first place — the person who made me question if I could trust anyone — was the one who had seen me in my darkest moments. Ian was the only one who knew how much it really hurt. He was the one who started this mess, yet he was the one who helped me get through it.
After I had done our night-time preparations, I slumped in my bed and whizzed under the thick blanket. Apparently Ian had geared up for everything, since he had all he needed with him from toothbrush to a phone charger.
I could hear how he shut the faucet in the bathroom and soon enough he was back at my door. He switched off the light and tiptoed across the dark room.
"Ian, what the hell?" I boggled when he didn't stop at his bed, but climbed on mine. He didn't say anything, he just lifted the blanket and lay down behind me. He still didn't say anything when he nestled against my body and spooned me tightly.
"Your bed is right there." I muttered, relieved knowing he couldn't see the redness of my face.
"Let me sleep with you, okay?" Ian pleaded, pulling me even closer. He was so close I could feel his breath on the back of my neck and I could even smell the minty scent of his toothpaste. How was I supposed to say no when he asked it like that?
"I missed you." Ian whispered when it took me too long to come up with an answer. Hearing those words made my heart flutter and I think he could feel it when his palm rested against my chest.
"Fine." I breathed and closed my eyes. I didn't think I would get any sleep tonight, but I must admit being held like that wasn't such a terrible experience.
I let my body unwind and I shifted a little closer to him. After all, it was just one night in the comfort of a dark room — it didn't necessarily have to mean anything more than that.
Although, when Ian buried his face in the back of my neck, I already knew how much it meant for both of us.
"It's not just because I don't want them to worry." I admitted, not really knowing why I was telling this to Ian. "At school I'm the lowest scum, but here I'm still all those things I could have been. This is the last place I can still pretend my life isn't wrecked. If they knew, it would make it all too real."
"Okay." Ian said softly. After that we didn't talk and Ian didn't press me any further. I think he knew it too: I had already told him more than I had told anyone else.
***
When I woke up, I did everything like I do in a typical morning. I turned around, hugged my pillow and yawned before opening my eyes. It's just that this time there seemed to be something wrong with my pillow. I could almost swear it was staring at me.
"Oh shit, sorry." As soon as I woke up properly, I realised the pillow was indeed staring at me and that the pillow I was hugging was far from the regular one. I tried to back away from it, but its arms made sure I couldn't bolt.
"Gosh, you're adorable." The pillow, a.k.a Ian Romero, whispered softly.
"No, I'm not." Yet again I could feel my cheeks heating up and I bit my lower lip nervously.
After all, I was stuck in an embrace of someone who basically made my heart go into a cardiac arrest — what a terrible metaphor to use only a couple of days after dad had a heart attack — and made my face resemble a beetroot.
"You are. So damn adorable." Ian smirked happily and started playing with my hair again. He pulled a lock around his finger, let it go and did it again. The spellbound look in his eyes made my face turn even redder.
"Did you sleep at all?" I asked when I remembered how Oat had mentioned that Ian had barely slept while I was gone. He did have dark circles under his brown eyes and he seemed a little drowsy.
"Is this true? Are you worrying about me?" Ian asked half-jokingly.
"I'm not, you just look terrible, that's all." I muttered.
"Aw, that's not very nice of you." Ian pouted.
"Okay, okay. Yes, I'm worried about you." I mumbled even more quietly and looked away. Ian started beaming when he heard my answer.
"I slept, I just woke up like an hour ago. I thought you were going to sleep the entire day.." Ian told me. I glanced at the clock on the wall near the door.
"It's past noon already.. Why didn't you wake me up? Shouldn't we be at school?" I asked with wide eyes, trying to sit up, but yet again Ian held me still.
"School can wait for one more day." He said with a content smile on his lips. "I want to take you somewhere."
♡♡♡
Question of the day: What's your favorite quote from a book?
(Me: Mine are from Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower. 🔜)
"So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."
"I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this."
"Please believe that things are good with me, and even when they're not, they will be soon enough. And i will always believe the same about you."
