Chapter 5

I sat at one of the few chairs arranged a few feet from the cafeteria with my AirPods deep in my ears while I quietly hummed along. It was a few minutes after six in the evening and I was finally done with classes. I decided to wait right outside the cafeteria for Jonas.

It was a Thursday evening, and the sky was a bit darker than normal due to the incoming rain. It was the middle of July; the second season of winter and rain was bound to fall any fucking moment. I put my hoodie on once it started to drizzle and now it was currently zipped up completely to keep me as warm as possible. 

I shot Jonas a quick text after waiting for him in the same spot for over ten minutes, I was really hungry and also wanted to take a shower so bad to wash off the grime of the whole day, I couldn’t do all that while sitting a few feet away from school while waiting on my bastard of a roommate. 

Speaking of bastards, I saw him a few feet away walking towards the cafeteria with a girl around my height walking beside him, I watched as he got to the entrance of the cafe and glanced through the see-through glass walls to properly check if he’d see me so he could holla for me to come out. I scoffed when the girl grasped his wrist and tugged until he was looking down at her, she pointed at something on the floor and I watched them exchanged a few more words before she finally walked away from him towards my direction, passed the chair I was sitting in- completely unaware of the fact that I’ve been watching her act like a desperate whore just now.

I watched Jonas pull the cafeteria door and walked in before I quickly shoot him a quick text that I was right outside the whole time. I pushed myself onto my feet after turning off my song and inserting my phone into my hoodie pocket before walking towards the cafe entrance just as Jonas strolled out.

A grey hoodie covered his upper body with the hood drawn over his beanie, he stopped beside me with his hand holding onto his bag. “Did you watch me walk into the cafe while sitting outside the whole time?” He demanded immediately and I rolled my eyes as I walked past him towards the lane leading towards the bus stop, after about two seconds, he fell into step beside me, his bag swung over his shoulders.

“I was watching you flirt with a girl; it was funny watching her try everything just to get your attention... I’m guessing she didn’t know you’re gay?” I said to him while shooting him a look. He shrugged with a smile laugh before stopping in his tracks and coming to stand before me in the next second.

I blinked up at him in confusion, why was he stopping when we were supposed to get to the bus stop to wait for the bus. “What?” I demanded with a scowl, my nose twitching as his breath-taking cologne wafted into my nose and sending that heady rush right into my stomach. 

“You were watching me flirt? I wasn’t flirting, she was just too into me to be able to get the hint that I was no way interested in her,” Jonas explained, a smile splitting out on his face which made his eyes reduced to slits. I was tempted to take a step back due to how close we were standing and how some people were starting to shoot us curious glances.

“Yeah, whatever,” I muttered before going around him to resume my walk towards the bus stop, I didn’t ask him if he was interested in the girl or not and he didn’t own me any kind of explanation whatsoever, so why the hell did he explained that to me like he thought I was jealous or something.

The fuck would I be jealous of a girl for?

The scowl on my face turned to irritation at my own self and I glared at him when he jogged towards me until we were walking side by side again, I glanced up at his grinning face before resulting in rolling my eyes at how much he was flaunting his breath-taking smile, he knew how much it made him look irresistible, and he always make sure to use it well.

Not like I thought his smile was hot or anything.

We finally got to the bus stop and quite a lot of people were gathered around the same spot in twos and threes, clearing waiting for the bus. I seriously hope the whole seat doesn’t gets taken due to how much these waiting people were.

Jonas and I stood side by side in silence with my hand deep in my hoodie pockets due to the cold evening breeze. I glanced up at Jonas who was currently tapping away on his phone. The light on his phone screen managed to catch the blue in his eyes. I looked away before glancing at him one more time. I noticed the difference in our height. I was 5’11” while Jonas was, to my horror, nearing 6’4”.

It was totally not cool that Jonas always appeared so masculine with his thick voice, his looks, his demeanor and also, his height. While to my disappointment, I think I appeared feminine.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad about being feminine and soft, but I wanted to be a little rough and jagged. Was that too much to ask for? 

I was seriously starting to look for a certain kind of workout routine to increase height. Although, I was taller than Joey, who was 5’8”, he was also a lot leaner than I was. Lucas was the tallest between the three of us since he was at 6’1” and still growing…his words not mine.

The bus arrived and everyone tried to get in at the same time. I nudged Jonas who was still focused on his phone. By the time Jonas and I climbed onto the bus, every seat was already taken. I groaned in disappointment as I turned back around to face the front of the bus before reaching up and grabbing onto a handlebar. 

“I should have just taken my fucking car this morning, urg,” Jonas complained a few feet behind me where he was currently in the same position I was currently in. I scowled at him over my shoulder, “It’s your stupid fault we didn’t get into the bus quickly, remember? I should have left you there with your phone,” I snapped, my right hand already aching for staying in that position for long minutes.

I watched as Jonas closed the space between us until he was almost touching my back with his chest, “I’m sorry, I’ll fill the fridge with ice cream once again?” He persuaded quietly. His left hand shoved deep into his pocket while the right one held onto the handlebar. Unlike me, he didn’t need to stretch his arm up before touching the bar since he was gifted with long arms. 

“Fine,” I mumbled quietly, we kept staring at each other and I blinked a little before turning my head back around to face the front once again. My head was starting to ache, and an embarrassing blush was about to stain my cheeks. Jonas had been buying the ice cream whenever we ran out because we were both obsessed with it. We also always got into a small disagreement about the ice cream running out, and as a sign of apology, Jonas was always restocking it. I had no complaints.

I groaned a little before switching my right hand to my left one when it felt like my arm was about to fall off, I couldn’t wait to get off the bus. 

Once again, this was one more reason why my parents were being totally absurd by deciding to not get me a car.

To my horror, the bus suddenly lurched forward, screeching to a sudden stop, which threw everyone forward. Jonas’s chest slammed into my back, making me lose my sweaty grip on the handle and I started to fall. It happened in slow motion. I was about to hit my head on the bus floor, but Jonas wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me up until my back hit his chest. I was heaving hard with dread.

His hold didn’t loosen immediately from my waist which I was completely grateful for since I still felt too shaken to grip onto the handlebar for now. I heaved in deep breaths while trying to get my breathing pattern into motion. 

“You alright?” Jonas whispered into my ear, and I nodded absentmindedly, not registering the fact that I was still plastered completely to Jonas’s body in a moving bus. I shakily reached for the handlebar and wrapped my fingers tight around it before glancing around the bus to find a few people’s eyes on me, they all looked away when our eyes met, and I flushed before it all came back rushing into my head.

I took a step away from Jonas and was really thankful when his hold loosened immediately, I gripped the handlebar hard, my heart still racing as I blew out a breath and pushed back my hair which has finally started to fall into my face due to this almost fall. I glanced out the window from my position and blew out another breath, the cold somehow seeping into my hoodie and making me shiver a little.

I glanced back at Jonas before swallowing, and remembering how comfortable it felt to hold onto his hard chest even though it was covered with layers of clothes. Our eyes met and I smiled a little at him in gratitude before turning back around and wrapping my two hands around the bar, can’t take any more chances since this driver was just too dumb to drive a bus correctly.

I was relieved when it got to our stop, we got off the bus and made our way down the street towards our apartment compound, it has already started to drizzle, and I wrapped my hands around my biceps through the hoodie while shivering slightly as we quickly walked home.

“Let’s just run home instead of walking, the sky’s going to open fully in a few minutes more,” Jonas said beside me, I glanced at him and shook my head in reply. My vision was totally shitty in the dark time, and I didn’t want to risk falling on my ass or walking into something really dangerous. 

I knew I should totally get glasses; I’ve been told to visit the optician countless times, but I’ve always been shrugging it off. I didn’t need some fucking pair of glasses to go about my life.

“I don’t want you getting soaked in the rain since it hasn’t even started and you’re practically shivering currently,” Jonas pointed out but I only shrugged my shoulders.

What’s it to him if I get soaked in the rain? I won’t die, now would I? And besides I’m not his fucking girlfriend that he can tell what to do... or boyfriend, in this case.

We’ve barely gotten anywhere before the sky tumbled loudly followed by lightning. I shivered harder when it started to rain harder than before.

“Andy!” Jonas called out and I cursed him under my breath.

Just leave me and go on without me.

“Look, I can barely see at the moment, alright?” I snapped angrily, water getting into my eyes and mouth while I tried not to breathe it in through my nose. “You can go on without me, I’d be there in a few minutes time.” 

It wasn’t the first time I’ve been in situations like this, there’s nothing big about being soaked in the rain since I’ve tasted it countless times. 

I’m sure the sky wasn’t supposed to be this dark yet, but thanks to the rain, the sky was pitch black.

I felt Jonas’s fingers grab my folded hand and pull on it until his hand was wrapped around wrist. I spluttered in confusion; the fuck was he holding my hand for?

Because I could demand an explanation and wrench my hand away from his, he started running and pulling me along to my horror. I gasped, my heart rushing into my mouth in fright as I followed blindly. I kept praying I don’t get slammed face down into a wall, or worse, a parked vehicle.

In no time, we were running through our apartment’s gate and into the first floor of the building. I heaved out deep breaths as we waited for the elevator to drop before we made our way into it. 

I glanced into the mirror to find my hand still deep in Jonas’s hold, with a startled gasp, I pulled my hand away from his hold and tugged on my wet bandanna. We watched each other in the mirror walls of the elevator, and I flushed on recollecting how dumb I must have sounded when I admitted to not being able to see clearly in the dark, before getting pulled all the way home like a fucking baby... I was no child.

“So um, thank you, for y’know, for everything starting from the incident in the bus, to getting me out of the rain.”

Jonas was silent for a moment before finally speaking up while unzipping his hoodie. “You don’t use glasses, why?”

I scowled at his reflection in the mirror while he was currently shrugging out of his hoodie before pushing out. “I don’t feel like it, it’s my business.” 

“You sound defensive,” Jonas stated while watching me from the mirror. I rolled my eyes before pushing my bag to one of my shoulder while tugging on the zip of my hoodie before shrugging it off my first shoulder.

“I’m not being defensive; I just don’t like it,” I replied after finally getting my wet hoodie off. The elevator slid open, and we got off at the same time, I wrinkled my nose at how wet my bag was. I was totally glad the bag was waterproof, which meant my books wouldn’t be destroyed, but that doesn’t mean I was thrilled about emptying the bag and getting it dried. Jonas got his keys out and opened the door. We got in and I shut and locked the door behind me while Jonas turned on the lights in the hallway. We had a routine.

I signed as I pulled my wet shoes off beside the door, I really do hate getting catch in the rain, no matter how much it happens to me. I dropped my wet hoodie on my wet shoes before gingerly stretching my toes and heading into my room with my wet bag, Jonas has probably gone to put his wet stuffs away. I was really tempted to slid into my bed and cuddle my blanket since my girlfriend wasn’t anywhere close by at the moment. 

I stopped in the middle of the room as guilt swamp my whole body, I can’t believe I didn’t think about my girlfriend throughout the whole of today, I really am a shitty boyfriend. Promising myself I was gonna shoot her a call before going to bed tonight, I shuffled out of my wet pants and my wet top, I shivered as the cold air deeper into my veins immediately, I quickly picked up my folded towel and wrapped it around my shoulders before digging my phone out of my bag and settling it on the bed. 

Not wanting to procrastinate, I unzipped my bag and poured the content carefully on the reading table before placing the bag over the chair for it to at least dry off a bit over the night, with my wet clothes shoved in my laundry basket, I headed towards the bathroom with a hot, soothing shower in mind.

I pulled the bathroom door open and stopped in my tracks. Jonas had a towel covering his head and couldn’t see a thing. He was right in front of my face and was tugging on my wrist hard. I slammed into his naked, wet chest. He must have been reaching for the doorknob, but I had pushed open the door at that exact moment and he had grabbed my hand instead.

He pulled the towel off his head immediately and dropped my hand, taking a step back until we were no longer touching. He gestured towards the door with his towel before dabbing his neck and chest where water from his slicked back hair kept dripping. I breathed out an awkward laugh before stepping away from the door where Jonas disappeared through a second later. I pushed the door shut and leaned against it for a moment, wondering why I was suddenly making so much contact with Jonas all of a sudden and why I was way too aware about each contact than I really should.

Were the angels suddenly working against me? 

With a small sigh filled with confusion and tiredness, I got into the shower and proceeded to wash my confusion with the burning, hot water until my skin felt numb under my fingertips. I got out of the shower and stared at myself in the bathroom mirror after thoroughly mopping my hair, the confusion in my head not feeling reduced on bit.