To Endure A Little More

TWO

A soft knock on the door of the dorm room snapped Aeza out of her daze, dragging her attention to who might have come to visit her at this time of the day. She opened the door, only to be greeted by a few unfamiliar faces. Her gaze caught the boxes the men had in their hands. She let them enter and they simply moved ahead with the purpose of their work they were here for.

It was obvious that they had come here to fix the place for Luan Aldrin to shift into his new dorm room. What seemed peculiar about it was that this was unusual treatment. As far to her knowledge, she has never found the authorities offer such a special handling of management for the students for the purpose of shifting. It was weird that so many people had come to fix such a small room. But, in the following moment, she soon figured that this must've been Jeremy Peterson's idea to give his friend special treatment.

It was distressing for Aeza to see that they stripped down the rest of all the The Vamps and stickers and posters that Roselynn had left behind before her departure. Her former roommate used to be a great fan of The Vamps just like herself, and looking back at the posters on the wall that the workers were stripping down, she was hit with nostalgia of the days they risked their lives to get their hands on those posters from the only official merchandise shop in town and the nights they spent singing to the songs together like it was a performance for themselves on the mirror. It was more upsetting for Aeza to see that they brought in a new bed and desk. They would probably throw away hers... Aeza felt woeful at seeing the workers leaving her no memento of her best friend.

When the workers were done, they left as they heard a voice asking for them to depart. A familiar voice. Upon hearing the man, the valets left and the boy behind the voice revealed himself.

"You?" Aeza hollered lowly, taken aback.

"I still catch you flustered every time, I see." He shrugged with a chuckle, teasing her in response to change the direction of the conversation that could build up as he settled down on his new bed, no expression on his face to be noticed.

"I just... did not expect you to be the one who would happen to be my new roommate." she hesitated, not sure about the case.

Her voice had suddenly turned shaky and hesitant, feeling slightly anxious and at unease about the situation because of the uncertain outcome it may bring her which she was concerned about. She had spent the past year taking every measure to avoid getting into any situation with Luan that could make them both look into the past they had shared together once. But she was afraid that all her efforts would go in vain now that the two had been brought closer as a consequence of circumstances.

"It's allowed? You know, male and female- roommates?" Aeza raised a brow awkwardly, trying not to hold direct eye contact with the boy so that it was not obvious how flustered she was.

"I would say check the calender and come back when you have checked what generation this is. It's not that deep." He laid on his new bed, eyeing his surroundings, evidently laid back with not many concerns lingering in his headspace.

"You don't have a problem staying with me, Luan?" Aeza questioned, strangely feeling at a loss of words almost.

"Yeah. Am I supposed to be having a problem? " Luan gave voice to her in an unbothered, casual tone, then questioned her, making it visible that it wasn't much of an issue for him. Aeza felt perturbed by his nonchalant behaviour.

"Ahh...don't worry. You don't arouse me, so you won't float my boat." The boy joked, which caused Aeza to actually feel bereft of speech now, feeling somewhat uncomfortable as well.

"That is not what I was referring to, but you would be comfortable living in a room that is shared by your best friend's girlfriend?" Aeza's jaw was slightly clenched and her tone made it audible that her worry exceeded deeper than what she was trying to refer to, and that it was rather something else that she was being cautious about which she did not wish to reveal yet.

Luan, on the other hand, was the least bothered. He dozed off on his bed, before he could finish listening to her, let alone reply.

The two barely ever stayed in the dorms and it wouldn't be much big of a deal if she really was worried about the cause she appeared to be debating about. What she failed to realise was that how her keeping the topic up with her nag was only making her cover up look more transparent for Luan to get the hint that she was hiding something.

"Lord. Fuc- Calm down please, Aeza." A cuss almost escaped Luan as he snapped awake from Aeza's ongoing complaints, out of apparent frustration. But knowing how Aeza had always disliked the misuse of language which he unknowingly seemed to care about, held him back and had him lower his volume instead, as he let out a little respect in a small voice.

Aeza sighed as she took a seat on her bed which was opposite to Luan's in parallel, as she realized that she might have been overreacting. Her sigh was taken into account by the latter, which caused the guy to sit up with a sigh in response.

"Are you fearing I'd do anything to my friend's girlfriend?" He asked, which sounded like a sincere question of assurance which also held a slight scornful tone of contempt.

"Did you not sleep in the same bed as me just this morning? You did seem this concerned back then. I am not sure why sleeping in the same room as me now seems to be a problem." While Luan had spoken out of having a genuine query, Aeza stiffened at his talk, the words not willing to be registered in her mind.

"Ah..." Luan chuckled as his dirty mind itched, it being part of his character to tease as humor for himself. "Perhaps, you are scared you wouldn't be able to keep your hands off of me and end up cheating on your moron of a boyfriend."

His words were beginning to have her choke on thin air almost. "That was you? I thought it was Harvey." She chuckled awkwardly but it only appeared like an attempt to hide the tint on her cheeks at finding out that man she had cuddled to sleep was the same guy who was standing in front of her at that moment. And it was understandable that she was this flustered at finding out that it was Luan's embrace that was cuddling her when she snuggled into where she found comfort in her sleep, the same man she had held feelings for, for a long time.

The mischief laughed. Luan was quite the most handsome lad in the entire institution and no girl could keep their eyes off of him. If put in comparison, he was much better looking than Thiago, who was the heartthrob of the institute, which was a matter of fact to be stated.

The same as the crystals of snow would gleam under the soft morning sun's kiss, Luan's skin would glow under one's gaze; the gaze that one cannot break once they lay their eye's on the living definition of beauty he was. He had caramel, mousy hair which looked like cotton candy from afar and would feel just as soft as it sounds under one's fingertips. Whiskey brown, umber eyes that could stun a soul, lips moistened but dry; he had a voice that was hoarse and perky but the most versatile anyone had ever heard. It had a luxurious baritone to it. His looks could leave everyone's heart fluttering just with a glance, because he truly was the definition of beauty in human form. It would be a solid barefaced lie if Aeza tried to convince herself that she didn't at least fancy the boy.

"You are naive to think you will have him for long.That boy has no future, neither with you nor for himself." Luan said, slightly irritated but clearing his throat to avoid sounding too rash.

"It shouldn't concern you. I know enough about what should be done and what not." Aeza murmured, but got cut off as he crawled off the bed, now standing only inches away. He looked down at her with hooded eyes, thanks to his height making him seem like a tower before her, his mood upset than earlier. The cold expression of his could even make penguins shiver.

"Like I said, you don't arouse me, so don't stir me up. My words came from I happening to know something that you do not, so could you not act so full of yourself always, Aeza? Or I am afraid that perhaps you too will turn like the rest of almost everyone in this institution, since you too apparently also act like you have tons of playboys running after you with meet-me-in-bed written on their forehead. And take it as a token of my concern that I am at least warning you to keep your distance from that crazy bastard despite having no reason to be concerned, just as you stated."

Luan snapped, the words escaping him before he could think twice and hold back. His tone grew to become insensitive without him trying to because of the way he had structured his speech, which caused Aeza to feel sensitive. Aeza's eyes grew a little watery as she felt unable to get a word out because of the lump that suddenly formed in her throat.

"I-" Aeza opened her mouth to speak but shut up again, not knowing how to respond. So is this how he thinks of me now? She felt a pang in her heart. She breathed in sharply to remain calm.

"I'm not like that. A-And isn't he your friend?" Aeza said as a tear drop strained down her cheek because of how upset his words had her. Perhaps it would not have affected her cold heart that much if it was any man other than Luan Aldrin.