CHAPTER 11 - Nestling

/THEO/

“I'll be going on a business meeting for a while,” Lorcan said casually as we ate dinner.

“Eh? Why so sudden?” I completely lost interest in my food.

“I wouldn't say it's sudden, I'm just telling you now,” Lorcan replied.

“You should at least try to sugarcoat your words,” I muttered. “Don't tell me…is that the reason you agreed to have dinner with me?” I knew it! Despite our living situation getting better, he rarely ever had any meal with me.

“Let's just say some things are best discussed over dinner,” he said as he slipped from his glass.

“When are you leaving?” I asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” he stated. And here I thought I'd be able to find a way to bond with him since it was Sunday and we were free. Not that he'd have agreed even if he was free.

I paused, holding a my fork over my food without touching it. "Oh. For how long?"

"A week. Maybe two," he replied, standing up and grabbing his laptop. "As annoying as you may be, I trust that you'll be able to handle the house in my absence. Just keep the apartment clean and don't touch anything in my workspace."

"Right. Got it," I mumbled.

Before I could even wish him a safe flight, he excused himself and walked into his bedroom for the night.

It was just a normal business trip and we were nothing but roommates, but deep down, I wanted him to stay.

“I must have lost it,” I slapped my face and began to shove the food down my throat.

Needless to say, I ended up eating more than I could chew that night.

By Wednesday evening, I could already see how much difference Lorcan's presence made here. I hadn't realized how much space Lorcan actually took up until he was completely gone.

“On the bright side, that means I have the entire house to myself,” I spun around before plummeting onto the couch. I'd loved to convince myself that this was how I felt but I was hardly convinced.

His absence was exactly what I should have wanted—complete freedom to watch my anime series without headphones and cook whatever I wanted at any hour. But instead, an unexpected wave of loneliness washed over me.

I tried to keep myself busy with other things but found myself opening my phone and staring at his contact number. My thumb hovered over the screen. I seriously considered sending him a quick text, or maybe even calling him just to ask how the trip was going.

“I'm not being weird, am I? Roommates text each other,” I told myself.

Just as I was typing a casual text to check up on him, I remembered how he'd warned me not to contact him unless it was an emergency.

“He will definitely block me if I text him,” I groaned as I pulled on my hair. I know how hard i had to beg him just for him to give me his contact info, I didn't want my effort to just go down the drain.

"Get a grip, Theo," I muttered to myself, rubbing my face. "He’s just a roommate."

To shake off the weirdly hollow feeling, I decided to do a deep clean of the entire apartment. I scrubbed the kitchen counters until they shone, reorganized the pantry, and swept the living room twice. But even after all of that, my restless energy wouldn't fade. My body felt strangely warm, and a lingering sense of unease kept tugging at the back of my mind.

“I haven't cleaned Lorcan's room yet,” I mumbled as I strode over to his door. “It should be fine, right? He won't get mad if I clean his room up,” I contemplated as I pushed the door open.

His room was unsurprisingly spotless which kinda got on my nerves. That clean freak. As I was about to leave, my nose picked up a unique scent I hadn't exactly smelt on him before.

I walked over to his wardrobe of clothes and picked out a few of his clothes that had the strongest scent.

“So warm,” I muttered as I pressed them against my nose.

Without even realizing what I was doing, my fingers wrapped around the soft fabric of a simple dark gray t-shirt. Then, I pulled a black sweatshirt off its hanger too.

I didn't think about why I was doing it and I didn't think about the consequences either. I just took the clothes, held them tightly against my chest, and walked straight back to my own bedroom.

I ended up sleeping with his clothes around me that night. By the next morning, I ruled out that I needed to touch some grass and that I would pretend like I hadn't done some perverted shit that day.