Adrian reached home late. Very late. He was so exhausted that he didn't even care to change his clothes. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. In the middle of the night, he suddenly awoke from his deep slumber. He hadn't been home when Jennifer went to sleep, she would have been worried for him. "I should go and check up on her. Besides, I could do with a mid night snack." He thought as he rubbed his stomach.
His body was sore from all the vigorous exercise. It was difficult, even to move a muscle. The sleep hadn't been very peaceful also. Adrian shifted in his bed to find some warmth. He slid his arm down the empty space with his eyes still closed, only to feel the coldness of the bed sheet, crumpled under his palm.
His eyes peeked through his lashes and squinted to see better. He hoped that by blinking a few times, the sight gets better. Adrian's bony legs slipped out of the comfort of the duvet, and kissed the wooden floor gently before it absorbed the weight of Adrian's body with a mild creek, not loud enough to hear if it was in the day. His oversized white tee slips to show his collarbone, while his sweatpants rode up to his calves on one side.
His light brown hair, tousled and messy. The bangs poke his brows as he made his way to her room. Like a child yearning for his lost stuffed animal they go to bed with, disappeared. He poked his head to see if Jennifer was still sleeping there.
No. Nothing.
The rug was still there in position, her phone was still charging on the floor, right by the night lamp that was turned off. "Where is she?" Adrian sighed. He sat on the bed and turned sideways to find the direction of the bathroom. The light was on, judging from the gap between the floor and door.
"She's in there…" He muttered to himself. Although he was supposed to fall back asleep knowing that she will come to bed when she is done, something tells him that he probably should check her out. Make sure she's alright. The cold bed sheets suggests that it might have been a while. Call it superstitious. Call it impossible. Call it anything but love, when a soul mate is in pain, the other feels it too.
No matter how far or how close. You just feel it. Adrian readied his knuckles to knock but changed his mind and curved his palm to envelope the knob until something stopped him from doing so. His eyes focused, and enlarged a bit. Breath caught in his throat when he heard sniffling. Tiny whimpers. Sobbing. An excruciating sound of a broken soul trying to keep her voice as small as possible so no one could hear her falling apart. he could hear her bare feet against the tub, pushing herself up.
He imagined her, sitting at the end away from the shower head, shed off her shells and held her soul bare in the open for the walls to see. And he was envious. Envious of those very walls who could see her in her most vulnerable moment. He wanted to walk away. He didn't think he was able to listen to her silent cries anymore so he should crawl back to bed.
If she would have wanted him to have the privilege to see her cry, she would have allowed him to. Instead, she choose 5:00 AM in the bathtub instead of him. The least he could do was to respect her decision and wait till the sun rises to ask. That is if, if, he could ask.
"No. I am her friend. It's my job." His words ring in his head as he turns the knob slowly. Visibly shaken, Jennifer quickly wiped away her tears. "Oh… You're home." She was obviously flustered, digging the heels of her palm into the sockets of her eyes, harshly erasing any apparent evidence of a defenseless moment.
"I caught flu. Can you believe in? On a weekend…." She chuckled and climbed out of the tub, knees weak from staying in one position too long. She almost fell if it wasn't for Adrian to capture her. Sliding his grasp off of her gently, she smiled but her eyes were casted downwards.
Still hiding. Still pretending. Still concealing. Still.
Jennifer dashed for the sink and twisted the faucet until water flows out. Cupping your hand underneath the flowing water, she took the pooling water to her face and washed away the remaining tears. Adrian opened the door widely now, he leans his head back on it, watching her and her 'show'. He crossed his arms next, frowning. Jennifer noticed his tongue dig into the side of his cheek as he watched her clean up and she couldn't help but gulp out of the intense gaze.
Jennifer forced out a smile that he didn't return and slowly walked out of the bathroom when he said in his deathly low grumble, "What happened?"
"I- nothing." She lied once more, his gaze becoming more intense. Jennifer had to come up with an excuse that was believable enough. The time was running out. She couldn't tell Adrian that she was crying because of the guilt that was feeding on her. This would bust out her secret.
"I was worried about you. You didn't come home. Where were you?" Jennifer knew it was best to turn over the situation but this was her last chance. She knew it was a lame move but she just can't give up like that. Lucky for her, it worked. Adrian was too distracted by his own mistake to scrutinize into her web of lies.
"Umm… actually" Now it was Adrian's turn to come up with a believable lie. What was fate planning for them. Both spinning around the lies, afraid of getting caught. "I went to meet a friend." Adrian said. "Actually, I bought your favorite food when I returned from my date and I was little discouraged when I didn't find you home. I mean, it's completely okay. Your weekend. Your choice. I guess I just wanted to eat with you." Jennifer said.
Under normal conditions, Adrian would have asked Jennifer how her date went. Who was the guy? And other questions but he didn't want to bring the pain back. It was a very agonizing process and he had just numbed the pain. So he encouraged the conversation in the other direction. Food.
Jennifer wasn't a newbie. She guessed almost instantly that Adrian hadn't asked questions about her date, which meant he knew something. Did he follow her? He was gone, five minutes after she left. And when she left, it didn't seem like he had plans for the evening. He was wearing casuals.
While eating food, Jennifer asked, "Have you heard about the upcoming dance competition?" Adrian hummed, too busy chewing on the food. "I wanted to take part in it but I lack a dance partner ." Jennifer made a puppy face. "I don't dance. I am terrible at it." Adrian said. "Oh, it's okay. I'll ask Darius then." The change in the facial expressions of Adrian told Jennifer that he had been following her. This boy was too easy to read. Well, this was the contradictory statement of the year. Most people found him impossible to understand but not Jennifer.
Jennifer placed a hand on Adrian's hand and told him, "You could have asked me who I was going on a date with. Why follow me? I will never lie to you." Adrian choked on his food. Jennifer passed him a glass of water and left, to sleep in her room.
But Adrian's sleep was gone.