Chapter 24 - Do You Mind If I Stay in Your Room For Tonight?

It was quite late when they had finished eating dinner.

Much to Olivia's chagrin, the maids didn't allow her to clean the table. They told her, "Sir Oliver will get angry at us if we let his esteemed guest clean up after herself."

Technically, she wasn't a guest but someone who would soon be a long-term leech in the Twyne manor. But she didn't want to get on their nerves since they were quite protective of their duties as maids, so she just let them do their jobs.

Now, Olivia was staying in 𝘩𝘦𝘳 room. She was lying on her bed, spread eagle. She started moving her limbs all over the soft bed as if making a snowwoman. 

Olivia, against her own will, let out an excited squeal.

How foreign it was for her to say '𝘩𝘦𝘳 room!' She'd never had a room of her own before since their house back in her universe was small, so she used to share her room with her sister Azure. 

It was quite annoying not to have her private space back in her universe, with Azure always 'borrowing' her things without Olivia's permission. But honestly, was having her own space an equal exchange not to have her sister exist in this universe?

𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬. 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬. 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬.

The knocking on the door abruptly interrupted her train of thought. She quickly sat up, called out, "I'm coming!" and was ready to jump out of bed when the door swung open.

Olivia squeaked in surprise, belatedly realizing that she wasn't wearing a bra. Her arms flew to wrap itself around her chest, covering them and hoping that the intruder won't notice her--

"Were you m*st*rb*t*ng?" A wet blond head popped inside the room, it seemed like he had just finished taking a shower. "If you are--"

"Of course not!" Olivia grabbed a pillow and threw it in Oliver's face, which he effortlessly caught. As expected from a basketball player. "What made you think that?!"

Oliver lowered the pillow, revealing a deep frown.

"You said you were cumming..."

"Wha--" Olivia blushed a bright red. "I meant I was coming to get the door, you pervert!"

His expression turned blank, and his mouth formed an 'o'. 

"So?" Olivia once again wrapped her arm around herself to cover her bare boobs. "Why did you enter my room without prior notice?"

"I knocked," Oliver argued.

"You should've waited for me to open it instead of barging in!" She pointed out.

Oliver scowled, clicking his tongue. 

"So," Olivia asked impatiently, tapping her flip-flops against the carpeted floor. "What do you need?"

Oliver looked away from her; a bright red tint was uncharacteristically coloring his cheeks.

"I..." He cleared his throat and shifted his gaze back at her, yet no words came out. 

"Are you okay?" Olivia knitted her eyebrows together, tip-toeing to wipe the trail of water from his cheeks. "You didn't even dry your hair properly. Sheesh, Olive--"

Oliver grabbed her hand just as she was about to pull it away. She let out a gasp as he leaned his face on her palm, closing his eyes and purring against it like a cat.

"You're warm," He whispered in a deep, soft voice.

Olivia forcefully pulled her hand away, spinning around to hide the blush currently painted on her cheeks.

'𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?' She thought to herself, placing the hand he had just rested on to her chest.

Her heart was beating intensely, and she could literally hear it ringing in her ears. His gesture of gentleness surprised her to the core that she didn't know how to react.

Out of nowhere, Oliver wrapped his arms around Olivia, resting his chin on her head. Thank goodness her hand was on her chest, or else he would've accidentally touched her bosom.

His body was warm against her back, the exact warmth she felt when she was cooking a while ago. It made her feel an electrifying tingling sensation all over her body.

Was this teenage hormones? 

She wasn't sure herself.

All she knew was that Oliver was acting weird. 

"Oliver...?" She spoke, her tone oozing with uncertainty and concern.

Slowly, Oliver pulled away from her. She turned to face him, only to see him covering his face with his hands. The parts of his face that weren't covered by his hand were noticeably pink.

"Are you okay...?" Olivia trailed as Oliver slowly removed his hands from his face, revealing moistened blue eyes.

"S-s-sorry," Oliver finally found his voice, only to sound hoarse. "It's just... your cooking."

"My... cooking?" Olivia repeated.

"It reminded me... of the good days." He spoke slowly, as if he wasn't sure how to phrase his words properly. "Good days when... things were... happy."

"What do you mean?"

"Back when... Dad was still here, and Mom still ate..." He clicked his tongue again before raising his hand to cup Olivia's cheeks, which were still warm from embarrassment. "What I'm trying to say is..."

"Yes?" Olivia probed.

"Do you mind if I stay in your room for tonight?"

Before Olivia could answer, Oliver pushed her gently, causing her to fall to her bed. The bed creaked as she landed softly on top of it. Soon, the bed creaked again as Oliver's weight followed on the mattress.

"Just for tonight," Oliver whispered against her ear, wrapping her arms around her waist and enveloping her in a tight, warm embrace. "Please, just for tonight."