I hitched my backpack on my shoulder and started heading out of my room. Dani was following closely behind me.

"Mom!" I called out. She poked her head out from the back door, looking at me with her doe eyes that I mentally cringe. Shaking my head, I ignored my thoughts. "I'm going home. I'll see you and the dimwit by Saturday."

Pouting, she nodded. "Alright. Call me when you get home," she replied and squeezed her small frame through the door and hugged me tightly. The strength this small woman had was beyond me, especially when she managed to lift Dani off his feet when she embraced him.

Sighing, I tapped mom's shoulder. "Mom, let him breathe."

"Oh dear! I apologize!" she exclaimed and let him go. Dani wobbled on his feet and I shot my free hand to keep him steady. He sent me a grateful smile before bidding goodbye to my mom.

"I'll be leaving with her. I had to pick up some groceries for the week," he said, a smile seemed permanently etched on his face. "It was nice meeting you, Lauren." He shook my mom's hand and she took it happily.

"Of course! You're always welcome here!" My mom recited her usual line to every single person she had ever met.

The three other boys came into the living room where we were and I scowled when Martin and Jay whispered whilst keeping their gaze on me. What the fuck. Greg was still glued to his phone until he heard Dani bid goodbye to the other two.

"Dude, what about me?" Greg interjected, a bit annoyed.

Dani's eyes widen slightly. He scratched the back of his neck and looked back at me. "Can we-"

A loud laugh boomed and we all turned to Martin. "Don't worry, man. We gotcha. We'll be off, auntie. See you tomorrow!"

Martin and Jay dragged Greg, and every one of us waved back to my mom. I headed straight to the garage to start the car. I could hear footsteps behind me and I need not look to know it was the annoying duo.

Without looking up, I said, "What do you need?"

Laughter ensued and I ignored them. I continued putting my stuff in the back seat when they decided to tackle me. I fell forward the seat and grunted. I turned around half of my body and was about to scream my head off when I came face to face with Dani.

Holy motherfucking shit of sweetcorn.

His face was inches away from me and he was biting his lips. I could clearly see his brown orbs sparkling from the light outside. He leaned in, I moved closer, and we-

No. I was fucking kidding. Those shits only happen in my novels. Feeling the urge to kiss someone you just met was called perversion, not fucking love. Like what Queen Elsa said, "You can't marry the man you just met," or in this case, you cannot sexually harass them just because they were hot.

So I did what people should actually do in situations like this, I pulled back. With a poker face, I put my hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him." Can you get off me?"

He scrambled away from me, carefully doing so to avoid touching me. Which was a good idea since I was tempted to punch him if he so touched the tip of my finger.

"I'm sorry! They, Martin, they just," he stuttered as I crawled back outside. Martin and Jay were smiling sheepishly while Greg was there looking dumbfounded.

I glared at the two and they ran away. Literally. They had Greg locked under their arms as they sprinted away from our house. Dani and I were left alone and I told him to get in the car. My mood dropped a hundred feet below freezing point by now and all I could do was think of preparing a chamomile tea for me when I get home.

We drove down the road, the songs on the radio filling in the silence that embraced the atmosphere. Neither of us was talking; I for one was not in the mood for small talks but I have this urge, like an itch inside my conscience, to apologise for what happened. It was not my fault, sure, but it was not his either. And I bet stuff like this would happen often with Martin and Jay fucking things up, so I have to come clean.

"Hey," I started, glancing at him. He looked back at me and I gathered much courage to utter some stupid shit. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"The one with Martin and Jay." I exhaled loudly. "They did that, this, on purpose." I waved my hand for added effect.

I could see his pretty face scrunching up as he surveyed the shops outside. Probably overthinking and not actually examining the stores. I am a writer, but fuck me for not being able to delivery the well-conceptualized thoughts in my head.

"Martin telling you to hitch with me. Them pushing you on me. The thing is, this shit will keep happening from now on," I said. I mentally smacked myself as I realized that I was only making it harder for him to understand so with a millisecond of closing my eyes, I know it's dangerous, don't get mad, I told him straight up.

"Martin and Jay like to interfere with my non-existent love life. They probably thought they'd play matchmaking with you and me, that's why they did all those. I'm really sorry. They get pretty weird all the time especially concerning my shits about boys. So yeah, I deeply apologize."

He just studied my face for a handful of seconds I started getting antsy on my seat. Remind me to kill those two next week, please. However, it surprised me when he chuckled. That cutesy laugh that awakens my inner perv every-fucking-time.

I quizzically glimpsed at him and he laughed harder. Frowning, I swerved hard on the right. That shut him up.

"I'm sorry. It's just, that's just so funny," he said while giggling like a fucking kid.

"And what's funny?"

"Does that mean you don't have a boyfriend? Or perhaps never had one?"

Snorting, I swerved again. "That doesn't answer my question."

"Neither does that."

"Smart-ass."

"Just answer the question. I won't judge, promise. Cross my heart and hope to die," he said and even made a cross sign against his chest. I grinned and sunk deeper on my seat.

We stopped at a red light and I opted on opening all windows and leaning my arm on the windowsill. I wanted to laugh at myself at the fact that I was really going to share my guts to this stranger. It was not a secret nor am I ashamed of it, I just felt it was too soon.

"Don't make me regret this." I breathed out slowly and closed my eyes. I waited for the go sign before indulging the curious boy beside me. "Well, I did have relationships in the past. The last one was two years ago, and let me tell you this, that shit didn't end well. It was a total disaster. Though I must say, that pushed me to win the NYT bestseller."

I stopped in front of the store and waited for him to step out, but he did not. He remained seated, staring at the neon lights flashing in front of us and I did the same. It was not awkward, gods know I am awkward, so I stepped out of the car and went straight inside the grocer. The bell dinged as I opened the door and I hurriedly skipped to the beverages. Heaven knows I needed my daily dose of Dr Pepper or I would die.

I heard the bell chimed and I knew Dani went inside the store, too. I decided to ignore him and picked up a basket that I saw lying on the ground. I put the half-dozen cans of Dr Pepper and went straight to the snack aisle. I grabbed some chips and added a few bars of chocolates. After I was satisfied, in other words, the basket is heavy for my arms, I beeline for the cashier.

Trust me, I know I was avoiding him. Ha! Jokes on you! Or maybe not.

I mentally cursed myself when I saw a magazine with my face on it, holding my first book. I literally forgot that I have something due tomorrow. I wanted to kick myself for getting sidetracked by a hottie. Keep your dick in your pants, Vi. Now, I had a new, and better, motivation to hurry the fuck up so I could start my all-nighter for my forgotten novel.

I dropped the tray at the countertop. It landing with a thud must have been the reason why I did not hear Dani sneaking behind me.

"Are you done avoiding me?" he said.

I closed my eyes and forced a smile. "I wasn't aware that I was supposed to ask you permission to leave my car," I replied.

"Seriously, Ruiz."

"What? How-" I was cut off when the boy behind the cash register coughed loudly. For a moment, I feared he would accidentally spit his lungs out. I handed him the money and he put all my snacks in a plastic bag while he kept glaring daggers at me. Dani hid his chuckle with a cough and I was really tempted to hand both of them a cough syrup.

As soon as everything was done, I headed to my car. I'd rather wait for Dani inside my car instead of letting my arms fall off its hinges. After five minutes, Dani walked out and knocked on my window. I rolled it down and poke my head out.

"Yes?"

"It's fine," he said.

That made me frown. I asked, "What do you mean?

He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked back at me. "I meant it's okay if they pull pranks like that. I really don't mind so you don't have to apologize for it."

I stared at him, dumbfounded at the kindness in his tone. He was just so sweet. Looking deep into his gorgeous eyes, I smiled. "Thank you."

His innocent smile turned into a mischievous one. He leaned in closer and a toothy grin made its way on his face. "But!"

"Of course there is a but. What is it?"

"When are you going back home?"

"Which home? I have like three of them," I said with a grin.

Rolling his eyes, he flicked a finger on my forehead. I groaned at the impact and glared at him disbelievingly. "I meant to your mom's house."

"Friday night. Why?"

"I'll have you sign my copy of Deranged," he grinned. I ended up staring at him for a few minutes.

Do really hot guys read my novels? I am fucking flattered.

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. I've had it since the first time you released it." He scowled when he probably noticed my smirk. Rolling his eyes, he stepped back. "Anyway, go get going. It's getting late."

I waved at him and backed away from the grocer. With one last horn, I drove away.

It was when I parked in my building when I realized something. How would he know how to get home?

It was half past three in the morning when I finally satisfied myself with the story draft that I have made. I printed all the ten chapters plus the chapter outlines after sending everything to my editor. I made my way to my kitchen and heated up water for my tea.

After I prepared my chamomile, I grabbed some leftover pastries from the refrigerator and went towards my fort. Putting on some Disney movie, cough Tangled cough, I let myself relaxed. This had been a long day and my body was screaming for some rest. I would love to go to sleep but doing so would most likely endanger my meeting later and none of us can have that, tbh.

My eyelids were drooping halfway through both the movie and my drink. I finally relented to what my body desires when someone rang the doorbell. I crawled out of my makeshift fort and glanced at the clock on my way to the door: 4:03 am. Who's even awake at this time of the hour?

I peeked through the peephole and only caught a glimpse of someone running away from my door. I stepped back quickly, my heart beating fast when it registered in my mind that I did not hear any footsteps. The fucking person was running and I didn't even hear anything!

A note suddenly popped under my door and I fell on my butt in surprise. It was not even folded and I took my time before reading it. Now, the note was not even long. No. It only contained two words written in a messy scribble. Nonetheless, it made me think so hard, completely not letting myself have even a few minutes of nap.

Just two words that sent a million shivers down my spine. And as I slipped into the showers four hours later, the message in the note flashed in my coffee-induced brain, repeating it over and over until the anxiety turned into fear.

I arrived at 9:45 am. My fucking meeting was at 9:30 am. I was late, barely had any sleep, and I could feel my heartbeat getting faster for my 11th cup of coffee within the span of 30 hours. So you can say that I was close to breaking myself or everything within a five-mile radius.

I pushed the glass door with my shoulder. I held my manuscripts close as I almost dropped it for a hundred times. Lexi, my editor, looked up from his computer and silently glared at me as I made my way inside his office. I muttered a simple greeting and sat down on the couch without his permission. 

He watched me carefully under the hooded gaze and I smiled sheepishly as I take calculating breaths. I could see that he was close to shouting at me when I raised a finger and took a deep breath.

"Alright, I'm sorry I'm late. Things just went out of hand," I explained as I walked to his table.

Keeping his eyes closed, he muttered, "Good morning to you too."

I plopped myself down the chair in front of him and put my game-on face. He dropped his scowl and instead turned to me seriously. With a sip of his coffee, he pushed his laptop towards me. I read the email flashing on the screen with a tilt of my head. Silence ensued when I finished reading and he had a worried look on his face.

We've exchanged a total of three sentences. And his second one made me bawl my eyes out under his table.