Extra - "Sweet Home"
The sunlight shines from the glass bedroom windows and onto me. My eyes flutter but the blinding light makes me turn away. I realise that the bed next to me is empty. It’s weird because I still remember falling asleep on Ryan’s arm last night.
I stare at his side of the bed blankly before realising why I feel something is off. It seems like the pattern and colours of the sheet are different from the one we had before I went to bed. Did he change the bed while I slept? I squint my eyes to look around and subconsciously ask myself, 'Where am I?'
My brain is still hazy since I just woke up. I try to rise up from the bed to check out the room. The weight on my body makes me realise that there is a blanket covering me. I don’t remember having a blanket on me last night so it must have meant Ryan covered me before he left the room.
Before I can fling the blanket off me, the bedroom door burst open and a half-naked man enters. He's still wiping his hair with his lower half covered in a pair of three-quarter pants. When he lifts his face and sees me, he smiles brightly.
“You’re awake?”
My mind can barely register his question because his face is quite similar to Ryan except for certain minor details. It makes me feel out of sorts and when I snap out of my trance, I notice that he is approaching the bed. I look at him warily.
'Who is this and why did he enter my bedroom?'
He reaches out to touch me and I react subconsciously as I slap his hand away. I reposition myself and slowly slide away to the corner of the bed away from him. I don’t know who he is and why he is here. He could be a dangerous person.
As I’m staring at him with caution, I notice that he looks like he received a huge blow. It’s like I just stabbed him or something. His anguished expression makes it seems like tears will fall at any time.
"Luke... What's wrong?" He asks in a sad broken voice. That deep voice of his is giving me an odd sense of familiarity but I honestly don't remember meeting anyone like him. If I do, I should be able to remember him clearly because he looks similar to my boyfriend.
I quickly adjust my expression because I feel like there is more to this situation than I know right now. As the phrase goes, when in Rome, do as Roman does.
"No, it's nothing. I'm just not feeling well," I say as I squeeze my temple.
I spy on him and he appears to have grown dog ears and tail. They are all droopy and this appearance is stabbing me right at my heart. Yet, I can’t speak a word of comfort to him since I’m not sure what’s going on and who he is.
The guy nods dejectedly and starts walking to the door after mumbling a soft 'okay...'
The moment he reaches the door, my stomach growls loudly. He turns around and I could feel myself turning red. Oh great... This is embarrassing in front of a total stranger.
Curiously, his doggy ears perk up as he wags his tail. A beaming smile starts to form on his face.
"You're hungry? Let's go to the kitchen. I'll cook you something," He says with a beaming expectation of me accepting it.
I awkwardly nod because I don’t see a reason to reject it. I slide out of the blanket and off the bed in order to follow him. All the way to the kitchen, I can see his tail wagging cheerfully. He occasionally glances behind him with a huge smile. Well, my imagination is definitely running wild for some reason. I have to remind myself that he is not a dog but a human.
In an attempt to take my mind away from this dog or human appearance, I look around the house. There is this odd sense of knowing where I am and at the same time I don’t know where I am. However, I did manage to note that it's a house and not an apartment.
The size of it isn’t as big as my parent’s and it makes me wonder where am I because I’m not being held captive so I should have come here willingly. Aside from that, I can feel that this place give me this comforting homely feeling which is a weird feeling to have when you don’t even know where you are right now.
When we reach the kitchen, I place my bum onto one of the stools at the island bar. I notice a paper and start to examine it. Apparently, it is a paper regarding a company or something investment. Don’t really comprehend everything but it does have Ryan's full name in some of the sections.
This should be a piece of evidence that Ryan comes here often or live here.
Well, when you don't know, ask.
"Uhm, where's Ryan?" I ask casually.
The guy who has his back facing me pauses his action and turns around to face me. He makes a pouty face as if he doesn’t like the question I asked him.
"Did you forget? He went on a business trip and will only come back tomorrow,"
Then he grumbles quietly, 'why is it always Ryan... Hmph'
He continues to work his way around the kitchen smoothly while I lay my curious gaze on him. His answer makes me believe that he knows Ryan. This increases the chances of my conjecture being correct. Ryan does live here or come often.
The other thing to note is that he doesn’t seem to like Ryan all that much. It makes me wonder what’s up with that. It’ll be easier if I ask but he might not like it and make that sad puppy-eyed look. I should just keep these thoughts to myself then.
He finishes cooking a simple yet fragrant fried rice. The taste is exceptionally good. I definitely have a better impression of him.
After finishing my rice, we head to the living room. I start to survey my surroundings again. I notice a picture of a little boy. I went to the picture and start to carefully look at it because it looks similar to someone I know.
It’s a picture of the boy's first day of elementary school. He looks shy and sad. It's like it takes a whole lot of energy to just stand there alone. He’s definitely reluctant to go to school. I find the picture next to it is a similar picture to the first one but this time, I’m also in it.
I do recognise the little boy in the picture with that golden hair and bright eyes.
"Isn't that my first day of school?" The guy's voice breaks my thoughts.
I turn around to find him peering over me. He seems to be studying the picture with his face scrunched up. As I wonder about it, I hear him muttering under his breath, "I actually didn't want to go to school because there's no you at school.”
My gaze trails back onto the photo only to realise the uncanny resemblance between this young man and the boy in the photo. My eyes grow wide upon realisation but I make sure he can’t see it. My hands clutch on the photo frame for a moment before I place it back on its rightful spot.
I end up spending the rest of the day walking around the house and checking every nook and cranny. I find that my favourite thing to do is walk around the small garden. It’s not as big as my parent’s but it is still a beautiful sight to see.
I even spot a picnic table under the shade. There's a carving. 'R + L = A' but the 'A' has been crossed out and rewritten. I chuckle as I trace them with my fingers thinking that it’s adorable. I have a vague idea of what it means but my brain doesn’t fully comprehend it.
I do notice that the guy hasn't bothered me much ever since we finished lunch. I decide to cook dinner on a whim but find out that my cooking is quite decent. I make sure to make simple buttered noodles and serve them on the dining table.
The guy comes around not long after that because he smelt the food. His face lights up like a little boy that was given candy. I smile as I feel warm inside. It feels like I can almost put a finger into remembering when and how I know this person.
When dinner ends, I take a shower and make sure I’m ready for bed.
I slip under the covers and lay down while staring at the ceiling blankly. It feels like I’m forgetting something but I’m not sure. It’s not until much later when my mind slowly drifting out as my sleepiness taking over me. I vaguely see a little boy calling out my name.
This memory starts crashing into the disconnected dots and starts forming a link in my brain. A name keep popping up as I think of the boy. Just as the realisation fullty hit me, I hear the creaking of the bedroom door.
My curiosity of this person motive makes me pretend that I’m peacefully sleeping.
"Luke..." He whines as he approaches the bed.
My heart starts to beat faster as I begin to worry about what he is planning to do. I can sense the atmosphere in the room doesn’t feel quite right. I can feel him lightly touching my my temple and his finger continues gliding down to my cheek and stopping at my lips.
I start to panic internally as my mind screams, 'This isn't right!’
I open my eyes and immediately place my hand between us. He appears shocked that I’m awake. I quietly become thankful that I made it in time before our lips touched. It would be a disaster otherwise.
"Luke..." He pouts while staring me with watery eyes.
He must have seen that I became slightly distracted because he suddenly tries to 'attack' me again. I react unconsciously in self-defence as it has been ingrained in me after constant practice. I knock him unconscious with a wack on his neck and he falls limply on top of me. His weight makes it difficult to breath as I struggle to push him away.
I end up opening my eyes once again while gasping for breath.
I blink blankly feeling out of sorts. I notice that the room is as I remember it. The sheets are the same as when I’ve fallen asleep.
The weight on my chest makes me lower my gaze and find a golden haired little boy sprawled on top of me. I gently push him aside so he would lay beside me rather than on top of me. I make sure to snuggle with him.
I brush his hair using my fingers and hear him grumbling incoherently. It doesn’t seem like he have a bed dream though. I hold back from chuckling before giving him a light peck on his cheek.
I whisper quietly, "Don't grow up so fast, Aiden,"
