Page 106 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
“I know.” Vir set a pillow with a matching blanket on the couch. “My brother and I have each received a nosebleed and can attest to your skills.”
“What?What did youdo?” She frowned. “And I’ve met your brother as well?”
“Briefly. And it was nothing serious. Mine was an accident. Adi’s was a misunderstanding. You thought he was trying to mug me and pinned him to the sidewalk.”
Nori processed the new information, frustrated again at having no memory of any of those things. Or of people she’d forgotten. What if they were people important to her? Vir seemed important, and she hadn’t remembered him at all.
She winced as her head began to throb.
“Sorry. I’ll not bring old stuff up again.”
“No, please do.” She rubbed her temples before letting out a frustrated huff. “I want to know. Back home, everyone’s always so wary about mentioning old things in front of me. I hate it so much… not knowing.”
Vir stared at her for a long moment. Then nodded.
“By the way…” He smirked. “I know a bit of self-defense, too.”
Nori rolled her eyes at him, ignoring the heat rushing into her cheeks. As she started reaching for the blanket, Vir beat her to it and quickly burrowed himself under before pulling it up to his chin.
“I’m sleeping here,” he mumbled with a long-drawn-out yawn and squeezed his eyes shut. “There are clothes on the bed for you to change into, if you’d like.”
She laughed. “The couch is clearly too small for you.”
“Good night.” He yawned again.
“What are you, five?”
Inside the bedroom, she found a pair of black track pants and a loose white t-shirt neatly folded at the foot of the bed. She changed into them, rolling the excess fabric on the pants a few times, before sliding under the thick blanket to try falling asleep. But after a few minutes of tossing and turning, she considered going back to the living room to pester Vir some more.
Maybe she could get him to tell her about her lost years. What had their friendship been like? Why hadn’t he kept in touch with her all this while? Had his ex-girlfriend been there, too? Had Nori met her?
She was finally starting to doze off after what felt like hours, when the sound of a door closing nearby jolted her alert. She raised herself on an elbow to scan the room, while her heart threw itself against her ribs.
A painfully long minute later, the bathroom door swung open to reveal Vir’s dimly lit silhouette hobbling in her direction. As he drew closer, Nori noticed his eyes were almost fully closed. She promptly rolled out of his way as he dropped onto the bed, right where she’d just been.
With a deep sigh, he pulled the blanket over himself and passed out again.
“Vi—” she started to whisper, waving a hand in front of his face, then stopped. She didn’t have to wake him. She could go and sleep on the couch instead.Five minutes.She negotiated with herself.Just five more minutes.
As she lay on her side, staring at his relaxed features, another random bout of giggles climbed up her throat, making her clamp both her hands over her mouth. The action only made it worse. She couldn’t believe she was watching an unsuspecting man while he slept—a man she’d only met half a day ago. And if that wasn’t enough, she was also giggling soundlessly while at it. Like some creep.
Nori couldn’t tell whether it was minutes or hours later when her eyes fluttered open again. Vir was curled beside her, trembling in his sleep.
“Vir.” She placed a palm against his jaw. “It’s just a dream.”
“No…” he whimpered. “Nor…”
“Shh. It’s okay.” She lightly patted his cheek. “Everything’s okay.”
His eyes opened just a squint, and his searching gaze locked onto hers. With another whimper, he pulled her into his arms, crushing her to him, while one hand reached up to smooth her hair.
A hard lump lodged itself in Nori’s throat. She told herself to push away from him, but her limbs didn’t want to cooperate with her brain. It wasn’t long before her arms were snug around him, too.
“Shh. It’s okay,” she whispered again, her hand gently stroking his spine.
Little by little, he relaxed against her. And when she glanced at his face moments later, he was fast asleep again.
I should probably move.She bit her lip.In a minute.
