Page 57 of A Lab Rat's Guide to Fated Love
When she didn’t respond after a few more tries, he cracked it open to find her curled up inside the bathtub, fast asleep.
He gently scooped her in his arms and carried her to bed.
It was still dark outside whenVir rose the next morning to find Nori’s side of the bed empty. The digital clock on the nightstand displayed five-fifteen am.
“Nori?” he called, stepping out into the living room, where the strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee permeated the air.
“I’m here,” Nori answered from the porch, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a plate of half-eaten toast beside her.
“Hey,” he said, trying to get a read on her mood as he padded towards her. He couldn’t find any trace of the feelings he’d sensed from her last evening. She seemed… calm. Almosttoocalm.
“I just made some toast.” She pointed towards the kitchen. “Should be warm if you have it now.”
Vir nodded before briefly stepping away to freshen up.
He joined her, moments later, with his own plate of buttered toast and coffee, and they ate in silence, watching waves rise and fall in the far distance. Little by little, the sky grew lighter.
When he glanced at her after a while, he found her eyes already fixed on him, her expression impassive, both inside and out. And for the first time in his life, he wished he could read minds.
Vir opened his mouth to ask, but as Nori continued to look at him, her emotions shifted and fresh ones began to stir. Starting as wisps, they swelled and twisted and turned into one another. Too many to unravel at once, they grew into a heavy, dense, dark mass that he hated and feared in equal measure.
And layered above it all, draped like a thin, viscous blanket, he sensed her resolve as it flared and wavered a few times before finally hardening into something solid.
Nori
It was time to rip theband-aid off.
The sooner she got it over with, the less it’d hurt—at least that’s what Nori told herself as her resolve continued to rise and falter while looking at Vir’s curious gaze. He was trying to make a sense of her turmoil, no doubt.
Rip it off.She took a deep inhale and let it out in a huff.
“What are you thinking?” Vir asked quietly, before opening and closing his mouth as if he had questions, but was hesitant to ask. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t know, I—”
“Vir.”
“I triggered something, didn’t I?”
Nori swallowed, her throat suddenly too dry.
“Yes,” she replied. “But it wasn’t your fault. I usually don’t tolerate physical proximity very well, let alone intimacy…” she trailed off. “Honestly, I’ve been… anticipating a panic attack ever since I brought you into my house. I’m only surprised it didn’t happen sooner.”
Vir opened his mouth as if to start offering more apologies.
“Please, just—listen. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Nori.”
“No, listen. You have to listen to me, because I’m going to tell you exactly why you’re wasting your time having feelings for me… why you’d be better off without me.”
Vir pursed his lips, but didn’t interrupt her again.
And a few heartbeats later, she began.
Roughly four years ago:
Vancouver, Canada
Sunny worked at a restaurant Norifrequented during the last few months of her PhD program in Vancouver. He asked her out the night she was there celebrating with her friends after having successfully defended her thesis.
