143 Staying the Night

S-stay the night?

I wanted to peer over my shoulders and at the ill girl who suggested this, but was hesitant to do so. I was oddly afraid of what her countenance would be. It wasn't a fear that triggered my fight-or-flight instinct, rather, it was a fear that's more like a reluctance to discover the truth. Even though I wanted to know what facial expression she was using when suggesting it, but I was afraid to find out the truth. Therefore, I remained static and continued talking to her as she leaned on my back.

"Stay the night?" I repeated as a confirmation.

"Right," she whispered. "Don't worry. I'm not expecting anything to happen between us. I just want you to be by my side."

"If that's the case then—"

I paused momentarily, thinking over her words. It would appear that she recognizes and accepts our relationship to be simply a platonic one of companionship and nothing else. With that condition established and my role as a companion calls for me to be by her side, then I really do not see a reason as to why I can decline this suggestion. However, I am still nervous about it all.

"—I guess that's fine... But what about your parents?"

I felt the pressure applied onto my back alleviate as she raised her head off of my back and sat up straight once again. However, since I was still facing away from her with my back towards her, I was unable to see her countenance. Therefore, I slowly peered over my shoulder and met the eyes of the formerly sickly girl whose color seemed to have returned to her face as the medications slowly took effect. On her face was a smile that resembled her usual self.

"That's not a big deal," she said, reaching for her bag and taking out her phone. Then, she dialed a number on the touch screen and held the device up to her ear. After a few seconds, it would appear that the call connected. "Mom, would it be fine if I stay over at Erith's house tonight? Alright, thank you." Then, she hung up the phone and looked over at me with an accomplished smile on her face.

"Lying to your parents?" I looked into her eyes.

"It's fine," Luna shrugged. "I said that so that they won't have to worry as much and make the decision easier on them. Even though they'll ultimately agree if I told her the truth since I don't have much left to live and my wishes are supreme, it'll make them worry and I don't want that."

I realized that her explanation was extremely reasonable and her earlier words seemed to have been planned out. Judging by how skilled at telling that lie, it made me believe that she might've used it in the past. However, I wasn't entirely sure as to if it was true or not since it's simply my own speculation.

In any case, she successfully acquired her parental consent to stay the night outside of her home. Even though she didn't tell them the truth, the outcome would've been the same and this lie that she told saved her parents a night of worrying. However, I'm really not that sure that knowing that one's daughter will be deceased in less than a year would lead to a healthy mentality, but I guess it's still best to not rub any salt on an open wound.

Since I've agreed to let her stay the night, I guess there's no going back on the promise now. She seemed to be quite excited about it or something because on her face was a large smile as she looked about my house. Loriana wouldn't be back until tomorrow, so there's no worries about anyone coming in tonight. As long as Luna leaves early the next morning, then everything should be fine. But, there's also other problems if she's staying over with the main one being where she'll sleep.

Since there's still a long time until bedtime, I decided to not worry about sleeping arrangements for the time being. Instead, I was more occupied about alleviating this silent awkwardness that shrouded us. It was awfully awkward just sitting on the couch with the television being played as an ambiance distractor.

I peeked over to my left and at Luna who had her eyes focused on the television. On her face was a simple smile that concealed plenty of her current emotions, making it so that I was unable to decide what was needed to make the situation more livelier and less dry. However, something must be done since the atmosphere was just way too dense for anyone to handle, and I'm genuinely surprised that she was able to act as if nothing was of the matter.

"So um..." I started speaking. "What do you want to eat tonight?"

"We're ordering food?" she looked over in my direction.

"No," I said in a nervous and apathetic manner. "I'm cooking."

"You know how to cook?!" she exclaimed with a surprised expression on her face.

"Y-yeah," I muttered as I glanced over at her.

"You've never told me!"

"You've never asked..." Then, I let out a sigh. "So what do you want to eat?"

"Anything's fine," she smiled and chuckled. "As long as you cooked it."

"Let me see what's in the fridge," I said, excusing myself from the couch.

I got up and walked over to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door and peeked in. The internal lighting for the refrigerator provided the necessary illumination for me to see what was available, and after looking through the ingredients that was present, I concluded that there was actually enough to make a decent meal for two.

"Do you have any allergies?" I called over to the living room.

"No," was the response that I received.

"Alright."

I shut the refrigerator door shut after knowing what I will make with the ingredients present. I checked my phone for the time as I slowly left the kitchen area. Seeing that it was simply 5:30 P.M. I decided that there's still no need to make food yet as the night had barely even began. Therefore, I casted my gaze back over in the direction of the living room, taking in the view of the beautiful Luna sitting on the couch will having her eyes focused on the television. On the other side of her was the sliding glass door that led out to the balcony, and since the curtains weren't closed all the way, the beautiful nighttime view of Palisia was visible. It was quite dark outside, but the numerous lights on the nearby skyscrapers outlined the different buildings and provided a spectacular light show in this cold winter night.

I returned to the L shaped couch and sat down on the spot adjacent to her. I leaned my back against the slanted backrest and brought my legs up onto the cushioned couch so that I could lay down and relax. I let out a fatigued sigh as I laid there and cast my gaze over at the 100 inch television screen and watched the program that was being played. Since it was a Friday night, there were many shows that was currently being played. However, because it wasn't technically yet time that most people return home from work, the shows being played at the moment weren't the hit shows that're popular among the population of Vilheim. Therefore, it wasn't as entertaining as I would hoped for it to be.

Time soon ticked by quickly as I laid there on the couch with Luna sitting not too far away and watched television. Even though we weren't doing anything in particular, I still felt an oddly calming and fulfilling sensation, almost as if just being next to her was enough in my minds. Maybe it was the same for her because when I looked over at her to check up on her, she appeared quite relaxed as she also was leaning down on the couch albeit in a more reserved manner since this wasn't her home. She didn't have to act that way and could've treated this as her own as well. I don't mind.

Soon, the show that was being played ended and the credits started rolling before the channel started playing commercials. I let out a yawn as I finally moved after staring at the screen while motionless for an hour. It also didn't help that the commercial being played at the moment was one for a shampoo and had a relaxing classical music playing in the background. Like to be honest, I don't understand shampoo commercials. They always seem to have an attractive woman with long hair whipping it about with lighting effects placed on the hair to make it appear extremely shiny and stuff.

"Alevian," I heard Luna call my name so I looked over at her. "Would you mind if I take a bath?"

"I don't," I responded in a calm manner despite the fact that I was somewhat nervous about a girl using the bathroom that I usually use. "Let me show you where it is."

I forced myself up from the couch and walked over to the short hallway where our bedrooms branched off on either side of the hallway with the washroom at the end of it leading into the bathing room. I opened the door to the washroom and entered. Then, I opened the door to the bathing room with Luna following behind me.

"It should be the same system as your house," I said to her as I looked over in the direction at the touch screen control panel.

"It looks the same," Luna smiled and nodded.

"Feel free to use any of the body wash and shampoo," I said as I walked away from the door. "I'll go get you a towel."

"Thank you," she smiled and nodded at me as she followed me to the washroom exit. "Then... see you in a bit."

"R-right..." I blushed as she slowly closed the door to the washroom in order to strip and prepare herself for a relaxing bath.