An Exhausted Good Morning

My eyes are heavy, my entire body overtaken by the lack of sleep. Why do people stay out so late, especially on a school night? This is not enjoyable at all. I was even still wide awake by the time that we snuck back in, so I got less than an hour of sleep. Though Alina passed out the second she laid down, but even then she still got barely any sleep. She also fell asleep on my bed, and since she's getting a boyfriend soon I didn't want to risk upsetting her by laying close to her, so I slept on the floor.

Exhaustedly, I push myself up, dismissing the headache-inducing alarm as it blares throughout my room. Alina is glaring almost demonic at the ceiling once I catch sight of her. She must really be exhausted, I've seen her be pissed right after waking up, but it was never to this degree.

"Tired?" I keep my voice low and careful, partially hoping that she won't even hear me.

"I'll be fine," She grumbles, rolling onto her stomach and stuffing her face into my pillow.

"Eh, we need to get ready for school, it's my first day back since suspension," I shake her body, ready to bring my arm flying back in case if she attempts to rip it off like a shark. She lets out a growl and flings a lazy arm at me. I let out a laugh and wrap my arms around her shoulders, flipping her back over and holding her up.

"Ah!" She cries, holding her hands over her eyes. "The light! It burns!"

"You poor, poor vampire," I joke and lift her up, helping keep her balanced on her feet. "My dad already left for work, so don't worry about being quiet." She's silent for a second, a pesky smirk on her face as she has a moment of hesitation.

"I literally was contemplating on just screaming for a moment there," She mumbles and smiles like she's telling me to be proud of her for not doing it.

"I'd honestly love to see what would happen if you had," I smirk. "Especially since my mom is still asleep, I think."

She giggles and pokes me in the chest, a gentle warmth spreads through me, "You'd definitely get in trouble for me screaming."

There's a set of heavy footsteps, and before I get the chance to react and put Alina down, Keita comes waltzing into my room. Though he stops short upon seeing Alina in my arms. There's a few seconds of silence, and in those few seconds he shows a load of different emotions. Shock, sadness, anger, and finally a sly smirk appears on his face, though I know it's fake.

"Trying to steal Alina away from Daniel huh?" He chuckles and quickly takes a picture of Alina.

I hastily place her down and chase after Keita, hearing Alina giggle faintly in the background as I chase him up the stairs. If anyone was asleep before, they sure as hell aren't now. "Delete that picture right now!" I shout.

We reach the top of the steps, both Afia and my mom roll their eyes upon seeing us. Coffee mugs cradled in their hands. Keita opens up the door and races outside and into the cold, winter morning. I don't fall for it this time, instead, I stay inside and shut the door, making sure to lock it as well.

"What happened this time?" Afia asks, a mixture of irritated exhaustion and curiosity showing on her expression.

"Um-" I go to respond but immediately stop myself, knowing they will take the part of me holding Alina in a completely wrong perspective. "He was being annoying and irritating us, it's way too early for his shit."

"Knox," My mom gasps.

"Right, sorry, mom," I face palm and head back downstairs, hoping that Keita won't tell them the truth when they ask him what happened.

Getting back into my bedroom, I notice that Alina isn't in here, she must be getting ready in the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, I walk over to my bed and slump down into it. Not like it matters, I'm completely wide awake again, so I'm sure as hell am not going to fall asleep. Well, at least we had fun. Though I wish I spent more of it next to Alina's side instead of debating with Afia. I still don't understand why I was so upset with seeing Alina and Keita standing so close to each other and talking so much one-on-one. After all, I guess that they're friends, plus I'm not Alina's boyfriend, so I don't have any place being upset or jealous about her talking to other guys.

The bathroom door soon opens up as I scroll through my phone, completely forgetting to get ready myself. Alina promptly comes into my room, her face freshly washed and hair brushed. She looks amazing with her freshly brushed hair, it makes her two differently coloured eyes more noticeable, and her face appears more soft than usual. I like it when it's like this, but it's even more enjoyable when she's being reckless and her entire body and expressions all look like she's about to set something on fire and start an apocalypse. Like when she was in a basketball tournament and got really competitive. After a few minutes of being in the zone she started making every shot on the first time and after every time she'd roar. I bet if she could, she'd do flips all the way across the court after she won the finals.

Fuck she's so amazing.

"Hello?" She waves a hand in front of my face, throwing me back into reality. "You good? Did you fall asleep with your eyes open again?"

"I- no- wait, again?" I blink and she breaks into laughter, sitting next to me.

"Sometimes, when you're really in the zone while playing a video game you look like you're under some sort of mind control, or are sleep gaming," She giggles, and I sit up next to her.

We're probably not going to get to do this kind of stuff for a while after she and Daniel start dating. I just hope there won't be much of a space between the two of us. Especially since I doubt I'll ever be able to meet someone as amazing as her, to be friends with or even to date. She is a one in a lifetime, and I'm about to lose her to some guy that she met in a cafe.

"You okay?" She asks, her voice low and expression sincere.

I gulp down my thoughts and give her a smile that feels surprisingly genuine, "Yeah, just a little tired, and a little worried about how things will be once you and Daniel start dating."

"What do you mean?" She asks, furrowing her brows. Fuck I hope that this doesn't lead to a fight, like in the movies.

"Just like when I was carrying you, I'm a little worried that if I were to do that while you and Daniel were together then it'd lead to an argument," I explain, keeping a close on my tone to make sure it doesn't upset her.

She smiles kindly and places a gentle hand on my shoulder, "Thank you for caring so much. Yeah, I'm going to be a little sad when we won't be able to do certain things, but I'm sure that it won't get in the way of things. Plus, he seems to be pretty open-minded and understands that we're best friends. So as long as we prove that there's nothing between us, then I'm sure that he won't be upset about certain things, like me sleeping over or how close we are."

I chuckle softly to myself, I definitely wouldn't be like that if I had a girlfriend, "I guess you really did find a pretty good guy, huh?"