I CAN'T STAY AWAY 1

Stone and Moon sat in the car and waited for Ocean to join them. When Stone noticed how Moon kept looking at the supermarket's entrance with tensed shoulders, he decided to distract her by starting a conversation.

"So, umm.....what is your favourite sport?" he asked her with a small smile which she reciprocated.

"Basketball and swimming, I think?"

"Really? That is a weird combination you have there."

She laughed a little "Yea, I know. What about you?"

"I love wrestling,"

She frowned, "I can't even watch a whole wrestling without crying."

Stone laughed while shaking his head. "I know that feeling, but when your brother is a wrestler, what you do expect,?"

"Do you have another brother?"

"No, I mean him.." He jerked his head towards Ocean, who just walked out of the supermarket with hands full of the goods bought.

"Him?" She asked in an unsure tone.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing." Remembering how Rex had punched Ocean mercilessly, she shook her head in amusement.

Ocean dropped the goods in the car trunk and sat inside the car, flashing her a sweet smile. No more brooding? She asked herself.

"My rabbit-teeth neighbour, don't let people talk to you like that in public. You deserve equal respect. Next time someone talks to you like that let me know so that I can deal with them just like I did with this one."

"What did you do?" She asked immediately with furrowed brows.

"A little punch in the face settled everything," Ocean said with a little shrug.

"You punched a woman?!" Moon shrieked with her eyes almost popping out of the sockets.

"Calm down, I was only joking." He chuckled.

"Better because it is not right to hit a lady." Ocean and Stone looked at each other before rubbing the back of their neck.

"Is that so?" Asked Stone as she eyed them suspiciously.

"Yes, have you both-"

"No." They chorused before she could finish the question.

She asked, "Let's go?"

"Yea." They chorused again.

During the ride back, Ocean kept looking at her, which elicited several eye rolls from Stone when no one was watching, while Moon struggled to focus on the driving because of the intense stare from the guy sitting next to her.

On their arrival, Ocean grabbed all the bags, refusing her help. To her, he was being a gentleman, true, but Ocean also used it as an excuse to enter her apartment. She is so clueless, thought Ocean to himself as he walked straight to the kitchen and placed the bags on the counter, including the ones he bought. When she finally came into view, he asked,

"Do you have an apron?" He directed his question to Moon who was standing near the door, waiting for them to leave so she could unpack what she bought.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

Ignoring her question, he asked, "Is it in the kitchen?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" Moon repeated her question as the alarms started to ring in her head.

"I want to start preparing dinner," Moon blinked twice at his response.

"Here?"

"Yes, silly," He flashed her a sweet smile.

"Can I have a word with you, Mr neighbour?" She asked in a polite tone when in truth, she was boiling inside. She didn't want to sound rude as they have a third person in the house, Stone. Ocean and Stone shared a knowing look before the latter stood from the couch. "See you guys later. I promised to spend the night with Mira."

Good boy, Ocean thought to himself while giving the other man an invisible smile that one wouldn't see if they didn't look close.

"See you later, bro!" Ocean chimed.

"Yea, of course. Bye, Moon!"

"Bye!" Despite her anger, she still managed to smile and wave at him as he was leaving them.

When the door closed on the two of them, her heartbeat accelerated. Yes, she was angry, but she didn't want to come off rude when he was only trying to help her, so she thought of the best way to put it.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, she cleared her throat, "I think you should leave too, Mr neighbour. You need to rest, I am sure you have had a long day as well." She walked towards the door and opened it hoping he would comply.

He flashed her another charming smile making her internally groan, "But I want to stay with you."

"You promised to stay away."

"I am sorry, but I can't stay away, I think I am beginning to like you. I am not sure about it." He casually said it is a very normal thing.

Moon looked at him as if he had an extra head growing on his body. "You can't be seen around me. I don't want you around because you are only going to get yourself in trouble if not killed."

He continued to smile down at her, "How? Is it because of Rex? Are you scared that he is going to hurt me?"

"Yes and no. Rex is a dangerous guy, but there are other things."

"Other things like what? What is the relationship between you and Rex? I can find out myself but I want to hear it from your beautiful mouth."

Something about the way he was smiling told her that he would do exactly just that. She sighed "He is my elder sister's husband and I slept with him....by mistake." she blurted the last part and looked down at her hands, expecting him to judge her like other people or run out of the door disgusted but he kept smiling down at her. She flinched when he grabbed her hands in his as she was not expecting the action.

"My sweet rabbit-teeth neighbour, you should know I am no Saint to judge you. We all make mistakes, and I would have only judged you if I didn't feel how much you regret it."

"Thanks." Feeling uncomfortable with how he held and looked at her, she removed her hands from his and kept them to her sides. He continued,

"I know you are bothered about my safety but worry no more as I am capable of taking care of myself."

"You still don't get it, do you? Rex is no match for you. He is much more dangerous than he looks. I have seen him do crazy things-"

"I know, I know. Rex is very dangerous, and I understand you are scared that he might kill me but can you let me handle myself when the time comes? If you keep pushing me away, the more I would be drawn to you, but if you stop, I am very sure the feelings I think I am catching for you will die, and I will stop coming around." He assured her, knowing very well that he was lying to Moon and himself.

"Okay," She agreed, hoping he meant his words.

"Now let's go to the kitchen," She nodded and led the way to the kitchen while he trailed behind her with a victory smile on his face, happy that he was able to convince her to stop pushing him away.

Inside the kitchen, Ocean eagerly opened the bags as he helped her place things where they are supposed to be by asking her or finding them himself.

"You bought too many chocolates," he commented as he opened the bags full of Snickers chocolates.

"Yes. I eat them in the middle of the night when I get hungry." He nodded.

"You bought too many sweet things." He commented again as his eyes caught a bag full of cookies

"I have a sweet tooth."

"I can see. Better start now to curtail your sugar intake." She frowned at his suggestion, making him smile, "Why don't you cook?" he asked out of the blues

"I have told you I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. I know what to do. I will be cooking for you in large quantities and stock it up in the freezer so that, after eating good food, you won't have to look at those snipers."

"No need to do that. And it is SNICKERS, not SNIPERS." She corrected him with a small laugh, finding it funny he didn't pronounce it well.

"Snickers....what sort of name is that?" He asked while picking one out of the bag. Moon giggled as she watched him eye the chocolate. On hearing the sound of her giggle, he felt tingles spread all over his body as his non-existent heart leapt for joy, and to suppress his feelings, he instinctively bit into his plump bottom lip.