Chapter One

It was around eleven in the evening when I got back to my apartment. I had gone out for dinner with Morgan and a few of my other friends. Walking in, I spotted two of my housemates were there, but Advik was nowhere in sight. I assumed he was out at a party, and just waved at Reid and Nexus as I walked past them in the living room. They waved back, pausing their game so someone's character didn't die while they were trying to greet me.

"Have you seen Advik?" Nexus asked, throwing his leg over the sofa's headrest. He was what you would call a human slender man. Standing at 6'5 with little to no muscle mass; the blonde, blue-eyed gamer geek was a sight to behold. Reid was almost his exact opposite, standing at 5'5 and being on the chubby side. He had deep dark eyes and wavy black hair he wore in a bowl cut.

"I saw him at the main quad when I was helping out in the stand, but that was hours ago," I said, pausing so that I could talk to them. They looked a bit worried, and I rose a brow in confusion, wondering what had happened. "Is something wrong?" I asked, looking from Nexus to Reid, and I sighed in relief when the two shook their head.

"It's just that he usually calls when he's out late," Reid said, and Nexus hummed in agreement.

"Oh, okay. I'll just call and check up on him," I said, and they both just nodded before turning and settling down on the sofa again. They un-paused their game, and I continued on my way to my bedroom.

When I got into my room, I shut the door behind me before fishing for my phone in my pocket. I took it out, dialing Advik's number before waiting for him to pick up. It took a while --- I had to try a few times, but he eventually picked up the call. The sound of music and voices in the background told me he was at a party like I had guessed, but what — and who — I heard next threw me off.

"Sorry, I was trying to figure out how to pick the call without unlocking the phone," I tiny female voice said. I just kept quiet at my side of the line, not knowing what to say or make of things. What happened?

"He took a drink that got spiked, but he's not doing very well in terms of reaction," the girl muttered, her voice also slurry, but it seemed like she was just drunk, not high on drugs like she implied Advik was. Biting my bottom lip, I tried to think of what to do. They couldn't call the cops or paramedics. Someone would get arrested for drug possession.

"I'm his housemate," I said, speaking into the phone for the first time. "Can you send me the address, so I can come and pick him up?" I asked, and I heard an 'uh-huh' in response.

I opened my phone notes while on the call with her to write down the address. She also gave me a description of her, so I knew who I was supposed to be looking for — dark hair, pink dress, and black stilettos.

When I hung up, I put on my shoes again and picked the bag I had tossed on my bed before leaving my room without a second thought. Nexus and Reid were too deep into their game to notice me walk out of the apartment. I ran down the stairs, before walking out into the apartment parking lot to get my car.

I wasn't sure why I was so worried, but all I wanted to do at the moment was to get to Advik as soon as possible. The house the party was in wasn't too far away, and within the next half hour, I had parked in at the parking lot of the apartment building.

"Two, zero, one. Two, zero, one," I kept repeating to myself as I climbed the stairs in order not to forget the apartment number. When I got to the second floor, I heard music almost immediately. It was a dull booming sound that was drowned out by people yelling song lyrics at the top of their voices. I walked in the direction of the sound, coming up to the correct apartment before knocking. I kept knocking but no one seemed to hear it over the music. Out of frustration I just held the handle and pushed forward, and surprisingly the door hadn't been locked.

The hot humid air coming from the interior hit me hard, and I tried not to take in deep breaths because of the smell that was a mix of alcohol, puke and body odor slapping me in waves. I waded through the crowded entrance, making my way into the living room, and when I didn't spot Advik or the girl that was supposed to be taking care of him I took out my phone to text her. After a few exchanged texts I learned that they were upstairs. I ran up the stairs, looking through every room until I found them in one of the bedrooms.

Advik looked like he had passed out on the bed. He was holding on to his stomach, and he had a pained look on his face. The girl was sitting beside him on the bed with his head on her lap. She stared at me with a skeptical look until I mentioned who I was.

"I'm his housemate," I muttered, and her frown left her face.

"Thank God," she sighed, looking down at Advik before trying to get him to sit up. "You'll have to make sure he vomits at least a few times before you leave him alone. I don't know who's in charge with spiking things, but they went overboard," she explained when I walked over to the bed and helped her get Advik to sit up. He still didn't open his eyes, and for a hot minute, I thought he was dead. He coughed a bit, vomiting some clear liquid on the bedroom's carpet, proving me wrong.

"Do you need my help taking him down?" the girl asked, making me tear my eyes from Advik's face before looking over at her. Her dark hair was combed back, and I noticed how well shaped her facial features were. I wondered if this was the girl was having a fling with currently. Yes, it might seem weird to be pinning over someone like Advik did and still be fooling around. I guess it was his way of coping with things. I did something similar when I slept with Morgan.

My gaze moved to the carpet when I noticed I had been staring at her too long. "Sure," I said, looking up to find her giving me a determined expression. We both got up from the bed, and by taking hold of one of Advik's hands each, we were able to waddle out of the room with him. The stairs were the tricky part, but we managed — within the apartment and outside of it. Getting down to the apartment complex's ground floor was the hardest part. It was smooth sailing from there. When we got Advik lying down on the back seat of my car she waved me off and I drove out of the parking lot and into the main road.

"Fucking Christ Advik," I cursed, adjusting my driver's mirror in a way that I was able to look at is lying figure from the driver's seat. "The shit you get into."

Look at me, being so concerned about his partying habits like I'm his boyfriend. The thought made a sad smile creep up my lips, and I shook my head, trying not to think of that as I drove back to our apartment.

I managed to get him out of the car by myself when I got us home. Reid and Nexus seemed to have gone to bed since the lights in the living room were off. A first, I planned to take Advik to his room, but it was locked, and I had no fucking idea where he put his keys. With a few groans and the screaming of the aching hand I was using to hold on to Advik getting worse, I decided to take him to my room instead.

When I unlocked the door, I dragged him to my bed, making him lie down before heading to the bathroom we shared to get a bowl filled with warm water and a few towels. My face heated up when I helped him out of his clothes, but I tried to remind myself that I wasn't perving, and this hand to be done to control any sudden fever he had picked up. When I had toweled him down and had him only lying in his boxers, I got bedsheets from my dirty laundry to lay the grown in case if he vomited. I couldn't go to bed just yet. I needed to wait for him to vomit a bit, so I sat at my desk instead, working on my music sheets since practicing on my keyboard piano might give him a headache.

After about half an hour Advik leaned over and vomited. He did it a few more times, taking deep breaths before curling back into a fetal position. I got up occasionally to check his temperature, and when I was sure he was feeling better I cleaned up and took a shower. I got back into my room, wondering if it was okay to sleep on the same bed with him.

After pacing around in my room thinking about it, I decided that it was okay. We did that from time to time, and it shouldn't be that weird if he woke up and saw both of us in the same bed, right?

Climbing in, I reached out, nudging Advik until he turned to face me. He didn't seem fully conscious yet, but his breathing was alright, and the way his eyelids were fluttering told me that he was just dreaming.

"One of these days someone's going to find you dead in a ditch," I muttered, feeling an odd sense of annoyance and relief wash over me. "You're just lucky I like you enough," I went on, smiling a bit as I stared at him. His hair was a mess, but he looked cute with it everywhere. I liked how thick his eyebrows were, and I chuckled a bit when I remembered one night when I had picked him up from a party and someone had microblade them before leaving him alone on the living room couch. He had skin lighter than mine, but still dark — tan — I was more of a light brown.

my eyes moved down when I noticed that I was doing that thing again — staring at him too much. Morgan said it looked like I was gawking at porn. "Night idiot," I muttered, moving to cover him with my duvet before turning away and staring out into my room. I was supposed to be sleeping, but I didn't shut my eyes until I was sure Advik was alright.

I dreamt about a lot of things — about an alternate universe where I was dating Advik, and not just acting like his mum that got him out of trouble. I dreamt of meeting up with Oliver and talking about my jealousy. I also dreamt about the girl Advik was with this night, wondering if she might be the person to make him get over Oliver, and I would be stuck, hiding my bitterness over the situation while I just smiled in the background, cheering on their relationship because I just wanted him to be happy.

A frown formed on my face as I turned in my sleep, not enjoying the thoughts I was having.

I just wanted Advik to look at me that way for once. It seemed like he kept considering everyone but me. Deep down I knew that I would have to make the first move for that to happen, but I was so scared of rejection that I trained myself to be fine with the 'good friend' position.

It was fine. Well, that's what I keep repeating to myself every day, but the fact was that it wasn't.

It's not fine.

And I had to do something about it.