The Best Friend's Contract

"Here are the pills," I put them on her hand before handing her the glass of water in which she takes, consuming them afterwards.

My phone starts to ring from downstairs which causes me to break the trance and glance at Kenna for a couple of seconds, "That's probably work. Get some sleep," I say before quickly stepping out of the room and walking down the stairs; leaving her without a second glance even though I know she wanted to ask me why was I acting like that.

I pick up the phone, "Flynn, I told you-"

He stutters, "-Mr. Ashton, I'm sorry!" His voice surprises me as I place my hand on the kitchen counter, waiting for her to continue. "We-we lost the tender. I'm sorry," He adds.

I stay quiet for a few seconds, knowing this was a risk I took and now I must face it. I begin to pinch the bridge of my nose before running my fingers through my already thickening hair, starting to feel stressed out about this matter. Not because of the decision I made to disappoint Mr. Otawaki but because of the losing the tender when he could've agreed to sign it and go through it later. Unfortunately, he doesn't trust me enough to go through the process informally. "Have you sent the files through email?" I ask, changing the subject.

He hesitates at first, "I have, sir."

"Thank you, Flynn." I reply without waiting for him to respond as I end the call; placing my phone on the kitchen counter, harder than intended before letting out a deeper sigh, feeling somehow disappointed yet I knew the risk and I knew the consequences when dealing with a company from Japan. They tend to get serious with matters like this and I have unfortunately, disappoint them.

Within seconds, I'm already sitting in my office near my room with the computer screen shining brightly in front of me as I type the day away. My shoulders and neck are straining but I continue to go through the files from the email before finishing the rest of my work, not even realising how long I've been sitting at the same spot and just type my hours away.

I close my eyes as I turn to see the sky has darkened, making me glance down at my wrist watch-surprised to see the time.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"Damn," I mutter before leaning back on my seat, head aching and shoulders straining. At least a lot of my works are complete, which means I won't have to go through them again in the nearest future unless I procrastinate and leave them unintended for a couple of weeks until their deadline.

My eyes widen as soon as I realise about Kenna which causes me to push myself up from the seat and walk straight towards her room, pushing the door to find her sleeping soundly on the middle of her bed, not bothered by my presence.

The pills must've put her in a deep sleep.

I walk towards her before placing my hand on her forehead, feeling her body less warmer than before which eases me. My eyes gaze down to her body as I pull onto the comforter to cover more than just beneath her waist, knowing that she might wake up from being cold and uncomfortable; so, she shouldn't.

I sit beside the bed, my hand slowly reaching out for hers-afraid if I might wake her up as soon as my warmth mix with hers but she remains asleep. My hand grips onto her, making me examine the wedding ring, perfectly fit in her ring finger; I have measured it on the day I proposed, when I just grabbed onto her hand and took a few seconds to confirm that she has an average size.

"It suits you," I mutter with a smile plastered onto my face, making me think of the moments we can create if I just confess but I fear rejection.

Placing the side of my head on the bed as I remain holding onto her hand without having any intention of letting go, "Can we just pretend that you're listening? Even though you're not," I peek to look up at her face, seeing her eyes closed and her breathing at ease. "Can I love you, Kenna?" My voice almost inaudible.

"You can't answer that, can you?" I chuckle as I run my fingers through my hair again using my free hand as I continue to mesmerise her hand liking how soft it is, "Do you think you might love me, too? Maybe... a little bit? I don't like to think that this is a one-sided thing because you know how they work, right? It takes two to tango?" I raise an eyebrow as

I let out a breathy chuckle.

"I really need to work on my nerves. I really need to talk about this with you when you're actually awake," I add. "But I'm terrible. I don't know how to say this to your face when your eyes are pierced into mine... you're going to make me one hell of a nervous guy," "That's a good thing, right? It means that I'm serious about this. About us," I smile.

My heart starts to beat fast as my head think of the clearer words to escape from my lips, leaving me to continuously look up at her face; seeing how calm she looks when she's sleeping or how her face can be mistaken as an angel lost on earth. That's how perfect she is to me.

"I think I'm in love with you," I say, staring at her face; expressionless and unawake.

Within seconds, I find myself pulling her hand closer towards my lips before kissing the back of it; long and full of meaning as I wish for our feelings to be the same and for us to actually have a chance to try this thing called-love.

--

"Aidan...? Aidan," I hear a familiar voice calling out my name as I drift away; making me raise my head after opening my eyes, looking at my own surroundings before looking down at my grip.

My eyes widen at the sight of my fingers entwining with Kenna's fingers, making me pull away. "I'm sorry about that. Probably must've done that in my sleep," I clear my throat, feeling the strain on my neck a bit worse than last night.

She smiles, "Why did you sleep on

the floor? You could've come on the bed with me. She replies as I blink a few times, somehow confused yet remember back about what

happened last night-I said this ne

I

would never take back but it was not heard by her which to me is quite a lucky thing. For now. She deserves better than a confession in her

bedroom while she's sick.

"Didn't want you to kick me off," I joke.

Her lips grow wider as she tries to stand up, in which I help, afraid if she might trip and fall. Her hands grip onto my forearm, "I'm going to take a shower," She says. "I'm feeling a bit better. Thanks to you," She adds.

I walk her towards the bathroom before letting her sit near the bathtub, "Let me help you."

She raises an eyebrow as her lips curve up into a playful smirk, "What? You actually want to see me naked?" Her voice somehow pursuing of something fun which causes me to let out a breathy laugh before clenching my jaw.

"Nothing wrong with that," I reply

with a smirk of my own and we both

just laugh it off, confirming that she's feeling a bit better than she was yesterday; which means that I did a pretty good job at taking care of her. Then again, truth be told, she was easy to take care of and she heals pretty much on her own.

Just as she starts to stand up, she loses her balance but luckily, I manage to catch her before she falls onto the ground; making me wrap my arm around her waist and the other quickly grabbing onto her hand, surprising her. "Wow, you alright? Are you sure you're okay?" I ask, my eyes wander down to see if she's actually hurt even though, I know she didn't fall.

She frowns, "I'm sorry. My head's still hurting,"

I immediately pick her up by putting one hand around her waist and the other beneath her thighs before placing her in the bathtub, making her grip around my neck as I place her slowly. "You seriously need my help. What if you fall and hurt your head when you shower?" I ask, my eyebrows furrowed, matching hers.