😝

------

Nick was really fun to talk to. He was really funny and cracked hilarious jokes, making me double over in laughter every single time.

Candy tried to interrupt every now and then but I ignored him blatantly and focussed my attention on Nick.

I did interact with Jon and Anna who were equally cool but mostly they were busy in their own little bubble.

Same was the case with Livii and her boyfriend.

"So this one time, my cousin tried to pull my jeans down in front of our guests, to embarrass me but instead of pulling mine down, he actually ripped his, showing his pink-heart boxers to everyone!" Nick told me, as he laughed.

I could very well imagine what would've happened. And just imagining that sent me into a fit of laughter.

Poor cousin!

My stomach was literally aching because of laughing so much. I cliched my stomach and squeezed my eyes shut as I laughed.

With his continuous jokes, I had reached a point where I couldn't even hear my own laugh. I was laughing mutely.

"Okay enough." I heard a grumpy voice from behind me and the next thing I knew, I was thrown over a shoulder with my world turning upside down.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Nick and the others give us amused glances as I bounced on Candy's shoulder as he took me upstairs.

I didn't protest much because I knew it was going to be useless trying to fight against him since he clearly had the strength to resist.

Plus I was going a spectacular view of his muscular backside so who was I to resist?

I can shamefully admit that he had a nice ass. Blood rushed to my face as I just repeated the thought in my mind.

Oh god! Dirty thoughts eject!

Once he stopped, he set me down and quickly bolted the door.

I concentrated my eyes on my fiddling hands since I was still a little mad. Not much (all thanks to Nick) but a little.

"Muffin?" He called out but I kept my eyes trained on my hands.

He let out a breath but advanced towards me. My nerves started jumping as he neared but I showed no emotion.

He put a finger under my chin and lifted my face up to match his gaze with mine.

His eyes held heavy emotions that I couldn't decipher at once.

"Did I go too far?" He asked in a soft voice and I knew he was referring to the incident.

I sighed but nodded, looking at the wall on the side.

"Hey," he called out, softly, making me look back at him.

I gazed into his eyes that reflected sincerity as he spoke his next words.

"I'm sorry Muffin. I really didn't think that it would hurt you. I thought you weren't affected by attention that much now," his voice filled with regret.

I let out the breath that I'd unknowingly be holding. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't aware of how much attention used to affect me.

Yes, I was somewhat over the whole fear of attention but that didn't mean I had started enjoying it. Especially when I was embarrassed.

Being embarrassed on stage was the main reason I'd developed a fear of stages and attention.

"It's not just about the silly prank you played. It's just that I didn't expect you to make fun of something I used to fear. You don't know how deeply it had affected me so maybe you didn't realise that it was going to take a lot more than a song on stage to get over it," I replied, in a low voice and went to sit in the bed.

He followed my lead but instead of sitting on the bed. He knelt down on both of his knees in front of me and grabbed my hands. "I'm really sorry Muffin. I-I didn't mean to embarrass you like that. I just-," he let out a frustrated sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.

My heart melted seeing him clenching his jaw, muttering "I'm such a dick."

"Hey. Let's get past that now. You didn't know that it would hurt me that much so it's alright."

He face lifted up to meet my eyes. "I'm really sorry Muffin, I-" he trailed off, his eyes travelling down.

I didn't like him seeing like this. I knew he didn't mean it so I wasn't going to let him feel bad about myself all day.

"Hey chill out. Or I might just ask Nick to start calling me Muffin." I teased.

His head snapped up faster than I could say "hi"

His eyes lost the remorse and in its place he just gathered the daggers that her was throwing at me through his eyes. "Say that to Nick and I'll tell your mom where you hid your embarrassing photos!"

A look of pure horror adorned my face once I heard that.

"You wouldn't!" I said, imagining if he did what he just said.

If that happened, let's just say that dignity was something that was going to get scrubbed off my dictionary very soon.

Trust me when I say you don't really want the plumber of your house knowing how you pooped in the bathtub when you were six (with proof of the picture ).

And that can only be prevented by keeping the photos hidden.

"Oh I would. No one gets to call you Muffin except for me. You are my Muffin," he looked straight into my eyes as he said this, sending a shiver down my spine.

Why did my heart decide to turn into mush?

Trying to change the topic, I blurted,"Shouldn't we go downstairs?"

His expression changed into an amused one. "Am I making you t-"

"I need a name for Nick!" I blurted, cutting off anything Candy was going to say.

His amused expression turned flat. "Well, he's already got one-Nick!" He deadpanned.

It was my turn to give him a flat look. "I meant I was a short and a cute name for him, beside his original name!"

"Why cute?"

I groaned. "Seriously?"

"Okay, okay. How about- poop? Perfectly goes with his persona!"

I glared at him and hit the back of his head. "You're not helping!"

I might've mistaken it but I heard something like-"Don't intend to."

"Come on! Can't you do this much for your best friend?" I pouted, and widened my eyes, making the famous puppy dog expression.

I noticed Candy's eyes momentarily flit towards my pouted lips before he let out a groan. I could feel my cheeks tinge pink because of the previous action.

"Only you Muffin, only you," he muttered shaking his head.

A smile threatened to break on my face when I saw his contemplating face.

"Even though I'd still prefer the name poop or dog-poo, I'll think of a name for you," he sighed.

A grin broke out as I tackled him into a hug. "You're the BEST!" I yelled as I felt his arms snake around my waist.

I felt his chest vibrating under me because of his laughs. I moved my face away a bit to catch his face.

He smiled at me and my insides went gooey. He was literally the best person in my life and that's not just because he agreed to help me find a nickname for Nick.

He's just too good to be true. Some times I wondered why he even tolerated me for my incredible mood swings and pathetic fear of attention.

He had the choice of being popular and not being dragged down by me. And I wouldn't have objected much because he didn't deserve to be pulled down by me every time.

But yet he sat here as I strangled him with my arms.

I smiled at him. The simple curve of my lips spelled much more than what was visible.

"What?"

I gently shook my head. Feeling an overwhelming emotion fall over me, I pressed my lips to his cheek for a few seconds before pulling away.

He had a bewildered expression on his face. He looked at me, astonished.

"Thanks for being the best person ever!"

With that, I untangled my arms, got up and trudged downstairs with a smile on my face.

I took a peek back and saw Candy sitting in the same position with the same expression on his face.

I chuckled at that before going downstairs to the rest of his friends.

****

"No. I'm not watching alien monsters rip each other off!" Livii shrieked.

"And I'm not going to watch bimbos fuss over which nail polish is better!" Richard retorted.

I watched in amusement as they seemed ready to rip each other apart.

Rico, seemed to have come to his senses as he held his girlfriend from ripping his brother apart.

They were fighting for the choice of the movie. The choices were Avengers, Transformers 4, Legally Blonde and Wild Child.

I, admittedly wanted to watch either of the first two. I loved the other two movies too but it had been long since I watched some metal to metal action.

"Let Alyssa pick. She's the newest addition to our group so let's go with her choice!" Nick spoke, giving me a warm smile.

I smiled back.

His words make me feel all soft inside.

But after the softness part, the reality of his words sunk in. My eyes widened as I looked up to see everyone looking at me expectantly.

Livii and Sumana had expectant looks but so did all the others.

I inwardly groaned. Why me?!

I couldn't go with the guys because I didn't want to upset the girls.

Why does this happen to me?

"Uh- How about horror?" I squeaked out and dreaded the words immediately.

I was mildly scared of them. Okay I admit, I was scared shitless when it came to horror movies.

Not all the movies scared me though, but the ones that did, let's just say that they were the reasons I didn't dare to look in the mirror at night.

I felt Candy nudge me from my right. He had come five minutes after me and we'd been chatting normally.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure you want to watch a horror movie?"

I bit my lip. "There's no going back now!" I told him to which he nodded, a bit unsure.

I watched everyone as they discussed a bit but agreed eventually. Honestly, I was kind of hoping that they'd decline.

Well, you brought that upon yourself!

"Okay so, I'll make the popcorn, Aaron can get the DVD's and you guys make yourself comfortable," I said and made a move towards the kitchen.

Candy followed me before stopping in front of the staircase. "Muffin?"

I turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Creepy Camping with Bunny?" He asked with a grin.

"Do you really have to ask?"

He chuckled in return and went upstairs.

Creepy Camping was the name of our tradition that we followed whenever we watched scary movies.

He knew how scared I could get during those movies so he had created this tradition.

We would share one blanket which we would wrap around ourselves tightly. One large popcorn bowl was kept inside the blanket with us along with Bunny, the rabbit. Bunny was a soft toy I'd gotten him on his sixth birthday.

This way if I didn't want to watch the scene of the horror movie, I could use bunny to block my ears and close my eyes, moving my head behind Candy's shoulder.

Plus he always comforted me if I got scared too much.

And that's what I loved about him. But I did have my fair share of reminders of how big of a 'scaredy cat' I could be.

"Hey, need help?"

I was pulled out of my reverie as I pulled all the popcorn packets from the cabinet.

I turned to see Nick behind me.

I smiled at him. "Sure."

I handed him half of the packets and we began opening them.

"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to have the privilege of having a cuddle session with me. I've heard that I'm pretty good at it," he boasted and I laughed.

"Oh is that so?"

"Yep. And I bet you'll be wanting more once you've experienced one session," he grinned.

I chuckled. "Sorry. Your cuddle session would have to wait. I'm already booked for Creepy Camping."

"Creepy Camping?"

I explained it to him.

"Oh. Can't you skip this tradition just once?"

I thought about it. Would Candy mind if I skipped out on this just once?

I mean it's not like he got scared anyway. It was always me who snuggled into him.

Plus it's not like I won't be sitting beside him.

"I-I'm not sure. I already told Candy that I'd go Creepy Camping with him."

"I'll talk to him. I don't think he'll mind."

I was about to say something when Candy cane down.

"Hey. I got the DVD. We're watching The Conjuring." Candy came, looking down at the DVD, examining it.

He carried Bunny and my favourite Plush blanket with him.

"Hey Aaron?"

Candy looked up questioningly at Nick.

"Can I borrow Allie for a cuddle session for this one movie time?"

My head snapped towards Nick and then at Candy who was looking at me.

Suddenly my shoes became really interesting objects. Why didn't I notice the brown icky substance stuck on them before?

"Sure. If Muffin wants that," he said without much of an emotion.

I could still feel his gaze burning through my skull.

"Cool." Nick replied.

"I'll just go and put the movie. Come fast with the popcorn," Candy said and left the room.

Why did I not feel so happy about it?

I hadn't even noticed that Nick had put the popcorn in the microwave. We didn't say anything as he hummed a tune while taking out the bowls with me.

My hand grazed the big bowl that was a permanent participant of Creepy Camping.

The bowl had printed photographs of our childhood with 'Best Friends Forever' written in the middle with our signatures.

I clutched the bowl that held so many memories of us together.

"Wow. That's a big bowl," Nick remarked as he eyed it.

I laughed. "Yeah."

Nick took out all the popcorn and emptied it in the bowls.

A small smile formed on my lips as I began filling the big one.

"Are you going to have it all?" Nick asked me eyeing the amount of popcorn the bowl held.

"No. It's for two people."

"Oh so we'll be sharing it?"

The thought of sharing this bowl with anyone other than Candy didn't feel right.

"Uh Nick?" I called out.

"Yeah?"

"Can we have this cuddle session some other time? I hope you don't mind but I kind of can't watch horror movies without Bunny," and Candy.

"Uh-sure. But-"

"Great! Thanks. I'll carry these two bowls. I hope you can get the rest!" With that I bolted out of the kitchen.

I handed one of the bowls to Jon and Anna who were busy cuddling and proceeded towards Candy who was busy talking to Bunny.

The scene made me laugh.

"You know, I'm not paper thin," I said and Candy's head jolted up.

"What?"

I rolled my eyes. I kept the bowl of popcorn on his lap and picked up Bunny. With that, I squeezed myself between him and the arm rest.

"Scoot!" I wriggled my body and say down comfortably as Candy made space for me.

"What are you doing? I thought you wanted to cuddle with Nick?" He asked.

"And let you get scared? We both know that I'm not the only one who snuggles when I get scared." I smirked to which Candy replied by putting his arm around me, bringing me closer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said but the smile never fell off his face as he rested his head on top of mine.

"Let's get the movie started!"

*****

❤️