Day 41

Yawning, I stretch my arms over my head. Then lean over to the nightstand and pick up my glasses and put them on. The suite comes into focus. Drained wine bottle and discarded food wrappers are scattered around from last night. Two empty ice cream boxes still laying on the ground near the foot of the bed. In normal circumstances, this situation would've freaked me out, but now it doesn't seem that bad.

I've seen worse. Back in the university, a month before the start of exams, my dorm would begin getting chaotic. To the point where it left no space on the floor to walk on. I had to hop from one spot to the other, hoping I would be lucky to not land over the bundles of papers or books.

Arianna walks out of the bathroom, her hair up in a messy bun, "Hangover is a bitch," she grumbles, her eyes barely open.

I smile at her as she plops down on the bed, "But we should do that more often," she adds, beaming.

"We should," I agree, mirroring her grin.

I couldn't have spent my first night in Prague better. All summarized in this room, but wonderful nonetheless. Just me and Arianna, starting from singing Halsey songs and occasionally drinking. Half a cup by me and the rest of the bottle by her, talking. And in the end, watching Mean Girls and Clueless while eating pizza and later on ice cream.

"Let's call the others down and see what's our plan for today," she says, rubbing her eyes. "Mind if you go to Adi's room. His phone is usually on silent. And do the planning before coming down, until I bring Dylan,"

"Sure," I jump off the bed, picking my iPhone up and slipping it into my pj's pocket. "But I need to change first," I add walking to the door.

"You look great, El, but take your time," she laughs and lays back down, "meanwhile, I'll sleep a tad longer,"

"Arianna!" I turn, placing my hands on my hips.

"Fine, I'm awake. And calling Dylan," She groans, propping herself up.

I smile and nod my approval as I walk out of her suite and head to mine.

After a quick shower, I wear something casual. In fifteen minutes, I'm ready and going towards Adrien's room.

I might have been growing closer to Arianna, and being near her doesn't make me anxious anymore, which I guess it's natural. Because it has been a little over a month since we've been spending every day together, for considerable hours. But that does not apply to everybody. To be fair, the dynamics between me and the three of them have improved in massive measures.

Arianna is amazing to be around, Dylan has ended his excessive amount of attention and constant attempts at communicating with me. And even Adrien has stopped being moody and snapping at everyone. In fact, these two changes happened abruptly, almost at the same time. But I'm not complaining. It's easier to be with them now.

I stand in front of Adrien's hotel room doorway. Yesterday we spent the whole four hours train ride from Berlin to here, by watching Stranger Things.

I curl and stretch out my fingers a few times, trying to end their trembling. Along with a deep inhale to calm my racing heart. While giving myself the usual pep talk that it isn't a big deal, just a freaking knock.

I close my eyes, fill my lungs with a sharp intake of breath, and rap. My fist stands in the mid-air, as I chew my bottom lip. I take a step backward and clasp my hands behind my back.

I count the seconds and as I reach to five, the door flies open.

Adrien's eyebrows shoot up, and a beat later a grin curves his mouth. "Hey," he greets me.

I force a smile, responding in a quiet voice, "Hi," and wave my hand based on habit. And regretting it as he beams.

That's when I catch orange paint smeared on his forehead. I try not to stare or squint. Why would he have paint on himself?

Looking closer, I note his black Pink Floyd t-shirt has white and orange paint on it too. As well as his hands.

Does he paint?

I push the thought away. None of my business.

"Arianna told me to talk to you about our plans for today, so we would have a plan when we get downstairs," I inform him.

His smile falters the slightest, "Ari told you to come here and see me?" he asks in a weird tone, as if my answer disappointed him. Why would he be disappointed though?

"Yeah," I reply, nodding.

With a curt nod, he steps aside for me. I step into his suite, avoiding him. Please don't be in a bad mood.

One thing I know is that Adrien in his grim mood is not only unpredictable but also very cruel. Old habits die hard, I can't help but steer clear of his path whenever I sense that he's in the bad mood, or shifting into it.

He closes the door behind me. I bring my gaze up, and it lands on a breathtaking painting. Drawn with an insane amount of details, set alongside the perfect view of the window. Countless paints scattered on the desk, placed on its side.

Unable to pull my eyes away from it, I remain in the middle of the room staring at it. With few blinks, I stop goggling. And realize Adrien is standing next to me, attention fixed on me, studying my features.

"It's..." I start, but not finding a word that would do it justice as a compliment.

"It's not mine," he blurts out and looks elsewhere, walking to his desk.

"Really?" I ask, tilting my head.

He nods, his back facing me. "It's..." he starts, but his voice trails down, after a long pause he finishes, "Arianna's,"

"Oh," I try to hide my surprise.

Daring, I take a step towards the canvas and another. Soon I stand a pace away from Adrien and the painting.

I inspect the picture. A sunset, with the same view visible from the window. The sunray colored with remarkable accuracy and detail, glinting the lake and the white buildings. The blue sky, turning into a mixture of pink, orange, and yellow, similar to real life.

He takes a stride backward and I observe the painting closer.

"Be careful, it's fresh paint. Won't come off skin easily," he mumbles.

The windows, the walls. I cannot imagine the time it must have taken to draw and color it.

"What do you think?" he queries, making me glance at him. His green-blue eyes, brighter than usual, study me.

"It's great," I answer.

His eyebrows raise high as he leans towards me, "Really?" he asks, sounding surprised. A smile threatening to form on his face.

"Not that I know anything about art, but it's truly beautiful,"

For a moment he grins, cheeks turning pink. Then looks away, rubbing the nape of his neck, and nods.

I'm aware I shouldn't, I'm not even that close to Adrien. But maybe it's the effects of the previous night's half a glass of wine. Or I just feel better. I can't help myself and add, "I never realized Arianna is so good at painting,"

His head snaps to me with a blank stare, before nodding with hesitance. "Spent the entire night working on it,"

With effort I hold back my smile, raising my eyebrows, "Last night?"

"Yeah, after dinner. She preferred my room's view to hers," he explains, avoiding to look at me.

"Cool," I pretend to sound and seem amazed. I bite the inside of my cheek to prevent from laughing and giving myself away.

If I hadn't been the whole night with Arianna, I might have believed him.

I mean, he doesn't owe me an explanation, and if he doesn't want to tell me, that's completely fine. And it's not like he'll find out I caught his little secret. So there won't be any complications either.

"Shall we go through our plans? Make a list?" I suggest.

"Sure, let me clean this mess," he replies.

I nod as I sit on the loveseat on the other side of the room, still trying to swallow away my giggles.

***

After counting down our to-do list for today Arianna downs her coffee in one go and straightens herself, "Let's do something fun!" she enthuses.

Adrien and Dylan groan, receiving a glare from her.

"Like what?" Dylan questions with irritation.

"I don't know," she mumbles and glances around, "I just wanna do something interesting and new,"

"Well, that's very descriptive," Adrien mutters. Arianna swats his arm.

While Adrien glares at her, she jumps as much as she can without standing up from her seat. "Idea! Let's check out and move to a hostel," she squeals.

"Hostel?" Adrien repeats, as if not believing what he has heard.

She nods, her eyebrows raised and eyes wide open.

Adrien shakes his head as Dylan stares at them with a blank expression.

Hostel? I shift uncomfortably and ponder. It could be fun. Anything can be if Arianna's a part of it. She's literally a bundle of optimism and excitement, but I feel weird and hesitant about it. Perhaps because it wasn't in our plan and I've never considered it.

And how on Earth will I be telling Mom and Dad? That won't be a pleasant talk.

"That's impossible, we are not doing that just because you're bored," Adrien declares.

"I think it's great," Dylan supports, sounding too excited and hopeful.

Why would he be hoping to switch to hostels, though? Maybe for having an adventure?

"No! I was about to say we should avoid using these public planes and trains and use my private jet. And you have the nerve to tell me to stay in a freaking hostel! Have you gone mad!" With lifted eyebrows, Adrien speaks, waving his hand around while talking.

I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from tittering.

"Oh for fuck's sake, for once try to not be a spoiled rich brat," Arianna rolls her eyes. Adrien looks like someone has slapped him hard across the face.

Losing control, I chortle, Dylan joins me not a second later.

"Yeah yeah, laugh as much as you want, but it isn't me or him who can't put up with staying in hostels. In fact, it's you two," Adrien says after our laughter subsides, pointing his index finger between me and Arianna.

For long moments, Arianna and I stare at each other. An idea sparks in my mind and never have I had the urge to reply this badly.

Only, we start simultaneously, saying the exact thing, in the most Cher of Clueless tone we can muster, "Ugh, as if,"

Arianna's eyes sparkle as she leans forward, holding her hand up for a high five. I oblige and high five with her. We fall back into our chairs, giggles bubbling out of us.

For the first time in forever, I let go of the care of how crazy I might look to others. And guffaw along with Arianna.

"Are we supposed to get that?" Dylan asks after we quiet down. He tilts his head, regarding us.

I press my hands to my cheeks. They hurt from the excessive smiling and laughing.

Arianna winks at me, "Girl stuff, none of your business,"

Adrien picks his coffee mug, carrying it near his mouth, "And since when did you two start having code words?" he questions. And presses the brim of the cup to his lip.

"Since last night," Arianna shrugs, a smile tugging on the sides of her lips.

Adrien freezes. In slow-motion turns to her, holding his drink in midair, and repeats, "Last night?"

"Yeah," she answers, furrowing her brows, "We spent the entire night watching movies and doing girl stuff," she explains. Her gaze lands on me, "Didn't you tell him Ellie?"

Oh shit.

I shrug and shift in my seat, "He didn't ask,"

Glancing at Adrien, his eyes wide and fixed on a spot behind Arianna. At that moment, his attention moves to me and I look away in an instant.

"Well, there you have it," she lifts one of her shoulders.

Damn, this is awkward.

"The entire night?" He questions, causing Dylan to frown in confusion and Arianna huff.

"Yes, Adi," she replies in a sharp tone.

He nods and shifts. Head hanging low, he sips his espresso. His cheeks flushing into a deeper shade of red with every passing second.

"Adrien?" Arianna calls his names, scrutinizing him.

"I think we should get ready and be going, otherwise we won't be able to see all the destinations we've planned for today," I jump in.

"Yeah, good idea," Dylan agrees, pushing his chair back and rises.

I follow him, Adrien jumps out of his seat. Still suspiciously staring at him, she stands up and we make our way to the elevators.

Dylan gets off first, followed by Arianna two stories above him, leaving Adrien and I in the empty elevator.

We step out together as we arrive at our floor. Without exchanging a word, we walk down the vacant halfway.

We reach my doorway. I stop in front of it as I shuffle and fish out the keycard from my pocket and unlock it.

Still avoiding me, he marches to his own suite. Few doors down mine, pauses, and glances at me. I offer him a small smile as I go inside.

"Wait!" Adrien's voice stops me and I spin around.

I let my hand rest on the doorknob, my thumbnail grazing it in hard strokes, in an attempt of distracting myself and calming my now racing heart. He closes the distance between us with long strides. Places himself before me, though not looking at me.

"I..." he starts, hitting his keycard into the palm of his hand repeatedly. His cheeks tint bright pink, he clears his throat and scratches the back of his neck. And tries to talk again. "I..." but he trails down, as if not coming up with a suitable comment.

By the looks of it, we're both uncomfortable. I smile at him, "You don't have to explain anything," I offer, hoping to end this embarrassing situation.

Adrien's head snaps to me. His mouth hangs open for a beat before jumbled words tumble out, "I didn't know, I-"

"It's okay, I understand. You don't need to tell anything," I reassure him, or try to.

He blinks, as if processing what to do next. The engines in his brain turning and rotating at a rapid speed. His thumb rubbing on his middle finger and it suddenly stops. He narrows his eyes, "You realized from the beginning?"

I nod, replying, "It wasn't hard to guess," unable to overpower the command of smiling sent to my face's muscles, I smile and add, "you were covered in paint,"

His cheeks turn a deeper shade of pink, almost red, as he nods and rubs the nape of his neck, gaze fixed on the ground.

"Uhm..." in an unsteady voice he breathes out. Pushes his fingers through his hair, bringing his head up, eyes meeting mine. His pupils dilate, even though my room is bright. I haven't drawn my curtains, and I'm standing in front of the light.

I attempt to recall the reasons a person's pupils dilate, but he interrupts my thoughts by continuing.

"Do you still think the same about it?" his eyebrows raise high.

I inspect him in confusion.

Noticing it, Adrien explains, "I meant y-you said it's good. S-so um, d-does it apply when you know it's not Ri's? I-I mean, I wouldn't mind if you say it sucks," and waits with anticipation.

I shift my weight from one leg to the other, "I didn't compliment it because I thought it was Arianna's work, I did because it was. Do you stop yourself from admiring Vincent van Gogh's works because he's ugly? Nobody does that, because it's irrelevant. Just the way you don't judge a song with its singer's appearance. It's idiotic to judge a piece of art based on its creator. Art is art." I try my best to speak out my reasoning.

Turns out voicing my view is harder than I imagined.

He looks at me with glazed eyes for a long moment before nodding. A smile creeps to his face, brightening his features and curving his mouth up and crinkling the corners of his eyes.

I shouldn't have mentioned that.

Repeating my brief speech in my mind, I realize how foolish I must've sounded. Who says that! Why do I have to be a professional self mortifier!

I resist the urge to put more distance between the two of us as my palms grow sweatier. The only sound being the loud thudding of my heart.

"That means you think the same of it?" he asks with uncertainty, but his eyes glint with hope.

Relief washes through me. Thankful that he let my stupid speech get lost in the dumpster of all the stupid vocalized words.

"I told you I know nothing about art, but yes, I still believe it's great," I tell him with a smile.

His features brighten up even more. A huge grin plasters across his face, prominent dimples pinching his flushed cheeks.

With a sheepish voice, while rubbing the back of his neck, he speaks, "Thanks," and looks away.

"We should get ready," I remind him.

He glances up and nods, agreeing.

I offer him a small smile and take a step backward to close my door. He waves his hand before rushing down the hallway.

I try not to ponder over how strange this encounter was. Why would he care about my opinion on his work?

He's weird.

Just as I'm about to shut the door a loud banging sound makes me pause. Curiosity taking the best of me, I peer outside.

To my surprise it's Adrien, standing in front of his own room, rubbing his forehead and cursing. I cover my mouth to hold myself from laughing. At that exact moment, he looks at my direction, a grin cracks on his lips.

"They need to reconstruct their interior, the walls are in the way," he notes and I nod desperately trying to block my giggles.

"Yeah, the wall didn't see you. Next time give a disclaimer or something," I note.

We stare at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

Finally, I close my door and push my glasses up my nose. A smile still lingering on my face.

Maybe this year won't be as hard as I had assumed it would be, even with Adrien around.

I shake my head and begin to change and ready myself for a day of traveling and wandering in the heart of Europe.

+++

((Aww, aren't they cute? =)))))

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, cause I enjoyed writing it XD

In the past few days, I realised I'm forgetting the main reason I started this book, and obsessing over finishing it might end up ruining it, so I've settled on updating every Wednesday and Friday. Hopefully, I should be able to sum it up before my exams.

Also, I'm publishing a new story in a couple of hours, named Fantasies Blown Away, it's a fantasy vampire novel, and if you have the time or just simply enjoy that genre, don't hesitate to check it out. 

Thank you for reading this chapter, lots of love <3 ))