Predator | 41

The fight with Nikolaj left her in a bad mood for the rest of the day. She tried not to think too much about it, but failed terribly. He and their stupid fight were all she could think about.

Eric entered the apartment shortly after April arrived. She heard him opening the front door, followed by the sound of the door being shut.

April was currently lying on the bed with a book on her lap, one she found in the living room while cleaning the shelves. It was a stupid way to avoid thinking of Nikolaj. A lame attempt, which she failed of course.

She didn't want to call him immediately, or drop by at his place. April wanted to let him cool off and clear his head. She just wondered, whether he was feeling just as miserable about this as she did, or if he didn't even waste his time to think about her.

April tried to distract herself with all sort of things- watching TV, listening to music, reading a book, and she even cleaned the house. But none of the distractions helped her to forget the fight.

With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself off the bed and put the book on her nightstand. She had spent approximately half an hour to read this book, but her mind didn't allow her to process any of the words she had read. She didn't even know what the book was about, and couldn't recall the protagonists first name.

April excited her bedroom and shuffled into the kitchen to Eric. A heavy aroma of coffee filled her nostrils. Being a tea drinker she wasn't the biggest fan of coffee, though she drank it every now and then on certain occasions, but she loved the smell of freshly made coffee.

Hearing her footsteps, Eric turned around and stopped pouring the milk into his mug. His lips twitched into a careful, but warm and encouraging smile. "Coffee?" He asked, gesturing to the his mug.

She shook her head. "No, but thank you."

"Ah, I forgot," he muttered into his mug, smirking at her. "You don't like coffee. I think we have tea left somewhere in the cupboards."

April looked through the cupboards until she found it. The teabags were inside a small wooden box.

"Everything fine with Nikolaj?" He asked carefully. He leaned with his back against the counter and sipped from his mug.

She grabbed a chair and turned it around to take a seat. "Not really," she answered after a brief pause, placing her tea on the table to let it cool off. "He was angry at me."

Eyebrows arched, Eric looked at her in surprise. "Angry? At you?" He asked with a bewildered face. "Why should he be angry at you?"

"He thinks I'm on Charles side," she told him with a sigh. In all honesty, it was a question she also asked herself.

"That's ridiculous," he snorted through his nose, annoyed with Nikolaj's behavior. "Is he deaf? We all were present when you defended him. He's overreacting. Did you talk to him?"

April bit her lip. The talk, as Eric put it, was what turned the whole conversation into a confrontation in the first place. "No, not really. Didn't have the chance to."

After that, she was hesitant to follow him into his place. Not after he stormed off like that. She didn't want to make their argument worse than it was.

"If he's smart enough he will apologize to you," Eric said and put his mug into the sink, too lazy to clean it. "And if you're smart you will dump him." April gave him a pointed look. "Just kidding."

"You're especially funny today."

"I always am. Born charmer and a fun person to be around," he says proudly, lips turned into a cheeky smirk.

April rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop the smile growing on her face. "You're crazy," she responded jokingly.

Eric shot her a grin. "So, what are you going to do about Nikolaj? Do you want me to drag his ass up here and make him apologize? Did I forget to mention that I'm also strong?" He said, throwing a joke to make the situation less serious. April chuckled at that.

"Honestly, I don't even know," she sighed, absently tracing her index finger over the rim of her mug. "I think I will give him some time to think. "

"That's probably a good idea. Though I'm still for dragging his ass up here," he commented and ruffled her hair into a mess. April glared up at him and tried to tame her hair, running her fingers through it.

--

The next day, April tried to decide whether she should pay Nikolaj a brief visit. It was the first thing she wanted to do this day, but then she changed her mind and decided to spend her day otherwise.

Lorena was surprised when April called her randomly on her phone, but not as surprised as April was with herself. They had switched their phone numbers when they were out of town together not too long ago, but she never thought she would call Lorena anytime soon.

April invited her for coffee - which was funny, considering that she didn't like the bitter taste of it - and Lorena accepted the kind offer.

It was around an hour later, when the doorbell ringed. April went over to front door, pushing it open and letting her enter the apartment.

"Hi," she greeted with a smirk. "Your call was truly a surprise," she admitted as she shrugged her black coat off her shoulders. Her hair being blown from the wind, she decided to pull it up into a ponytail.

"Not as surprising as your visit a few days ago," she commented as she led the way into the kitchen. April stood on her toes and reached out to grab two mugs out of the cupboards.

"True," Lorena agreed. She walked over to the table and grabbed a chair, taking a seat. "But it was a pleasant surprise. Your call, I mean."

April grinned. "Tea or coffe?"

"Tea would be nice, thank you."

April made them both black tea, placing one on the table in front of Lorena. She wasn't hesitant to take a sip, while April was still waiting to let her tea cool off.

"So, anything new?" She asked, eyes glinting cheekily. "Enjoying your time with lover boy?" She inquired, referring to Nikolaj.

April's eyes were momentarily focused on her steaming tea. Calling her over to throw her problems at her wasn't really the whole intention of the invitation.

"Just spit it out." Lorena's voice cut her out of her thoughts. "What happened?"

She bit her lip. April told her everything she had also told her brother, it sounded almost rehearsed. By the time she was finished, Lorena had both of her eyebrows raised, but remained silent for a few moments.

"Wow.. Didn't know Nikolaj had it in him to be angry at your." April threw her an odd look. "What? With the way he always looked at you, or how smitten he actually was, this certainly is surprising. Did you call you?"

"Well, no," she answered. She wished he did, but then again, she didn't take the time to call him either.

"Did you call him?" She asked with one eyebrow arched.

"I didn't," April confessed, suddenly feeling nervous being in front of Lorena's sharp eyes.

"If you want to get things back to normal between the two of you, then you can be sure that it won't happen anytime soon when neither of you is doing something."

"Yeah, I know that. I really do. It's just.." April stopped mid sentence. She didn't know what to say.

April decided to let him cool off, yes, but she wasn't so sure if she would like to call him even after letting him some time to think. For some reason, the idea of seeing him made her hesitant.

"Well?" Lorena asked, noticing her troubled mind.

"I don't know. It's just, were not even in a relationship and it's already overwhelming me."

April stared down at her tea. She didn't notice until now, that it turned lukewarm without her taking a single sip from it. She pushed the tea aside and focused her attention back on Lorena instead.

Lorena nodded in understanding. "I think I know what you mean," she states and leaned her chin on her hand. She stared at April for long seconds. "Do you love him?"

April was half listening to Lorena, and half lost in her own thoughts, but the sudden question was like a painful slap back to reality. This wasn't a question she expected to her.

Now it was April's turn to grow silent. It was a question she didn't even ask herself. She never even thought of it.

To her, Nik was a wonderful, but complex man at the same time. First of, he wasn't human. Aprils still didn't know for sure what that would mean for them in the future. For now, it was just some insignificant detail about him, but this small detail was slowly unwrapping into something more, something she could no longer overlook.

He was the opposite of the men she dated in the past. Nik had nothing in common with those men and it was impossible to even compare them with him.

There was so much she learned about him in a short span of time, but still so much she didn't know about this man.

"No.. I don't think I love him," April admitted finally.

_____

A late update. I didn't have the time to update last friday. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thank you for reading.