Chapter Fifteen

احنا في الهوا سوا

We are in the same boat

Rose

I am awaken by the sun shining brightly through my window—making me open my eyes slowly, smiling to myself as I stretch out my arms; before turning to see the familiar brown hair. My index finger immediately pokes on the side of his cheek, earning a low groan from him.

''Wake up, sleepyhead.'' I mutter.

He peeks through his droopy eyes before grabbing me around the waist—wrapping his arms around my body, securely. I let out breathy laughs, trying to free myself from his grip but once I fail, I just lay near him; snuggling closer.

''Good morning, sunshine.'' He says, kissing me on the lips and I respond back just as soft.

I focus into his brown eyes; enjoying how it reminds me of warmth. Then, I quickly pull him by the arm so that the both of us would be sitting before mess around with his hair in different directions; making him hover on top of me—looking straight into my blue eyes.

My lips curve up into a teasing smile as he leans in, kissing me passionately on the lips. As he tilt his head to the side, I start to deepen the kiss; making it a little bit steamy for both of us. The way he kisses me reminds of something better—yet, maybe it's because of being with him.

He starts to tickle me around the waist, making me laugh out loud as he chuckles, enjoying this moment. I quickly pull myself away before standing up and watching him sitting on the bed in his holy grail position and well-toned body, ''Come on, we're going to be late for class.'' I say, walking straight towards the bathroom.

Within seconds, I find him entering the bathroom—quickly picking me up before placing me under the shower while I'm still fully clothed. I start to scream as soon as the cold water hits my skin but he calms me down by wrapping his arms around my body, kissing me and easing me with his warmth. Then, we start undressing ourselves; don't need further details.

After changing into a new pair of clothes, we quickly eat a slice of bread to avoid upsetting our stomachs later and once we're done, we grab onto our grey cotton jacket—heading out after wrapping a grey scarf around my neck; due to the weather.

We walk side by side with our fingers entwined, heading down the busy road. Emmet and I have been living in New York ever since we started studying law—that's how we met. He's a great guy and he's been my source of happiness. That guy surely does bring all sorts of emotions whenever we're together.

We stop for coffee but it's only for Emmet. He enjoys drinking coffee while I think that coffee is just for those who want to feel like they're actually waking up in the morning; going through the day. He somehow agrees with my statement; he once said that he drinks coffee for the sake of the taste.

''We're going to be late,'' I say near his ear, earning a chuckle from him as he pays for the coffee.

''Don't worry, Rose. We're just on time.'' He replies, taking a sip of his hot coffee. We continue to walk down the road—enjoying the cold breeze even though it's hardly hot here in New York.

As I look up at him, I start to bump into someone—making me turn around immediately, trying to see the figure. From the hard hit, I'm pretty sure it's a man and as I take a better look at the person, I see a pair of brown eyes that I somehow recognise.

He smiles at me, muttering 'sorry' under his breath before disappearing in the crowd. I stand still at my spot; not quite believing myself but I think that I know him. From his eyes, his smile—I've seen him somewhere.

''I'm fine.'' I reply, smiling.

My mind can't seem to forget the stranger with brown eyes. His eyes aren't regular brown eyes but they seem a bit too familiar—as if there are memories behind the exact same brown eyes or maybe I'm just wrong. Emmet has brown eyes; maybe I'm just too caught up with something.

''It's just weird,'' I mutter under my breath; looking back up at a confused Emmet. He furrows his eyebrows as we stand in front of our law school. Students are entering while we just stand here—trying to solve out my mystery puzzle.

''What's weird?'' He asks.

I look up at him, straight into his brown eyes. They are always lighter outdoors; more of a yellowish colour but it could probably just be because of the sunlight. Then again, the previous man's eyes weren't new. It is as if I've stared into his eyes long enough that I can hardly forget.

''That guy—I think I know him,'' I state.

Emmet raises my face by the chin, ''You probably saw him somewhere and that's why it's mixing up a little bit? Don't worry about it, we can talk about it later if you want.'' He looks at me with full concern but I just shake my head with a smile on my face.

''You're right, I probably just saw him somewhere. He's nobody,''

He leans in, pecking me on the lips before we both walk inside; heading straight towards my class. Since Emmet's class starts in an hour, he would be spending time in the library, studying. Once we're in front of my class, he pecks on me on the cheek, ''I'll see you after class, sweetheart.'' He says, smiling.

I nod my head, waving at him before entering the classroom.

Emmet and I have been together for a year now. He's just a guy that I hardly even imagine myself with. When I first saw him, he really did catch my attention—due to the fact that he's an attractive guy with a beautiful smile, but mostly because he's a nice guy. He has been great to me and we've been great to each other.

The first reason why I fell head over heels for him is because of his eyes; they surely remind me of something that I couldn't comprehend.

''How are you guys today?'' The professor starts to ask and everyone answers before he writes down on the board—letting us quickly type it down on our laptops while some are writing it down in their notebooks.

After class, I head straight towards the library, trying to spend my hour wisely. Emmet's class will end an hour late than mine because he starts an hour late—which explains it. We usually have the same time and same classes but this semester, it's a bit different.

''Rose!'' I look up to see Maya jumping up and down once she saw me. Some of the students here roll their eyes in annoyance at the noise but she ignore them by quickly running towards me—her lips curve up into a wide smile, ''It's great to see you again.'' She pulls me in for a tight hug.

I chuckle, ''It's great to see you too, Maya.''

The smile on her face disappears slowly, being placed by a sly smirk, ''So, how are things with Emmet? Still going strong?'' She asks, leaving me in an uncomfortable situation as my cheeks heat up but I smile at her—assuring that everything is going on well.

''I just love you two, you guys are perfect for each other.'' She adds.

We decided to spend time at the café instead of the library because apparently, we were too loud. Right now, we're just enjoying our cup of coffee or tea—for me while Maya is busy saying how she thinks on dropping law school but then when she thinks back, it would be a waste. She has a year left; it really would be a waste.

''Don't, you're almost graduating.'' I say, stating the obvious.

''I know! It's stressing me out.'' She sighs deeply, cupping onto her own face before tucking strands of her hair behind her ears.

To my surprise, someone kisses me on the side of my cheek, making me grin immediately at the sudden contact before looking up to see Emmet smiling down at me—which leaves Maya grinning like a creep. He pulls a seat beside me, ''Didn't see you here, Maya.'' He says, breaking the silence.

''Of course, you only see Rose.'' She replies, sarcastically.

He pretends to think for awhile, ''Who else am I supposed to see? She's the only one.'' He answers, looking at my lips for a few seconds—making me blush unknowingly. Maya laughs, taking a sip of her coffee before continuing to talk more about herself; which is common.

Once we're done, we decide to walk towards the nearest park and spend some time there. Emmet with his usual cup of coffee as we sit the opposite from each other. As I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, I look down to see my phone ringing, ''Hey, Samantha.'' I say, looking back up at Emmet.

''Hey! Are you free this weekend?'' She says from the other line.

''Not sure, why you ask?''

''Well, invite Emmet with you. We're all going to a music festival!'' She starts to shout loudly at the end, making me laugh. She's always the party animal but she's a great person—which doesn't bother us much.

I smile, realising that Emmet is currently holding my hand, playing with my fingers, ''We'll see—I'll call you to confirm it. Talk to you later, Sam.'' I say and she laughs, agreeing before hanging up the call.

Emmet sighs, looking straight at me, ''Let me guess. Sam invited us for another music festival,'' He says, making me laugh at his respond. Oh boy, he sure does know everything—which is true. Samantha has been inviting us to these cool music festivals but we only went a few; since we're busy with assignments and stuff.

''You sure do know everything, Emmet.''

''Why would Sam call if it wasn't for the damn music festivals,'' He replies, drinking his coffee.

I smile at him, leaning in slowly, ''She's your best friend.'' I mutter—once we're close enough. He rolls his eyes in annoyance which earns another chuckle from me but he pecks me on the cheek, trying to change the subject.

''I was thinking maybe we could spend some time together this weekend instead of going to that music festival. We both know how crazy it'd be if we join—remember last time?'' He raises an eyebrow which makes me cringe at the memories.

''We spend time together all the time. We live together, silly.'' I reply, stealing his coffee away from him and he just smile at me—realising that what I just said is undeniably true.

''I mean, like, really spend time together. Besides, my parents are coming to New York and I just think that it'd be nice if you can meet them—don't you think? We've known each other for a year now, they've been asking about you. A lot.'' He rolls his eyes, chuckling while I sit here, not quite believing that we're actually serious in this relationship.

I look down at the empty cup, ''It would be nice if my parents can meet you too,''

His smile falls immediately before he wraps his arm around my shoulder, pecking onto my temple. I immediately remember when they said that I've lost them. It has been five years—the car accident. I was in there too but I guess it's fortunate for me to even survive. They both died before they can even make it to the hospital.

''I'm lucky that I met you, I'm thankful that they have given me a great person to be with.'' He whispers into my ear, soothingly rubbing my back—making me feel better.

I guess Emmet's right. If I die, I wouldn't be here in his embrace and we wouldn't have met each other—everything did happen for a reason. That's for sure.

As I snuggle closer towards him by placing my head on his chest, I look straight to see the previous man from before as he looks back at me; with a slight smile on his face. When I lift my head up, a group of people walk in front of him—making him disappear immediately.

Who is he?

Emmet softly caress the side of my cheek, looking at me with worry, ''Is everything okay, Rose?''

I nod my head, ''I just thought I saw a bug.'' I reply which earns a low chuckle from Emmet. He knows how I'm terrified of bugs—especially cockroaches. Apart from that, he surely know how I react whenever I see one. The ones that fly are far from the worse.

There was this one time when a cockroach was found in the living room while we were lounging. I swear, I thought I was dying when it climbed up my leg—which made me running for bloody mercy. Emmet saved the day, obviously, he's my prince charming.

''We don't want to repeat that, do we?'' He asks, jokingly—somehow knowing what I have in mind with insects.

I roll my eyes, hitting him playfully on the chest as I receive more chuckles. After a couple of hours, we think it's best for us to head home since we're both tired and we have assignments to finish within a week—which is a bit troublesome.

While Emmet is in the shower, I change into a pair of shorts and a tank top before tying my hair into a messy bun and start placing my laptop on the kitchen counter. I start to google up the informations that I'll be needing for my assignment as I take a sip of my warm lemon juice.

I look up to see Emmet placing his laptop near mine before taking a glass of water and sitting down the opposite from me. We both keep quiet after I put my earphones on, wanting to listen to some soothingly calm music while I go through this. We are always like this even though we end up glancing at each other after a few seconds.

Then, we end up smiling.

And the assignment is left hanging—typical.

So, we're trying our best to not use each other as a distraction. I glance at my phone and see a text message coming in from Maya but I ignore it, continuing to type on my laptop.

Hours and hours passed, I take a look at the time and realise how it's almost midnight. Within seconds, I glance up at Emmet once more and see him looking down at his laptop screen with droopy eyes—which shows how tired he is. Then, he runs his fingers through his thick brown hair before drinking his water.

I put my earphones away, ''You tired?'' I ask, stretching.

He looks up at me, ''You can say that. I'm halfway there though,'' He sighs. This time, he glances at his phone to look at the time. Then, a frown appears, ''I don't have class tomorrow, do you?''

''I do,'' I furrow my eyebrows before dropping my head on the table, groaning. I hear him chuckling and I just lift my head, envy showing in my eyes—slowly closing the laptop, putting it to sleep, ''Lucky you, boyfriend, tomorrow is still hell for me.'' I mutter.

''Don't think of it that way, I'll be sending you as usual. I can wait for you and finish this assignment at the library if you want,'' He looks at me, replying.

I take a few seconds to think before nodding my head, ''That'd be great.''

He smiles, ''You should go to bed, I'll be joining you in a few.''

Slowly, I peck onto his lips which makes him pull me by the waist and end up kissing me a bit longer than a peck. I end up chuckling at the end, ''Go before I prevent you to.'' He says, and I pretend to quickly walk towards the bedroom—which he finds amusing.

After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I head straight towards bed, enjoying the softness of the mattress and the pillows; if only I don't have to wake up early tomorrow, that'll be great. That'll be perfect—if only tomorrow is the weekend.

Within seconds, I am already slowly drifting into sleep with the familiar brown eyes in my mind—surely doesn't belong to Emmet but to the unknown stranger this morning.

Then, I turn to see Emmet wrapping his arms around my waist, kissing me on the cheek before pulling me close and we end up sleeping while enjoying each other's embrace.