At your side

"Are you okay?! Wait! Let me help you." Eric panicked upon seeing her struggling to get up from floor as she was now wrapped around by the heavy blanket.

He immediately got off the bed and rushed towards her, but she gestured him to stay away.

"It's okay, I must've lost my balance. Please go back to sleep, I promise this won't happen again." She said while fidgeting her arms inside the cocoon to look for an opening but still couldn't.

"..If only you could...."

Eric sighed as he just realised how small the sofa was in comparison to her size and rubbed his forehead from frustration. He glanced at Ayana who was finally able to solve her petty mystery and immediately made up his mind.

He slid his arms around her knees and back and instantaneously pulled her up near to his solid chest.

'She... She's way more heavy than I'd imagined her to be. Urk! I'll probably need Sebastian to check my back later.' he mumbled to himself as he tightened his grip and started heading towards the bed.

"WHA?!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! PLEASE PUT ME DOWN!" She shouted while being wrapped and carried around like a baby.

"No. The sofa's too small for your size." He said with his gaze fixed at the path ahead. He couldn't show his struggling facial expression to her no matter what, as this might anger her even more by misunderstanding it as fat-shaming.

But little did he knew, Ayana still misunderstood his intentions as his face rather looked cold and frigid on outside as if her weight was a no big deal for him.

'He's unexpectedly very strong. Not that this is something to brag about but I am almost sixty kg in weight."

Ayana was impressed from his strength but still wasn't the type who would easily surrender.

"So are you saying I shall sleep with you instead?" She sarcastically scoffed.

"Once again you are misunderstanding me for a different person." He said monotonously as he placed her gently on the bed and stretched his back unnoticeably.

"Look. Would this be okay to you?" He continued as he leaned over her to grab something.

"I said get off me at once!" She screamed while unfolding herself when suddenly Eric replied back with his calmed voice.

"What? Can't you wait for a second? I am almost done."

"Excuse me?! What are you doing?..." Ayana yelled spontaneously and turned her head swiftly to look through the gaps and see what he was doing.

"A pillow wall?!" She muttered.

"Yes. Sigh, I thought it would be okay if I do this, but God, you've got zero patience.." he said while brushing his hair and streched his back once again. It's been a long time since he last went to gym.

"Th.. that's because you were leaning all over me. What reaction could you've expect?" She yelled again with embarrassed face.

"If I hadn't, you would've tried to crawl back to that miniature sofa, or even worse stay awake all night."

His final explanation left Ayana speechless since it was so accurate. Noticing her not arguing back this time, he let out a small chuckle leak from his mouth and placed his hands on the waist.

"Seems like I guessed it all correct. Not that I am trying to mock you or anything, I just want to say that you're safe when you're with me. I am not a lust-minded person, and I hope you believe in that too. The only thing I wish for is to get to know each other well since we'll be in a fake relationship very soon." He said with a gentle cheering smile.

"...But I haven't agreed to your deal yet." She was taken aback upon seeing his confidence. But his smile didn't fade.

"That's not a problem. I know you'll agree to it soon."

Ayana didn't knew how to respond to that. It appeared he was joking at first, but still even the slightest hit of agreement might end up in confirmation. He might be innocent and clumsy as Ayana guessed him to be earlier, but still that doesn't mean he's not clever.

"Uh...I think I am starting to feel sleepy now. Thanks for sharing the bed." In the end, she decided to stay neutral.

"No problem."

Once again she was left stupefied upon seeing such a brightly lit face despite all the lights turned off. The only source of light was the moonlight beam coming from windows, yet she could see everything so clearly, especially his face.

Her heart was thumping hard as Eric was just on the other side of this wall.

'Seriously, how can he expect me to stay at ease just by putting pillows between us?! I don't understand which one's the biggest fool among us. I hope it doesn't turn out to be me..' she wondered while tightly clenching the blanket close to her heart.

Just to reassure herself she took a quick peek behind her back, where she noticed Eric was sleeping straight while facing the ceiling like a statue.

'does he always sleep like that? Isn't that position too stiff?...?! Why does it matter to me anyway? I should rather focus on my sleep.'

The air cooled down as fresh breeze fluttered the light curtains of the room. The shore echoed with sea's lullaby while the blanket of sky recited the history of stars to the sleepless folks. The moon finally called her brother as she submerged herself into the horizon of sea and a vibrant orange ray dyed the whole sky.

It didn't take long when the children of mother nature started kicking alive again and hence another day come to a rise. A distant noise of seabirds singing reached Ayana's ears as she gently opened her eyes.

Strangely her left limbs felt more streched than before and had a tight grasp over something curvy and firm. She squinted her eyes and gently withdraw her hands off that fluffy surface and looked blankly at the white screen for quite a while.

She noticed the pillows were squished between them and she was very far away from her bedside edge.

The limelight finally struck her consciousness as she realised she had been holding Eric with her arm and leg all this time!