A Moment Too Close

The kitchen had settled into a comfortable warmth, filled with the rich aroma of whatever Alishia was cooking. Arthur found himself lost in the rhythm of the moment—her quiet instructions, the clinking of utensils, and the occasional teasing remark when he fumbled something. It was strange how natural this felt.

"You're surprisingly decent at chopping vegetables," Alishia mused, watching as he carefully sliced through a carrot.

Arthur scoffed. "I trained with swords. A knife isn't much different."

She rolled her eyes. "Only you would compare cooking to combat."

Arthur smirked, but he didn't argue. He had never thought much about cooking, but there was something oddly soothing about working alongside her, the casual back-and-forth making it feel effortless.

"Alright, taste test," Alishia said suddenly, scooping up a spoonful of sauce and holding it out toward him.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "You expect me to just—"

"Unless you want to risk ruining all our hard work?" she challenged, a playful glint in her eyes.

He hesitated but leaned in slightly. Before he could take the spoon, Alishia misjudged the angle and bumped it against his lower lip. A bit of sauce smeared across his skin.

"Oh—oops," she muttered, stifling a laugh.

Arthur sighed, taking the spoon from her and finally tasting it. "Not bad."

"Not bad? Excuse me, but that's—"

Before she could finish, she caught sight of the small smear of sauce left on his lip. Without thinking, she reached up and swiped it away with her thumb.

Arthur froze.

Her fingers barely brushed against his skin, but the touch sent a sharp jolt through him. The room suddenly felt much smaller, the air thick with something neither of them could quite name.

Alishia, realizing what she had just done, quickly withdrew her hand. "Uh—sorry, I—"

Arthur swallowed, feeling a strange heat creep up his neck. "It's... fine."

For a few seconds, neither of them moved.

Then Alishia cleared her throat. "I should—um, check the stove."

"Right," Arthur said, forcing himself to focus on something—anything—other than the way his heart had just reacted.

She turned away, busying herself with stirring again, but there was a slight tension in her movements. Arthur exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck.

This was getting complicated.

And he wasn't sure he minded.

A little while later, after finishing the meal and doing a rough clean-up, Arthur sat back against the couch while Alishia scrolled through her phone. Max, as usual, had claimed his spot curled up beside her, tail wagging lazily.

"You're staying longer than usual," she remarked without looking up.

Arthur shrugged. "Not much to do at my place."

"Mm."

A comfortable silence followed.

Then, out of nowhere, Alishia suddenly burst into laughter.

Arthur blinked. "What?"

She turned her phone toward him, showing a picture—one that Luke had just sent in their group chat. It was an old photo from middle school, back when Arthur was even quieter, his hair messier, and his usual blank expression even more unreadable. Luke had captioned it:

"Proof that Arthur was once a mysterious emo phase kid."

Arthur groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I swear, he's on a mission to make my life miserable."

Alishia was still laughing. "No, but seriously—this is hilarious. You looked like you were one bad day away from writing song lyrics on your arm."

Arthur scowled. "I did not."

Alishia grinned. "I bet you did."

Arthur huffed, grabbing his phone. "I'm blocking him."

Alishia swiped it from his hand. "Oh, no you don't. This is gold."

He gave her a flat look. "You're enjoying this way too much."

"Absolutely."

Arthur sighed in defeat, shaking his head. Luke would never let him live this down.

Still… when he glanced at Alishia, still smiling as she scrolled through their chaotic group chat, he found that—despite the teasing—he didn't actually mind.

Not even a little.

They ended up watching some random movie, one neither of them was paying much attention to. Max had fallen asleep, his soft snoring filling the otherwise quiet room.

Arthur stole a glance at Alishia. She was leaning back against the couch, her fingers absentmindedly running through Max's fur.

"How come you never hang out with Luke outside of school?" she asked suddenly.

Arthur blinked at the sudden question. "I do."

"Barely," she countered. "I mean, yeah, you talk in class, but it's different from this." She gestured between them. "I don't think I've ever seen you just relax with him."

Arthur considered that. It wasn't like he avoided Luke, but their dynamic had always been different. Luke was loud, social, always surrounded by people. Arthur had always been more withdrawn.

"I guess... I never really thought about it," he admitted.

Alishia tilted her head. "You should. He's your best friend, y'know?"

Arthur nodded slowly.

Silence stretched between them again, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

Then, Alishia yawned, stretching her arms above her head. "Okay, I think I'm officially out of energy."

Arthur took that as his cue to leave. "I should get going then."

She walked him to the door, Max trailing sleepily behind her. As Arthur stepped outside, she hesitated for a moment before saying, "Hey, this was nice."

Arthur turned back to her. "Yeah. It was."

She smiled. "Goodnight, Arthur."

"Goodnight, Alishia."

As he walked back to his apartment, he found himself thinking about what she had said—about Luke, about their friendship, about the way she had looked at him when she wiped the sauce off his lip.

Yeah.

This was definitely getting complicated.