21 - Feng Shui

[John's POV]

"Our room is a mess, Lexi!" I exclaim and we both turn heads. Oh, it's absolutely atrocious. How could I ever let myself do this?!

"Lozzi…" He rests a hand at my shoulder, "It's really not. It's spotless."

He's right. There is nothing on the floor apart from our shared collection of shoes. Nothing out of place. On the desk, not a single utensil is out of line. Everything is pristine.

"Then why did you say that?!" He exclaims. I point to our bed setup. "Oh…" His entire face droops. "We have ourselves a dilemma…"

"Nothing a little feng shui can't fix!" I'm formulating everything in my head. We'll straighten the sheets, move those bedside tables to the edges of the room, smash those measly double beds together, oh, a few wall decorations would be nice! Yeah. Cool. I give him a sheepish glance as he ruffles his hands through his hair. "What? You nervous?"

"No, I just--" He inhales, "I hate hurting myself on furniture, and there's a lot to move!" He rubs his face and laughs.

"Well this is just painful to watch…" A voice is lingering by the door which we left open accidentally. I turn around. It's Angie. Alex goes straight in for the attack. At least it's not violent.

"Angie! Hello! Would you please get out of here before you smash yourself on one of these things?!" He races up to her and pants.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when you want help!" She smirks and strolls in the opposite direction. He slams the door shut.

"I don't wanna see her laughing at us…" Oh damn. My poor sensitive Lexi has so much insecurity…. Thank goodness I'm a literal gumball machine of positivity.

"You kicked her out!" I come close and mess up his hair. "You kicked her out!" I tickle his chest and he giggles like a happy kid on Christmas, flopping onto his bed. He curls up in a ball and laughs for a solid three minutes before getting up and composing himself. I turn to his exhausted face. "I was gonna join you, but see, that is what is at stake." He nods his head and we grab my bedside table that sits in between the two beds. It isn't that heavy. Not for two people anyway. Within fifteen minutes we've sorted out that portion of our feng shui dilemma. All that's left is the beds. I try pushing mine in, but for some reason, it's extremely hard to move. Alex sees the sweat on my face and knows immediately that he has to help. It takes two to tango, but also two to move furniture, it seems. With his assistance, everything is done lickety-split. Everything feels so much better. I don't think Alex knows it, but I can feel the surge of calm in the air. The sun is shining with such a beautiful golden colour that my eyes suddenly shift there, transfixed.

"Do you like the outdoors?" Alex hugs me and whispers.

I can't respond. It's mesmerising.

He squeezes my shoulder tighter and I'm shocked with a cramp. "Oh, ouch, Alex!" I massage my shoulder and spin on the spot to face him. "Not really, but it's just too good to pass up on."

"Yeah, makes sense…" He gestures to the new arrangement, beaming.

"Later, Lexi, later…"

"Why, Lozzi?" He sits on the edge of it.

"I've got things to do, like massage my shoulder, eat dinner, work a bit, watch television, plus, it's too early to even think about sleep!"

"You can skip dinner! I did that often for five years." He half-smiles and looks at the floor. "But I understand."

"You did that for five--"

"I was an orphan. Remember?" I meet his gaze. I've practically forgotten because he's settled in so smoothly. He breaks the moment. "I'm gonna go shower." He grabs his things, walking in and sighing.

Well, at least it worked for me. It took me seconds to slumber. Surprisingly, for him, it still took him hours. I don't even think he's next to me… Yeah, no. He's pulling out an all nighter. The bright flashes of his computer screen startled me up.

"What are you doing…?" I mumble. He swivels around on the swivel chair.

"Working. I won't be long…" He whispers, glasses on.

"Oh, give it a break! You were the one that said--" My body shut off, settling into the darkness.