❄️Chapter 5❄️

                                    

                                          
NICK
I waited some time for Carol to come out since it's been a while since she'd come out of the bathroom, coming straight to check up on me, hiding, thinking I didn't notice her.
I chuckled at myself, remembering her peaking from the doorway, she looked taken aback from what I could tell. 
I thought about saying something to get some funny reaction from her but by the time I wanted to, she was already gone.
I had finished washing the dishes a while ago, and I was currently sitting on one of the kitchen stools waiting for her to come out. "What am I doing here?" I asked myself, running a hand through my hair and sighing.
After waiting for quite some time, I finally got up and went to go look for her "Carol?" I called out and got not reply.
I continued calling out for her and got the same reply—nothing. Now I was getting a bit worried. 
I knew that it was just the two of us in her apartment, and the chance of something happening to her was slim, but stranger things had happened, right?
I finally made it to her room and knocked multiple times and after realizing that I wasn't going to be getting a response anytime soon, I slowly opened the door and entered backward with my eyes closed just in case she wasn't dressed and then kill me for coming in and seeing her like that and freak out over it. 
That did sound like a worthy death. I can't even begin to imagine how she would look without any clothes—
"Carol? Are you dressed? I'm going to turn around and open my eyes now." I warned, cutting my thoughts off. I already felt the heat behind my neck rising to my face.
The first thing I saw was Carol spread all over her bed while she snored lightly.
I laughed quietly and almost took my phone out to take a picture but figured that would be borderline creepy and something unnecessary concerning our relationship. Why would I want a picture of her asleep?
Because she looks cute and you're wondering how it would feel to hold her in your arms and—
I quickly shook my head to erased the thoughts I was having. I frowned at myself; I needed to get ahold of myself. 
I walked over to her and took a minute to take in her features. I usually tried my best to downplay how beautiful I thought she was to avoid getting caught staring, but right now, I didn't have to worry about that.
I tucked back a few braids that were in front of her face and resisted the urge to caress her cheek. Seriously, what was going on with me?
Her brown skin reminded me of the chocolate made by the elves back at home. It had a bronze glow every time she smiled or was talking about something that excited her, like the time she told me she'd love to go on a sleigh ride. 
I let out a long sigh and got up to take some blankets nearby and covered her with them to make sure she was warm. I was about to add another one when my phone rang loudly.
I fumbled around to find it, and I quickly answered it, glancing at Carol, making sure it didn't wake her up. Luckily, she just stirred a bit and then went back to how she was before, which allowed me to release a breath of relief that I hadn't realized I was holding.
I walked away from her bed to the corner of her room. "What is it?" I answered the phone, already knowing who it was. 
"Ouch, is that how you answer someone who's helping you?" Jake said. I didn't answer him and just leaned against the dresser waiting for him to continue.