Chapter Five

Austin rang the bell on Nala's door hoping to see her get the door so he'd apologize.

"Oh, Good day Mr. Ben"

The look on his face showed he was surprised to see Nala's dad home. He thought he wasn't going to be home until Christmas. Her father was a contractor and he was never home. He was always moving to different countries trying to close deals for his firm so he barely had time to come home.

" Austin!" Mr. Ben ushered out his arms to squeeze him for a hug. "Come in, Nala's upstairs."

He came in and made sure to greet Mrs. Ben, who was busy in the kitchen. Their house was everything perfect to him, the decorations, the lights, and most importantly the fact they were still together. That was everything he dreamt of. He got to her bedroom and knocked twice.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Austin"

She opened the door halfway, hiding her body and just showing her face, " what are you doing here?"

"Can you let me in so we'll talk?"

"No, I'm busy"

"Come on Nala" He tried to push the door a bit

"Stop it" she pushed back " give me a minute, I need to cover up"

"Okay"

He waited as she locked her door and waited patiently. She tried to tidy up her room as fast as she could. What was he thinking, showing up at her place unannounced? He's lucky her parents knew him. She dressed up in her bed, quickly wore her red night gown which covered a fair part of her body and cleared other things she knew would make him ask questions.

"You can come in now" she opened the door to him as he came inside, looking around like it was the first time or he was looking for something. She just wasn't sure.

"It's been a while since I've been here," he said, pressing her bed softly and sitting on it

"Yeah, ever since you decided to act like a rabid dog"

"Hey, I wasn't that bad"

"Yeah you were" she sat on her chair right opposite him but farther from the bed

Him saw her laptop closed halfway with the Skype application running "You still video call him?"

"Uhh No," she ran across, closed her laptop quickly, and put it in her wardrobe. She knew he was right, she was on a call with her online boyfriend who doesn't stay in the same country as her and they had no plans of seeing each other. They just sex chat, have random video calls and she sends nude photos to him occasionally.

"What did I tell you about that guy?"

*You are in no place to tell me anything about anyone" She replied.

"Okay" He got off the bed and moved closer to her. Bent down so his face could be on the same level as hers. He could see her gulp down her saliva, he didn't know what that meant but he could tell she was nervous.

"I hope you aren't trying to repeat what you did today at school "

"And what did I do Nala?" He leaned forward slowly, till he was sure she couldn't breathe without him feeling it.

"You know Austin" her voice getting softer as he got closer to her. She couldn't tell why he had been this way with her. She didn't know if she liked this new version of Him or not. The one she knew before his mother's death was a scared person with no confidence whatsoever.

"I'm sorry about that too'' he stood up immediately, picking up his bag from her bed and making his way to the door. She felt a bit disappointed. He didn't try to grab her waist again or at least touch her. Why was she thinking this way "oh stop it" she quickly told herself.

"I missed you too you know"

She said to Him as they made their way down the stairs. He smiled at her

"I know you did, I'm your only friend in school"

"Don't sound cocky" she warned him "I could go back to not talking to you"

Getting to the door, he turned and just ended up staring at her without saying a word

"What is it, Austin?"

" Nothing, I'm just glad we are okay"

"Then stop being weird about it"

Just as Austin was about to leave, " why don't you join us for dinner?" Mrs. Ben beckoned him from the living room. He looked right back at Nala and she shook her head, urging him to decline.

"Sure Mrs. Ben, I'll love that "

Austin and Nala made their way to their dining table. The dining table was closely situated to the kitchen, so they could have a view of the kitchen from there.

"Let me help Mrs. Ben '' Austin made his way into the kitchen to assist her. She patted him on the back, thanking him. Nala had always been happy that her mum was comfortable with him but Her Dad has never had the chance to meet him and she was scared of the kind of impression Austin would leave, seeing that he was still going through a phase.

"Ohh, this smells good" Mr. Ben inhaled deeply as his meal was placed in front of him. Austin and Mrs. Ben took their seats and after they had a brief prayer, they all started eating. Amidst their meal, he would stare at Nala and smile. He couldn't remember the last time he had a fresh home-cooked meal. His dad was always ordering meals or having him eat the leftovers.

"So Austin, I bet you were surprised I recognized you," he said smiling. He was indeed surprised Mr. Ben knew him and his mind could only wonder how.

"my wife wouldn't stop talking about how much a good friend you are to my princess "

"Dad!!" Nala's cheek turned red as she attempted to stop her dad from saying things she wouldn't want Austin to know about. She showed Her dad a picture of Austin sometime in the past when he asked if she was making friends.

Mr. Ben laughed loudly, nearly choking on his meal.

Mrs. Ben grabbed the cup of water on the table and offered it to him "You shouldn't be talking while eating"

Clearing his throat " this is the first time I'm seeing Austin, let me make the most of it"

Austin couldn't help but plaster a smile on his face throughout his conversation with Mr. Ben, he made him feel comfortable regardless of it being the first time they were meeting. Everything was going fine right until Mr. Ben asked about Austin's parents and Mrs. Ben quickly grabbed his hands. With the look in her eyes, he understood.

"I'm sorry"

"It's fine sir" He stood up and Nala grabbed his hands immediately. She wanted to make sure he wasn't upset with the question her dad asked. " No, I'm fine, I promise."

"Goodnight, I'll need to hurry home, I have assignments to do" he lied and he felt bad about doing so. But he hasn't figured out how to get around his mother's death and to stop reacting when questioned about it. Nala saw him off, but she wasn't sure if he was okay. She left him a text hoping to see him the next day, they had a whole training drill planned out for him.