Chapter Five: Complications
1137 Words
It stopped feeling like a plan somewhere in the middle of the week.
Nora didn’t know the exact moment it changed.
Maybe it was the way her phone buzzed every morning now, and she didn’t even need to check to know it was him.
Or the fact that she didn’t hesitate anymore when she saw his name.
You up?
She stared at the message for a second, then typed back.
Obviously.
A reply came almost immediately.
Meet me in ten.
She rolled her eyes, but she was already getting out of bed.
“Bossy,” she muttered under her breath.
But she still went.
That was the problem.
It had become normal.
Too normal.
They didn’t talk about the “deal” anymore. Not really. It just… continued. Like something unspoken they both understood without needing to explain.
They showed up together.
Walked into places side by side.
Left together.
People stopped questioning it.
Now they just accepted it.
And his teammates—
They were worse.
“So when’s the wedding?” one of them asked loudly one afternoon as Nora sat in the stands again.
She groaned. “Please stop.”
“I’m serious,” he said, grinning. “You two are always together now.”
Another one joined in. “He’s never this consistent. Ever.”
Nora glanced at Ethan, expecting him to shut it down.
He didn’t.
He just shook his head slightly, like he was used to it.
“That’s not true,” he said.
“It is,” the first guy shot back. “You don’t even deny it anymore.”
Nora looked between them.
“Maybe he just likes the attention,” she said.
That got a few laughs.
Ethan looked at her then, one eyebrow slightly raised.
“Maybe,” he said.
There was something in his tone.
Something she didn’t fully understand.
She looked away first.
Later, after practice, they ended up at the same café again.
It wasn’t planned.
Or at least, it didn’t feel like it.
They just… went.
Like it was expected.
Nora sat across from him this time, her fingers wrapped around a warm cup. She watched him scroll through his phone, quiet for once.
“You’re not talking,” she said.
“You are,” he replied without looking up.
“That’s different.”
He glanced up then. “How?”
“You’re usually the one telling me what to do.”
A small smirk appeared. “You listen.”
“Barely.”
“Still counts.”
She shook her head, but a smile slipped through anyway.
It felt easy.
That was what scared her.
“Hey,” she said after a moment, more serious now. “How long are we doing this?”
There it was.
The question.
It hung between them.
Ethan didn’t answer immediately.
He set his phone down slowly, his eyes on her now.
“As long as it works,” he said.
“That’s not a real answer.”
“It’s the only one I’ve got.”
Nora frowned slightly. “We said a few days.”
“It’s been a few days.”
“And now it’s… what? Extended?”
He leaned back in his chair, calm as ever. “Do you want to stop?”
The question caught her off guard.
She opened her mouth—
Then paused.
Did she?
Her thoughts felt messy all of a sudden.
“I don’t know,” she admitted quietly.
That seemed to be enough for him.
“Then we don’t stop,” he said simply.
Like it was that easy.
Like it didn’t mean anything.
But it did.
At least to her.
She looked down at her drink, avoiding his eyes.
“People really believe it now,” she said.
“They were always going to.”
“No,” she shook her head. “This is different.”
He didn’t argue.
Because he knew she was right.
They left the café together, walking side by side. This time, their hands brushed.
Neither of them pulled away.
It stayed like that for a few seconds.
Then longer.
Until their fingers just… fit.
Nora noticed it.
Of course she did.
But she didn’t say anything.
Neither did he.
And that silence felt louder than anything.
“Movie night at Jake’s place tonight,” Ethan said casually.
Nora blinked. “Since when was that a thing?”
“It always is.”
“And you’re inviting me?”
“I didn’t say invite. I said you’re coming.”
She let out a small laugh. “You really don’t ask, do you?”
“No.”
She shook her head again, but there was no real argument in her voice.
“Fine.”
“Good.”
That night, his teammates were even worse.
“Look who showed up,” someone called the moment they walked in.
“Together, as always,” another added.
Nora rolled her eyes, but Ethan’s hand was already at her waist, steady and familiar.
It didn’t feel forced anymore.
That was the issue.
They sat together, close enough that their shoulders touched. At some point, someone threw a blanket at them, laughing about how “couples need it.”
Nora tried to push it away.
Ethan didn’t.
He just draped it over both of them without thinking too much.
“Seriously?” she whispered.
“It’s cold.”
“It’s not.”
“Then don’t use it.”
She didn’t move it.
That said enough.
The movie played, but Nora barely paid attention. She was too aware of everything else.
The warmth beside her.
The way his arm rested behind her, not quite touching but close.
The quiet way he leaned slightly toward her when something funny happened.
It felt… real.
Too real.
“Hey,” she said softly at some point.
“Hmm?”
“This is getting weird.”
“How?”
She hesitated. “It doesn’t feel fake anymore.”
He didn’t answer immediately.
She turned her head slightly, trying to read his expression.
He was already looking at her.
Calm.
Focused.
“That’s because we’re not forcing it,” he said.
“That’s not reassuring.”
“It’s not supposed to be.”
Her chest tightened slightly.
Neither of them looked away.
For a second, the room around them faded.
The noise.
The laughter.
Everything.
It was just them.
And something unspoken sitting between them.
Then someone shouted from across the room, breaking the moment.
“Yo, Cole! Stop ignoring us, man.”
Ethan leaned back slightly, the moment slipping away like it never happened.
Nora looked forward again, her heart beating a little too fast.
Neither of them said anything after that.
But the tension stayed.
And for the first time—
It wasn’t about pretending anymore.
It was about what they weren’t saying.
- Writer
