A/N: Hallo from da udder side.
This is my new catchphrase. Ugh. I need help.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading and supporting me <3 let's see where it all goes.
Gif on top is bae in the form Kenneth prefers. Blonde and what not. *Shrug*

————

"Uh..." I blink at the smiling faces of Damon and Ophelia as they grin at me mischievously from their position at my doorway. "Aren't you guys meant to be at work?"

"We could say the same to you," Ophelia says as she raises both eyebrows with Damon simultaneously copying the motion. I stifle a laugh at their eyebrow deficiency. "What's this I hear about you quitting?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I shrug and look down at my John Green novel. The Fault In Our Stars. Oh, Augustus Waters...

They make their way into my room without preamble. Now that I think about it...who let them in? Georgia didn't alert me about anyone coming to visit (plus she's been in her room, catching up with Netflix) and Dad is out, taking care of some things at his garage. So that could only mean one person...

"What's good babe?" Vanessa grins as she struts into my room, "You never told me Damon had such a rad sister."

"Rad?" Damon furrows his eyebrows like the thought is absurd. "Since when is Ophelia rad?"

"The better question is; since when does anyone even use that word?" I raise an eyebrow at Vanessa. She ignores me and sits on my bed. Then she grabs my laptop from its position on my nightstand and sits down next to me.

Ophelia sits on my bed beside Vanessa's feet and Damon makes his way to my study table. He sits on the chair and picks up my lucky pen. Then he starts twirling it around.

Something about this scene is familiar. Bunch of people in my room. The only difference is that the people were female blonde elites in cheerleading uniforms who preferred to gossip about boys and make evil remarks about pretty girls.

That's one part of my life that I'm not eager to get back to or even think of missing.

"To answer your question," Ophelia snaps me out of my reverse Deja Vu moment, "I don't have work today and Damon decided to quit."

My mouth drops open in shock just as I hear the distinct sound that comes from my laptop clattering to the floor.

"Are you insane?!" I shout at Vanessa just as she shouts the same to Damon. I can feel a migraine coming on.

"No," Damon defends himself and Ophelia squats to pick up my hopefully not broken laptop, "I have my reasons."

"Why would you quit?" Vanessa wails. "You made cinnamon rolls like a god and now, I'm back to mediocre ones."

"You could always settle for muffins. That's one thing Kenneth bakes like a pro," I point out. She rolls her eyes but nods in agreement before taking the laptop away from Ophelia.

Damon huffs but even I can see his reluctant admittance at the fact. "Anyhow, I had to quit. I took the job to improve my cooking and my mentors are always out doing God knows what. It's a waste of time, to be honest."

"He wants to be the next Cake Boss," Ophelia rolls her eyes.

"Kitchen Boss, actually."

"Same difference."

I laugh at the siblings and Vanessa continues to sulk as she browses through my laptop for a movie to watch. Nothing broken or cracked. Thank you, God.

"So how are you going to make my Iftar?" I bookmark my page and focus my full attention on him. "As much as I don't really hate Kenneth, I'm not in the mood for his average samosas."

Damon practically turns to a light beam. "Easy. I'm here. Aren't I?"

There's a stretch of silence as we stare at each other with grins on our faces. We aren't too close but there's a tinge of hormones in the air and my chest feels like it's on fire in the best possible way.

"At this rate, they'll be making brain babies like Athena," I vaguely hear Ophelia stage whisper to Vanessa.

A blush envelops my cheeks. I quickly avert my gaze from his and stand up. "Alright, guys. Get up and get out. I need to pray."

"Oh cool," Ophelia gushes. "I've always wanted to see a Muslim pray in person!"

I blink at her. Then I turn to Vanessa for help.

"You're not getting any help from me," she says and she doesn't even look up at me. "Let the girl see some prayers in action."

"Yeah," Damon murmurs quietly. I ignore the butterflies in my stomach at the thought of Damon watching me pray.

Even Kenneth never watched me pray. I always managed to push him out and he always respected my wishes.

Seems like Damon isn't particularly willing to obey.

I swallow and nod before walking into my bathroom. Then I perform my ablution; wash hands three times, rinse mouth three times, lightly snort water there times, wash face three times, wash arms starting from the right to the left three times, douse hair in a bit of water, run wet fingers over the ears, wash feet starting from the right to the left three times...

...Basically, the whole shebang.

I look at my reflection, take a deep breath, and walk into the room, I can clearly hear Jack Dawson's voice. Obviously, they're watching the Titanic. Well, Ophelia and Vanessa are watching the movie, side by side. Damon is busy playing with my pen.

I ignore the burning gazes on my face as I set up my prayer mat in the right direction. Then I pull my large hijab over my head and crack my knuckles.

"This is so cool," Ophelia murmurs and Damon hushes her. I pretend like my heart isn't a sudden gymnast.

"Can you guys please not stare at me like some kind of exhibition?" I sigh instead.

Of course, they don't obey me.

———

"So why aren't you working?" Damon whispers to me as we watch all the Harry Potter movies. We're still on Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone and I'm seeing why I've always had a soft spot for Draco Malfoy.

My Dramione heart is starving. I should read some fanfics later.

I turn to look at him. We aren't sitting too close together that our thighs can actually connect but we're still a bit close. Vanessa is sitting on the couch with Ophelia and they're eating popcorn like it's a competition.

It probably is.

I drop my voice to a whisper. "Because I'm tired of Venus and Kenneth."

I don't tell him that it's because Mr. and Mrs. Hall begged me to take their son back for vague reasons. I also don't tell him that it's also because I don't have the energy to keep putting Kenneth down with my words.

Or texts.

Damon nods. "That's part of the reason I quit," he chuckles quietly. "Those two can be a real hand full."

"Uh-huh," I smile at him. "How will they survive without us?"

"They should live with it," he smiles down at me. He has a slight mustache on his face but it's pretty cute. I break our gaze and turn my attention back to little Hermione Granger.

I'm suddenly very aware of how close Damon seems to be getting. If I move an inch, our thighs would be one. I give him a look but he looks pretty interested in what he's watching.

I brush it off as paranoia and continue to watch my movie.

Damon yawns loudly.

Ophelia rolls her eyes and turns her head to look at us. "Damon, do you want some popcorn?"

"I told you I'm fasting, shut up and let Rupert Weasley speak," Damon grumbles.

"It's Ronald, you Harry Potter illiterate. You're almost as bad as Venus." Ophelia shoots back just as my mouth opens in shock.

...Did he just say...he's fasting?

No one pays my flytrap of my mouth any attention as they all go back to watching the movie. I turn to Damon—hey, was he this close a minute ago?—and I raise an eyebrow.

"Did you just say you're fasting?" I don't beat about the bush. I go straight to the point like a Rihanna minion.

Damon nods. "Well not exactly. But I'm trying it out," he grins, "It's a pain because I'm so hungry right now but then again...I don't think I mind much."

I can't help the smile that tugs at the corner of my lips. "That's...pretty cool of you."

He nods. "I try."

Something tells me that there's more to Damon's sudden urge to fast but I ignore it and quickly look away so that he won't see the full force of my blush. Thank goodness that the curtains are drawn over the windows. It isn't too bright.

There's companionable silence for a moment and I let my thoughts go as I concentrate on one of my favorite movies.

Damon yawns, but it isn't loud this time. From my peripheral vision, I see him raise both arms into the air.

I watch as he drops one arm behind my head.

...Oh...my...God.

He did not just do that.

I look down at his fingers. They're twitching over my shoulder but they aren't quite touching it. My mouth drops open in surprise and I look up at him.

He's still watching the TV screen with such intensity that I almost believe he's paying attention to it. But even I can see the anxious look on his face along with the slight blush marring his features.

"Damon," I get his 'attention' and I clear my throat, "Are you trying to make a move on me?"

If tomatoes are red, then Damon must be a tomato despite his olive skin tone. "Y-yes? I mean...if it's okay with you?"

Oh, this boy won't be the death of me. How is his stutter so cute? Oh my goodness.

I hope my face isn't as red as his. "Sure...it's very okay with me."

He nods slowly like he's confirming it in his head. "Uh. I'm going to hold you in a platonic way...but in my head, I'm going to imagine it's not?"

I almost laugh at the resolution in his eyes. Instead, I settle for a grin. "Whatever floats your boat, Steroid Pillow."

He smiles lightly at me and nods. Then his fingers lightly grasp my shoulder like I'm a feather. It's such a small gesture but it's so sweet and I think my heart can't handle anymore of Damon's... Damonness.

We stare at each other for a while. His eyes don't flicker away from mine and I take a deep breath. He looks away first but he applies a bit of pressure to his hold on my shoulder.

I feel like porcelain. A breakable plate. Fine china. You get the idea.

Then I slowly lift my hand and intertwine his fingers with mine. I ignore the fireworks in my veins and I pretend like I'm nonchalant about all this.

I hear a scoff. It sounds like Vanessa. "There they go, keeping it PG."

I ignore the blush on my cheeks. Vanessa doesn't even spare me a glance. She just continues to shove popcorn in her mouth as she stares at the TV.

"I know right," Ophelia murmurs, "Keeping it halal."

"You're already learning Islamic terms. Good sister in law qualities," Vanessa chuckles.

"Not my fault," Ophelia chuckles along. "Damon bought this Arabic-English dictionary and he's been trying to learn Arabic words."

Damon wins the world record for Greatest Blush Present On Fingertips. I think my cheekbones are melting from their blatant teasing.

"That's adorable," Vanessa hums. "Her new lock screen wallpaper is one of Damon's selfies."

Forget it. I'm going to strangle Vanessa later. After my blood goes back to all the right places.

"That's nothing. Damon—"

"Can we please watch this movie in peace?!" Damon quickly cuts off his devilish Slytherclaw sister with a pointed glare. "Please?"

They share some sort of twin telepathic magic mumbo jumbo and finally, Ophelia pouts in defeat.

"Fine," Ophelia sighs. "Let's keep watching and leave the love birds to their elementary love."

And I thought she was so nice...

Vanessa huffs in agreement but sends me a sly look. I ignore it and fix my gaze on the TV.

There's silence for a while. Ophelia and Vanessa don't look our way. They continue to watch the movie in peace.

Damon squeezes my fingers lightly. I ignore the blush on my cheeks and smile. Then I lightly squeeze his fingers; my own way of returning the gesture.

"Athena brain babies?" Vanessa pipes up through a mouth full of popcorn. I jump a bit and Damon tenses.

How did she catch us?! We were being discreet! She didn't even look our way!

"Uh-huh," Ophelia says in a tone that suggests agreement as she chews on the popcorn in her mouth, "Diadem and Damon brain babies."

a/n: you're so beautiful. Bare with me, I have to keep this in the halal zone...at least, for now, ;) let's see

Love you x

Gif of Damon because why not?