The Little Crow

Chapter Forty Six - [Trust]

When Niall woke up, his arm around her body and his face pressed against the top of her head, for a moment he thought he was dreaming. At the very least, he thought he may have been in that blissful state between being asleep and being awake.

However, as he slowly came too, the memories of the night before returning, his first reaction was to panic. Then, he forced himself to relax, reminding himself that they had not gone past kisses that night, and even if they had, she had agreed to this. She was okay with this.

She wanted to be here.

After slipping out of Thea's arms and seeing that it was six in the morning, meaning that the two of them had only slept for about two or so hours last night, he pulled the curtains at his windows shut to keep the room dark so Thea could get a little more sleep. Then, he proceeded to clean up.

Thea's hair was still all over the bathroom floor, so after freshening himself up and showering, he proceeded to put all of it into a box, including the strands he swept up from the floor. Generally it was tradition for Elorian women to have their hair burned after a cut and Niall didn't really know what Thea wanted to do with the hair, putting it in a box for the time being seemed like the safest bet.

Once that was done, he changed into his uniform, though keeping his jacket and tie off for the time being, set aside some extra toiletries for Thea to use when she woke up, including a new towel and toothbrush, and left the bathroom.

Thea was still fast asleep, the sight of her making Niall smile before he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

After returning the broom to the closet, he made his way into the kitchen for some breakfast and coffee. However, when he heard the shuffling of papers coming from the living room, he made his way there.

Julian was sitting there, flipping through some pages in one of his many folders.

"Good morning," Niall said, drawing Julian's attention up from his papers.

"Morning, Sir," he responded. "I hope you don't mind, I let myself in."

Though for the first time in forever, Niall did mind, seeing as Thea was sleeping in his bedroom, he didn't hold any hard feelings towards Julian. How would he have known that Niall would go from dismissing his feelings as being inappropriate to just a few days later, kissing her for hours on end the night prior. "It's fine," Niall said. "Can I get you a coffee?"

"That would be lovely."

Niall took pride in his coffee making, he made a great cup of coffee, so he got to it with pleasure, getting some ready for Thea as well. When Mrs. Aye showed up with her fresh bread, Julian answered the door for him, which Niall was relieved about. Just like the last time Thea slept over, he wouldn't be surprised if someone in the building had noticed her and passed on the news to Mrs. Aye... and frankly, Niall wasn't in the mood to be discussing a wife.

So after Julian handed him the bread, Niall sliced it up, put it on a board with the jams he knew Julian liked, before bringing it over with their coffees, setting it down on the coffee table.

When Niall took his seat in his usual armchair, coffee in hand, Julian reached out and grabbed some of the warm bread and began spreading the strawberry jam over it. "Doing some morning cleaning?" he asked.

"What?" Niall asked before sipping his coffee.

Julian jerked his chin towards the closet. "I saw you return a broom to the closet," he said. "Were you up early cleaning?"

Niall lowered his coffee a little, looking at Julian. "No... just..." There was a storm forming in his mind as he contemplated how he would approach the next topic. He had no choice, of course, seeing as Thea would be joining them at any point now. So he exhaled. "Thea's here."