Love is Never Blind

Chapter Thirteen

"Why are you doing this?" she asks him from under her breath.

Because I feel indebt to you, he thinks.

Because I'm freaking in love with you.

He huffs. "I'm doing this because you're my friend, Naomi. As a friend, I want to be there for you. I don't want you to feel like I'm pitying you, I want you to know that I'm here for you, so you're staying here." 

She opens her mouth to protest but is instantly stopped by him. "And before you say otherwise, let me tell you that I'm not changing my mind. We're going to the academy tomorrow to get your stuff."

"Please don't do this," she says shaking her head. "Please don't make me feel indebt to you. The last time I felt this way towards someone, I ended up giving them my vision. You don't understand that I gave nothing to repay you with."

"You don't need to repay me," he says rubbing soft circles into her cheek using his thumb. "You being here for me is enough, and now I want to be here for you. In these past three or four weeks, you've made me do stuff I've never known I was capable of doing."

It's true.

He's started laughing.

He's started dancing.

He's started falling in love.

Theo shakes his head at that last thought. "Please Naomi," he pleads. "Let me be here for you. Maybe helping you will help me get over the guilt of what I did to those women all those years ago. Please," he pleads cupping her face in his hands.

She smiles slowly and nods in an attempt to show him that she understands. She understands because she's just like him, feeling indebt to her past. "Okay," she says pulling him into a hug. "I'll stay here."

"Great," he says hugging her back. As reluctant as Theo is from physical contact, he needs this. He needs to know that he's rectifying those mistakes he committed ages ago. "Thank you," he says nuzzling his face into her chest.

"You thank people too much," she says still locked up in the embrace. "It's me who should be thanking you, and as a sign of gratitude, I will be paying half your bills on...everything."

"That's not necessary," he says making his way towards the living room and plopping down on the couch, only to have Naomi follow him and bang her shin against his mahogany coffee table.

"What the freak!" she hollers in pain. Theo quickly walks over to her side to help her. He wraps one hand around her thighs and the other around her back.

"Thanks," she says as he hoists her up and carries her over to the sofa. "Theodore," she says as he sets her down. "It's probably just a small bruise. It's not going to kill me or anything."

"We'll see about that," he says rolling up her pants. There's a dark red patch of skin just below her knee, a sign indicating she has a bad bruise. 

"I'm so not going to feel that in the morning," she says sarcastically. Grasping onto Theo's shoulder, she attempts to stand up, only to wince from the sharp pain.

"Sit down," Theo says forcing her back onto the couch. He walks over to the refrigerator and rummages through it, hoping he has a fresh bag of ice. "Here," he says handing it over to her. "Use this, it should get better in a few hours."

"Thanks," she says with a smile. "I'll sleep here tonight," she adds. 

"The hell you will," he says with a scowl. "You can sleep on the bed. I'll take the couch tonight. We can figure something out tomorrow."