Ctrl + Alt + Dalt (BxB)

Ctrl + Alt + Dalt + 13

"How long will you be there for?" I ask, slightly feeling as if he's holding something back. If he is, I can't be sure, but I won't pry into the matter.

"I don't know for certain, but I expect to return long before noon." He picks up my shirt from the floor and hands it to me. "You look exhausted, let's get you off to bed."

Even though I still want to do something more than sleep, I know that the mood has soured enough that I don't bother to insist any further. I give no protest as he guides me to a bedroom, until I see how barren it is—it's clean, of course, but there isn't much more than a bed and a wardrobe, so it's likely not his bedroom. I was very much hoping that we'd be sharing our nights together.

"Is this a guest room?" I ask, feeling slightly deflated.

"Yeah." He kisses my lips gently, perhaps as if to apologize. "I tend to rise much too early and I'd rather not disturb you."

"But—" I start to protest, but his lips interrupt me as they press into mine. He draws back, cupping my cheeks.

"No, buts. I want you to be able to sleep in—make up for all the sleep you've missed," he says, his palm gently pushing my chest until the backs of my knees touch the bed's silky duvet. He gives me a quick kiss before glancing over to the bed behind me. "Now, get some rest, before I'm tempted to kiss you—all night long."

We share a knowing kind of smirk before he leaves, shutting the door behind him. I go and turn off the light and strip down to my underwear. Almost as soon as I get under the sheets, I fade away, dreaming of Edmund's beauty and his perfection.

~ ~ ~

I wake to the muffled sound of a foreign siren blaring past from somewhere on a nearby street. Early morning light spills gently through the sides of the textured gray curtains that match the modern look of the bed that I'm still lying in. The faint hint of citrus cologne lingers all around me, mixing with an equally faint smell of some sort of breakfast perhaps. I check my phone. It's just about a quarter to seven in the morning.

Groggily attempting to wipe the fog from my vision, the cloudiness only seems to persist as I get up to get back into my clothes from the night before. The hardwood floors are like ice to the skin of my feet and I shiver slightly as I get dressed before going to see about my luggage and to see if I was right about smelling breakfast. As I open the door, my luggage bags are already standing to either side of me and besides the frame of the door—how thoughtful, Edmund must have brought them over for me.

I head down the hall to where there's a faint and unexpected rustle of footsteps followed by a clink of metal onto ceramic I hadn't asked what time Edmund's appointment was for, but somehow I got it in my head that he wouldn't be here even by this time. As I near, the scent of bacon grows stronger and I glimpse Edmund, rushing for the front door. He rummages through his pockets as if he's perhaps missing something and turns back, surprised as he notices me.

"Bit early for someone who's not slept in two days," he says, smiling, but with an obvious tone of disapproval. He jogs over to me and plants a quick kiss upon my lips before dashing into the living room to grab his keys off the top of an end table. He gives me another kiss before he jogs back to the front door, calling out, "I made you breakfast and I've left a spare set of keys in case you want to go for a walk."

"Thank you," I say as he opens the door. He pauses to pay me a smile.

"In a bit," he says before exiting. The door closes with a whoosh and the lock clacks as it reengages from the outside.

As I hear his footsteps jog away from behind the door, I'm left within the silence of his home and to the empty void that grows deeper within my chest—the loneliness tightens its grip around me, squeezing me, reminding me that it will never leave me in peace. I shuffle away, following the scent of bacon, hoping that the food will help cheer me up from the silent misery that lives within my chest.