BLEACHED

89: A morning restart

Feeling a sting of brightness burn her eyes through her eyelids, Lavender struggles to open her eyes, only to have the light slipping out of the gap in the curtain and into her eyes.

She groans and moves her face from it as she sits up and rubs her eyes from the pain.

Feeling the restriction on her waist, Lavender glances down, only to notice it's only Domen with his arms tightly wrapped around her.

She eases her shoulders as she remembers what happened the previous night.

Domen had assured her he would fix everything at the campsite and took her to the nearest expensive hotel.

She insisted booking a cheaper one, since they wouldn't expect them to be there but Domen was still a man of pride and insisted getting a luxury suit.

Once they were behind closed doors, he poured his soul out to her, explaining how much he's missed her loud behavior and how them keeping their distance was hurting him.

Acting like strangers set him off.

She felt the same way, knowing all he was suffering reflected her own and as they soak in each other's stresses, they realized they've misses each other deeply.

One thing led to the other.

Biting her lower lip, Lavender reaches down to his forehead and gently brushed the hair from it and simply gives herself more to look at.

His peaceful expression.

She stares at him a bit longer, wondering why she's deeply in love with him when her stomach growls, making him groan a bit as he moves his head slightly.

She chuckles and slowly moves the blanket off her body as she walks over to the curtains and closes them, so that don't interrupt Domen before she makes her way to the phone.

Quietly picking the phone, the taps on the button that instantly connects her to the front desk.

"Yeah, I'd like some breakfast to room 204, yeah, for two... Okay thanks." She whispers and places the phone back before slowly making her way towards the sink.

Looking into the drawers, she pulls out a tumbler and fills it with water before chugging it down her throat, closing her eyes as she does so, feeling the water refresh every inch of her.

Her careless drinking causes a few drops of water to escape the grasp of her lips and slide down her chin, all the way down to her neck.

She doesn't try to wipe it off despite the tingling sensation as she continues to drink, only to flinch when her neck hurts from the water traveling down her body.

Reaching her hand to were it hurt, she can feel a tender spot that hurts even with just a stroke of her finger.

She set the tumbler down and walks towards the bathroom, planning to investigate what could be causing the pain when she steps into the bathroom and is horrified the moment her eyes find herself in the mirror.

Clearly Domen had lost all sense as a human and had developed dog-like instincts.

Her body is covered in faded pink bite marks with her neck facing the worse with clear bruising and teeth marks.

Clicking her tongue, Lavender opens the tap and pats the water against her skin, flinching when it stings, though not for long as her body gets used to it.

"Morning." The hoarse morning voice of Domen sends shivers down Lavender's spine as she turns her eyes towards the door through the mirror.

He'd just woken up, his eye bags are slightly puffed, eyes lazily trying to keep themselves open, and his hair pointing in all directions.