Zero O'Clock

Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

I awoke to the sound of a shower going off.

At the time it was far too early to decide whether or not I was dreaming, and why my eyes were shut rather than open. In fact, the only thing I could decipher that morning was that I was not in my own house; two things gave this realization away. 

 1) There was a very faint, almost indiscernible scent of cigarettes. Cigarettes being something that my father, nor my brother, nor any other relative in my family used. 2) Wherever I was, it was impossibly loud. With the shower head going off along with the muffled sound of a vacuum cleaner, followed by something scratching on the wooden floor, I knew such noise could not be in my house, a place ruled by my overbearing father who absolutely despised noise or anything associated with it.

It took me a moment or two to process that I was in Finn's house and that I had actually managed to sleep, and it took a whole minute for me to manage to open my eyelids and sit up.

It's an odd feeling to wake up from sleep, when sleep has been something so foreign and unknown to you. But despite the odd feeling that was coursing through my veins I was able to come to the conclusion that I, Edith Stamm, slept.

At first the realization scared me but it did not scare me nearly as much as Finn walking into his room with nothing but a towel around his waist and a bottle of water in his hands. I hadn't even realized he was no longer in the bed with me when I awoke, and I was unsure whether this was because I was just too shocked that I had actually managed to sleep or because I was too use to waking up on my own.

Finn smiled at me softly before setting the water bottle down one of the many bookstacks in his room.

"I thought you were still sleeping." His voice was calm and collected, while I on the other hand, felt frantic.

"I uh-." I scratched my head causing him to laugh as he began rummaging through a hamper in the corner of his room. "Did you sleep."

Finn stopped digging through the hamper for a moment before beginning again. I was unable to see his face.

"No, actually." His voice wasn't filled with sorrow though, nor was it filled with happiness or malice. It was simple and honest.

"I see." My voice faded out a bit making the "see" part of my sentence come out cracked and odd, but Finn simply laughed before taking out a few pieces of clothing.

"But you slept. and that's an accomplishment on it's own." Finn's voice sounded painfully kind, and part of me wished he could have been jealous or angry with me for sleeping, so that way the guilt that was slowly rising in the back of my throat would feel justified.

But Finn didn't give me a chance to ponder on this growing wish as he looked at me and said, "I'll be right back." before exiting his room.

I sighed for a moment before beginning to stretch my arms out but quickly stopping. I didn't want to "I just woke up" stretch if Finn couldn't do it with me. So I simply sat in his bed, his covers, barely covering my legs, as I waited for his return.