The Man Clad in Black: Book Two

Gossip - Chapter 22

You woke up quite late the next morning - and of course, Erik was right there at your side, holding you up against him as he slept.

Wait... He was asleep?

It was one of those rare moments where this was, in fact, true. His face was pressed heavily against your neck and his arm wrapped tightly around you, and the fact that his eyes were closed shut and his breathing was quite soft said that he was asleep - however, he seemed to wake up only a few moments after you had.

You felt him squeeze the side of your waist as he gently pressed a kiss against your neck, moving your hair from out of his way to do so... and of course, you could just about feel him smile against your skin. Just because he felt like it - and simply because you were right there - he peppered a few more down your neck before he actually spoke, pulling you right up against him so that you would know that he was right there (even though that was pretty obvious).

"Morning," he said softly. One thing hat you immediately noted was that he had one hell of a morning voice.

You shifted a little to turn and face him, quite a large smile on your lips as you pressed a quick kiss against his lips.

"Morning, Erik," you smiled. You glanced down a bit when Erik had moved his hand to your shoulder, lifting the strap of your slip back into place, and it was only then when you realized that you weren't wearing your dress anymore.

"My God... did I drink anything?" you asked suddenly. "I don't recall -"

"You absolutely did," Erik said with a (fake) tone of worry in his voice. This was just his sense of humor kicking out again. "You drank two bottles of wine by yourself - I had to carry you back up here before you passed out in the hallway."

You almost really passed out just from what he said.

"What?" you breathed, sitting up after a moment and resting a hand on your forehead. You went a shade paler than you normally were. "We didn't... well, do anything, right?"

Erik had to chuckle at that one - and naturally, that gave away his entire scheme. He tried to keep up the act anyway.

"No, we absolutely did something," he said nonchalantly, biting back a smile... however, when he saw how truly mortified you seemed, he immediately gave it up. "By 'something,' I mean that I helped get you out of your dress and put you to sleep..."

That made you just a tad bit relieved... but of course, you gave him a playful swat for scaring you so badly.

"I didn't even drink, did I?" you asked. You found it ridiculous that you hadn't put two and two together just yet - Erik was still entirely clothed and you didn't feel any symptoms of a hangover...

Everything rushed back to you at once.

The events from yesterday ran over you like a stampede - everybody knew about your 'affair,' Matthew had lipstick on his collar, and Meg was pregnant.

"Oh, goodness..." you blinked, sitting up in place. You immediately swung your feet to the opposite side and stood up, massaging the bridge of your nose before you reached for your robe closest to you.

"What is it, [Y/N]?" Erik asked.

He could be a total sweetheart when he had to be.

"I have to attend to a few things," you said. Normally, Erik would question as to why you already had to leave, although he could tell from how distressed you were that it was quite important.