How to Catch a Fish (ManxMan)

Chapter Seventeen: Demons Don't Cry

~Chapter Seventeen: Demons Don't Cry~

When I wake up after a few hours of dreamless sleep, it is to Nero sliding his hand up and down my side in such a way that I almost just go back to sleep. It is comfortable, and he is warm, which is all I need to start dozing again. However, even if I probably need it, I probably do not sleep for more than another twenty minutes before Nero shakes me awake gently.

"We need to leave for breakfast soon," Nero warns, though at least he sounds apologetic about waking me up. Though, the moment I glance over my shoulder at him, as our positions do not seem to have changed at all through the night, and catch sight of the light bruising around his nose, I instantly feel guilty.

"I didn't break it, right?" I ask quietly.

To my relief, Nero shakes his head, though it does little to actually ease my guilt since I still hurt him enough to make it bruise. Of course, his nose is not swollen and is already almost fully healed, but I still hurt him because of a stupid nightmare. Should we even be sleeping together if something like that could happen again?

"It's not your fault, Atasah," Nero says, and, for a split second, I wonder if he is able to read minds. However, I know that I was likely just revealing too much with my expressions. Nero, though, looks deceptively neutral when he asks, "How often do you have nightmares?"

I fail to hide my grimace. "Sometimes," I reply dismissively, and immediately try to push his arms away so I can get up. Unfortunately, he does not let go.

"What did I warn you about lying?" He asks, forcing me to turn over until I am on my back by shifting our body weight until he is above me. And then he pauses, his eyes narrowing at the space above my head before they widen in what looks like surprise. "When you said you were just watching too much TV, that was a lie, wasn't it? The nightmares have been keeping you up."

How does he even remember that?

I buck up with my hips in an attempt to make him get off, wanting to leave so I do not have to deal with this, but he grabs my wrists and holds them at an awkward angle by my head that prevents me from using them for leverage while his thighs tighten around my waist. "I wasn't lying," I snap, because I really was not.

"Then you've been staying up to avoid the nightmares," Nero deduces, and it does not sound like a question, so I try to buck him off again. All this does is lead to him resting more of his weight on my stomach until it almost starts to hurt. "How often do you have nightmares, Atasah?"

I turn my head to the side and stare at the wall of windows that is now covered by dark blue curtains - he had them installed just before the engagement party for privacy, and he has not taken them down since - unwilling to look directly at him lest he figure out the answer from something he sees in my face. He, of course, does not let it go so easily. "Atasah, this is very important, and if you do not answer my question, I will punish you," he warns.

"It wasn't important before last night," I point out unhappily. He had said we would talk about it a week ago after I almost suffocated from the last nightmare he witnessed, but he never brought it back up again, so it was clearly not important back then. And if that was the case then, why can he not ignore it now?

"I put off this discussion in order to wait for the last of the guests to leave, as it would have been bad if they interrupted us in the middle of our talk or anything that followed," Nero says, speaking slowly. "I clearly made a mistake, though, when I did not immediately approach you with the departure of the last guest and instead gave you time to figure out how you felt about all of this."

He suddenly lets go of one of my wrists, but before I can move it, he rests his forearm against it, pinning it in place. Nero then uses his freed hand to force my face towards him, though I keep my eyes averted. When he leans closer so that his nose is practically touching mine, though, my eyes flicker up to his, and then he has me trapped as he stares back.