Hierarchy of Need [t.r]

Chapter Nineteen

"What are you doing?" He finally said, ignoring the tension he felt growing in his throat. He relaxed his muscles and leaned against the desk, rifling through some papers to appear casual. Delilah raised her head to look at him before it suddenly dawned on her. "Oh," she quickly rolled off the bed and landed on her feet. Looking at the spot she just recently occupied before staring at her feet.

She scratched at the base of her neck and looked around the room for a moment. The room was clearly Tom's, it was almost amusing. Everything was neat but had an undertone of chaos, mostly due to his messy yet organized desk. "I'll just go." Delilah gestured towards the door but her hand paused above the door handle. Turning towards him, she found him looking at her.

"Happy Birthday."

He bit his cheek. "Happy New Year's Eve." There was a beat of silence before Delilah dipped her head and left the room. Tom stared at the place where she had laid on his bed for nearly two minutes.

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Just as she left Tom's room, she bumped into someone. Looking up, it was Elio. He was frowning and poked at her cheeks a few times. "You're blushing." His eyes then wandered to the door behind her, and his frown deepened.

Delilah barely took in a breath and she could nearly taste the alcohol coming off him. "Merlin, how much did you drink? You've still got two hours till midnight." She chuckled but it slowly faded as she looked at him. Something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" She asked and watched as he slumped against the wall, rubbing at his face. He was still frowning. He sighed deeply before looking up at her. The lighting in the hall was poor, but his eyes were glossy and probably bloodshot.

"Do you love me?"

Delilah felt as if someone had reached a fist inside in her lungs and ripped the air from them. She stared at him dumbly, not knowing what to say.

Yes, is what she should say. But her lips stayed parted.

Elio closed his eyes tightly and hit his head against the wall a few times, muttering the word stupid over and over again. Delilah winced as she watched him.

"Elio-"

"No, no, listen." He stumbled over his words and slowly sunk to the floor, knees propped up to his chin. "I never know how to deal with you, you- you're a very hard person to please." He hiccupped halfway through his sentence. Elio kept his eyes focused straight ahead as Delilah walked over to him and sat down, leaning her head back against the wall.

She closed her eyes and sighed, she knew this would happen eventually. "I know, I'm sorry."

He shook his head and wiped at his eyes, "Don't." If she apologized, he'd probably scream till his throat bled. "I feel like I barely know you, but every time you look at me it's like I'm glass that you find kinda interesting."

He looked at her then, and she was so beautiful. The dim orange glow warmed her skin and lit her eyes up, and her hair fell in curled waves. "You never tell me anything, I never know if you're upset, or- or I don't know. Anything! And I feel like a piece of shit because I never know what you feel, and I should, that's my job. I'm supposed to recognize when something wrong."

He closed his eyes again once he saw the necklace he gave her hung around her neck and he hit the back of his head against the wall. "Did you ever feel anything? For me, I mean? At all?"

"Of course. I still care about you." With his eyes closed, he could really pay attention to her voice. She'd said it so sadly, she sounded pained. "I always will." Delilah felt her heart drop at the sight of him, he looked broken. And she was the cause of it.