(18+) The Guest (Complete)

Ch. 80: Reality sinking in

"Hi," I answered quietly and held back a sniffle. After what happened at the hospital, I felt like shit. Michael had no blame in this, and he probably needed me more than ever to get through it all. But the image of him and her together was haunting me like a nightmare.

"I'm sorry," I said, but he just shook his head. Then he came over and slowly sat down next to me. It looked like he wanted to place his hand on my thigh, but didn't dare. We just looked at each other and tried to decipher how the other one felt, what kind of thoughts we had, and where we would go from here. I knew things were fragile right now, but my heart told me that we would be walking the bumpy road together.

I gave him a vague smile and he gave me an equally small one back, and I drew a deep shaky breath before I turned in my seat and moved closer to him.

"I love you," I whispered and wrapped my arms around his neck. Then I cried silently in the crook of his neck. And even though I wasn't sure, I think he was crying, too. He hugged me tighter and kissed my hair.

"I love you more."

Then we let go without really looking at each other. I just cuddled up against his chest and felt the safety of his arms. And that's how we sat for a long time. No words spoken. Both in deep thoughts, but in desperate need of being close to each other.

"Do you think you can forget what you saw?" he said with a voice so low it was merely a whisper.

"I don't know."

Then there was silence again, before I turned to look at him.

"Are you okay?"

Both of us knew it was a deeper question than the words justified, and the way he looked away told me that the situation was about to sink in.

"I'm not sure how to deal with it," he said eventually, and I took his hand. Then I saw the bloody toilet tissue wrapped several times around it, and I searched his eyes for answers.

"What happened?"

But he just shrugged. He didn't want to answer, so I let it go. For now.

"I feel much better now that I'm with you," he sighed and tried to shift the focus on something else, but I wouldn't have it. I pulled him up from the couch and made him follow me to the bathroom. There he sat down on the toilet seat and let me clean the multiple cuts on his knuckles, and put on a proper bandage.

"We need a new mirror," he said with a little snicker that made me smile.

"Where?"

"Bathroom."

I shook my head after adding two and two together. Then I put the first aid kit away, before I took his other hand and lead him to Sophia's guest room. I'd lost count of how many times I'd stayed there during the years, so I almost felt like home. I just wished that the bed was bigger. But after we'd cuddled up in each other's arms with a sleeping Lilly between us, I was glad it wasn't bigger after all. I wanted closeness, and so did he.

Neither of us could sleep. Neither of us talked. We just lied there in silence and listened to our breathing. Sometimes it was synchronized. Sometimes it was not. And sometimes my breathing became strained and uneven while Michael wiped a few tears away from my cheek.