I hear light humming and I open my eyes. Steam fills the entire bathroom. I sit up trying to get the sleep out of my eyes. It takes me a moment to realize where I am and I just enjoy the light tune being hummed.
I hear the water on and someone humming. I quickly stand up, I can make out Sawyers silhouette through the foggy glass. He's showering, and he's humming and washing his hair. His tattoos are darker and I make my way closer.
What time is it? It must be really early, it's still dark out.
He finally turns his body and faces me. I guess he can make out my silhouette from inside and he sees me standing. He opens the glass door and his head pops out.
"Good morning." He says with a bright smile, water dripping from the ends of his curls to the floor. I stop walking right before his discarded clothes on the floor.
"Morning." I say barely above a whisper. My cheeks heat up. Sawyer doesn't seem to care that I can see everything. This seems too intimate and I'm uncomfortable. I think he notices and raises an eyebrow.
"You okay? Come here." He says and he extends his hand to me. Some unknown force moves my legs and I grab his hand. For some reason I thought he was going to check my temp, but no. He pulls me into the scolding hot water and I yelp out, not expecting him to do that. He starts laughing and I try to look anywhere but at him.
"My clothes! My clothes. They're drenched." I complain which makes Sawyer laugh louder and he pushes me directly under the now warm water. When he sees I'm not laughing he immediately stops laughing.
"You sure you're okay? You're acting strange." He says, studying me. Before I can answer he brings both of his hands on either side of my jaw, cupping my neck as well with his large hands. I feel his thumb softly caress my cheek.
"What's happening?" I ask, but it's drowned out by the deep breathes coming from the both of us and the pouring water. I look up at him, and he pulls me closer. Before I'm able to repeat the question his mouth collides against mine and I let it happen. My lips involuntary parting under his rough contact. Our tongues meet and I pull at his bottom lip, gently tugging. He groans and he presses me against the cold shower wall. He desperately tries to lift my shirt up.
My heart races as I stir awake. I try to remember where I am. My dream seeming awfully real. I'm still on the bathroom floor, no steam and no naked Sawyer.
I hate to say it, but I had the best sleep in my life. I never thought the hard bathroom floor could be so comfortable but it was. My back doesn't hurt, I am just well rested. I sigh relived that Sawyer is dead asleep beside me.
I lie back down and snuggle into Sawyer trying to find all his warmth but I hear him grunt as soon as my cold feet touch his back. I don't open my eyes and I feel his tensed back soften as he gets used to my cold feet under him. He rolls over and faces me. And my mind goes back to the shower dream. His intense stare makes my cheeks heat up once more.
I'm at his chest and he wraps his arms tighter around me. I can't help but smile into his chest and I try falling back to sleep after having that dream.
A knock is heard from the bathroom door. I feel Sawyers chest rumble as he groans from the knocks. Sawyer sits up and I stretch out my arm trying to find where he's sitting. Once my hand hits his arm I try pulling him back down for warmness.
"Perdon Sawyer, tu clase esta aqui." I hear Nancy whisper. She sounds worried and I pop open one eye. Nancy has been teaching me Spanish in secret. Something about Sawyers class. (Spanish: Sorry Sawyer, your class is here."
Sawyer quickly gets up and they both leave the bathroom. I lie on the floor for a few moments to wake myself up. Sawyers head pops in through the door.
"How are you feeling?" He asks, his voice deep and groggy. I slowly sit up, breathe in and yawn. The steamy dream I had playing over and over in my mind. I can't look Sawyer straight in the eye.
"I had the best sleep in my entire life?" I smile, the dream playing a big part of it. He walks in completely shirtless and in dressy pants. My eyes widen, I'm wide awake now. Flashbacks of him in the shower pop into my head and I shake it away.
"Really?" He asks, "Sleeping next to you is terrible." He deadpans and my mouth falls open as I feign hurt.
"You were sleeping like a baby." I squint my eyes suspiciously, he's lying straight to my face. At one point I thought I heard him snoring.
He sticks his hand out for me to hold.
"You kick and scratch and push. Look, a bruise." He says as he lifts me up, he points at the side of his hip and he shows me a small green bruise. I roll my eyes.
"I don't kick." I argue and he gives me a straight face.
"I'll record next time." He says and he softly pushes me out of the bathroom. "Get dressed." He muffle shouts from the other side of the door.
When I'm dressed I head downstairs for some breakfast. No one is up yet and Nancy is no where to be found. I walk to the cabinet to reach up for a bowl but someone moved them to a higher shelf. I tiptoe and with all my strength I stretch my arm and fingers.
I feel someone right behind me. His warmth engulfing me. He's still shirtless as he presses himself against me. He reaches right over me so easily and grabs the bowl. He puts his arm around in front of me, caging me in between the counter and him.
I feel him lean down, "Here you go. Need anything else?" He whispers.
"No. I think I can next time jump onto the counter and grab it myself." I tell him and pull the bowl from his grasp. He rolls his eyes at my response.
He watches me as I try to find the cereal which is higher up on the shelf. I look at him and he quickly pulls out a counter stool and sits down. He placed elbows on the counter and rests his head waiting for me to continue an amused smile on his face. I breathe out and jump onto the counter. I balance myself as I tiptoe to reach up for the cereal.
"Who puts cereal this high up?" I grunt as my fingers barely touch the box.
"Me." I feel him before I hear him. He grabs either side of my hips and lifts me up. I quickly grab the cereal box.
When he helps me jump off the counter I glare at him.
"Why are you being so nice?" I ask. He points to the kitchen window and all his students are watching us. He's shirtless and everyone is staring. My cheeks heat up and I push him out of the way.
"I'm going to be thirty minutes late." I tell him, not looking at him. I don't know whether to be embarrassed, angry, thankful? His whole class saw him lift me up, saw him press against me. Gross.
"Breakfast can wait. We have a long day ahead of us." He pulls the cereal and bowl away from me.
"No. I will be thirty minutes late. I can't face people right now."
"You're being dramatic." He pulls me from my seat. "Learn to laugh at yourself." He raises his eyebrows, playfully.
"Learn to laugh at yourself." I mimic him in a high pitched voice.
He puts on his dressy shirt and heads outside.
I dramatically sigh so he knows I'm annoyed and I grab an apple and follow him out.
Everyone is huddled around him and I stay in the outer area of the group.
"Good morning everyone." I hear him say and I feel someone get close to me. I ignore them but I hear them clear their throat. I look up and see it's a guy. Thomas I think his name is.
"Hey I'm Thomas. Right before he came he said we would be partnered up. We should work together." He softly smiles.
"Opal." I smile and look back at Sawyer.
"You all might be wondering what is underneath the sheet on the table." He walks us over to the table. He removes the cover and underneath is a fresh corpse.
Some girls gag, some guys gag. Everyone takes a step back. I drop my apple to the floor, my appetite once again gone. Probably why Sawyer didn't want me eating. He probably knew I'd throw up.
"Always torturing us." I quietly mutter and Thomas hears me and softly chuckles.
"You guys siblings?" Thomas questions. I turn to him. He has short black hair, he's a little on the husky side but it makes him look cute in a golden retriever vibes kind of way.
His eyes widen, and I tone down my glare. "I mean, it's because you two act like siblings. From, what I gather." He stutters.
"Ew no. Don't ever want to be related to," I look around for Sawyer and his head immediately snaps to me. He smiles and gives me a small two finger salute from across the lawn. "That." I turn back to Thomas as I try to hide my disgust.
He nervously chuckles, "How do you know him?" He asks. I internally panic.
"Umm, well you know." I shrug, "old family friend I stay with them every few months."
Thomas nods and I breathe out.
"Okay everyone has a partner?" Sawyer looks around the room. He watches as Thomas moves closer to me and I catch him slightly scowl.
A girls hand flies up, "Doctor Pierce. I don't have a partner." She feigns embarrassment.
"Not to worry. I'll be your partner." Sawyer smiles. He turns to the group of students, "Alright, come. Stand around the table." He gestures everyone to move closer.
"It smells so bad." Someone mutters and half of us burst out laughing. Me included but Sawyer turns to me with a glare and my smile drops.
"Where you're standing there should be a yellow flag marked in the body. That is your small area and where you'll be until you figure out how this man died. He did not die of old age. You will not be able to look at any other part of the body except your spot. Should be easy, use everything you have. Good Luck."
I turn to Thomas who is already inspecting our area. Lucky for us we got the feet. Feet tell us everything.
"Where do you want to start?" I ask, but Thomas ignores me and starts slicing pieces of skin and even collects dirt from under the dead guys toes. I follow after him as he runs to the microscope stations.
"See anything?" I ask.
"This isn't native dirt. This looks like soil from America. He could have been camping. Just a theory." He says, still analyzing. "Here, take a look." He moves out of the way and I take a look inside.
"Is that hair?" I question and he pushes me out of the way. I get that this is a competition but we're on the same team.
"How is everything?" Sawyer asks.
"Did he die of natural causes or was he murdered?" I ask and turn to Sawyer. He looks at me as if that were a stupid question.
"That is why, you my friend, should pay attention instead of talking as I'm speaking. You're solving this case. He could have died all on his own or could have been murderer. Figure it out." He gives me a sarcastic smile and I glare at him.
"You can't give us any context clues?" I question.
He stares at me for a minute too long before he rubs his chin. He quickly turns around to the rest of the students,
"It seems like this task may be too difficult for some," he glances back at me, "here is the hint, he was home when found dead. But don't let that fool you." He doesn't give me a glance or a glare or any look after that. He instead walks over to his 'partner' and starts helping her.
"That wasn't much help." I mutter and Thomas laughs.
"I think you found a really big clue. If I get the DNA results of this hair we can narrow it down to who was with him before he died. We just need to know the relation." He smiles excitedly as he explains and I groan.
"While you do that, I'm going to take a look at Dead Fred for any more clues."
I walk over to the decomposing foot and look for any bruising, skin discoloration. Check for broken bones and I come up with nothing. Dead Fred seems to be around the age of sixty. So if he were being chased it doesn't show.
"Skin mites." Thomas whispers into my ear.
I turn to him, "what?" I question. He rolls his eyes and pulls me away from the group.
"Dead Fred. He has skin mites. His skin is slightly red. Someone he knows must have come into contact with him."
"Skin mites? Demodex folliculorum." I say out loud and he quickly covers my mouth.
"Shh." Thomas scolds. "If I'm correct his face should have scales."
"I'll check. I'll ask Sawyer a question." I smile, knowing I'm cheating but I want to know who or what killed dead Fred.
Luckily for me Sawyer is on the other side of the body and all I have to do is walk around and glance.
"Sawyer, I have a question." I slowly walk to him and make sure I glance down at its face but I don't get a clear view.
He doesn't answer me, instead he waits for me to ask. I put my hand on the table and lean against it.
"So, what's for lunch today? You know since you didn't feed me breakfast." I whisper the last part.
"Now isn't the time for that."
"Really? Because I think you owe me sloppy Joe's." I sweetly smile at him. He squints his eyes in annoyance.
"Opal." He sternly says. I feel something on the table and look down at it. It's a pair of tweezers.
"Hey, can I borrow these?"
"You should have some on your station." He says but I'm already walking away, thanking him as I do.
"So, anything?" Thomas is immediately by my side.
"He has some on his forehead."
"Good." Thomas says and continues to study the microscope slides.
"How is that good? Whoever is studying that part of the body knows that..."
"Opal, they might but they don't have this.." he gently guides me to the microscope.
"What am I looking at?" I question.
"Baby maggots. He has an infecting cut by his toe." He says.
"I checked him. He didn't."
Thomas laughs, "I think you only checked one foot. We have both feet." He says and I smack my forehead. This is what happens when I don't eat breakfast.
"Right. I'm sorry." I apologize feeling like I'm pulling him behind. He chuckles,
"It's fine, Opal." He pats me on the shoulder.
"So what are maggots going to tell us?"
"Everything." He gives me a mischievous smile.
He grabs most of the maggots and blends them up. The smell makes me queazy.
"If I'm correct this should tell us how he died." He whispers, looking at the smoothie of maggots as if were the answers to all his problems.
He placed some on a slide and he looks through it. He then grabs a small plate and drops a few drops of some unknown liquid and the blended maggots turn purple.
"This will tell us the medications he was on and which one that could have possibly killed him." Thomas whispers as a student passes by us to use a microscope.
"How do we know no one else made a maggot smoothie?" I question.
"That doesn't matter. We're so close."
"Alright everyone. It's already time for dinner. Pack your things. You will continue tomorrow." Sawyer announces.
"We won't know the results until tomorrow anyway." Thomas tells me.
"It's okay. I'm too hungry. I can't think straight anymore." I laugh.
"This Friday Sawyer is taking us all out for drinks. You going?" Thomas asks and I shrug.
"Maybe." I smile at him.
"Well, see you tomorrow Opal." He waves and he walks away. A few students linger around and I walk back inside. I throw myself onto the couch and close my eyes. As soon as I do my stomach growls.
I groan as I pick myself up and walk to the kitchen. Nancy is sitting by the counter and she smiles when she sees me walk in.
"How was today?" She asks and serves me a hot bowl of chicken soup.
"Sawyer sucks." I whisper.
"You'll get used to it." She laughs at how straight forward I am.
We watch the kitchen window and the students who are talking to Sawyer.
"Most of those girls are here for Sawyer." Nancy sighs out, shaking her head in disappointment.
I don't say anything, the pit of my stomach feeling anxious.
"Sawyer enjoys the attention." I roll my eyes.
"No. Knowing him he's making fun of them. That one too skinny. That one, loud obnoxious laughing." Nancy starts making fun of them. My eyes widen at how critical she's being but it's quite funny.
"I can hear her the moment she steps into the house. Ay dios mio." She laughs, leaning against the counter.
"How is Sawyer not annoyed?" I laugh.
"How am I not what?" Sawyer walks into the kitchen, an apple in his hand.
Nancy and I eye each other and she gives an amused smile. She turns around and pretends to cook.
"Oh nothing." I slurp the noodles in my soup. He looks between us suspiciously and sits across from me. He takes a bite of his apple and continues to eye me.
"Yes?" I question.
"Oh, nothing." He counters and I glare at him. He leans back and smirks.
"Did you figure out how he died?" He questions and I swallow my food before I answer.
"I did." I smile at him.
"Tell me how." Sawyer leans forward, crossing his fingers together. He seems interested with what I have to say.
"If I get it right, you owe me sloppy joes." I make a small deal.
"And if you're get it wrong?" He counters,
"Then I owe you something?" I shrug, not really caring.
"Alright. Proceed." He agrees.
"Well, Thomas and I," I pause for effect and Sawyer rolls his eyes, "I can tell you he was diabetic. But that didn't kill him. I can also tell you, someone he was close to was with him when he died." I continue explaining.
"Get to the point, Opal." He says.
"I can picture the sloppy Joe's as we speak." I counter, annoyed he's hurting me up.
"Let the girl speak." Nancy cuts in and Sawyer nods for me to continue.
"The moment I saw the body I know how he died just by the color. I just let Thomas take over. He was having fun."
"Is that why you were aimlessly walking around? Asking stupid questions. You were bored." Sawyer states. I innocently shrug.
"He was murdered. It was confirmed with hair I found. It was a women's. She suffocated him, but not before drugging him." I finish my though confidently.
Sawyer stares at me for a long time. My smile falters. He's making me rethink everything. I go over it in my head, I know I'm right. They were drug addicts. I know they were.
When Sawyer doesn't answer I look at Nancy who is also waiting for the affirmation.
"Well? Am I right?" I question, moving the empty bowl of soup and leaning forward. His eyes never leave mine and his serious face turns into a smile.
"Nancy. He isn't going to tell us." I roll my eyes.
"Tell you what?" Avery and Evan barge in.
"Where have you two been?" I question and Avery's face immediately turns red.
"Eating." Evan says and walks over to the fridge.
"Eating." I say, looking at Avery suspiciously.
Sawyer and Evan give each other a secret handshake as they greet one another. I get up, ready to just lie in bed and read or sleep. I get up, wash my dish and head to my room.
"Did you name him?" Sawyer asks, following in my tracks and I stop walking.
"Yes." My smiles grows. How does he know I named him? "It was between Eddie deader or Dead Fred." I tell him.
He raises an eyebrow.
"Dead Fred was a tough fellow to crack." I pat Sawyer on the chest.
"Why did I know you'd name him?" Sawyer chuckles. He's making fun of me.
"How can you not name a sweet old man? A dead one at that?" I counter.
"It's stupid." He says. I stare at him and he placed his hands in his pockets, "besides Johnny rotten over there is a better name." He says.
"Jerk." I playfully punch his arm. He catches it mid swing and pulls me closer. I look up at him confused,
"Hey, we're going out for ice cream. You guys want to come?" Avery barges into the small hallway we're in.
Sawyers hold on me tightens and he makes an annoyed sound before he turns to Avery with a smile.
"Busy." He passes by her.
"What's up his ass?" Avery rolls her eyes.
I don't pay attention to what she's saying as I watch Sawyers retreating back walk out of the hallway.
"Sure. I'll go." I smile at Avery.
I can't help but feel disappointed that Avery interrupted. For a second it was almost like we were back to us. Back to when before he left.
We pass by his office on the way out. A small crack is open and I see him at his desk. He feels me staring and snaps his head up to me. I smile waving at him, he gives me a small smile in return.
"Hold on guys." I let Avery and Evan know. I walk into Sawyers office, as they head to the car.
"Do you want anything?" I ask. "You sure you don't want to come? It could be fun." I try convincing him.
"Pistachio." Is all he says. I crinkle my nose at the choice of ice cream.
"Okay." I smile and walk out.
"Does Sawyer wants anything?" Avery asks.
"Pistachio." I tell her.
We quickly order our dessert. I tell them all about the things Sawyer has us doing.
"I really think Sawyer likes helping his community. Giving those in need the supplies to further their education. I'm glad I'm part of this."
"As long as I can remember, he likes teaching people things. Always stating facts, willing to sit there. It might not seem like it now, but Sawyer is the most patient person I know." Avery says and Evan agrees.
"I'm glad he's found something he likes doing." I look out the window, excited for what the future might hold. Not to mention devour this banana split. I've been craving ice cream for days now.
I hold the pistachio ice cream and walk to Sawyers office.
I stop at the door. A tall lady is standing in front of Sawyers desk. She's blocking his view from me. I quickly hide against the wall. I can hear her giggle. I sneak a small peak, she's wearing a pearl colored dress, her long red hair is what I focus on. Just from the back side of her profile I know she's beautiful. I watch as she leans forward on Sawyers desk, almost sensually. I hear her giggling and I look down at the ice cream I'm holding.
I hear the noise of someone pecking and giving a small kiss and I sneak a peak again. She's kissing Sawyer.
Sawyer pushes her away, "What, that's it?" She asks in surprise. She almost seems disappointed. "Don't tell me you've changed your mind. You've been gone and I come to see you and this is how you treat me?" Her voice rises, but only slightly.
"You should go." I hear Sawyer say. "I need to make a call."
"Goodbye." She sighs and gives him one last kiss. I hear hear clicking of high heels as she gets closer to the door. She's startled by me and smiles,
"Sorry, didn't see you there." She smiles and even I'm hypnotized by her beauty.
"It's okay." I timidly say, moving out of her way.
When she's gone I breathe out and slowly walk into Sawyers office. I can't even look him in the eye. I quickly place the ice cream on his desk and quickly turn around to leave but he grabs my arm.
"It's all a game to her." He says. "I guess she thought we would pick up where we left off."
I pull away from his hold slowly, staring at such a beautiful face.
"You don't need to explain." I shake my head, walking out of his office.
He swiftly swoops right in front of me.
"Yes I do. You're thinking she's a hook up." He says.
"I wasn't thinking anything." I shrug. I'm lying straight to his face. Of course I was thinking that. I should be used to it, I'm sure he sleeps with half of his students.
"Opal." He says, he's caught my lie.
"I wasn't." I continue, my voice just above a whisper. He lifts my chin up so I'm looking at him.
"Thank you for the ice cream." He says and I stand on my tip toes and crash my lips into his. He's caught off guard as I feel his sharp intake of breath. Kissing him is exactly how I remember. The heat of his mouth, the fading taste of peppermint tic tac candy lingering. I feel my whole body bursting into flames, a feeling I haven't felt since the first time we kissed. He brings his hands to my face, cupping my flushed cheeks, before he moves them down to my hips.
He pulls back slightly, dazed and confused. "What was that for?" He breathes. I don't answer as I bring my mouth back to his. He pulls his mouth away from mine and I whimper at the loss of contact.
"Sawyer, you have mail." Nancy stops, she makes a loud gasping noise and quickly covers her mouth.
At first I think she's caught us kissing but she's not looking at us.
"Sawyer the ice cream. It's melting and dripping."
The rug has a small puddle of melted green ice cream. Sawyer looks at me one last time. He seems almost angry, conflicted whatever expression I see isn't good.
Sawyer clears his throat and quickly pulls out paper towels from inside his desk.
I watch as they both clean up the mess. I quietly slip out, embarrassed by my actions.
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