N I N E
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Alette's POV
The truck swerved once again before it sped away, and Aresius pulled off the road and parked onto the side of the street. He removed his hand from me and unbuckled my seatbelt. My body was still hunched over and I was heaving, trying to think of all the breathing techniques that I had been taught to help me through my panic attack.
I looked up at him through my tears, and he hooked his hand around my upper arm. He pulled me towards me him, and without thinking twice, I manoeuvred my body across the console, and climbed into his lap. Shaking out another sob, I buried my head into his chest, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt in my hands.
He wrapped one hand around my waist, and used the other to rub soothingly up and down my back.
"You're okay now, you're fine," he whispered repeatedly, and his lips brushed against the top of my head.
He cradled my head in his hand, while I continued to sob into his chest.
I cried for what seemed like ages, my fear taking over every inch of my body. I finally calmed down, hiccupping before wiping my eyes with my fists.
He immediately grabbed my wrists, pulling my hands away from my eyes. He reached over and grabbed a soft tissue from the glove compartment.
He placed two fingers under my chin and tilted my head up. With his fingers still under my chin, he used his other hand to carefully dab my wet eyes. Once he had meticulously cleaned my tears, he cupped my face in his hand, the other steadying my waist.
"You're alright?" he asked, his tone was uncertain, and his eyes darted all over my face, as if checking me for injuries.
I nodded slowly and hiccupped again.
"Home now, please?" I asked, my voice scratchy and embarrassingly small. What must he think of me? I hoped I could explain to him one day, that I wasn't an overly emotional child that was afraid of everything. I hoped he would understand.
I looked into his stormy eyes and my heart skipped a beat. In that moment, I knew he understood.
Taking one more breath, I tried not to think too hard about the fact that I was in his lap. Our proximity made me feel nervous, but safe. I knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. I shifted away to get back into the passenger seat and he helped, moving me as if I weighed something insignificant.
Once I was seated, he reached over and buckled my seatbelt in. As he was about to remove his hand away from me, I grabbed his arm, clutching his firm forearm with both my hands. Holding onto him made me feel protected, and I wasn't ready to let that go yet. Especially considering we had to be back on the road again.
"No," I whispered, and he nodded, placing his hand on my knee, allowing me to hug his arm close to my body.
He started the car, and looked over at me again.
"Okay?"
I closed my eyes and nodded my head, ready to get into my bed.
He pulled away from the curb, and drove slowly onto the road. I kept my eyes shut, but I could tell he was driving even more carefully, which was saying a lot because he had been driving perfectly well before.
I laid my forehead against his shoulder, my hands still clasped around his arm, and my eyes tightly shut. The feeling of his strong arm and scent must have had an effect on me because I dozed off at some point.
The feeling of someone tapping my shoulder lightly woke me up, and I looked around through bleary eyes to see that we were parked outside of my house. Aresius had opened the passenger door, and woken me up.
I took a step out of the car and almost tripped over my own two feet. Aresius grabbed me around the waist, making sure I didn't face plant onto the ground.
Before I could walk any further, he bent down and picked me up. My legs wrapped around his waist, and my arms around his neck. Like a baby.
In my state of exhaustion, I didn't even have it in me to protest or blush. I just held on tighter and let him carry me to the house. He rung the doorbell and the door opened. I took my head out of his chest to see Grams standing at the door, her eyes widened.
"Faye?! My precious girl are you okay?" her voice was panicky.
I slowly uncurled myself from him, and he set me onto the floor in our front foyer. Grams latched onto me in a hug, and checked me for injuries.
"I'm okay, I just got...scared," I told her, holding her hand and giving it a squeeze.
"My goodness Faye, are you sure you're alright?"
I nodded and looked up at Aresius. My hero.
"Aresius helped me Grams, I'm okay now, and I just want to sleep."
"Oh sweet boy! Thank you so much," Grams gushed, and engulfed Aresius in a hug.
I wish I could have taken a picture of the look of shock on his face when she hugged him. Grams let go of him, wiping her eyes.
She was right though: he was the sweetest boy.
"Alright Faye, why don't you head up to bed. Did you want some medicine or something?" Grams asked, patting my cheek,
I shook my head; I was so tired I could fall asleep standing up.
I started walking up the stairs, and when Aresius made no move to follow me, I grabbed his large hand and took him along with me.
I thought I heard Grams mutter something along the lines of "young love" under her breath.
But I was too out of it to figure out what she meant.
We climbed up the stairs to my room. I opened the door and entered, turning on a small lamp that emitted a dim glow into the room. My head pounded too hard for me to turn on any brighter lights.
"Just wait right here please? While I go change?" I asked him, peeking up at him through my lashes. In hindsight, I should have asked him if he wanted to come upstairs before I dragged him up here in the first place. But I didn't want to let him go yet.
He nodded his head firmly, and went to go sit down on the little sofa that was in my room, almost squishing half my stuffed toys in the process. Embarrassing.
I smiled at him softly, and rushed my closet to look for clothes, peeking over my shoulder every few seconds, to make sure he hadn't left. After I had grabbed my clothes, I paused at the door of my bathroom and hesitated whilst looking at him, biting my lip.
"I'm not going anywhere Alette."
There was no hesitation in his voice. I smiled, my heart feeling lighter after his reassuring words.
I quickly turned and went into the bathroom. Faster than I had ever before, I got ready for bed, changing into my two-piece, soft pink button-up pyjamas. I undid my hair and brushed it out to get rid of the tangles, and brushed my teeth quickly. I almost opened the bathroom door and peeked through it to see if he had left.
But he said he wouldn't, I reminded myself.
I quickly washed my face, because washing your face before bed is important, and put on some moisturizer.
Leaving my hair open, I massaged my head for a few moments because my headache was beginning to get increasingly worse.
I quickly took a deep breath and walked out, feeling beyond exhausted.
The sight of him sitting my room felt like juxtaposition in and of itself. His dark clothes, and mighty demeanour clashed with the lighter colours in my room. The thought of this man in my bedroom sounded foreign, and yet seeing him here, it felt like it had always been this way.
He was sitting more comfortably now, his back touching the back of the sofa, and his legs spread out wide in front of him. Gulp.
His eyes looked darker in the dim light of my room, and they looked piercingly at me as I walked out of the bathroom.
I went and sat down on my bed, directly across from him as he sat on the sofa. We stared at each other for a few more moments before he stood up, his sturdy figure making the room seem even smaller.
He walked over to me, and pulled back my comforter.
"You need to rest." His voice left no room for arguments.
I nodded my head quickly and then, "Ow," I mumbled, reaching up to cup my forehead. My head felt like it was about to explode.
He walked over to the table in room where a jug of water and a glass was. He poured me some water and walked back over to me.
Handing me the glass he simply said, "Drink."
I grabbed the glass from his hands, our fingers brushing, which caused a flutter in my tummy.
I took a sip of water, and then started gulping it down, as if just now remembering how thirsty I really was.
I felt some trickle down the sides of my mouth and I couldn't even think to care. It felt like those times when we get up for a drink of water in the middle of the night and it tastes like the most delicious thing ever.
I finished the glass of water quickly and placed it on my bedside table, sighing.
I looked back at him in time to see him reaching down towards me. Very slowly, he inched his thumb forwards and wiped the water from the side of my mouth. As if caught in a trance, his mouth slightly open, he brushed his thumb over my bottom lip.
He gulped. So did I.
He quickly withdrew his hand and shook his head.
"Lay down."
Sounds good to me.
I laid down on my fresh sheets, mentally thanking myself for washing them this morning, and he put the blanket over me. Very meticulously, he tucked me in, making sure I was fully covered in the blanket.
"Okay?"
"Sleepy," I managed to whisper through a yawn.
"Close your eyes."
I closed them and could have fell asleep instantly, had I not opened them to see his back turned towards me. I quickly reached out to grab his hand with both of mine.
"Will you...stay? Please?" I asked him.
He didn't hesitate as he nodded.
"Sleep now. I'm here."
He grabbed a chair, placed it beside the bed, and sat down.
I reached and grabbed his hand again and hugged it close to me.
"Don't leave okay?" I mumbled at him, my voice heavy with sleep and my eyes drooping. I was practically asleep when I thought I heard him say:
"I don't want to ever leave."
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shorter chapter today, hope you enjoyed it nonetheless
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with love always xx
unedited