Sophie froze, astonished. Staring down at him, she stuttered, "W-what did you say?"
Beads of sweat were still plastered on his face, the only sign of what'd just happened to him as his voice was calm and steady when he replied her, "I asked you to stay."
She couldn't form a response as her mind went over the implication of what he was asking. Her face was red, maybe from anger or embarrassment or both. Just what kind of woman did he think she was?
Her thoughts must have been clear on her face as his eyes widened slightly and he shook his head quickly. "No, I didn't mean it that way."
Relief washed over her even as she tugged her hand from his. Thankfully, he let go.
"What did you mean then?" She asked, subconsciously rubbing her hand.
He was silent at first then he sighed, looking away from her. "Nothing. Ignore me, you can go."
She should have left. In that moment, she knew she should have turned around with her dignity still intact and hightailed it out of there. Instead, she found herself lowering herself down uncertainly on the edge of his bed.
His eyes followed her movement as she sat. "You don't have to, really. I was being absurd."
She raised her eyes to meet his steady gaze slowly. His face was guarded, careful not to reveal his thoughts yet she sensed vulnerability that she'd never before felt from him. "I know," she whispered back.
He looked away and moved to the other side of the bed, making space for her.
She didn't move. She kept staring at him, all the while questioning what she was doing.
"You're uncomfortable."
Yes. She shook her no.
His lips curled up slightly. "Your face says otherwise." He continued when she didn't say anything, voice low and almost a whisper, "I'm not going to jump you, Sophia."
Embarrassed that the thought had indeed crossed her mind, her cheeks clouded and she sputtered, "I-I'm not..."
"I mean it when I say you can go. I was an idiot for a moment." He was turning his back to her as he spoke, leaving her to make her choice. "Goodnight, Sophia."
"G'night," she whispered back. First, he asks her to stay then he pushes her away; Sophie doubted she'd ever meet anyone more complex. Still, she didn't leave. She shifted so she was fully seated on the bed, legs curled up. She decided she'd watch over him a bit before leaving.
Since his back was to her, she could stare freely at him without the risk of getting caught. She laughed silently at how almost stalkerish her actions that night were. I must really be going crazy, she thought. Nothing about the whole situation was funny. Sitting on a bed next to a man she was very much attracted to and watching him sleep at almost midnight was definitely not funny; it was anything but. Feelings that both scared and thrilled her bubbled to the surface so overwhelmingly she felt she was drowning in them. She was falling down a steep slope and she had no idea how she was going to land.
* * *
Alex stirred slowly, eyes opening. It took him a moment to awaken fully. The first thought that came to him was that he'd slept the whole night; something that rarely if ever happened. He was still in the same position he'd slept in the night before seeing as he rarely changed position when he slept. He turned around and his breath hitched at the sight in front of him.
Sophie was lying down facing him, blissfully asleep. She was curled up on her side, both hands under her left cheek as she slept. He hadn't heard her leave before he fell asleep but he'd figured she'd leave at some point.
Her beauty as she slept, almost ethereal was the other thought that occupied his mind. He wasn't oblivious to the tightening in his chest or the way his gut seemed to knot at the sight of her but he quickly dismissed it as mere attraction. That wasn't surprising seeing as he was basically living with her.
His attraction to her didn't faze him. He figured it was only a matter of time and it'd dim eventually. What really unsettled him was the way he'd handled the situation the night before. She'd seen him at one of his worsts and instead of kicking her out, he'd asked her to stay with him. And she had stayed. Why? Why had she stayed? Why had he even asked her to? And he didn't want to believe the reason he'd slept better was because of her.
Letting out a resigned breath, he stood up and checked the time on his alarm clock. Four thirty six a.m. Looked like his sleep hadn't been that long anyway, although still better than he'd had for a while.
Although a bit too late, he carefully pulled the blankets from under her to cover her properly. He thought it strange that she didn't stir, she was rigid; too rigid. Suspicious, he took a really good look at her and saw her eyes were squeezed shut almost forcefully. He held back a laugh and shook his head slightly at her coyness. He then decided he might as well spare her so he walked away into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Unsurprisingly, when he came back out, she was gone.
* * *
Sophie hadn't meant to stay the whole night, she'd intended to wait a bit till she was sure he was really asleep and there were no more nightmares. She hadn't known when she'd slept off instead. She'd woken up when she had felt him get out of bed. Panicked and not knowing what to do, she had pretended to still be asleep when he'd placed the sheets over her and waited till he was out of sight before bolting.
Then she laid on her bed, wide awake with her thoughts running wild. She then decided she might as well get up and start getting ready for the day instead.
She prepared breakfast then got ready for church. Instead of going up to Alex to ensure he took his drugs, she chose the coward's way out and just knocked at his door then yelled that breakfast was ready and she was leaving for church before hurrying back down.
After getting back from church, she was feeling much better and her thoughts didn't seem as jumbled up as before. Alex wasn't in the living room when she got back, Angel was but she was so engrossed with her phone she hardly even noticed her. When she changed and went back down, he was sitting there, watching TV, Angel sitting on the floor beside him, still playing with her phone.
"Hey," she greeted as she sat next to him.
Angel mumbled a reply, laughing at whatever on her phone.
"Hey to you too," he replied, throwing her a casual glance.
"How are you feeling?" She asked, studying him.
He smiled and shook his head. "I'm fine, thank you."
He did look fine. His nightmare the night before didn't seem to bother him. That made her wonder if it was a regular occurrence. What were they even about? She contemplated asking him but she knew he wouldn't tell her.
"Do you have nightmares often?" Her mouth apparently had a mind of its own.
He threw a panicked look at Angel who thankfully, had no interest in their conversation. He turned back to glare at her.
"Sorry," she whispered.
He tapped Angel lightly to get her attention. "Why not go upstairs darling?"
The girl just rolled her eyes at them before standing up to do as she was told.
He turned to her when Angel was out of sight. "Let's not talk about it, yeah?"
She narrowed her eyes at him, slightly put off. "You have an habit of avoiding things."
"Says the one who ran off this morning," he replied, smirking.
Touché. "Still..."
"I have nightmares every now and then. It's nothing serious," he said, attempting a nonchalant attitude.
Didn't look like that to me. "I don't agree. Why would you ask me to stay with you otherwise?"
He closed his eyes as if pained. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"
She laughed despite herself. "I'm just worried about you, Alex."
His eyes met hers and he smiled. That smile seemed to warm her like nothing else ever did. The few times she'd seen him smile more than made up for all the times he was an asshole, which was most of the time. Sophie almost groaned out loud at her thoughts. She really had it bad.
His voice was soft when he said, "I appreciate that, stalker."
She gave him a long look. "Stalker, really?"
He gave a casual shrug, his eyes mocking her. "How else would we account for your presence in my room last night?"
Sophie groaned. She'd hoped that thought would never occur to him.
"I wasn't stalking you," she countered weakly.
There was a playful twinkle in his eye when he replied her, "Of course not."
"I wasn't--"
"I'll admit though that I slept better last night," he added, cutting off her half assed rebuttal.
He didn't say exactly that it was because of her but she still couldn't help the bright smile that split her face. With a few words, he'd managed to ease her embarrassment and send her heart galloping.
"If it really helps, I can keep doing it." And of course, she had to go and say something stupid. Realizing what she'd just proposed, she suddenly found the hem of her dress very interesting.
"Doing what?"
She shook her head, refusing to meet his gaze. She knew he knew what she was talking about.
"Look at me, Sophia." He tilted her head upwards as he spoke.
Sighing, she let herself meet his gaze. He didn't look angry but he wasn't smiling anymore either. He looked... tortured?
"Doing what?" He asked again, his eyes holding hers with an intensity that set her insides on fire.
"Y-you know what," she replied, not able to say the words.
He shook his head, his hand still on her chin. "You're a beautiful soul, Sophia. Too much so for your own good."
"I can't figure out if that was a compliment," she replied, finding it hard to breathe for some reason. She didn't realize she was biting down on her lip until his gaze fell on her lips, not seeming to leave them for the longest time. She waited on bated breath for him to kiss her.
"It wasn't," he finally said, removing his hand from her. "You're too innocent for your age. You shouldn't go around propositioning men like that. Some may take it the wrong way." With that, he turned back to the TV.
Flustered, Sophie didn't say anything else. Too caught up with her turbulent feelings to form a response.
That night though, like moth drawn to a flame, she somehow wound up in his room even after warning herself about how bad an idea it was.
He was lying down, reading a book when she entered. His back was propped against the headboard and he had his glasses on. He didn't look surprised when he saw her. She stood just inside his room, nervous and unsure of what to do now that she was there.
"You just don't listen, do you?" He said to her.
"Your door was open," she replied, her fingers twining. He knew what she was implying; he had been expecting her.
He shook his head at her. "If you're sure about this..." He finished his sentence by inclining his head to the king sized bed.
The implication of what she was doing registered somewhere at the back of her mind. Somewhere very far back. Too late to back out now. She nodded stiffly as she gingerly walked over and settled on the other side of the bed from him, leaving enough space as reasonably possible between them. She had a feeling sleeping with him on the same bed was having much more effect on her than on him.
"Goodnight," she said, turning her back to him.
"Are you really not scared I might do anything to you?"
She turned around to face him. He'd discarded the book and was now staring at her with a somewhat bewildered expression.
"No," she replied with confidence.
He raised an inquisitive brow at her. "You do realize I'm a man, right?"
She smiled, giving him a once over. Although most of him was hidden by the blanket, there was no mistaking the very male body underneath. "I'm well aware."
His eyes drooped, almost seductively at her words. "And you're a very beautiful woman."
Her breath hitched the way they did anytime he called her beautiful. Her voice was almost faint as she replied, "I know that too."
He didn't say anything else. An heavy silence filled with tension and so much unspoken words surrounded the both of them as they did nothing but stare at each other.
Sophie broke the silence, not able to bear it anymore, "I also know you won't touch me if I don't ask you to. You're too disciplined and too much in control of yourself for that." His jaw hardened and he looked away from her but didn't refute her statement so she continued, "I'm offering you comfort the only way I know how to and I'm hoping maybe you'll tell me your story in return?"
He turned his face back to her and for a minute, she felt he was actually going to talk to her. He seemed to decide against it as he picked his book back up, ending their conversation.
"Goodnight, Sophia."
She sighed wistfully, feeling like she'd lost something dear. "Goodnight, Alex."
**********
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