Dried and Dying Roses (BWWM)

Thirty One: Hurt

Thirty One

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"Baby,"

His lips fell on hers, warm and coaxing as he tried to get Isa to open her mouth to him, to wake up fully.

It was the middle of the day, and the last day before Isa took the store back into her hands completely. She had been there since five that morning, and at around two, she had worked herself so hard that Ryan told her to go home. When she had argued, he had called up Adrian who had left his daycare , Annaleigh's Love, immediately to come and escort her home himself. Isa had promptly passed out on her couch with her shoes and work clothes still on, the brown throw blanket thrown haphazardly across her, just covering enough of her to count as comforting.

She was just so sleepy. She could barely open her eyes, and she was trying, her eyebrows rising 'til they were almost touching her hairline, but she just-couldn't-open-her-eyes.

"Hmm?" She managed to moan, though her lips started to lazily move against his, "So tired,"

"I know," Adrian murmured, nipping at Isa's full bottom lip, "But get up."

Isa groaned loudly, turning so that Adrian was no longer lying on her, but next to her, before snuggling into his chest, "Just hold me and hush. I just need about forty five more minutes."

Adrian let out an unattractive snort at that, throwing his leg over Isa's lower half, "Well, Delaney is bringing Christian over to spend the weekend with us in about twenty minutes. She said she got your voicemail?"

"Yeah," Isa sighed, eyes still closed, "I told her I wanted to see my baby," She murmured, letting out a loud whimper when the weight of Adrian's large body was no longer crushing her in that delightful was she loved so much, "No, Adrian stay!"

"Hush, pet," He chuckled, disappearing down the hallway the master room was located down. When he came back about a minute later, he had one of Isa's red tank tops, a pair of his dark blue basketball shorts, and a pair of her white socks with the little baby blue pompoms on the end. Flipping her over, Adrian pulled Isa's heels, and her tights off, followed by her skirt, and the dress shirt she had donned that morning before redressing her in her lounge wear.

Isaline let Adrian do what he wanted, watching on silently with a frown etched into that pretty face of hers as he pulled the last piece of clothing down her body gently, "Why are you doing this?" She finally managed to ask him.

Adrian shrugged quietly, pulling her shirt down over her body.

He dressed her, bathed her, cooked for her, and anything else whenever he possibly could, even when he wasn't in the best of moods, and Isa wasn't either. She just couldn't understand why.

Letting out a sigh, Adrian sat back on the couch next to her, placing her feet in his lap, then pulling her socks on with care before speaking calmly, "I took care of you, did everything for you for every second of all my days for a month, almost. I formed a habit I'm finding quite impossible to cease."

Isa stared at him for a moment more before sighing wistfully, "I wish you would have been like this-nice to me- from the beginning. Things would have been so much different," She whispered, "Maybe then we would be-"

"I know," Adrian cut her off before she could finish, "I know."

"Are you angry with me?"

Adrian scoffed, eyes flashing as he stared at the television, a scowl on his beautiful face, "Aren't I always?"

With a sigh, Isa shook her head in disappointment, "Nothing good ever lasts with you, Adrian."

No more words were exchanged after that, and finally, Adrian did get up, walk out to his car-which he had replaced his bike with once the weather started to turn a little arctic, and disappeared into Isa's library room, the old leather shoulder bag that he kept his sketchbooks, laptop, and whatever else in looped over his shoulder as he held the strap in a death grip. Immediately Isa felt that pang in her chest, but chose to ignore it, not in the mood to get a lunch together, so opting to call a pizza place instead.