Love At First Lie | Herophine Fic

Was It Real?

JOSEPHINE

Wandering into the kitchen with my arm looped around Hero's, I lift my gaze and see everyone else is already up. That's a first, we're the last ones here for breakfast. There's a gentle hum of mornings from everyone in here already tucking into their breakfasts.

"You sit down, is cereal okay?" Hero asks, unwrapping his arm from mine. I nod yes and find the last two stools available on the other side of the kitchen. After yesterday's pastry-filled breakfast, a lighter one is definitely on my mind. Neither me nor Hero was feeling anything heavy but that doesn't take away how incredible the pastries were yesterday. I have to go back there, preferably with him.

Watching him as he has his back turned to me, he grabs two bowls and the box of Cornflakes. He fills both bowls before pouring the fresh milk from the fridge over the cereal. He moves with such ease, especially for someone so tall. What a silly observation. When he's done, he takes two spoons out of the drawer for us and paces over to me, placing the bowl in front of me.

"Thank you," smiling down at me, he takes the seat at my side.

"You never make me breakfast anymore," Lara says to Alistair, making me smile. He rolls his tired eyes at her and shakes his head, continuing to eat. Hero turns his attention to me, watching me take a spoonful before dropping his spoon into his own bowl, taking a mouthful. Considering we went out for breakfast yesterday, this simple breakfast really is hitting the spot for me. Perhaps even more so because Hero made it for me. Sure, he didn't have to do much but food is always better when someone else makes it.

When I'm about a quarter of the way into my bowl, dropping the spoon again to fill it, the familiar blaring siren makes the majority of us jump. It screeches through the air, alerting and waking us all up fully. Another task?

Couples, today another task awaits you. Finish your breakfasts, get ready and meet in the living area to be told more.

I don't think we'll ever hear that noise and not have a task waiting for us. Admittedly, it has been a good while since the first one so it shouldn't surprise me that we have another one waiting for us. A bit more notice wouldn't have gone amiss though. The task is today and for some reason, I'm thinking it'll be sooner rather than later.

Finishing up, Hero takes our bowls for us and places them in the sink. I push off the stool and reach my hand out for his which he takes before we head back to our bedrooms to prepare. The conversations we were having have all been dropped and left hanging but they're nothing we can't pick up later. After the task, whatever that may be.

As we head back to our bedroom, a thought crosses my mind about today. We have a task waiting for us all. This also means we have an elimination waiting too. Two people will be going home, today or perhaps tomorrow. I'd lean more towards today though. It's early and they'd have time to pack and leave while the rest of us continue. We've fooled everyone else so far so there's no reason why we can't do it again.

Hero pushes the door open to our room for us and closes the door behind us. He lets me walk in first, slowly following behind me. I head on over to the bedside drawers on my side of the bed and grab a fresh pair of underwear and a bra to change into. I also need to get ready for the day in general so I tell Hero I'm going to brush my teeth too. He nods and watches me go into the bathroom. Closing the door behind me, I leave it partially ajar. The first time I did this, it was a mistake. I forgot to close the door fully but I trust him and since then, Hero's done the same. We're so in sync, it's hard to believe I've known him for less than a month.

Hanging up my robe on the back of the door, I slip out of the underwear I was wearing and pull on the fresh set. I don't think we have much time so I turn my attention to brushing my teeth like I told Hero I was doing. Taking hold of my brush, I squirt some toothpaste on and start to brush. I've no idea why people rinse the brush, put toothpaste on and then rinse it again. It's madness if you ask me, I find this gives me the best results for my pearly whites.