Love At First Lie | Herophine Fic

Come Hell Or High Water

HERO

As my eyes slowly begin to blink open, it doesn't feel like two minutes since I shut them for good. It wasn't just me who couldn't sleep, Jo tossed and turned all night. Right from me switching the light off in the hopes I'd find some rest. But it was useless. The entirety of the day, the task, us holing up in our room, eating dinner with the others awkwardly before calling it a night played on repeat every time I closed my eyes.

But what took the top spot in the replays of my mind was the way Jo's face drained of colour when I asked her the question. The one fucking question that has our heads on the chopping block and likely has us lined up to go home. Her face fell completely and I wanted nothing more than to scream in frustration.

Any other deck of cards that the others had, we could have answered without fail. I was doing it every time a question was asked. No matter what Lara, Alistair, Ryan and Olivia were asked, I knew the answer and I'm about ninety-nine per cent sure that Jo would have been able to answer too. But no, we were served with the ultimate curveball. Probably one of the easiest questions when it comes to being a couple but something that had slipped our minds made it one of the hardest questions for us.

I've never shared my hot chocolate secret with anyone before. Even Felix and Morgan don't know about it but I find it so comforting when you can't sleep. The sweetness and smoothness are just enough to rock me away usually. It felt like the perfect excuse last night to introduce Jo to that too. This is just one of the many small things I want to share with her. I like to keep things for myself usually but with her, it's different.

But this time, it just kept me up even longer with her. Telling her about myself just as she told me all about herself too. I don't think there's any piece of information that I don't know about her or her with me. At least I hope not, anyway. It was late and it didn't help that my mind was already busy with rogue thoughts.

I feel groggy. Like I've just come off a twenty-four-hour flight and had to try and sleep in an uncomfortable, upright aircraft chair. I've been snuggled up behind Jo all night but even that's not been enough for me to find sleep to make me feel somewhat refreshed and easier about yesterday. It's still at the forefront of my mind and I also have to think about the looming elimination too - as much as I don't want to.

I don't know how it's going to play out. Every elimination so far has been different somehow. But deep down, I already know the results. There's no way it could be anything else. There'd be outrage I'm sure of it. Everyone has to leave at some point too, regardless of whether you're the winner or not. I may be done with the competition in a matter of hours but I'm far from done with Jo. I don't think I'll ever be done with her. How could I be?

As I move my left arm over her waist to pull her back flush to my chest, a hum falls from her. She sounds just as groggy as I feel. Knowing she's barely slept too with her lingering thoughts, I place a gentle kiss on the back of her head. Carefully, I smooth her hair out of her face and lay my head back down on the pillow again, sighing. Hoping this isn't the last time I wake up to her.

"Good morning," I whisper.

"Hmm, morning," she groans, sounding just as hazy as I feel. But behind that, I hear the nerves in her voice too.

Even though both of us are feeling the effects of yesterday's events, I don't want our time now to be spent wallowing or down in the dumps. I want to see her smile, even if it's only briefly. I want to hear her laugh and see her little button nose scrunch in the way that earned her the nickname I coined. I don't want to see her sad. If what I think is going to happen happens, both of us will be sad enough. And if I can curb that just for a little while, I will.