With Love, Étienne | ✓

Part II: Chapter Eight

A LIGHT RUSTLING WOKE ME UP.

I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep on the couch. It took me a few seconds to realize where I was, my eyes scanning the room around me in confusion. I lifted my head up, smiling when I realized I had been resting it on top of Caia's. Her small body was curled up close to mine, her hand clutched around a blanket that I didn't remember draping over us. Her chest rose and fell in rhythmic beats, her long lashes fluttering against her cheeks. Without waking her, I tried to slip away from her as discreetly as possible, wincing at the squeak the couch suddenly made. A split second furrow appeared between Caia's eyebrows before smoothing over. I breathed a sigh of relief when she still seemed to be asleep.

I tucked the blanket around her when I escaped, gently propping a pillow where I had been so her head didn't fall. A dim light came from the kitchen, and I tip-toed my way over when I heard another shuffling sound. A quick peek around the door, I saw Étienne hunched over the table with one hand scrunching up his hair. He looked stressed, deep lines engraved in his face. I stood still, watching as every few seconds he would flick through a few pages and then heave a sigh. I could see the exhaustion in his eyes and knew that something bad must have happened. I watched as he began to furiously scribble notes and muttered to himself, clearly lost in thought. His brow furrowed with every new page, and I could tell he was getting more and more stressed.

"Hey." I said, finally finding my voice, and deciding that watching him from the doorway, could objectively speaking, be seen as creepy.

Étienne's head shot up and he looked startled at the sudden interference. His expression calmed when he noticed it was me.

"Oh, hey Lou." Étienne replied with a sigh.

I could tell that he was still upset about whatever had happened that. "Is everything okay?" I asked, trying to hide my concern.

He forced a smile. "No, yeah everything is perfect. Thanks for keeping an eye on Caia, by the way. I see the two of you bonded."

My cheeks flushed and I looked down for a moment. "Yeah. Sorry for falling asleep. I don't even remember when I did."

Étienne waved me off with a flick of his wrist. "Don't even worry about it. You can stay the night, you know? It's a bit late to be driving."

I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, nearly choking when it read 3AM. What was he even doing up at this hour? When did he come home? Had I really just fallen asleep with his daughter for over four hours?

"What are you doing up?" I asked. "Are you sure you're okay?"

It was only when I walked closer, pulling out a seat next to him that I noticed his eyes were bloodshot, and there were dark circles under them. As he shuffled through the papers, his hands shook slightly but he didn't even seem to realize that he was. I wanted to reach out and offer him some words of encouragement, but I knew that Étienne was not the type of person to easily accept help. Instead, I decided to quietly observe him and make sure he didn't need anything.

"Yeah," he sucked in a breath. "I am."

"Are you lying?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe." He admitted.

There was something about the way that he was avoiding eye contact with me that made a pit settle in my stomach. There was too much curiosity eating at me to not know what happened.

"You said something about an accident. . ." I trailed off, hoping he'd fill in the gaps.

"Right," He cleared his throat, looking slightly uncomfortable, "I don't know if you remember Marielle?" he asked.