Freedom, Flowers, Books, and the Moon

Chapter 11

The group was halfway through the first season of Stranger Things when King realized that it had been quite a while since Aurie had commented on the happenings of the show. That's unusual, he thought; the girl hadn't stopped making little remarks since she had finally gotten comfortable. King gently looked down at the head in his lap and found that the girl was very much asleep. "Cielo." he whispered, unsure if she was a light sleeper or not.

"Why are you whispering?" Ciel asked, eyebrow raised but also whispering.

"She's asleep." King informed him.

Beau sat up in his seat and began to listen in on his friends' quiet conversation.

"How did that happen so quickly?" Cielo asked, confused.

"She was exhausted yesterday." King began to run his hand gently through her hair as he talked. "She fell asleep in the car."

"That's probably why she was still asleep when I called her." Beau realized.

"Yeah dipshit. I deduced that earlier; it didn't take a genius to do it." King glared at the country man.

"You are legally a genius." Cielo interjected.

King continued, ignoring his friend's comment. "I told her to make sure she got enough sleep, but clearly that didn't happen."

"I called her at nine," Beau pointed out, "It wasn't exactly dawn."

"I'm not blaming you, Beau. Something must be interrupting her sleep." The oldest said.

"The boyfriend?" Cielo asked.

"Don't bring him up." King growled.

"Trust me, I don't like thinking about him either, but I'm trying to come up with a reason she's not sleeping well."

"Clearly she's not thinking about him too much considering she forgot she had a date today." Beau pointed out.

"That's true." King verbally agreed, while Cielo nodded his agreement.

"He's probably gonna call her later when she doesn't show up." Cielo pointed out.

"He's likely one of those angry, jealous types, taking advantage of her." Beau whispered bitterly.

"Beau, you're an angry, jealous type." King reminded the other man.

The southerner glared at the oldest and said, "I know I am, but- I don't know. I just feel like there's somethin' about this guy, somethin' not quite right."

Aurie stirred lightly in her sleep, causing the men to pause their conversation and look at her. Her eyes gently fluttered open, and she yawned.

"Good morning, dolcezza."

Aurelia rubbed her eyes, "How long was I out?"

"We're not quite sure." Cielo said truthfully.

"That's not important. What is important, however, is the fact that I told you to get a good night's sleep last night, and clearly you didn't." King stared down at the girl.

"I didn't mean to." The girl rotated to her back to look up at him, "I got in bed as soon as I could; I was just havin' trouble fallin' asleep."

"Do you have any idea why you couldn't sleep?" Ciel asked.

The girl blushed slightly and ignored eye contact before saying, "No, not really."

King squinted at her suspiciously but decided to let it go. He reached forward, grabbed the remote off the coffee table, paused the TV, and asked, "Are you hungry?"