DISCOVERY ➴ Chrollo x Reader

XXXIX. The next day

While I would only admit it under heavy duress, I had fallen asleep staring at his steely eyes. Trouble wouldn't even begin to describe my situation. No. I was deeply and thoroughly fucked, both metaphorically and literally. 

Chrollo woke me up with a soft pat over my shoulder and I started awake. Heart wildly beating and blood rushing to my cheeks once I found myself staring so closely at his handsome face. My mind could only bring forth the memories of last night. How he had looked when he fucked me... How it had felt... 

What a fucking mess.

He didn't grace me with his groggy morning voice, he stood up quickly from his crouching position and walked into the forest without a word. That was different. Maybe he, too, had fortified his boundaries. While this worked hand in hand with my decision of not growing delusional and not crossing lines, I didn't seem to appreciate the silent treatment... Could he be feeling self-conscious and shy over what had happened as well? No. This was Chrollo. He wouldn't be feeling panicky, and he wouldn't be doubting his feelings for me. Unlike me. Would he...?

I shook my head as if that would also shoo away my dangerous thoughts. It didn't help, and I grumbled my way out of the comfortable sleeping bag. The sleeping bag that had finally provided me with a decent night of rest. I patted it lightly, and then I scoffed. How far gone was I that I was giving my sleeping bag a 'pat on the back' for allowing me a comfortable night? I rolled it with more force than I should've, ensuring that it wouldn't take more space than it should in Chrollo's luggage. Hah... wasn't that the story of my life? Specially these last few days. 

Chrollo had simply left me without a word, so I looked around trying to figure out what to do next, and I noticed a small plastic plate with a hunk of smoked meat next to my side of the camp. The leftovers from last night. What if he couldn't handle my presence anymore? Was this dry, insanely hard piece of spiceless meat my final meal? Why would he feed someone he was about to kill? Yeah... I forced my teeth to sink into the meat, soaking it with saliva to make it more chewable. It was a painstakingly slow process. 

Luckily, I had managed to swallow the last bite when Chrollo returned. He started packing his own sleeping bag and belongings silently. I didn't dare ask where he had been. That's where the line I had drawn was at. I would not cross it. I wouldn't start any banter, and I wouldn't ask questions that didn't relate specifically to what I was to do. It was as simple as that.  

I helped him scatter the leftover piled wood we had gathered for the fire around the forest. It was relaxing really, throwing sticks away at random. Working in complete silence didn't help my roaring thoughts, which seemed to be wounded that Chrollo would go as low as the silent treatment with his regret for last night. I found myself thinking that I could blur his lines with wild nights of sex... but it seemed to be counteractive, as my own lines seemed to be willing to be blurred by feelings that should simply not exist. I couldn't allow myself any of that. Not that I would put it into work. My shyness kept me safe from these dangerous bouts of want, at least that. 

Silence made time pass slowly, and I surely grew bored with scattering things. I couldn't imagine I'd find myself relieved once Chrollo cleared his throat, nodding towards the jeep, after finding the clearing to be clean of most of our activity. I skipped to the large jeep, ready to focus on a more demanding task and shrug away the desire to start a conversation of any kind with Chrollo. 

The awkward ambience that settled when both car doors closed us in was nearly enough to make me break and start rambling. I was strong. I didn't. I turned on the car and made the gravel track back into the road, and once the car shook to move onto the slightly elevated road, his voice broke the silence. "To the right."

His directions were perfectly robotic and well-timed, so I had time to respond to them, but they weren't too frequent. And they didn't dissipate any of the tension between us. 

I forced my trembling fingers to reach for the car radio and turning it on. I wasn't chastised for it. I hadn't pushed my luck to search for a decent radio station, so I was now hearing what the dead owner of this jeep liked to listen. Melancholic ballads. 

They really didn't help the mood. Songs about longing accompanied us all morning until I started noticing where we were headed, as the name of a small village started appearing more and more in road signs. 

Dread filled me from head to toe and I prayed to evert deity and giving energy out there that he didn't make us stop there. Not on my little hometown. Not where I knew my family lived. Not where I could be recognized by anyone at any time. 

"We'll stop near the shopping centre to pick up supplies and cleaning ourselves up." He said once buildings surrounded us and people roaming around the streets came into view. I parked a few streets away from the centre and as soon as the car stopped, Chrollo hopped out, leaving me with four words. "You will handle yourself."

I watched him disappear around the corner of the street, between a beautiful woman walking her dog and an elderly man holding his grandson's hand. My hands tightened around the wheel and I hit my forehead against it for two seconds before I forced myself to breathe deeply and to hop out of the jeep. Locking it behind me. 

I sneaked through some small roads that led directly to the mall, and I was about to go in when I saw her, walking just a few steps ahead of me. 

"Mom?"

Author's Note: Why hello there~ Guess what I did?