I spotted Nick as soon as I stepped into the staffroom on Monday morning and hurried over to him, hugging him briefly.
"Hey. Are you okay? You had me worried when you said you were at the hospital."
"Yeah. I had smoke inhalation and fainted but I'm okay now."
"Oh, thank god. What about your neighbours?"
"Um, the daughter is in pretty serious condition. Second degree burns all down one side. And the dad's got some burns on his leg. But the son and mother are pretty much okay. Only smoke inhalation and minor burns."
"Good to hear. Well, not about the daughter. But you know..." I trailed off as he nodded tiredly.
"I know."
"So, how did you get smoke inhalation?"
"I ran over to get the son to jump out the window 'cause the room he was in was about to practically explode."
"So you're a hero?" I raised an eyebrow, impressed.
"I guess. I just couldn't leave him there." Nick shrugged it off, reaching into his locker for his things.
"You're a hero." I pressed with a smile and he rolled his eyes.
"If you insist. I'll catch up with you at lunch?"
"Yeah. Sure. Enjoy your classes." I grinned at him, heading over to the coffee machine as he disappeared out the door.
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At home that night, I sat on the sofa in the living room, waiting for Ben to get home. I had a blanket over my legs and I was flicking through the channels on the TV when the garage door opened. Only a few minutes later, Ben appeared, rummaging through his bag as he walked so he didn't see me straight away.
"Oh. You scared me." He jumped a little when he finally noticed me and I smiled a little.
"Sorry. Where've you been? I thought you weren't working the late shift any more this month."
"I, uh, I was just finishing off with this new trainee. She was having trouble with a patient so I had to help her out."
"I didn't know you had new trainees."
"Not trainees exactly. Students from the local school."
"Which school?"
"What's with the twenty questions?" He frowned at me. I just shrugged.
"Just want to hear about your day. That's all."
"Okay." He dropped his bag to the floor and headed towards the kitchen. "What's for dinner?"
"Don't know. I wasn't hungry so the kids just had leftovers."
"Should have picked something up on the way home." He muttered as he disappeared. I rolled my eyes. He was dramatic sometimes. I turned my attention back to the TV, listening for Ben to come back.
"There's stuff still in the freezer, I think." I called out to him and he called something back that I couldn't make out. Giving up waiting for him to come back, I switched the TV off and made to head up to bed when I heard Ben talking.
"No, I'm in tomorrow morning..."
"What?" I asked, moving closer.
"I told him it was work...I know. Close call." I frowned to myself and pushed open the door to the kitchen.
"Ben?"
"Hey." He shot up from where he'd been crouched down, looking into the freezer. "I'll call you back later." He hung up from whoever was on the phone and came over to me, wrapping his arms around me.
"Who were you talking to?" I asked him, pulling back a little.
"Someone from work. They were trying to get me to cover another shift."
"Oh. Okay." What he told me didn't match what I'd heard but I hadn't heard the whole conversation so maybe I missed something. "You coming to bed?"
"In a bit. I'm going to run down to the store and get something to eat." He kissed the tip of my nose and grabbed his keys off the counter.
"Okay." I watched as he headed towards the door again. "Ben...?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"Love you." He mumbled as the door swung shut. He was acting so weird tonight. Part of me wanted to follow him and ask what was up but another part of me was feeling cautious and didn't want to cause a fight.
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"Charlie. Wake up."
"Go 'way..." I mumbled, swatting away the hand that was gently caressing my cheek.
"Wake up, love." Ben's voice finally registered in my ear and I opened my eyes to find him looking down at me, the light behind him seeming like a halo.
"What?"
"You fell asleep on the sofa."
"Oh. I didn't realise..." I sat up slowly, looking around. "What time is it?"
"Just after eleven. Traffic was bad out on High Street."
"At this time of night?"
"There's roadworks there, remember? They blocked part of the road completely for a bit so I had to take the back way."
"What's up with you tonight?" I suddenly blurted out, more awake than I had been.
"What?"
"You've been acting weird all night. Getting home late, sulking that there wasn't any dinner, going out to get something and coming back ridiculously late."
"I'm fine."
"You're not. Somethings bothering you."
"Charlie, just drop it. I'm okay. There's nothing bothering me. It's just been a long day."
"You have long days all the time. You've never been like this."
"Charlie..." He had a warning tone in his voice but I ignored it. I wanted an answer.
"No. Ben, I've noticed a few time the last few weeks some odd behaviour from you but I mostly just put it down to the fact that we were making some big changes in our life but now I want the truth. What's going on in your head?"
"I'm fine Charlie. I just want to go to bed." He made as if to head upstairs but I reached out to grab his arm.
"Hey. We're not going to bed until whatever this is has been sorted." When he tried to pull away I spoke again. "Ben. I mean it. I hate feeling like you're hiding something from me."
"I'm not hiding anything."
"You are." I pressed, standing up to face him. "I've known you for how many years now? And been married for seven of them. I know you and I know when you're hiding something. I knew when you were planning to propose."
"No you didn't."
"I did. But that's not the point. And you know it. Ben, just tell me. If it's something bad, I can help you through it. That's what I'm here for."
"It's not..." He sighed and turned away, rubbing has hands over his face.
"It's not what?"
"It's not what you're thinking."
"What am I thinking? Ben, for once, I have no idea what you're hiding. Whatever it is, you're hiding it better than when you proposed."
"I didn't want..." He took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the coffee table. "I didn't ever want you to know. I was going to stop it. But..."
"Stop what? Ben, tell me."
"I-I've been having an-an affair."
