Idolised Lies

Chapter 20: Tired Fear

Two months had passed since Firey had officially started to "date" Leafy.

He never admitted they were together out loud and if he was ever in a situation where he had to say something, the most he would say is "dating".

He cared about Leafy, she meant a lot to him, he wasn't ashamed or embarrassed by her in anyway, he was just scared.

His past haunted him, his memories still hurt him and he just couldn't bring himself to tell her he loved her no.

It was the commitment, the idea of being attached to something he had once claimed to resent wholeheartedly scared him.

The idea of more broken promises scared him.

When Leafy had asked him what they were exactly, he couldn't speak, he stood there, as though he wanted to say something but simply couldn't so Leafy took the initiative.

He wanted to be with her, he was glad he had somehow managed to say yes when she asked if he was okay with them being a thing.

Neither we're very publicly open about it but for very different reasons.

Firey was okay with it though, behind closed doors, he was everything Leafy wanted and she was everything he wanted.

They spent a lot of time together in secret, they would both be lying if they said they didn't enjoy the thrill of it all.

As usual, Leafy was hanging out at Firey's place, lounging on the sofa with Butter in her lap, snoozing and being the luckiest dog in the world while she stroked his soft, fluffy fur.

Firey was sat at his desk, his laptop open on a half written essay with a few cans of a cheap energy drink laying beside it.

He had been awake since around one in the morning.

Leafy had come over at ten.

She could tell he was tired but didn't mention it since she knew how dismissive he would be, he just wanted to get the essay typed out before he took a break.

He was half engaged in the conversation and Leafy could tell he would just crash and fall asleep any minute, she worried about him when he got like this.

Carefully moving Butter onto the sofa, she stood up and walked over to Firey, leaning over him and seeing what he had written.

"How long have you been up?" She asked in a soft tone, leaning against him slightly.

"Not that...long," he mumbled.

Although he had made good progress, there were tons of spelling and grammar errors that he would never normally make, Leafy saw right through him.

"Come on Firey, I know you need to rest, be honest with me," Leafy said as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head.

"No, I need to- this is... important," he protested tiredly.

"Your health and wellbeing is important," Leafy laughed quietly.

"No, it isn't," Firey yawned.

"Have a little break Firey, it'll help you," she implored.

After a little more back and forth and a few more kisses from Leafy, she managed to get him to agree to a "five minute break".

"Good, just a little rest," Leafy smiled as she sat down.

Due to the fact that he hadn't eaten in almost twenty-four hours and he was being kept going by pain killers and energy drinks, Firey was a little bit unsteady and dizzy when he moved so Leafy assisted him as he lay down on the sofa.