Come To The Light

The Poet

This woman is ruining every single good thing I've got going on with Felix. Right when I think I'm making progress... she magically appears. It's like the universe is trying to stop this from happening, like some sort of cosmic sign. I won't let it happen though. Not a chance.

We're back at the castle and the huge bed set I ordered Felix is now here, it comes with a mattress so that's pretty cool. He helps me bring it inside, his cigarette resting in between his teeth to hold it.

We hoist the box inside and into our room, dropping it down inside by the door. This'll be fun to set up.

Felix looks down at the box and then looks at me, "Do you need help setting it up? If you read me the instructions I can help." I nod in response and then sit down on the floor to get started.

I tear open the box and drag out the plastic cover that's holding all of the pieces, at the bottom of the box I see the vacuum sealed mattress. How they got it to fit in the box is beyond me. I toss the huge box to the side and then grab the instruction manual.

I flip open the manual and stare at it. I love reading and have been able to decipher the worst kind of writing before, but what the actual hell is this? I look over at Felix.

"Can you read this? This just.. it doesn't make any sense to me." I extend the manual to him and he grabs it, staring down at it as well.

"If you can't read it, I sure as hell can't." He tosses it back to me and then looks at the several different pieces and baggies of screws laid out in front of us. "Don't the pictures pretty much sum up what to do? Just do your best and tell me what I have to do." He grabs the base piece and then looks back at me.

The pictures actually somehow give a better idea of what to do rather than the words that were definitely put in Google Translate several different times and came from a dead language.

"So grab the.." I look over at Felix, "..that, and then find.." I look back at the manual, trying to find the next step's picture, "..the thing that looks like that but smaller. And put those together."

I hear him scoff and feel his eyes narrow in on me like I'm his next target, "That doesn't help me at all. These pieces have numbers on them, tell me the numbers, Alaric."

This manual is not helpful at all. "What numbers?" I question him, staring down at the manual still. He sighs deeply and snatches the manual from my hand, setting the base piece down. He rolls his eyes and then shoves the manual back at me, "The literal only numbers on the booklet. They are in bold. And highlighted." Oh.

It takes around an hour to set it up and Felix did most of the work. I feel bad for not doing more, but I kept doing it wrong and so he took over. He said, exactly, "I'm not sleeping on a half-assed bed frame." So now if it breaks when he lays down, that's not my fault.

We toss the mattress on top of the bed frame. I originally put the frame a good distance away from my bed, but he said he didn't like the placement and moved it closer to mine, the nightstand being what is separating our beds.

I walk over to the chest and grab out the extra comforter and sheet I had from when I first moved in. Just a simple black set. I hand those to Felix and then three pillows since I have way too much on my bed. "Thank you." He nods to me and then makes his bed.

"I'm going to nap now." He calls out to me, sitting on the edge of his new bed, facing me. "Since someone made me do all the work." He teases and puts on a tired smile.

I snort out a short laugh and plop down into my bed, sprawled out now that it's all mine again. "Oh sure, sure. That's what happened." My words drip with sarcasm and I turn my head to show him my smile.

He holds his smile and then crawls under his blankets, yawning. He rests his head on the pillows and shuts his eyes.

My bed feels empty without him, as odd as that might sound. It feels like I have too much free space, so bare and uncomfortable almost. I've slept alone for ten years perfectly fine and then all of the sudden Felix sleeps in my bed for two nights and I'm 'changed'.

Would it be odd for me to ask him to come back? Definitely. So I won't ask, but I'll surely get him to come back somehow. I look over and he's not asleep yet, just shutting his eyes.

I slide under my covers and turn away from him, trying to make it not so obvious. Now is my chance to put on my 'nightmare' act. I do have a lot of nightmares so this'll be easy. I start breathing heavily and shift around, my bed is creaky so if the breathing doesn't get to him then the creaks will. I toss and turn and hiss under my breath.

I hear him shift in bed, but I'm not looking his way so I'm not sure if he's just turning away from me or if he's noticed. I then hear his tired mumble, "Alaric?"

I fake waking up, yawning and grumbling as I sit up and face him, making my eyes look droopy and forcing my ears to fold down, "Mmm..?"

He rubs his eyes and mumbles again, "Are you okay? You were moving a lot. Can you not sleep or something?"

I shake my head and feign a slight subtle pout, "No I.. I guess I just watch too many scary movies. I keep having nightmares." I look down and rub my eyes to 'rub the sleepiness away'.

He sighs deeply and then tosses the blankets off of him, he drags his feet over and ushers me to move to the other side in bed. "Here.. move over, make some room for me." He looks exhausted, I almost feel bad. But I don't. He'll probably sleep better here with me.

I move to the side and he lays down beside me. Do I wrap an arm around him? Will that make it too.. awkward? I do it anyway reluctantly and he shifts himself closer to me, I'm not sure if it was on purpose but it definitely does not go unnoticed.

He pulls the covers over himself and then shuts his eyes, maybe now I can actually sleep.