Finding Course

16

Katherine.

Zane's shower was heaven. Honestly, it was a thousand times better than uncle Daniel's and a lot more homey than the sterile bathroom back at the facility we escaped. The hot water streaming down my body suddenly felt like it was washing away the remaining adrenaline from the time we spent captured. My body let go, tension leaving my rigid shoulders. Waves of emotion hit me like a damn tidal wave and I braced myself against the tiled wall. An uncontrollable sob shook me as all the stress of what we experienced ran through my mind. My thoughts raced all over the place and I couldn't seem to control them. I slid down to the floor of the shower, bringing my knees up to my chest as tears blended with the water raining down on me.

"Hey," Zane said in a hushed tone as he appeared in the doorway of the shower. I didn't have it in me to feel self conscious about being naked in front of him, I was so lost in my emotions all I could do was manage one look at him through blurry vision. "Kat," he said in a broken voice. He could feel my sadness, I knew it without asking. He didn't hesitate to climb in the shower and hold me, pulling his arms around me and pressing me to his chest. No words were said, just touch. Holding me said more than words could, not that either of us could probably find any to say. His hands ran up and down my arms, and both of us remained under the spray of the shower. My cries were muffled into the wet fabric of his shirt, and we stayed like that until the water ran cold.

Without a word he moved to turn the water off. Carrying my naked form out of the shower he brought me to the bed, and quickly wrapped me in a large towel. It was warm as he bundled me up. He didn't linger or stare at me, just tried to dry me off. He stood, moving to a walk in closet off to the left of the bathroom door. Seconds later he returned with a dark t-shirt. "Here," he said in a quiet voice as he put it over my head. As I pulled my arms through and adjusted my damp hair, his fingers brushed against the mark. His mark. I tensed, looking up at him as what felt like a current of electricity passed through me at his touch. His fingers froze, and then a timer beeping from the kitchen sounded. He was quick to return to the closet and change into a fresh shirt and athletic shorts for himself. As the timer continued its incessant beeping he and went into the kitchen to retrieve dinner.

Minutes later he returned with pizza on a platter with napkins and a few electrolyte water bottles. He set the pizza platter on the bed, handing me a water bottle. "Thank you," I whispered. "I'm sorry," I said, exhausted from my breakdown. He leaned his back against the headboard and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Kat, never apologize to me for something like that. What we went through there...I...feel what you need to feel, with me. It's my job to be here for you. I intend to live up to that." I was stunned at his sincerity, not sure what to say. As if he could tell, he opened an arm inviting me to sit next to him against the headboard.

"Got anything stronger than water?" I asked with a hint of teasing in my voice.

"Actually, yes," he answered and reached over into the drawer of his nightstand. Producing a bottle of bourbon about two thirds full, he removed the cork.

"You just casually have bourbon sitting in your nightstand," I stated with a smile, barely holding back a chuckle.

"Yeah, well, you see," he trailed off and quirked an eyebrow. "I kind of have this super stressful job, and this is my unhealthy coping mechanism."

"So you're like a...nightstand drinker?" I laughed and for the first time felt his chest moving with laughter as he joined me.

"That was a dumb joke, but sure," he said between laughing. "How about some trashy TV?" he asked and grabbed the remote off the same nightstand.

"Trashy TV? It appears I'm learning all the secrets tonight. I thought you'd say you only watch survival shows or something stereotypical like that." I accepted the offer of bourbon and took a swig as he found a reality TV show.