Love & Deepspace (One Shots)

hidden motive. ⛄️ (s)

A quiet groan escaped my mouth as I rolled over onto my side, though I immediately flinched and turned away when a bright light burned through my eyelids. Once I was laid on my back again, my eyes slowly flickered open and glanced around the room, taking in every inch of my surroundings; it soon became apparent I wasn't in my own bed, or even my own apartment... it was Zayne's. The sound of sweet birdsong travelled in through a slightly open window, and a light breeze rustled through the trees outside. Aside from the sounds of nature, the apartment was almost silent and seemingly empty, leaving me alone stretched out in the king-size bed.

After allowing myself a few minutes to fully wake up, I climbed out of bed and slipped my feet into the soft slippers that had been left by the bedside table; the person who left them would certainly be upset if he saw me walking barefoot on the cold floor again. I looked down and noticed I was still wearing my clothes from the day before — minus all the awkward Hunter accessories — which, unlike Zayne who was nowhere to be seen, were resting on a futon at the end of the bed. I tried my best to recall what had happened, though I had little to no memory of last night or how I ended up here. Zayne and I had gone on separate work trips, but we ended up bumping into each other and had made the journey home together. The last thing I remembered was getting on a late-night flight back to Linkon, and the next I was waking up in Zayne's bed... I must've fallen asleep, and he brought me home to avoid waking me. His thoughtfulness always made me smile.

I shuffled out of the bedroom and made my way through the apartment, trying to find some evidence of where Zayne might be. Both the kitchen and the living room were empty which made me worry he'd left me in his place alone, though as I passed by the bathroom I could hear the sound of running water and I was assured he was likely just taking a shower. The clock read exactly 10am, there were two freshly cooked breakfasts laid out on the dining table, and there was an open laptop on the nearby desk with its screen lit up; it seemed Zayne had already been hard at work during the early hours of the morning and unfortunately, I wasn't surprised.

"I can't believe he's already working on his first day back home... what a workaholic," I mumbled to myself, carefully running my fingers across the edge of the laptop screen.

I was about to walk away when all of a sudden, Zayne's phone which was laid next to the laptop suddenly lit up and began vibrating, causing me to jump. Upon closer inspection, I could see Greyson's name on the screen, and I froze in place; why was he calling out of nowhere? Was it something urgent that needed Zayne's attention? I contemplated answering it, though I didn't feel right answering someone else's phone so decided against it. Moments later, my own phone started ringing on the coffee table where it had been left on charge, and I hurried over to see it was Greyson once again.

I unplugged my phone and answered it. "Dr. Greyson? Why did you make two phone calls?"

"Looks like I was right. Dr. Zayne is with you," he said with a slight chuckle, almost as if he was patting himself on the back.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

There was a moment of silence, and all his cheerfulness seemed to disappear as he let out a sigh. "The list for this rescue mission was assigned at random. Dr. Zayne was originally going to a less dangerous location." I frowned, trying to process his words. "But after he saw your name on the hunter's list, he volunteered to go to the more dangerous quarantine zone."

Those words hit me like a tidal wave, washing away and clearing up the myriad of questions and doubts that had been buried deep within me. The thought of Zayne spotting my name on the hunter's list and deciding to volunteer to endanger himself made me feel an overwhelming mix of emotions; happiness, anger, and guilt over the fact that I had unintentionally put him in harm's way. Why would he do that? Why didn't he say anything? I don't know what I would've done if something had happened to him...