Alternate Allure

CHAPTER 15: STAY

"Well... if you're cool with it, we could, uh... share my bed?"

Donnie freezes mid-blink, his face turning tomato-red. All he can manage is a weird cough-laugh hybrid like he just swallowed a bug.

"Yeah, no. I'm sleeping on the floor"

You snort, throwing him a look. "Seriously, Dee?"

"What?" His voice pitches higher. "You're... not joking?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" You give him a playful side-eye, already heading toward your room.

He scratches the back of his neck, glancing everywhere but at you, trying to act chill and failing spectacularly. "I mean... I wouldn't mind sharing if you're really okay with it, but—"

"Dude, I'm the one who asked. Of course I don't mind! Just... think of it as a sleepover or something" You glance over your shoulder, shrugging. "Unless you're the one against it? Then, by all means, the floor is all yours"

He scrambles after you, practically tripping over his own feet. "No! No, no, no—it's fine! I don't mind! I'd love to sleep with you!"

The silence that follows is deafening. Then the words finally register in his brain. His face somehow turns even redder.

"I-I mean, not like that! I meant—together in the same bed! But not together-together—!"

You lose it. Like, actual tears-streaming-down-your-face level of laughing.

"Don't worry Dee, I know what you meant! Just... relax, okay?"

"I am relaxed" His voice squeaks like a rusty hinge as he shuffles after you into the room.

You roll your eyes but keep the grin on your face as you start unmaking the bed. Meanwhile, Donnie sets down his pillow, trying to keep it together by pulling off his gear, untying his mask and laying it neatly by the bed. He then starts working on the wraps around his hands and feet. He had learned his lesson to take them off when he had gotten up morning before, having gotten just a few hours sleep at home, to large, noticeable indentations in his flesh where the foreign objects had been.

"Hey" You glance over while tugging the curtains shut on your balcony window. "Wanna throw those in the wash? I can clean them up for you"

Donnie looks up, tilting his head. "What?"

"Your gear" You nod toward the pile. "I've got a washing machine. It's not fancy, but it gets the job done"

He shakes his head, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You're way too nice, y'know that? I'm fine. Really. You need rest"

"Offer's there" You nod in acknowledgement, plopping down on your bed, facing the ceiling as you cross your arms behind your head. "Oh, and before you go, feel free to use the shower. There's also food in the fridge... well, barely. I gotta go grocery shopping. But you can have anything that's not spoiled"

Donnie chuckles. "Thanks, but I'll grab something at home. You don't need to worry about me"

He slips the last of his gear into his utility belt, now organizing his stuff in your desk's chair. He's so methodical about it that it takes him a second to realize that, technically, he has stripped in front of you. As soon as that clocks, it also dawns on him that you are showing the most skin he has ever seen: an oversized shirt and loose shorts that work as your pajama, which had not even registered until he laid his eyes on you. Cue internal panicking.

"I—" He clears his throat dramatically, trying to steer his brain anywhere else. "I won't stay all night, though. My brothers might freak out if I'm not back. We're, uh, still hunting Snakeweed"