Borrowed Time Part 2

Chapter 256

 The bed next to her was cold the next morning, which sent a shiver of panic down Juliette's spine as she sat bolt upright, feeling the spot... She knew it was irrational, but part of her wondered if Esme had decided to actually leave her and, for some fucking reason, they'd left their house instead of waking her up and telling her to go... She wouldn't blame them, she had been a fucking mess the night prior, spending it intermittently silent and then crying after the stupid fucking trick her brain had played on her... Who wouldn't be searching for an out? Obviously they were, obviously... Obviously, you need to fucking breathe, you crazy bitch.

She closed her eyes, forcing a deep breath into her lungs that were still aching from the dry air she'd inhaled in her sleep – neither one of them had remembered to turn the humidifier on. It was normally her task, she was the one who had forgotten. She tapped a pattern out on her fingers, willing herself to focus on anything but her spiraling thoughts: The color of the inside of her eyelids, the weird buzzing she felt in her ears upon waking, the dryness of her mouth... Anything so that she could calm down enough to get out of bed and prove herself fucking wrong.

Slowly, achingly slowly she felt her body relax as she pulled in her first full breath of the morning before pushing it out hard, practically wringing her lungs out before she opened her eyes, feeling a little more human. There was no way Esme left in the middle of the night, that made absolutely no logical sense, and she wasn't going to let her fears about that control her anymore, she had to get up and see why the hell they weren't in bed in the first place. She needed to know that much before any more panic washed over her. She slid her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, stretching hard enough that her back locked for a second, making her grimace.

"Shitshitshit..." She mumbled, bringing her arms down to relax the spot as frantically as she could, feeling it gradually unlock as she let out a sigh of relief and made her way to the bedroom door, opening it so that she could pad out to the kitchen.

Despite logically knowing that Esme would be there, she still let out a breath of relief when she saw them at the stove, putting something onto two plates before they picked them up and turned around, letting out a sound of surprise upon seeing her. She was just glad she didn't scare them this time, instead they just looked very happy to see her as they set down the plates on the table before making their way to her.

"You're up early." She said, her voice still rough from sleep. Esme smiled, cupping her cheeks before they pressed a quick kiss to her lips and nodded, pulling back.

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure I could make you some breakfast before our day got started. I know it's not that busy of one, but I still do have work later, and I can't miss that." They said, and she nodded, kissing their cheek lightly before she pulled out their chair, gesturing for them to sit. They'd done all the work, they needed to be pampered too, it was only right.

Esme smiled sheepishly and settled into the chair, letting her push them in before she took her own. Breakfast looked fucking delicious... Eggs... Bacon... Fruit... Nothing they had on hand, that was for sure. She furrowed her brows, cocking her head at Esme.

"Did you go to the store while I was asleep?" She asked, feeling her heart squeeze in her chest... She didn't want Esme spending their hard-earned money on her, they were supposed to take a trip to the cheap grocery store on Sunday, that would've been a better idea.

Esme beamed, nodding as they gestured to the breakfasts in front of them like they were the best thing that they had ever been able to create.

"Uh huh." God, that was just the sweetest thing in the world... They hadn't needed to take a time out of their day to do that, they hadn't needed to go all the way to the store for anything that they needed, they'd just done it because they wanted to take care of her. Where else would she ever be loved this way? Who else would ever care in the way that they did? Esme truly was, in every single way, her perfect match... And she was so happy that what had happened last night wasn't enough to make them want to leave her. She wouldn't have blamed them if it was. "We were out of breakfast foods; I didn't want to feed you spaghetti for breakfast." Juliette frowned, crossing her arms across her chest as she shook her head.