In the end

Chapter 22 - Hunger

~ Bree POV ~ Tuesday Nov. 3rd

I woke up with a slight headache and my pillow was damp from the tears I must have shed in my sleep. I didn't remember crying. I felt a little better after washing my face and brushing my teeth but I couldn't seem to stop the thoughts nagging at me.

The first thing I did was turn on my laptop to check my e-mail. Before I'd left work the day before I had e-mailed Maren to ask if I could work from home for a few days. I felt like I needed time to think and she had always been really patient with me during my darker moods. As usual she had no problem with it and because I was all caught up with our latest project I could pretty much just be lazy at this point.

I made coffee and tried to push back the images from my nightmare. It didn't take as long as it usually did because my thoughts suddenly drifted to Jared. I wondered what he was doing. Grabbing my cell before sitting down I realized that I hadn't turned it back on. As soon as I did I was inundated with beeps and buzzes. Oh shit. I had totally forgotten that we had made a lunch date the day before. From his texts he seemed worried so I decided to call him not thinking about how early it was. "Mmmh hello?" His voice sounded deep and scratchy and it was the sexiest sound in the world. "Crap I woke you up. I didn't look at the clock until after I dialled." He sort of breathed my name and it sent heat shooting through the lower part of my body. We weren't even in the same room and I was falling apart because of this man. "I tried to call you, I was worried." "I'm sorry it completely slipped my mind." "As long as your ok it doesn't matter." I wished he was here. I wanted to feel his body heat and his hands on me. "What time is it anyway?" He sounded a bit more awake but his voice was still husky. "Uhh. 7:30." "Are you at work?" "I actually took a few days off." "Really. That's great." Long silence. "Do you-" "Can I-" we both stopped at the same time and there was more silence. He broke it first. "Would you like to come over?"

He sent Clif to pick me up and being a coward I couldn't help but feel nervous around the massive, gruffy man so last thing I expected to hear playing softly when I got into the car was opera. He looked more like a death metal fan than an opera one and I found myself feeling like a shitty person for judging him. I recognized it as an aria from La Traviata. Hey some opera is cool. I looked around and saw that there were a few pictures pinned to his sun visor. One if him between a smiling Jared and Jensen and one of what I assumed was his family. My heart softened towards this beast of a man thought back to what Liv had said the other day. Maybe he really was just an over grown teddy bear.

We pulled up to a totally normal, nothing out of the ordinary apartment complex. The only thing different that I noticed were the security cameras and the fact that there was a desk in the lobby with a security guard. I didn't know where I was going so Clif led the way to a line of elevators. I started to feel this nervous excitement in my stomach, like what you feel waiting for a roller coaster to start. I smoothed out my hair and fidgeted with my coats zipper as we ascended in silence. I wished Clif would say something to distract me from the butterflies, scratch that, the friggen bats flying around in my stomach. The doors opened and he continued to lead me down the hall until we stopped in front his door. Just a regular door, off white with an antique looking peep hole and knocker. He knocked twice before opening the door and held it open gesturing for me to go in. He walked in totally at ease like he'd been here a million times. "Jare?" "In the kitchen."
We rounded a corner and I let out a gasp. Jared was standing at the stove cooking with his back to us, wearing a pair of loose sweatpants that hung off his hips and plain grey shirt with a deep v neck. He turned around when he heard my hugely embarrassing sound and smiled at my look of chagrin. We just stared at each other inappropriately before Clif cleared his throat and I could tell he felt uncomfortable. "Well I'll leave you kids alone." He disappeared back the way we came and I heard the door open and close. It sounded like a hotel door that automatically locks. I turned back to Jared and saw he was watching me intently. "Are you hungry?" Even if I had been I doubt I would have been able to eat with my stomach flipping around. "Jeez I'm sorry, let me take your coat." I fumbled with the zipper for a second before I managed to get my coat off. He took it from my shaky hands and walked towards the front door. I took a few steps further into the kitchen and saw he was cooking an omelette. I heard him re-enter the room but I didn't turn to face him. I didn't have to turn around to know where he was because I could feel the heat from his body on my back. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair. I could feel myself start to shake slightly when he gathered my hair to one side exposing my neck. When he pressed his lips to the skin below my ear my brain disconnected from my body.