His Stoic Mask, Her Bleeding Heart

Chapter 15: Caring

The door was unlocked. Thank little baby Jesus, the door was unlocked.

I rushed into Hale's house like a man on fire and tossed the heavy wool blanket from my shoulders, a soft hiss of pain slipping between my clenched teeth. The sun couldn't fully reach me through the blanket, but it felt like it had known I was there, like it had strained to jab me with its fiery fingers through the thick fabric. I swore my skin was sizzling, though when I looked down at my bare arms, they were completely intact. It was all in my head.

"Eli?" I heard a voice call tentatively, and I turned my gaze to the top of the stairs.

"Bethany," I said, my voice a bit rougher than I'd intended, and I quickly cleared my throat and tried again. "Bethany, what are you doing up so early?"

"It's not that early," she said as she began to descend the stairs. Her tone was lighthearted, but her eyes showed something darker, something more serious, less sure. Thank little baby Jesus twofold – she was as confused as I was about where we stood now.

I took a step forward as she drew to a stop on the bottom stair, her hand resting on the ornate wooden railing, appearing incredibly pale against the mahogany. "It's early enough that I can ask why you're awake."

"If you must know," she began, the smallest smile curving her lips, "I'm frequently up this early. I've never been the type to sleep in. Who are you so desperate to see that you were willing to bear the sunlight and miss your bedtime?"

Certainly not you, I said in my mind to the hopefulness in her voice – a hopefulness I had likely imagined – only to realize that I only half meant it. The longer I looked at her, standing pleasant and pretty at the bottom of the stairs, the more I wished I had come to spend time with her, the more I wished I had the time to spare. I pushed the thought aside hurriedly and said, all business, "I really need to see Hale. He wouldn't happen to be an early riser, too, would he?"

She chuckled, her smile widening into a grin. "Hale, an early riser? Never, sir; never. I don't think he went to bed until a couple of hours ago, actually, so he probably won't be up until long after noon." Her smile fell suddenly, likely as she noticed the seriousness of my face and of this whole situation. "How urgent is it? He won't be happy if I wake him so soon, but if you need me to..."

"It's all right," I told her, letting my blanket fall to the floor. It felt hot in my hands, reminding me of the sun, and I didn't want to deal with it anymore. "To be honest, I'm not sure why I came so early, anyway. Even if he approves of my request, there's likely nothing to be done until nightfall. I just..." I let my eyes drift across the vast entrance hall, and I vaguely wondered how I'd even gotten here, as if the sprint across town had all been a dream.

"Well, what's the problem?" she asked, hesitantly taking that last step down to my level, though her hand never left the banister. "Maybe I can help you without bothering anyone else."

"It's business," I said a bit more quickly than I should have, then I shrugged to try to alleviate some of the harshness of the statement, to try to revoke the tone of "It's a man thing, honey; go make me a sandwich." "It's not really something that anyone but Hale can help with."

"Oh," she started, her frown quickly turning into an obviously forced smile, "well, would you like to partake in some breakfast with me?" The lie left her expression as she smirked, mischief flashing in her eyes, and my mind followed hers into the gutter as memories of our evening in the kitchen together skated through my mind – the sights, the sounds, the smells, the sensations...

"I should probably get back to the apartment," I said, doing my best to force the thoughts from my mind, though the feeling of her lips against mine lingered as if she'd only just kissed me. "I left Elyria and Kyrianna alone, and you never know what those two could get themselves into without a babysitter."