After 2

Chapter 124.

When I wake up I'm sweating. Hardin's head is on my stomach and his arms are wrapped around me. His arms surely must be numb from my body weight. His legs are intertwined with mine and he is snoring lightly. I take a deep breath and carefully lift my hand to brush his hair off of his forehead. I feel like I haven't touched his hair in so long, when in reality it's only been since Saturday. My mind plays the events in Seattle like a movie as I run my fingers through his soft mess of hair. His eyes flutter open and i jerk my hand away quickly.

"Sorry." I say, embarrassed to be caught in the act.

"No, it felt good." His voice is thick from sleep.

He lifts himself from me too soon and I wish I wouldn't have touched his hair so he would still be asleep, holding me.

"I have some work to do today so I will be going to town for little while." He says and grabs a pair black jeans from the closet.

"Okay.." What? He grabs his boots and slips them on quickly.

I get the feeling that he is rushing out of here.

I thought he would be happy that we slept in the bed together and that we held each other for the first time in a week. I thought something would have changed, not completely but I thought maybe he could see that my resolve was wearing down, that I was a few steps closer to reconciling with him than I was yesterday.

"Yea.." He says and twists his eyebrow ring between his fingers before pulling the white t-shirt over his head and grabbing a black one from the dresser.

He doesn't say anything before he exits the room and I am left confused, once again. Out of all the things I expected to happen, him running out on me wasn't one of them. Why would he have to do work right now? He reads manuscripts, the same way that I do only he has much more freedom to do all of his work from home so why would he want to do it today? Maybe he is going to the library? The memory of what Hardin was doing the last time he had to "work" makes my stomach turn.

I hear him talking to his mother briefly before the front door closes. I plop back onto the pillows and kick my feet in  childish manner then I climb out of bed. I pick Hardin's clothes up off the floor and shove them into the hamper and pad out into the kitchen to make some coffee.

"Good morning sweetie." Anne chirps.

"Good morning, thank you for making coffee." I tell her and grab the freshly brewed pot.

"Hardin said he had some work to do?" She says but it sounds like she is asking not telling.

"Yea.. he told me that." I say.

I don't know what else to say.

"I am glad he is okay after last night." Her voice full of worry.

"Yea, me too. I shouldn't have let him sleep on the floor." I say without thinking.

Her brows lower in question and I try to think of a way to talk myself out of this.

"He doesn't have them when he isn't on the floor?" She asks carefully.

"No, he doesn't have them if we.." I trail off stirring the sugar into my coffee.

"if you're there." She finishes for me.

"Yea.. if I am there."

"Do you want to know why he has them? I know he will hate me for telling you but I think you should know."

"He told me.. about that night." I swallow.

Her eyes widen in surprise.

"He told you?" She almost gasps.