WITHIN HIS REACH | garroth ro'meave *REWRITING*

CHAPTER FIVE

         CATCHING A GLIMPSE of the blond man as he walked past her door, Claire momentarily paused her chewing. Once he was out of sight, she eagerly shoved another spoonful of stew in her mouth. She had been bed-ridden for a little over a month now, according to Garroth. He claimed that a fever from infection almost took her early but she didn't remember much of her sickened state. Even now, she still spent more time asleep than awake due to her medicine, but she couldn't say she minded. Under the medication's influence, Claire was able to drift easily into her subconscious without issue. It was when she tried to fall asleep under her own volition that the nightmares or insomnia came. Additionally, the medicine gave her a sense of peace; her brain was always too cloudy to argue or ask any questions. She'd wake up, Garroth would change her bandages, he'd bring her food, she'd take her medicine, and she'd fall asleep again.

They didn't talk much outside of Garotth's "how are you feeling?" and Claire's "fine", but they didn't need to. They had come to an unspoken agreement that Claire had no interest in speaking and Garroth never pushed her to. However, he never once left the house, either that or she was never awake to notice. Even in her sleep dazed state, she could hear him moving around, curious as to what he did to keep himself entertained throughout his stay. She never asked though, never quite felt the need to.

Taking the last spoonful of stew and reluctantly setting the empty bowl on the bedside table, Claire took a moment to look around the room. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, her gaze shifted from the bookshelf, to the chest, to the paintings. An inkling of curiosity bubbled from deep within her, wanting to snoop throughout the room in search of some form of entertainment.

Before she could entertain the idea, Garroth entered the bedroom. He picked up the empty bowl and set down a cup of water in its place before leaving. Claire barely got a second to devise a plan before he was standing in the doorway. "Will you be alright on your own for a couple minutes?"

Eager at the opportunity to be alone, Claire quickly nodded, making Garroth's eyes narrow in suspicion. He walked over and gently pressed his hand against her forehead. "Please don't try to get out of bed." He pleaded softly, removing his hand. "You're finally started to get better. Don't set yourself back."

Huffing, Claire slumped back with a stiff nod, making Garroth's lips twitch up into an appreciative smile. "I won't take long," He assured, walking over to the bookshelf and staring at its contents. "You won't even notice I'm gone." He said, and Claire didn't have to look at his face to know he was smiling. He took two books off the shelf and turned around to face her, walking over and holding them out for her to take. Claire huffed, scrapping her plan to get across the room to get a peek of the literature.

"I think you'll like these." Garroth waved them slightly, as if to tempt her. "If I've got your personality pegged, that is."

Claire scoffed, taking the books and eyeing them warily. Their covers held nothing but their titles and their summaries exposed little about the plot but Claire liked a challenge. There wasn't any way Garroth figured out what she liked reading, she didn't even know what she liked reading. Erika had always been the book-worm, Claire was content just listening to the younger girl ramble about them afterwards. Now, with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company, reading didn't seem all too bad. Driven by the urge to prove Garroth wrong, Claire hadn't even realized he had taken his leave.

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Claire's eyes slowly peeled open, adjusting in the darkness of the room. Well shit, she thought, mildly annoyed that she had slept snother day away. Looking down, she found one of the books from earlier sprawled open on her lap. Picking it up, she couldn't help but laugh softly at the realization she had only made it up to page three before falling asleep. Looking to her side, she found Garroth in his usual chair, arms crossed and head lulled to the side as he slept soundlessly. Claire couldn't help but take a second to watch him, to watch the way his chest rose and fell, how his nose twitched.

Tearing her eyes from him, Claire carefully leaned over to bring the candle closer to her. Once satisfied with its proximity, she picked up the book and flipped it open. She had barely made it to the fifth page before her eyes grew heavy once again, fighting the urge to fall asleep. It wasn't until page seven that she was sitting up in interest. Setting the book down, she grabbed her cup of water, poured some into her cupped hand, and slapped it onto her face. There was no way she could fall asleep again, not when the momentum had finally picked up. Rubbing the remnants of sleep from her eyes, she wiped her hands dry on her sheets and flipped the book open again.

Time wasn't even a concept in Claire's head as she flew through the pages of the rather short book. Despite grimacing at the mere concept of telling Garroth he was right, she couldn't say she wasn't enjoying the book. Perhaps, it was the fact that it was the first book she had ever read or perhaps, it was the best piece of literature on the existence of the planet. Claire didn't know, but what she did know is that she finished it within three hours and she was pissed.

Frowning as she reread the last sentence, Claire looked over at Garroth's sleeping form. Grabbing one of the pillows from behind her, Claire chucked it at the blond with the intention of waking him up. The pillow was all it took, Garroth quickly sitting up as if he had been awake the whole time. He stood up and closed the distance between them, touching Claire's forehead expectantly, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Glaring up at him, Claire muttered, "Your book sucked."

With a relieved sigh, Garroth took his hand off her forehead, letting himself fall back into his seat. "You finished it?"

"Yes." Claire replied, before adding, "I hate it."

"The ending, right?" Garroth smiled knowingly.

Despite herself, Claire groaned in exasperation, "Yes! What was that?"

"It upset me too," Garroth admitted with a smile, "Take a look at the other book."

Claire furrowed her eyebrows and felt around her sheets for the other book. Finding it, she pulled it out and looked it over. There's nothing special about it either, just another boring cover and bland title. Turning to the first page, Claire feels her heart skip a beat at the continuation of the last book.

Claire bit her lip and looked up to see Garroth smiling at her. With a shrug of his shoulder, he said, "I knew you'd like it."

With a soft scoff, Claire looked back down at her book, "Whatever."

"Are you hungry?"

Instead of replying, Claire nodded, taking in the words on the page as if they'd satiate her hunger. She barely noticed Garroth leave the room, or the noise he was making in the kitchen, or the sweet aroma that started to fill the room. It's not until she sees a plate in her peripheral that she stops reading. Claire set her book down and took the plate eagerly, ripping off a piece of the bread and smelling it before shoving it into her mouth. Her eyes rolled back as soon as she took a bite, the sweet dough practically melting on her tongue.

"It's banana bread," Garroth hummed before biting into his own piece. He finished chewing before adding, "I thought you might want something besides that stew."

Through a mouthful, Claire furrowed her eyebrows and said, "Stew's good though."

"Yeah, I know how much you like it." Garroth chuckled, "I just wanted you to try this though."

Finally looking up from her bread to meet Garroth's eyes, Claire swallows her food, "Why?"

Garroth holds their eye contact, and Claire tried to ignore the way it made her cheeks burn, "I don't know."

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