That Sexy Librarian and Me

20th

those twenty times

I didn't g e t caught

Sometimes when he was really tired, when Athenia was still away, he'd sneak a nap on her luxurious bed. He'd leap onto it like a child, enjoying the feel of blankets and linens as he fluffed up the pillow to sink his nose into. Everything smelt of her at home. It was oddly comforting.

Once or twice he'd come close to getting caught with it if he hadn't jumped out of the bed just as he heard the clinking of keys outside the apartment.

"Hey," she'd greet him as if everything was ordinary and a-okay. He'd nod at her, leap at the food she'd bring back and just be.

"I was wondering what you're doing for Thanksgiving break?" 

He only looked at her. "Nothing. I don't even care for it."

"Really? I thought it'd be a big deal for you."

"Not even a little bit, Ath."

"Well, Maddie and I go down to the beach during the holidays. We stay at her aunt's place. It's right on the beach and everything."

"Sounds like fun."

"It will be."

Remy wasn't sure how many times he'd gotten away with it, but on impulse one night after having a bath, when Athenia was nowhere in sight, he sank into the mattress, cuddled into her pillow and blacked out. 

“You’re... my bed!"

"Hmm,"

"Remy!"

"Wha..."

"You're drooling on my pillow, Remy! Ew, for God's sake!"

"I'll clean the shelves for a month."

"What?"

"Three. Three straight months. I won't crib. I won't bitch. I'll work in silence," he peered at her through one eye then. "If you let me share the bed."

"I am not doing that."

"Two out of three nights?"

“You always have to negotiate, don’t you?”

“How do you think I get women to date me? Fine, one out of three.”

“How about I give you that pillow, since it’s toxic now anyway, and we call it even.”

“Not even enough. Naps only?”

"Do you miss a bed that much?"

"So much. God," he moaned into the pillow. "So, so much. The couch is a stinky poodle compared to this."

For a while all he heard was the sound of shoes being taken off. "You can sleep on it thrice a week. Pick your days," she sighed as she went off to the bathroom. "I'll take the couch."

"Really? You'd do that?"

"For no cribbing and bitching, I'd do more."

The smile he had on his face as he drifted off was priceless, Athenia told herself.

Why did he have to be so stupid behind that heartbreaking smile?