Another Broken Smile

62- "Don't blame me if the kids think it is Halloween today"

"We have to share the same room" he tells me and my comb freezes mid-way through my hair.

"It shouldn't be such a big deal" I tell him easily putting my acting skills on show as my heart beats rapidly in my chest threatening to escape my poor ribcage. "We are friends after all" I say more for myself than him warning the rapid knocks of my heart to chill the fuck down.

"Well that's there. I was just... you know saying" he tells me between stutters as his hand rubs the back of his neck.

"What actually happened?" I ask. I don't know how I feel about the arrangement. Me sharing the room with Alec? I mean I don't mind him getting rid of that shirt if he is comfortable sleeping that way. I mean the view though! But I know I will probably end up embarrassing myself by either losing the capability of looking him in the eye and talking or do something worse like probably drool or something.

Or maybe it is just me and my delusional thoughts.

"We actually booked the rooms for the wrong day" he tells me.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well technically our rooms were booked for tomorrow night instead of today and the manager wanted us to leave but I told them we had travelled and have no place to go to and they let us have one room at double price. I mean we don't really have any other option so I took it"

"Woah! They are so cruel. I mean didn't they check all this when we checked in?" I ask colorfully cursing the stupid manager in my head.

"Well I guess they didn't" he shrugs giving me a half smile.

"Okay, so let's sort this out" I tell him turning to him. He nods his head prompting me to continue, "Well I will take the floor and you can take the bed"

"What kind of jerk do you think I am?" he asks me.

"Well then what?"

"I will take the floor and you take the bed" he insist.

"Noooo" I whine. "It's really okay. You don't have to be the gentleman and all. I know you are tired. You drove us all the way here so I guess you deserve some rest because I like an idiot forgot my license at home and nobody even offered to drive so you rest for a while" I tell him. He keeps shaking his head in negative and I want to let him know it's no big deal so I like a stupid buffoon that I am blurt out, "its fine, I am used to sleeping on the floor. Meghan has punished me that way quite a lot, so I'm used to it." And I immediately regret the words.

His eyes soften and I feel like slapping myself for blurting out something so stupid. I mean, I don't want his pity. Just as I think he might pity me like all those people who look sympathetically but do nothing to help, he surprises me when he says, "well you do know my mum right. If she knew that I slept on the bed while I let a girl sleep on the floor she might whack me. I am not kidding!"

I grin the worry lifted from my shoulders as I internally thank him for not picking on my last comment and say, "well thanks a lot."

"Don't thank me, go change and come" he tells me and flashing another grin his way, I walk to the washroom finally changing out of the breathtakingly turquoise dress I had decided to wear earlier.

The night isn't how I planned. We don't talk or anything. I collapse the moment I get out of the washroom and I convince myself that I need to stay awake, but fail miserably. And soon I am bewitched into the charm of an escape from reality.

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I wake up with a start and push the duvets away from my tangled mess of legs. The duvets that once provided me warmth now choke me in their suffocating grasp.