Chance • {Dominic Sherwood; 1}

011. absolute garbage

The next morning, Annabelle woke to a pounding headache. Everything felt fuzzy. She sat up in bed slowly, feeling a searing pain in her thigh and at once remembering what she'd done. She glanced around the room, trying to remember where she'd stashed the rest of the drugs so she could flush them. She still wasn't sure what it had been, but she knew that it was nasty enough that she wasn't interested in trying it again.

"I've already flushed it," a masculine accented voice piped up from the lounge chair in the corner of the room, startling her. Her eyes shot up and met Dom's evenly, the rest of the memories from the night before suddenly rushing back to her. She was taken aback when she realized he was wearing only a pair of black boxer-briefs.

"You're... almost naked," she said, and he glanced down at himself as if he'd forgotten.

"I had to wash my clothes. They were pretty bloody. I also washed yours and cleaned the bathroom as best I could," he told her, standing and walking to the edge of her bed. He perched on it and she studied him.

"Thank you. I... I'm sorry about all of this. I didn't mean to pull you into it," she said, and he was immediately shaking his head.

"Don't be sorry. I'm glad I was here to help you out," he replied, looking at her like she might shatter at any moment.

"I... I don't think we should let anything happen between us, Dom," she told him, honestly unsure of why she was saying the words. It had just become default; she wasn't about to drag him into even more of her drama and the bullshit that the tabloids would undoubtedly say about him.

"Nothing is happening. I'm just a friend taking care of a friend when they need it. How are you feeling?" he asked her, letting her statement completely roll off his back. She looked at him in awe; any guy she'd ever said that to before had automatically gotten annoyed with her, especially if they'd done anything for her in any way.

"Uh, honestly like absolute garbage," she admitted, and he nodded, smiling in a way that made her heart flutter like it hadn't in a very long time.

"I can go and let you sleep it off if you'd like," he told her, and she shook her head.

"No. We can't... we can't let anything happen between us but I'm not ready to let you go just yet," she told him, and he nodded, smiling again. "Thank you for being so unbelievably sweet," she said, holding the covers of her bed up so that he could get in with her. He did so easily and without question, keeping a few inches between them before she leaned heavily on his bare chest. He draped an arm lazily around her and she could feel him shrug underneath her.

"I had absolutely no reason not to," he told her, giving her a squeeze and flipping on the TV across the room.