Sometimes We Love The People Who Hurt Us

Chapter 7: Sorbet

We had shared the rest of our meal in silence, Hannibal soon rising to his feet and collecting the plates once we had finished and disappearing into the kitchen. Folding my napkin, I placed it on the table before finishing the rest of my wine and moving to my feet. Noticing Hannibal's glass wasn't empty, I only took my own into the kitchen where Hannibal was washing the dishes, apparently having already done the dinner dishes earlier. He looked over to me with a smile before taking the glass from me and moving to wash it as well, humming.

Looking around, I soon found the tea towel and proceeded to dry the plates. Hannibal had soon turned back to me with a small frown before moving to try and take the towel from me. Shaking my head, I stepped back to evade his hands as I placed the plate down and reached for the next one. "I told you at lunch that I would be helping with the dishes since you insisted on paying.."

The Alpha seemed to hesitate but soon gave a small nod when he made another attempt to get the towel and failed. I was soon finished and placed the dishes on the bench, letting Hannibal put them away as I folded the tea towel and put it down. He soon finished, looking over to me with a smile before leading the way back to the dining room to grab his glass. "Would you like some more wine? Or perhaps something else?"

Stretching, I scratched at my arm slightly as he moved to top up his glass before carrying the glass and bottle to the lounge room. Quickly following after him as I rubbed at my forehead, watching as he gestured for me to sit, which I did as I rested back into the chair by the fire. "Uh, perhaps some whiskey if you have it please?"

Hannibal gave me a small nod, smiling as he placed his drink on the table and than left briefly, soon returning with a glass and a bottle of whiskey. Pouring me a glass, he soon placed the bottle down on the table before passing the glass to me. Thanking him, I took a couple sips from it, feeling it burn a familiar trail down my throat as I watched Hannibal pick up his own glass, taking a sip from it once he had taken a seat. We watched the fire for a couple of minutes, both of us soon refilling the glasses with our respective drinks before Hannibal had broke the silence. "I don't think it will be wise for you to drive back home, not while it's still raining hard. I can set up one of the spare bedrooms for you."

Pausing after I had refilled my glass a third time, I looked over to him in surprise as I bit my lip. "Are you sure?" Watching him curiously as he nodded, I waited to see if he would speak but he said nothing. Raising my glass, I took a sip from it before giving a small nod after a while in thought, swallowing. "T-thanks. But I'm fine with sleeping on the couch, I don't want to be a bother and make you set a room up for one night.."

Hannibal smiled gently at me as he shook his head, raising a hand to push a stray strand of his hair back into place. "I assure you, you aren't a bother. And I will not have a guest sleep on the couch, especially when I have spare bedrooms that can be used. There is no complaints at all from me for you to use one of them." As I opened my mouth to continue my protest, he shook his head and moved to refill his glass as he quickly cut me off. "Will, I am fine with you using one of the rooms. Please, no arguments. I can already see that you're going to be a handful."

Eventually, I nodded my acknowledgement as I sighed, curious of his words before choosing not to press that conversation as I downed the rest of my drink and reached to refill it for one last drink. I could already feel it taking effect and blurring my thoughts, but at least my speech isn't affected. For now. We spent possibly another thirty minutes there watching the fire in a comfortable silence, though I isn't quite sure of the time. Hannibal finished his wine before taking our glasses and the bottles to the kitchen and I soon head him move to another room, presumably to set the spare room up. But I was still not wanting to bother him with having to clean another set of sheets, and I was quite comfortable in the chair with the heat of the fire slowly lulling me to sleep.