Oreo

Chapter 41: Married Couple

Orion's POV~

In quite the unfortunate fall of events, I got called into work directly after school.  I sent Romeo a text on my way to the restaurant, telling him to go ahead and eat something and I'd bring the pho on my way back home.  There was no response immediately, but as I checked throughout the day, his reply came just two and a half hours later as the simplistic, singular letter "K".  To say I was concerned was an understatement.

I was stepping up to the front door at last, my shoulders tense as I pushed my way in.  A bag hung from my fingers which I immediately set on the counter and rushed to the bedroom.

Romeo was curled up in a ball, wearing his pickachu onesie and Netflix stuck on the "Continue Watching?" screen.  The duvet was twisted between his legs and hugged in his arms, Mochi cuddled against the Squirtle laid forgotten on the floor by the foot of the bed whilst Ninja was on Ro's desserted pillow.  The lights were off letting me question if they ever had been.

At least he managed to change his clothes.  I climbed onto the bed, noticing that muscles in his face twitched at my doing so.  He opened his eyes to greet me, rubbing at them with his knuckles.

"Mmh... Hey..."

"Hey.  I brought some pho; are you hungry?" I reached to feel his temperature again.  "How you been feeling?"

He sniffled, rolling to lay on his back.  "Shitty... I took a shower a little bit ago to try and wash off the gross feeling, but my head still feels foggy..."

I petted his hair which still had a bit of dampness to it, meaning it hadn't been too long since he got out of the shower - if he bothered to dry off right.  "Do you want to eat in here or are you fine eating out there?"

"..... We can eat out there." He said after a moment of contemplation.

"Good.  Take your time getting up and I'll go prep the bowls."

~

Romeo managed to eat more of the soup than I thought he would, showing how hungry he must have been or that it was at least easier for him to eat the soup over anything else.  It took him a bit of time, but he still ate.  That was all I could ask for.  The emotion in his eyes was full of exhaustion and sadness, both of which he managed to hide with a peacful or perhaps thoughtful expression but overall failed in the endrun to mask it entirely.

He sat down on the couch and waited as I cleaned up our dishes, but I didn't feel like staying quiet about my concerns anymore.  Once I finished rinsing the bowls, I went and joined him on the sofa where he had curled his knees up to his chest.

"Is something on your mind that you want to talk about?"

A blank aura washed over him, a pause taking place as he debated a response.  "... Not really."

I reached to take his hand in mine, massaging each digit softly in my fingers.  "I don't like having secrets between us, Romeo.  If it's something you really don't feel comfortable talking about right now, then I understand.  But I want you to just as equally understand that whatever it is, I'm here for you no matter what.  I want you to trust me enough to share your troubles and doubts and whatever makes you unhappy... I want to hear your thoughts and opinions on things... You can feel free to speak yourself to me because I won't judge you.  It hurts to watch you struggle through all this pain in silence, all alone, because you matter so much to me and I don't want you to feel alone when I'm right here and could help you feel better.  But I can't help you until you let me, Ro."

There was another short spiel of silence until he leaned into my side, his head on my shoulder and face tilted down.  My arm instinctively wrapped around him.