Emotion

3

Chapter Three| Eden

"Are you comfortable?" I stare down at Theodore. He's lying on the sofa, covered in a fluffy blanket.

He only has his boxers underneath because I offered to wash his clothes. The body of this man is something else, I really had to leave the room when he started to casually undress in front of me.

"I guess." He shrugs. "Where are you sleeping? I can make room for you." He turns on his side and opens up the blanket, revealing his gorgeous body.

Stop. It. Eden.

"No, no. I'm going to sleep upstairs in my bedroom." His face drops and he sits up, the blanket falling around his waist.

"You're not sleeping here?" His frown remains and he looks up at me with sad eyes.

"No, Theodore, I have my own bed upstairs." He lays back down and then turns his body so his front is facing the back of the sofa.

"Goodnight Theodore." I say and make my way out of the living room and towards the stairs.

I pause when I hear him mumble 'Night Small'. I smile and make my way up to bed.

•••

I jump at the sound of an agonising cry. I check the alarm clock and see that it is four in the morning, the cries and whimpers continue. I get out of bed and make my way down the stairs.

My heart breaks when I see Theodore moving around restlessly on the sofa, small whimpers escaping his plump lips.

I slowly make my way closer to him. "Theodore." I whisper gently and brush the hair out of his face. "Theo." I say a bit louder, I jump a little when his eyes open, the red colour, glowing in the dimly lit room.

"S-Small." He whimpers and sits up looking around him.

"It's okay. You're okay." I smile at him and he sighs, falling back against the pillow. I decide to sit down on the floor next to him and continue to run my fingers through his hair. "You want to talk about it?"

"The bad people are coming for me." He clenches his eyes shut and releases a shaky breath. "They're going to hurt me again."

"They are not coming for you, Theodore. It was just a nightmare." I whisper gently. "Are you okay now?" I question him.

"Please stay." He turns his head against the pillow and pouts his lips. "Talk to me, I like your voice." He smiles, revealing his dimpled cheeks.

How can I say no?

I sigh and nod my head. "What do you want to talk about?" I rest my head on my hand.

"You." He states.

"Me?" He nods his head eagerly. "Well, I own a boutique, you can come with me to work tomorrow. Only if you'd like." I beamed.

"Yes."

We continue to talk for about another hour, Theo doesn't really say much about himself and encourages me to talk about myself more.

When it gets to the morning, I open my eyes and groan. I fell asleep in such an awkward position, my head resting on the sofa, whilst I sat on the floor. My eyes widen when I see my hand, resting on Theodore's chest, his own hand resting on top of mine.

I go to remove my hand from his chest, however, a small whine escapes his lips and he tightens his hand round mine.

A little too tight.

"Theo!" I whisper harshly. His grip on my hand making it go numb. "Ow!"

His eyes snap open and he quickly drops my hand and sits up. "I'm sorry!" He picks up my hand and strokes it. "Please don't hurt me, I didn't mean to." He panics and looks at me with scared eyes.

"Hey, hey, it's fine!" I sit up on my knees and cup his face in my hands. "Don't worry, I know you didn't mean to do that." His breathing starts to calm down and he nods his head, looking at me intensely.

•••

"Eden, who is this?" Lia looks ups at Theodore in shock. I mean she's only five foot one, so she really has to look up at the six foot seven giant.

"This is my friend, Theodore." I give her a tight lipped smile. I can feel Theodore pressing himself behind me, the change of atmosphere making him feel uneasy.

"Oh, well hello." She nods at him.

"Hi." Theodore whispers.

I turn to face Theo. "You want to sit in the back, away from everyone?" He nods his head, I grab his hand and pull him into the staff room.

"Eden?" I look at him and see him staring at our hands.

"Oh, sorry." I go to pull my hand away from him but he tightens his hold gently, a sign that he doesn't want me to let go of his.

"Hand is soft." He lifts my hand in his own and starts to examine it. "So small."

"Okay, so I need to work. Do you mind staying in here until I'm finished? You can watch the television." I rush over to the tv and switch it on.

I hear Theodore gasp, he takes his sunglasses off and then slowly walks up to the illuminated screen.

"You like?" Theo nods, his mouth wide open. I teach him how to change the channels and then leave him to it.

I walk out of the staff room and see Lia giving me a questioning look. "He's not your friend is he?"

"Not exactly. The other day, he was outside my house. He really is harmless." I try defending him.

"Eden, the guy is a giant, he looks like he could snap you in half!" She shrieks. "You can't be letting strangers live with you, he could be a bloody murderer!" She throws her hands in the air and then starts to fold the trousers.

"Lia, I believe he's a good man. He's not....he's different okay." I sigh and sit on a chair, I massage the back of my neck, feeling the result of last nights sleeping position.

Lia walks up to me and rests her hand on top of my head. "Just be careful." She looks at me sternly and I nod.

•••

It is now seven in the evening, I kept checking on Theo throughout the day. Lia left a while ago, as she had to pick up her son, Lance, from school.

"Theo!" I call out and he comes running out of the staff room, his eyes wide as he looks around and towers over me protectively. "I'm okay." I tell him and he sighs, stepping back and giving me some space.

"Sorry." He blushes.

"You ready to go home? We can watch a film and binge eat." I grin.

"Tv?" His eyes brighten and I nod.

As my shop is for both genders, I picked out some clothes for Theo, which he was really happy about.

We are now at home, we both had a shower and now we're sat on the sofa. I'm eating popcorn and Theo is eating a sandwich.

"This is my favourite Disney film." I beam, looking at the screen with bright eyes. "I use to watch Beauty and the Beast all the time." Theo nods and stares at the characters on the screen.

"Beauty and the Beast." He repeats. I look at him and see him frown. "Beauty-" He points at me and then himself. "-Beast." My heart breaks at the fact he is comparing himself to a beast.

"You're not a Beast." I protest and shuffle closer to him. "You are beautiful." He gives a small smile and looks down at his lap.

I continue to watch the screen, I start to feel a bit cold. Theodore must see me shivering and wraps his arm around me, I tense and look at him in shock.

"Cold?" I think back to when he was first outside my house.

"Cold." I smile.

A/N
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