Sweet afternoons

Chapter seventeen

It was almost mid-day when I woke up. The sun had heated up the room significantly and yet somehow the bed felt cold against my skin. There was nobody next to me to warm up the sheets and as I eventually opened my eyes I realised that Andres was not in the room anymore. I let out a sigh. Last night, there hadn't been much time to ponder about what would come next. While I didn't have time to anticipate that he would leave, a part of me hoped that he would have stayed. As a part of me always did. My hand reached out across the empty bed to where the man's body had been laying and my heart yearned softly.

The sound of a door opening captured my attention and I was soon sat up, the duvet falling to my lap in a small pile. There was too much confusion to push through, and my mind found it too difficult to comprehend that someone was still in the house. Logic told me it couldn't be him but every other part of me played with my emotions and stared at the door. I already knew that if anyone else was to walk through that door, I would be left with disappointment.

That feeling never came. Once the wooden entrance was free from obstruction, the clear face of Andres Saintono came into view. He was dressed in tracksuit bottoms with the same t-shirt he had been wearing the evening before. I didn't have time to question where he had gotten the jogging bottoms from; there were far more pressing matters for my mind to consider.

"Good morning, beautiful," the man said with a smile, the sun from the window illuminating the expression in a magical way. He moved towards the bedside table and placed down two mugs that I hadn't noticed he was carrying. The roughness of his voice and the dishevelled state of his hair told me he hadn't been awake long but there was no tiredness sitting behind his blue eyes.

I was too in awe to speak. Both of how sweet he looked early in the morning and how he was still here despite all the reasons not to be. "M-morning," my shaky voice replied, the sleep-fuelled state less appealing on me than Andres.

Taking a seat on the bed in front of me, Andres let his hand rest on my knees that had curled into a crossed position. There were a few inches of space between us that I was dying to close, but my uncertainty left me to plea in silence. We remained in a comfortable quiet for a few moments before Andres handed me one of the mugs he had put down on the table. "I made you some tea."

Thanking him, I cradled the warm cup in my palms and basked in the sweet aroma that drifted from the liquid. My eyes closed for a brief moment as I took in the scent. In my defenceless state, Andres took the opportunity to lean towards me and place a chaste kiss on the apple of my cheek. The display of affection made my eyes spring back open and a blush develop on my face.

"How are you feeling? His soothing voice brought a blanket of comfort over me but as soon as the memories of the previous night popped up in my mind, that comfort was forgotten.

I tried not to let a harsh frown take over my features, but the emotions that came with the images in my mind were far from pleasant. "I-I'm okay. It just all feels like a bad dream," I answered honestly, not wanted to talk in detail about how I was feeling. The events were too fresh in my mind to be thought about and the mere mention of Ethan made my breathing unstable.

Andres' hand found its way to my head and he laid his palm against my messy hair, the move brought solace and I leant into it as much as I could without being obvious. His eyes stayed on me, watching me in a way that made me feel exposed. Truthfully, after everything Andres had witnessed, I was very exposed to him now. Vulnerable to him. But when it came to him, I found I didn't mind.

"You don't have to worry about it anymore, I'm not going to let anyone try and hurt you again," he said seriously, his expression turning hard for a moment.

I was surprised at the firm tone he used and couldn't help but believe him. A feeling of security washed over me suddenly and I had the unexpected desire to cry. This was a level of care that I hadn't experienced before. As I grew up, the people who were meant to protect me showed their true colours and I learnt that pain was inevitable. For a long time, I told myself I didn't need any protection. I didn't need someone to rely on. While meeting Nate and my other co-workers had changed that somewhat, I had still kept up a wall. Now, however, it was clear that the wall had crumbled.