The sofa is the most comfortable thing that you’ve lain down
on in months. As soon as your head hits the cushion, you drift off into a sleep
that you wish could have never ended. That you could have stayed there forever,
suspended in the delicious purgatory, the weightlessness of both mind and body.
Sadly, forever doesn’t seem like an option. When you wake, it’s still dark, one
beam of light falling across the carpet of the room from the large bay window.
You shift and let your eyes lazily close again, bathing in the bliss of safety
and that indescribable feeling that you only get upon wakening in the morning.
You can hear voices across from you and you build up an image in your head.
“Is she awake?”
10k is splayed over an armchair, legs dangling over the
sides. He’s watching you, putting his rifle down against the wall.
“No, she’s been asleep for hours” Addy replies. “Don’t you
dare think of waking her.” She’s perched in another chair, Z whacker across her
lap, head resting on her hand, staring out of the window. “She needs it, I haven’t
seen her sleep in I don’t know how long.”
“She looks so peaceful” 10k mumbles, Addy looks over at him,
pulling a gooey face and making a long drawn out awwww sound. He huffs in
response.
“What?” he asks, in a tone that makes you think that he
already knows the answer. What Addy says next though, is what hooks you on the
conversation, you have to hear the rest. There’s a long drawn out period of
silence in which you nearly drift off back to sleep, and then she sighs.
“I’ve seen the way you look at her.” She whispers in a
teasing voice. Your cheeks redden and you thank God for the darkness in the
room, the single light shining weakly in the opposite corner. What way does he
look at you? You’ve never noticed anything out of the ordinary.
“You’re imagining things” He mutters.
“Oh, no I’m not, lover boy”
“Come on, be quiet” There’s an urgency in his voice. It
makes you wonder whether there’s a grain of truth behind what she’s saying. You
want to turn over and away from him, perhaps even leave the room. But if you
did that now, they’d know you’d been awake the whole time. So you lay perfectly
still, arms wrapped around yourself.
“She’s out 10k!” she reassures him. “trust me, you could
scream and she probably wouldn’t stir, it’s what happens when you don’t sleep
for five thousand years” A bright light passes in front of the window, Vasquez
on patrol for Zs, It silences the two for a couple of minutes and then Addy
pushes the conversation on.
“Tell me you don’t have feelings for her.” She teases. “Tell
me honestly and I’ll let it go.”
“Addy..”
“Don’t make me whack you 10k.”
“Fine, okay.” He sighs, shuffling in his seat to sit round
and lean his elbows on his knees. There’s another gap of silence as he rubs his
eyes with the heels of his palms. “I like her. I like her a lot.”
“I knew it!” Addy squeals, clapping her hands.
“SHHHHHHhh!” 10k pleads. “She needs the rest.”
“You guys are so damn cute” she tells him. “Everyone knows
something is going to happen between you, so just let it happen!”
“It’s not as simple as that, she has to like me back, I can’t
just assume can I?”
“It is obvious that she likes you too.”
“Not to me it’s not” There’s a sound that you imagine is him
getting to his feet, steps pace across the room and back again. Addy watches
him go, eyebrows raising. 10k isn’t normally the one to do stress, he deals
with things as they happen, and then moves on when it’s not relevant.
“Just ask her.” Addy pushes, getting to her feet as well.
Her Z- whacker carves through the air as she throws it up into the air once and
catches it again, before moving slowly towards the doorway. She’s obviously
going out to take over watch from Warren and Vasquez, but first she turns back
to 10k and points a finger at him, giving him a soft smile.
“Hey, Just sit and talk to her.” She whispers. “Everyone
needs someone, forever isn’t assured these days.” The door swings to a shut,
and there’s quiet except from the ticking of a clock somewhere nearby, and 10k’s
pacing. Finally his steps stop. You jump as his hand touches your shoulder. Your
eyes fly open, and meet his.
“Hi” he whispers “sleep well?” He rubs your shoulder a
little, raising Goosebumps all over your arm. You manage to nod and pull yourself
up into a seated position. 10k waves a packet in front of you, eyes glinting.
“We’re on the move in a couple of hours, but I found some
protein bars” A smile lights up his face, The orange glow from the lamp hitting
him in a way that makes him look like a piece of art. Chiselled out of marble
maybe, painted by hand. You pull
yourself up more, making room for him to sit down next to you. He crosses his
legs and starts to open the packet, the metallic paper making the most gorgeous
ripping sound.
“I wanted to share them with you before we had to start
moving.” He breaks off half of the oatbar and passes it to you, hand visibly
shaking. Your fingers brush his as you take it and you take a deep breath.
“Thank you” you sigh, placing it on your knee and brushing
your hands off on your top. You watch as he peels the wrapper down further and
then sits still, considering the food without touching it. His eyes remain
fixed on it, but you don’t think he’s really seeing it.
“You okay?” you ask him, worried about what he’s thinking. A
blank look on his face, he looks at you and then away and out of the window.
“Nothing.” He mutters.
“It’s something.” You state. “You can talk to me.”
He doesn’t move, and so you bite your pride, and use one
hand to turn his face towards you. His eyes focus on you, wide with shock. You
smile, embarrassment making your skin burn. You take in a deep breath and then
move your hand from his head down to his hand, taking it and intertwining your
fingers.
“I like you a lot too.” You tell him. He blinks once and
then doesn’t blink again for what seems like longer than you thought would be
possible. It takes a while for him to realise that you must have heard his
earlier conversation, and then he blushes as well.
“Oh” he breathes. “You do?”
“Yeah 10k, I do.”
You squeeze his hand gently and then lean forward to peck
him on the cheek gently. A smile breaks out onto his face, and then he kisses
you, on the lips this time. It’s fleeting and soft, but it means the world. His
lips hover for a while above yours, and his smile gets wider.
“can we just… just savour being together while we have this?”
he asks gently, voice a little husk. “While we know that we’re safe, because I
could lose you tomorrow and…”
You cut him off, kissing him again, pressing into him, arms
sliding up and around his neck. His arms go around your waist, and he rests his
forehead against yours. Your hot breath mingles between you, skin on fire
wherever it manages to touch. He holds you so tightly that all that exists to
you is him. You’ve never felt safer in your life and it’s heaven.
“I love you.” You let slip on a sigh. He doesn’t move except
to try and pull you even closer.
“I love you too, please just stay here. Stay in my arms?”
You tuck your head under his chin and he squeezes you, his
heart beat almost merging with yours. It feels as though you’re becoming one
entity. You can hear everyone moving about the house. But it seems so far away.
It feels as though you exist in a bubble with 10k, and you’re going to remember
this moment as the best time of your life for forever more.
Toad's Cave 