Episode 8: Good Night

Episode 8: Good Night

Christopher carefully released Leslie as her body reached the soft material of the bed. He watched as she pulled the comforter up to her chin, staring at him. The woman was feeling irked by his imperviousness. It was as if there had been no breakthrough with him since the moment they had met. It was dispiriting to say the least. So she stayed still and did nothing as his eyes started to roam the expanse of her room.

With a slight curve of his lips, indicating his disapproval he aired, "Do you even clean your room?"

Her forehead creased unpleasantly with the annoyance she was feeling at his jab.

"I didn't think there would come a day I would be bragging about my obsessive nature of keeping my surroundings clean but I'm usually a neat freak. This only happened because I'm sick and have no energy to fix anything." She indicated to the untidy room before them.

He shook his head in a noncommittal manner before walking towards crumpled up papers and it wasn't until he started disposing of them in the waste bin that she realized what he was doing.

Christopher was cleaning her place.

"An unhygienic surrounding won't help to make your cold go away. If anything it can make it worse." He said between placing the tossed books in their right place on the bookshelf.

She saw his eyes raise upon seeing that a good number of them had his name on the front.

"You don't have to..." Leslie was honestly at a loss of words when he did stuff like this.

The worst part about it all was the nonchalance in which he meted out such rare moments of kindness.

"I'll do it myself tomorrow when I hopefully feel better." She finished strongly.

Christopher nodded, showing that he had heard every word she said, however the man never stopped his arrangement of her room. And as she watched him silently in awe of his tenderness, the woman found herself shocked at how he was unknowingly getting involved in her life.

At every movement he made, getting rid of the wrappers, folding her clothes and patting down the edges of her sheet as he returned back to her side, she got a sense of warmth she had never felt from him before. He was always so aloof that it was hard for her eyes to believe. Even more so when he stared down at her before his hand rested on her forehead to check her temperature.

Her cheeks heated up instantly. "I think your fever has subsided." Then his eyes took notice of the colour seeping into her skin and he frowned. "Or maybe not..."

She turned her head to the side, making his hand slip off her face.

"Could you pass me the glass of water there?"

He looked around and saw the glass she spoke of on the bedside table and handed it to her.

But she didn't take it, just refused to look him in the eyes as she picked at the edge of the sheet. He exhaled deeply at her attitude. "What is it now?"

"I think my arms are numb, do you think you could feed me?" Her eyes met his innocently at the end of her request. He froze when her eyelashes batted themselves at him.

Against his better judgement, he robotically placed the tip of the glass against her lips. She suppressed the urge to smile at the way he was avoiding any kind of eye contact as he did so. As he pulled away and placed the glass down, Christopher's eyes traveled to the watch on his wrist.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave. You've already taken your last medication for the day so it won't be difficult for you to fall asleep." He stood and gave her a polite nod of farewell. "I'll see you the day after tomorrow then."

His sudden retreat had her panicking. She didn't want him to leave as yet. Seeing him tend to her like this made her realize that there probably wouldn't be a scenario like this ever again. Exactly. When would she get lucky enough to have Christopher all to herself like this? The fear of the answer made her do something so profoundly silly that she was sure the embarrassment of it was going to stick with her for a lifetime.

Leslie quickly grabbed at her head and groaned in pain.

He was by her side in a flash. "What is it? Does your head hurt?"

"Yes, a headache. I don't know where it's coming from."

And oh so dramatically, she yelled out in pain once more before digging her face into the pillow beside her.

He made a face at the tortured sight of her before taking his phone out the jacket he wore. "I think you should take a visit to the hospital then."

In a state of panic, she grabbed his hand to stop him. He looked down at her suspiciously at the swift action. "I thought you said your arms were cramped up." She gave him a sheepish glance before releasing his arm. "And did your headache subside already or is this your way of testing me again?"

Under his heated gaze, she was practically shaking with nervousness.

"I—" She swallowed harshly at the pressure of it. "I really do have a headache."

At the way she timidly retreated into a shell at the end of her breath, he released a sigh. "Then lay down and stop over-exerting yourself. If you didn't want to go to the hospital you could've just said so instead of tearing off my arm."

Brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, she nodded understandingly. "I know. Sorry."

He rubbed a hand against his face before regarding her seriously. "What do you reckon I can do for your headache?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your eyes are telling me that you're expectant of some kind of action of mine. Frankly, I don't know what it is but if it gets me leaving here as soon as possible then you're free to tell me." Ouch. That stung. She couldn't help the way she flinched at his honesty but her mouth still reacted like it always did—without thinking twice.

"My mom used to sing me lullabies when I was sick as a child. You know those cliché old songs that got you closing your eyes before you know it." Her eyes sparkled in reminiscence at the old memories which flooded her. She really should give her family a call soon. It was coming down to that time of year where she always got homesick.

"So you want me to do the same?"

The genuine disbelief in his tone didn't miss her ears and it prodded her to push him further with a nod of her head.

He let out a laugh of disbelief and she couldn't help the rush she got from the sound of it.

"I thought you had a headache, won't the noise affect you?" He tried to reason.

"It's gone now."

"Miraculously," he spat before bringing the comforter so far up her neck she thought he was trying to choke her for a minute. Then he regarded her with a defeated expression. "Which song would you like to hear?"

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

The look he gave her was so murderous she got the chills just by looking at it.

"I'm serious," she bravely pushed forward without the urge to laugh overtaking her. "My mom always sang it to me."

He looked ahead of him, no doubt momentarily questioning his existence before clearing his throat.

She clasped her hands with expectancy.

"I'll have you know the ability to sing wasn't a gift I was born with."

Leslie couldn't help but grin at that. "That's why I gave you an easy lullaby to sing."

"I thought it was because your mom always sang it to you." He said pointedly, an iciness slowly spreading in his form.

She froze.

"That's one of the reasons I chose it," she corrected herself. "Now are you going to sing or not?"

He rolled his eyes at her demanding nature. "It seems like you're forgetting that I'm doing you a favour right now."

She nodded eagerly. "You're right. Now please carry on doing me the favour and sing for me."

With a frigid disposition, his lips parted and started a familiar tune which shocked her at the warmth within it.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky..."

Her mouth almost rolled to the floor like a red carpet at the sound of him. He delivered the silly nursery rhyme with such seriousness and effort as any professional singer would. It was smooth and clear yet powerful. Soothing, in a way. She didn't really think it was appropriate for a guy's voice to be beautiful, but that was what his was. It was beautiful, and she wished that he would never stop singing.

What is this? Why does he actually sound good? She thought to herself, the intention of him making a fool of himself and entertaining her suddenly gone.

His voice filled her ears like a sweet serenade and before she knew it, her eyes were fluttering close.

Christopher's eyes took notice of her falling asleep and felt his heart lighten.

He had to admit that this appearance of hers was his favourite. When she was doing the least; quiet and harmless to his sanity.

Without meaning to, his eyes scanned her face and it was at that moment he realized that she actually was quite the looker. It was in the way her features were pure and unburdened. Her lips had curved into a small smile and it could have been mistaken as cute at the first glance. But he wasn't having a single look was he? Christopher was staring at her as if she was a museum artifact; fascinating yet untouchable.

He shook his head, looking a little discombobulated.

Here she was again making him do things he wasn't used to.

At least I got her to go to sleep, the man thought in relief before his voice trailed off into a whisper.

Her little snores became more consistent and that was when he stopped singing altogether.

Just as he gave her one last glance and stood up, intending to leave a hand shot out and took a hold of his wrist.

"Don't go..." His eyebrows furrowed and for a moment he wondered if she really had been asleep or was pretending to but then it came. "Dad, please don't go."

Something inside of him was struck by that one desperate plea. It felt all too relatable for him that he couldn't help but feel pity for her. Overwhelmed for the first time in a long while, he found himself sitting back down, this time below her bed side on the carpeted floors.

Leslie held onto his wrist tightly and buried her face into her pillow. Even her breaths trembled.

Hesitantly, his free hand took a hold of her grip on his and she resisted. He sighed before leaving it be. Watching her from his position on the floor, he hadn't meant to but his hand traveled to trail across the expanse of her forehead. At the feeling of his warm hand against her skin, the crinkles there cleared and he felt himself react to it with a small smile.

As the sky darkened in a timely fashion, he didn't expect to feel influenced by the good atmosphere but he was.

Christopher hadn't been aware of how exhausted he truly was on the inside and the sweet silence of the space got him closing his eyes momentarily.

That moment of weakness was all it took for the two of them to end up falling asleep side by side, the moon bearing as a witness to the start of something new.

•••

The sunlight crept in through the curtains and it had been enough of a nuisance to wake Leslie up. She rubbed at her eyes in annoyance at the disturbance to what was a lovely sleep. As she rolled onto her side, the girl froze at the sight of a ball of dark hair resting on the edge of her bed. Her eyes travelled all over the stranger in confusion until it landed on their intertwined hands.

She felt her body heating up as the recollections of yesterday flooded her.

The last thing she remembered was Christopher singing that lullaby to her...and way too amazingly for it to be true.

After that...

Had she fallen asleep?

She racked her brain and nodded in acceptance.

It appeared to have been the case because that was where her memories were cut off. With his soft voice effortlessly pulling her into dreamland.

But how did that explain why he was still here?

Did he fall asleep too?

The entire situation would have been comical if it wasn't for the fact that he stirred in the next second before his eyes opened. When he took the liberty of scanning his environment, Christopher shot up in the next second, eyes wide and undeniably regretful.

"Did you fall asleep?" Leslie couldn't help but ask the obvious because all of this was too incredible.

He gave her an exasperated look and ran his hand through his hair, all the while looking like a model who was lacking sleep but one nonetheless.

"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to..." He gestured towards the door, truly failing in his words for the first time since she met him.

Shaking his head, he smoothed out his clothes in one run of a hand before heading to leave. She didn't have any protests about him doing so before a certain guy came to her head and her eyes widened in fright.

"Wait don't-"

But it was too late.

Christopher had already swung her bedroom door open and behind it stood Eddie with a tray in his hand, the other raised midway to knock.

His eyes expanded in shock at the sight of her in bed but not more than it did at the disheveled man in front of him.

Before he could catch himself the tray slipped from his hold and met the floor with an awful crashing sound.