And throughout that entire dinner, through the laughs, the wine, and the stupid little moments, I thought of only one thing.
chapter twenty four
thank god for coping mechanisms
“Careful,” I said.
“Careful is boring.” Her voice was all bubbly, that giggle she'd barely contained all night lacing her words.
“Careful is the reason you don’t end up with a face full of marble flooring.”
“You’re no fun.”
“I’m the only reason you still have all your teeth.”
This had been our back and forth since leaving the restaurant thirty minutes ago. Half of which had been spent guiding her up the stairs because the elevators were out of order and she was incredibly drunk.
Made me a little happy, though. A lot happy, actually. Seeing her so carefree.
My arms tightened around her, keeping her level and somewhat coordinated. “Okay, last step. Don’t trip. Please don’t trip.”
A messy, spluttered noise burst out of her mouth, her hand flailing at me. “Me? Trip? I am fully… in control of… my actions, mister.”
I rolledmy eyes, not bothering to hide my smile. “You’ve tripped at least eight times since leaving the restaurant.”
“You’re a liar.” She jabbed a finger in my direction, wobbling like the flat floor was the most uneven cobblestone road in the world. “That doesn’t count.”
“Oh, it counts.”
She missed the top step, caught herself on the railing, and gave me a triumphant grin. Like that proved her point.
Before she could faceplant again, my brain kicked into gear, and I crouched, scooped her legs out from under her, and hauled her into my arms.
“WOAH—okay. Okay. That’s—hello. Yep, very high.” She clutched my neck like there was an eight-foot drop and an ocean below her.
“Relax, angel. I’ve got you.”
Her giggles spilt, bright and relentless, until they broke into hiccups halfway up the next flight.
By the third, her head was tucked into my arm like she’d decided I was a perfectly acceptable pillow. “I’m gonna nap right here.”
“Whatever you want.”
“Mhm.” Her voice was muffled against my shirt. “I want sleep." A pause. Then, barely louder than a whisper. “Actu-ally, I want crumpets and the stars. Then sleep."
A snort erupted through my nose. "I'll see what I can do."
Her giggled mingled with a hiccup, rather adorbaly, actually. But every light tone in her voice dissappered whenshe rose her head from my shoulder, hazy eyes finding me as her pink lips glided open. "Sleep with you.”
I nearly choked on a laugh, eyes catching on everything but hers as my chest rumbled. “Sure, okay. Let’s pencil that into tomorrow’s schedule. Right after I add ‘stop you from ending up in the emergency room’ to today’s.”
And then she hummed, and it was weird how it was a sound that felt nostalgic. Weird because I’d never fucking heard it before. But, I don’t know. It felt like comfort. Sounded like peace. I suppose I’d been craving that just as much as she had. And it made me feel a little better that she was finding it whilst clinging to my upper body.
I got her door openeventually, striding in and letting it softly slam behind me. With my free hand I rounded the bed and pulled back the covers. It was still hot in the room thanks to the weather, so I only left the thin comforter and then slowly placed Cora in the centre. She nuzzled the pillow almost instantly, groaning with tiredness as her eyes fluttered shut.
I moved down to her feet and unbuckled her heels, placing them on the rack beside the bed, before lifting the comforter back over her body, her hands tugging it under her chin as she turned to face away.
I walked over to the window, and after admiring the city at night, I went to close the drapes.
