I wince. He probably thought I fell. “I’m fine! Sounds worse than it is. I’ll…um, just be a minute.” I hurry off before Julian decides to come and rescue me. What the fuck is wrong with me? One second I’m fine and wanting to deck Aria Sheep because she tried to stab me and the next I’m tripping over my own feet like an awkward teenager. I manage to make it to my room without eating shit, which is a plus.
I open the nightstand drawer and like Julian said, a small glass jar with a yellow top sits inside. It looks different than the one he used on me yesterday. When I lift it there’s a slip of paper folded beneath it. It looks like a letter.
“What is this?” I pick up paper and see I was right, it is a letter.
Inside I see neat cursive handwriting, the kind I wouldn’t expect from a doctor but I would of Julian.
Maris–
Apply this twice daily to any bruising that remains and sleep well. The road to healing is paved with plenty of rest.
Yours,
Julian
It’s a simple letter. More directions from a doctor than anything really, but my eyes can’t help but linger on theyours.That’s not doctorly. At least, I don’t think it is. The last time I went to the doctor he barely looked me over and was thirty minutes late.
“He got stabbed for you,” I remind myself as I pick up the salve. “He rescued you from Billy and he healed your face. I think he likes you.” Even my socially inept and outcast ass can see the signs of Julian liking me,yours,not included. But there’s something nice about seeing the small gesture. Butterflies fill my belly and I don’t even bother biting back the smile on my face when I descend the staircase and find Julian in the living room.He’s sitting on the settee and looks right at home in the turn of the century furnishings. I tilt my head and look him over.
Julian reclines back, eyes closed, the late afternoon sun shining down on him. His hair looks like burnished gold. Even with the stab wound and the bloody shirt, Julian looks refined, regal. Like a lord that’s just come in and is sleeping off a night of dancing.Yes, granny would be thrilled right now. A handsome man that likes me in Vesper House? She’d be over the moon. She’d also be yelling at me to marry him immediately. It’s a good thing she’s not here. God rest her soul.
I hesitate in the doorway, reluctant to destroy the silence and wake him. He’s so pretty that I take my time and linger, I watch him for another minute before I knock on the door and enter.
Julian lifts his head at the sound. “Maris?” He sounds confused, like he doesn’t know where he is. When he looks my way I see an unfocused look in his eyes. He’s exhausted.
“It’s me,” I tell him quickly, and hold up the salve. “I found it.”
“Did you find my note?”
I smile at him. “I did, but it looks like the tables have turned and now you’re the one that needs to rest.”
He grins and sits up with a yawn. “I can’t argue with you there. Healing takes energy, and that means sleep. I’m tired all of a sudden but I just need a moment.”
“You can sleep here,” I offer as I open the salve. The smell of chocolate hits my nose and I look into the jar with a sniff. “This is different from the one you used on me.”
“It is. The one I used before was stronger.”
“Maybe we should use that one?”
“This one is plenty strong for the cut she gave me.” Julian holds out his hand for the salve and I give it to him. “Practically a paper cut.”
I give him a side-eye when he says that. His blue dress shirt is looking rough. It’s slashed enough that I can see the white tape and gauze and the material all around the hole is stained with blood. I’ve never seen a paper cut this fucking serious.
“I can help you,” I offer.
I think he’ll fight me but in the end Julian relents which I’m thankful for, or at least I am until he opens his shirt and I’m treated to a feast for the eyes. His chest is broad and muscular, dear god, fuck a six pack, this man has muscles where I didn’t know there could be muscles. He leans back on the settee and starts to work the gauze off.
“Can you bring a waste bin for this?” he asks, head bent, blond hair falling over his forehead and making him look like a hero that’s stepped right out of a novel.
“O-of course.” I get up faster than I should and for the second time that day, nearly trip. “I’m fine,” I tell him quickly before I power walk over to my desk that sits in front of the windows to snag the waste basket I use. “Here you go.” I put it down next to him and then because I don’t know what to do I stand there.
“Thank you.” Julian lifts his head and gives me a smile. It’s warm like the sun, warm and bright. I smile back. The warmth from Julian’s smile worms its way into me, it works in deep, finding its way through the fractures I’ve been carrying for so long that I didn’t even notice them until now.
“Can I do anything?”
Julian shakes his head and drops the bandages and tape into the bin. They don’t look soaked which is good.
“No, thank you. I’ll be just fine in a minute. Then we can see about dinner.”
