As if that was even possible.
Edward shuffled on his feet. “I thought we agreed it was just the mixture of wine and our conversation, nothing else.”
“I’ve drunk three bottles to myself before and had the best night’s sleep of my life,” William bit back. “Half a bottle barely touches the sides these days.”
Edward sagged forward, his shoulders rolling, his back hunching. “I don’t want to frighten you.”
“Frighten?” William barked back. “Edward, I’m fucking terrified. There’s nothing more you can say that isn’t going to make this feeling get any worse.”
He found his hands gripping the bed sheets so hard until his trembling fingers paled from the tension.
Edward lifted his endlessly chestnut eyes, looking not at William but through him. Although he was silent, what he was holding back was practically deafening.
“Spit it out,” William said. “Please.”
“Hanbury has secrets, as we do. But those will have to wait until tomorrow. Everything is easier to make sense of beneath the light of day. Not to mention a little less… overwhelming.”
Edward was dancing around the conversation. William knew it. But he also knew that Edward was right. His head ached from exhaustion, and a little bit of his brewing hangover. Apparently he wasn’t as resilient to alcohol as he’d come to believe. William’s mouth was parched, his teeth furry from forgetting to brush them.
“Just try and get some more rest,” Edward encouraged again, backing away from the bed towards the door. “I’ll just be downstairs if you need me–”
“Wait,” William shouted, unable to stop himself. The prospect of being alone frightened him more than it ever had before. “Stop. Please.”
Edward stopped dead in his tracks. Both men looked at one another, waiting to see which one of them would break the silence first.
“What’s wrong?” Edward whispered.
“Please… just, don’t go. I… I clearly can’t be trusted. You said it yourself. Who knows where I’ll end up walking next time?”
“You’ll be okay.” Edward moved closer to the door. I can take the room across the hall if you are comfortable. I’ll keep the door open unless you feel safer with it closed.”
Little good that did last time. Hell, even the door was barricaded, and that didn’t stop William from leaving.
“Edward, trust me when I say I’m not one to beg.”
“I sense a but coming on.”
William took a deep breath in, held it, and let his desires rule him. “Butplease don’t go. I know this is a big ask, and I know it’s awkward as fuck. But please, can you stay with me? I would feel…” Feel what? More comfortable. At ease? Less of, how did Edward put it? “Less of a liability to myself knowing you would be here to stop me doing something stupid the next time I sleepwalk.”
It was beginning to feel like the wrong thing to call what he was experiencing. Doing it once was a mistake, twice was a coincidence. But three times… that would be a habit and William didn’t want that to happen.
For a moment, William thought Edward was going to refuse. Of course, it was his choice, too. He couldn’t force a man to share his bed, even after what had happened.
Edward swallowed hard, the sound filling the silent room. He looked to the door behind him, moved towards it and closed it. He’d shut them bothinside. William expected Edward to ask for further clarification into his pathetic request, but nothing came. Instead, William shifted the quilt beside him and pulled it back, revealing the space in the bed for him to lay in.
“Okay, I’ll stay. One night.”
Relief was like a rush of winter again against red-stained cheeks. “Thank you.”
Edward surveyed the mattress with a straight face, lips drawn in contemplation. Then he got in, and the weight across William’s chest eased slightly.
The bed creaked with the addition of Edward’s weight. The sigh he exhaled as he laid his head back on the two-stacked pillows was long. “Better?”
“Yes, much,” William said, lying beside Edward and pulling the quilt to his chin.
“Mmhmm,” Edward replied, clearly ending the conversation before it could go any further. “Good.”
Is it?
