Ledger comes back out with a steaming mug of tea and a big smile on his face. It instantly drops when he sees me crying.
“Shit, what did I do?” he asks, rushing over and putting the tea on the coffee table.
“N-n-n-nothing. It’s just s-s-s-so sweet, a-a-and I’ve n-n-never had anyone t-t-take care of m-m-me before.” I can barely get the words out with how much I’m ugly-crying right now. My shoulders are shaking, my nose is running, and I’m sure I look like absolute hell.
“You’re crying because I’m being nice?” he asks with his brows furrowed in confusion.
It’s beyond adorable, and if I wasn’t losing my shit right now and sick, I would kiss the confusion off of his face.
“I’m just a mess. Ignore me.” I huddle further into my blanket nest to hide the shitshow that is me right now.
Wordlessly, Ledger scoots closer to me on the couch and picks me up like I weigh nothing, setting me on his lap.
“I’m going to get you sick,” I whisper.
“Don’t care,” he murmurs, putting his forehead against mine.
“Ledg…”
“Shh, let me take care of you. Let me love you,” he whispers as he tucks my head against his shoulder. His scent, wood and a slight spice, soothes me more than any cold medicine has, and before I know it, I fall asleep.
I wake up with a start and hear Ledger’s voice.
“I was covering for you, and you shot me!” he says in outrage. “Nope, not cool man,” he chuckles.
What the hell?
Did I take too much cold medicine, and now I’m hallucinating?
I sit up a little and see Ledger on the other side of the couch with the headset I use to play games with Gavin on and a controller in his hands.
“She’s doing okay, bud, I promise. She just needs to sleep to kick the cold she has.” Pause.“I’m taking great care of her. I even made homemade chicken noodle soup while she’s been sleeping.” Pause. “Yes, I cook.” He chuckles again. “You don’t? Well, we’re going to need to change that so you can help your mom out occasionally.” Pause.“Yeah, I can teach you, no problem.” Pause.“Well, I could come there the next time Ainsley does, or you could come visit us. We can pick you up for the weekend.” Pause.
His burst of laughter startles me, but I calm myself quickly because he’s playing a video game with Gavin and I’m greedy for this interaction.
“You act more like a big brother than her nephew, but I appreciate that about you. My intensions are… I’m not sure I should be telling you this.” I hear his sigh this time before he continues. “My intentions are that I just want to love her. I want her to be happy, and I’m trying mybest to make sure that’s with me, but I’ll take her happy even if it’s not with me.”
Here come the damn tears again.This fucking man.
“You’re a wise man, Gavin. That’s good advice.” Pause.“I had a blast today too, even if you shot me in the back.” Pause.“We can definitely play again. I might need to get another controller, though, so Ainsley can play with us.” Pause.“Sounds good. I’ll make sure Ainsley texts you when she up.”
He puts the controller down on the table and chuckles to himself.
“He’s a good kid,” I grate out, realizing my voice is almost gone.
His head lifts up, and a small smile tilts the corner of his lips up.
“He’s the best. Sorry, I didn’t mean to take over. I went to turn on the TV and the game popped up with Gavin typing very frantically to come play with him. My intention was to just tell him you were sick, but he suckered me into playing.”
“He’s good at that.” I try to clear my throat as I laugh, but it turns into a nasty cough.
“Here.” He hands me some tea that’s somehow still warm, and I take a large sip. It instantly soothes my throat, and I moan at how good it tastes.
“I used to make that for Willow when she got sick. She always lost her voice no matter what, and that helped get it back faster,” he reminisces.
“You’re a good man, Ledger.” I mean it more than just making me tea. I mean it in the way he played with Gavin when he didn’t need to, when he came over when he found out I was sick and proceeded to take care of me, when he told the boy who has such a huge part of my heart that all he wanted to do was love me.
And I want to love him too.
