~ 7

0007

✧･ﾟ: ✧ :･ﾟ✧  Marichuy ✧･ﾟ: ✧ :･ﾟ✧

I opened my eyes sharply and followed with careful listening.

It was not my imagination.

I thought I heard someone moving in my apartment while I was asleep and now that I was awake, there really was someone.

Slowly and quietly, I tiptoed out of bed, folding my fist in readiness to defend myself as I moved slowly to the door. I moved one foot ahead of the other. It was the only thing I remembered about basic combat.

Thankfully, I had the doors greased and in good shape recently, in a bid to make the place my home. The doors opened smoothly and I snuck into the living area, not losing my fist, no matter what.

I traced the movement to the kitchen and maintained movement around the wall for covering until I got there.

“Good morning, Mari!”

I was completely thrown off, breathing heavily and holding my chest.

Confusion and relief were not a good emotional mix, but it was what I was feeling at the time, finding Derek in my kitchen.

“Good morning. What is going on?” I tried to be polite.

I was having a hard time grasping what was going on and Derek in an apron was a beautiful sight I hadn’t seen in any lifetime.

“You seemed like you were in a bad mood last night and I thought it would be nice if you woke up to breakfast.”

He sounded sweet, flipping the omelet onto the plate.

For the first time since my return, I saw Derek and I was afraid. Not of how he looked or of his schemes towards me that I knew would happen. I was afraid because this was not familiar.

This had not happened in my previous life and now that it was, I wasn’t sure if this was true, or a change in the method to poison me.

“You got in here early?” I met him at the kitchen counter.

“I slept here actually.”

My heart sank.

“But I watched you drive away last night.” I argued.

I may have been sleepy, but I remembered that pretty well.

After he pulled over in front of my apartment, he insisted on bringing me up to my room. It was customary for Derek to do that, so I did not argue.

Most times, he would carry me in his arms and we would both end up naked in my bed.

I did not let him carry me, nor did I let us both get intimate, but Derek insisted on tucking me in for the night and I could swear I heard his vehicle drive off right after.

“After you went to bed, I went down to have the vehicle properly parked and came back up.” He replied, “I spent the night on your couch.

It was taking a moment for me to decide how I felt about this situation.

“Breakfast!” Derek announced excitedly, placing the plate right in front of me.

I smiled. “Thank you,” My words were as shallow as possible.

The fear of letting anything into my mouth, handed to me by Derek, had overcome any other type of emotion that there was to feel.

Every attempt to activate my power—to hear his thoughts. Figuring out if this was a part of the plan failed terribly and I was getting pissed.

Derek arranged a second plate and took a seat beside me at the counter.

“To us,” He held a piece of the omelet on his fork and held it to my mouth.

I took the piece confidently, since it was from his plate and it gave me a clever idea.

I equally took a piece from my plate and held it to his mouth. Derek pulled away.

“Everything on your plate is for you,” he said,

“I know, but you gave me yours and I want you to have mine as well. I’m just returning the favor.” I argued.

Derek’s hesitation was disturbing, but not at all surprising.

“Common. Take it.” I pushed.

“Fine,” he took the piece from the fork, but somehow, that did not make me feel any better. It did not explain the original hesitation.

“You’re not eating,” Derek pointed out, after a few minutes of hitting my plate, chopping the food into pieces and never actually having a bite.

“I am…” I replied.

“No. You’re not.” He pointed to my plate.

Derek was a lot of things, but he was certainly not blind and I was going to lose this argument.

I picked a piece and threw it into my mouth, pretending to be chewing.

“Good girl.” Derek was done with his meal and the minute he turned his back to wash his plate; I threw the entire omelet into my pajamas pocket.

Thankfully, it was cold from being tossed around on my plate.

I picked up the cup of beverage which was still steaming and threw it on the floor, breaking the cup into shards.

The crash turned Derek’s head back to me.

“Oh, my goodness. I’m so sorry.” I faked tears at the brim of my eyes, “It was still hot. I was just…”

“Hey! Hey! It’s okay.” Derek consoled me. “The most important thing is you’re okay.” He assured me, “I’ll get something to clean this up.”

I helped Derek clean up the mess and managed to sneak my omelet into the garbage before he noticed.

Derek made me a fresh cup of beverage, which I accepted, being satisfied from watching him make it himself.

He made sure I was settled and his actions would have melted me, like they always did, if only I could erase the image of him and Lily in bed that had been stuck in my head from the last moments of my former lifetime.

“Thank you,” I appreciated over and over.

“I’m here to take care of you.” Derek hugged me, but I wouldn’t extend back the gesture.

“I have something I was hoping you’d sign,” he said, while my head was still placed on his chest and he was gently stroking it as a sign of affection, or in this case, sign of deceit. “It’s preparation for the wedding.”

“Really? What’s that?” I played dumb.

“Let me go get it,” Derek pulled away from the embrace and went out the door.

I rushed to the door and peeped from a small opening to see where he was headed.