CHAPTER 7

Ash POV

I am at a loss for words and I stare at his hands without making any effort to accept it.

"I promise, I did not poison it," he says.

I groan, "I didn't say you did."

"Your expression did. I just figured cereal can't be enough for the whole day. Here," he repeats.

"I-I can't accept this," I hear myself say. I don't even know why I can't.

"You can," Caspian says. "If you don't, it will go to waste."

I stretched out my hands but I am still hesitant.

"Consider it a peace offering."

I sigh and grab the tray, "Thank you but really you didn't have to."

He lets go of the tray and starts to walk away. I walk back into my room and close the door with a loud bang. I am pissed off for some reason even though he has done everything right.

He is offering to stay with me, I should be nice but it is a little hard to be. However, I know I have to try as I can't afford to chase him. I have nowhere else to go yet, I need his protection.

I place the tray on the bedside table and sit on the bed. I open the covered dish and I am right about the bacon and eggs. He made bacon and egg rice.

I eye the food oddly, a little wary. The food looks pretty good but it is the taste I am worried about as I can't cook to save my life, it is fair to assume other people can't.

I pick up the cutlery and take a small bite. My eyes nearly pop out of my sockets. It is good, it is very good. I take another bigger bite and groan in pleasure. I can't have guessed that it could be this good.

I take a slice of bacon into my mouth and I feel the juice slide down the back of my throat. I can't believe I wanted to decline this. I am glad he insisted.

I eat and I eat quickly. I finish in mere minutes. Done, I take the cup of juice and I drink it all in one go. I sit in front of the table for a couple more minutes because I fear that if I move my stomach I will let go and I don't want to lose a single bite of the food.

I pick up my phone and scroll through it. No messages. I expected this, after all, I don't have any friends. I open my favorite game and spend the next twenty minutes playing so that I can go to bed.

I close my phone and climb to my bed, I bury myself under the duvet and close my eyes. I roll and clear my thoughts as I try to sleep. I lie on my side, on my back, on my front and I still can't fall asleep.

I stand up from the bed and turn off the lights, hoping it will help me fall asleep faster even though no light can penetrate through the duvet.

I climb into bed again and close my eyes. I lie in the dark for more than thirty minutes but I can't seem to fall asleep. I am sure I am not thinking about anything as I am trying to forget.

Some time passes and I pick up my phone, it is almost midnight. I curse and I try to play some games hoping I will get tired and fall asleep playing but to no avail.

I finally drop my phone past one and jump out of bed. I turn on the light and pick up the tray. I walk out of the room to see Caspian sitting on the couch.

He looks up at him and I stiffen. I feel his eyes study me from head to toe. "Can't sleep?" His voice says breaking the trance I am not even aware of.

"Yes," I say and walk past him to the kitchen. 

I drop the plates in the sink and start to wash them. I look around and immediately notice there is no sign that Caspian used the kitchen, everything is spotless.

I quickly wash the plates and return them as best as I can, I don't want to leave a mess either. I walk back to the living room and instead of walking past him, I sit on the opposite couch.

He glances at me as I take a seat but he doesn't say a word. He turns his head back to the television and I follow his gaze.

"What are you watching?" I ask.

"I don't know," he says nonchalantly.

"What?" I can't believe my ears. "Then why are you watching it?"

"I did not want to stare at a blank screen." He explains.

I relax against the chair and rest my back. "Thank you for staying," I mutter.

"What?" He asks, his gaze doesn't leave the television.

I glare at him, I know he heard me perfectly. I don't blame him for trying to make this difficult. "Thank you for staying," I repeat.

He looks at me and smiles briefly. I feel a shiver in my spine, his smile lights up his face in an animated way. The smile doesn't last and he returns his gaze to the television.

I stare at him, unable to help myself, he lounges against the couch without a care in the world. He is nothing like Conall who is prim and proper, engages in conversations, and likes to keep the air light.

It is pretty obvious that Caspian enjoys the tension, more like he doesn't care for it and as he stares at the television with undivided attention, I find myself starting to relax.

I yawn, I am tired but my body still won't shut down. He slowly turns to look at me but doesn't comment before returning his attention to the television.

"What about you?" I try to make conversation. "You can't sleep?"

He turns to me, his gray eyes scanning my face before he opens his mouth. "I can't sleep in a strange place," he says and then looks back at the television.

I open my mouth to ask why he decided to stay with me but I close it without asking. I don't need to know his reason as I am worried that if I pry he might leave.

"I see," I say and stand to my feet.

"Goodnight," he says to me.

"Goodnight," I say it back as I walk to my room, hoping at least one of us might be able to sleep.

I open the door and lie down on my bed face down. I don't bother to turn off the lights or get under the duvet but by the time I lay in the same spot for more than thirty minutes and I still haven't fallen asleep, I know I am not going to sleep anytime soon.

I walk to the bathroom and search through the drawers, hoping I will find any sleeping pills but I don't see any. I return to the bedroom and check the drawers too, but still nothing.

I sit on the bed as I contemplate whether to check the other rooms but I am also worried that if I find something it will be long expired. 

I groan and throw myself against the bed, I have never had any issues with sleeping before now even when I heard Nathan died, I cried myself to sleep and now sleep eludes me.

I jump out of bed, I can't sleep. I can only hope that at some point, my body will shut down on its own accord. I slowly make my way out of the room.

Caspian is still in the same position, he glances at me as I walk out but doesn't say a word. I go to sit on the sofa and I turn my gaze to the television.

I can’t make out the scene in front of me, one minute the characters are having a conversation, and the next minute a fight breaks out. The film tricks are so painfully obvious, it hurts my eyes to watch.

"How can you watch this?" I find myself asking.

He turns to look at me, "I am hoping that I will fall asleep out of boredom."

I shrug as I realize that it is a pretty good idea but I can tell it isn't working as he is still watching the shitty movie. I turn away from him and look at the television, wondering if it will work for me. At this point, I am willing to try anything.

I wince at the shooting scene, I can't remember the last time I watched anything so terrible, this reminds me of why I prefer animations.

"This sucks!" I hear myself say.

He chuckles, "I know."

"Don't you want to watch something else?" I ask.

"I am not watching it to be entertained."

"I know, I know." I groan and pick up the remote. "Since I can't sleep, I'd rather watch something I will actually enjoy if you don't mind."

"I don't."

I shrug and pick up the remote, flipping through the channels as I searched for something to watch. I can pick a specific show but then I will have to connect my subscription to the television, I am not ready for that now.

I stop scrolling when I find something familiar, an old cartoon. "I haven't seen this in years," I grin sheepishly. I look at him, "Do you mind?" I ask with a little hostility.

He shakes his head. It's not like I would change it if he did. I relax in the chair and try to enjoy the show.