What woke me the next morning wasn't the bright rays in my face peeking through the large window.

It wasn't the birds singing loudly outside of it, and it wasn't the soft rustling of the wind.

Neither was it the crickets chirping or the distant sound of a coffee machine whizzing.

Instead, it was soft movements to my left that made a low, sleepy groan escape my lips, my head burying itself in the soft pillow beneath me. My own movement had the one beside me stop in its tracks almost unnaturally quick.

Which, in return, made me cautiously halt in mine, ears perked as my head slowly turned, eyes opening simultaneously.

They immediately fell on the dark brown mess beside me, Esmond's own face buried so deep in his pillow, the only part of it visible was half of his left eye, the other half hidden behind the dark curtain of hair.

His eyes were squeezed together tighter than I would've expected — I wondered if he always slept on his stomach, with his forehead tense and one arm unnaturally bent while the other rested on top of me.

My eyes lingering on him for a few moments longer; a small smile formed on my lips at the sight. "Are you awake?" I whispered, brows raised in anticipation as I waited for his reaction.

His nose scrunched up at the words — the smile on my lips growing wider as he shook his head gently. "No," He insisted, despite the sound of his voice entirely too clear and coherent for him to just have woken up.

An amused huff escaped my lips as I turned onto my back, eyes on the ceiling with hands stretched out in front of me, a yawn rattling through my chest. The motion made him retract his arm previously resting on top of my back.

With a sigh — the sound making me glance at him — Esmond mirrored my gesture, turning from his stomach onto his back. "How did you sleep?" He asked, head tilted to the side to look at me.

My eyes found his as soon as my own head turned, the small smile on his lips reinforcing mine. Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "Good," I hummed contently. "Probably better than I would've on the couch."

He propped himself up on his elbow now, head resting in his hand as a lopsided grin graced his features. His face inevitably closer to mine, he followed up with a "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

My voice had dropped to a whisper again, the smell of citrus lingering in my nose and clouding at least one of my senses. My eyes flickered over his face, messy hair hanging into it as his head was tilted downwards to look at me, full lashes batting against his skin when he blinked and his brows just slightly furrowed.

Our silent eye contact was only broken when he squeezed his eyes shut tightly, a yawn escaping his mouth, which he quickly covered with his left hand. He blinked the oncoming tears bound to accumulate in his eyes away, his hand lingering in front of his mouth for a moment; nose still scrunched up.

The feeling in my chest seemed to tighten as soon as his hand reached out for me instead of lowering. My cheeks tinting a light pink, and eyes following his movements as he tugged a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"Esmond?" My eyes closed automatically as soon as the rough skin of his hand touched mine, my words hardly louder than the breath that escaped my lips at the same time. Still laying on my back, my head turned back towards the ceiling — and further against his hand — in hopes it would increase the pressure of his skin against mine.

"Hm?" The low sound escaping his lips made my eyes bat open lightly. The sun stood tall behind him, shining through the large window — that was actually a door out onto the terrace — and illuminating the room in soft light. It tinted his hair a lighter shade of brown, dark eyes no longer matching the usually similar shade of it.

The only reason I didn't have to squeeze my eyes shut tightly at the sight was his body hovering so far over me; it was blocking the rays from ever getting into my eyes.

Eyes flickering from his eyes down to his lips only for a moment — the small gesture alone reinforcing the feeling that had been building up in the pit of my stomach — a sigh escaped my lips.

His head tilted slightly before I asked, "Should we be talking about what happened yesterday?"

His brows furrowed lightly, a playful expression on his face at the suggestion, his diverting. "I could swear we did just a few hours ago—"

"—Not that," I quickly interrupted, his eyes darting back onto me as he carefully scanned my face. A knowing expression formed on his, mouth slowly but surely forming an O-shape before the sound escaped it.

"Oh." His eyes fell onto my lips for a fraction of a second before his gaze fell on the time displayed above the door. My own eyes followed his, quickly making it out to be 7.47 AM.

"—Actually," I muttered as soon as I noticed his hesitation. "Hold that thought." Head snapping back in his direction, I heaved myself onto my elbows.

He watched me with a slight furrow in his brows, eyes following my movement as he leaned back before pushing himself off his elbows to sit up straight, still silent.

"Maybe when I get back from work," I shrugged, instead. Acting as casually and unbothered as I could, I threw the covers off myself to get up.

"Work?"

"Yeah?" My voice laced with confusion, I turned around, head slightly tilted as I waited for him to explain.

"Work," He repeated — it was more of a statement this time — his head shaking slightly in disbelief. "After what happened yesterday? You're going to work?"

Swallowing thickly, I thought about his words for a moment. Only a short moment, though, before I said, "I've never missed a single day, and I'm not going to start now."

Esmond scoffed, brows raised as he stood up. Walking around the bed without another word, he brushed past me right as his hands grabbed the hem of his shirt to pull it over his head in one swift motion.

My eyes didn't leave his back until he disappeared in what I rightly assumed to be his closet yesterday.

"You can't go," He simply stated, his voice muffled as it came from behind the wall his bed was stood against. Esmond almost sounded like he actually expected me to listen to him.

Rolling my eyes to myself, I sighed. "I am going," I stated just as casually, Esmond appearing in my field of vision immediately after. A sage green shirt in his hand rather than on his body, he came to a halt right in front of me, my head tilting upwards slightly for my eyes to connect with his. "No need to pretend you actually worry now," I joked.

He huffed in light amusement, though shook his head nonetheless. The harsh features on his face dissolved as his brows raised slightly. "We can talk now," He suggested, the words slipping past his lips seeming to so surprise himself with the way his brows knitted together tightly and his head cocked to the side immediately after. "If you want."

A small smile found itself on my lips at the gesture, and the sight seemed to make his twitch into one as well. Corners of his mouth rising before they fell at once when I said, "I'll be fine," and disappeared with nothing more than my hand brushing against his as I turned around. "We'll talk tonight."

—————

Monday morning; 8.45, and I was stood in front of the tall building I had entered without a second thought and care in the world almost every day for the past two years now.

Today, though, it felt different.

Ringing in my ears and buzzing in my head, I wondered if I was only here because Esmond told me I shouldn't be.

Despite all that, I entered the building, greeted Eddie, and waited for the elevator like I always did. Even Aiden managed to slip through the already closing doors, stumbling and almost running into the few people stood in front of me.

He apologised hastily, arms up in surrender as he pushed past them to stand beside me. The half-hearted, apologetic smile on his lips falling as soon as he was out of everyone else's view.

His body stiffened, eyes straight ahead though I could feel him glancing at me every now and then.

The elevator emptied on the tenth floor, and the boy's hands wrapped around my shoulders as soon as the doors closed completely. In a harsh whisper, his forehead tense and his brows squeezed together tightly, he hissed, "She's gone—"

His breath was heavy; his own voice crack interrupting himself as his eyes batted open — watery as they looked at me and terrified of the prospect his own words carried with them. "They— I don't know where she is—"

My own eyes widened, though my brows furrowed simultaneously in both worry and confusion. "What?" My breath hitched as the words left my mouth, startling when the elevator came to a halt and the unpleasant ding — signalling the doors opening — echoed through the small space.

His back straightened almost automatically as he took a step back, his arms lowering and his gaze shooting straight ahead of him right as the elevator door opened completely.

"Aiden—!"

All he gave me was a cautious glance, bottom lip almost trembling before leaving into the opposite direction without another word.

My breath heavy, hyper-aware of my surrounding, I walked down the long, arched corridor towards the conference room. A glance at the time displayed on my watch let me know it was exactly 8.53 when I entered it, hand shaking slightly as I scanned my fingerprint for the door to open.

-

I'm not going to lie I love these two. Aren't they just adorable in the strangest way?

Predictions on what's about to happen?
See you soon. <3