Episode 17: Pills & Potions

Episode 17: Pills & Potions

The next morning Leslie woke up to an empty bed.

For one, she wasn't that surprised at first.

That was until flashbacks of last night came rushing back to her and she gasped at the force of the images. Black hair, gentle eyes and warm lips.

She could still feel the sensation of his breaths puffing out against her exposed neck. Her hand went up to the area instinctively as a blush rose to her cheeks.

Her eyes surveyed the room curiously.

There was absolutely no trace of Christopher and she wondered if her longing mind had made up everything but the indent in the bed said otherwise.

Her hand ran itself over the area thoughtfully.

Someone had been resting here.

Beside her.

When she slipped out of bed, still a little disoriented, she decided to go to his room to explain what had happened. The woman didn't want him to be viewing her as a predator who somehow dragged his sleeping body into her room. She wanted to get things straight. To let him know that this time around he was the one at fault here. It was him who got the title of being borderline obsessive.

There was also a big part of her that also wanted to see his embarrassment after doing something like that.

Her expectation was sky high to see him nervous about inadvertently wanting her.

Not like he'd admit that in a million years.

She had come to notice that his actions spoke louder than his words.

Leslie didn't particularly have any problems with that.

Everyone was born differently so of course they would operate in unique ways.

That's why she thanked God for his eyes.

The saying of the beautiful orbs being the window to one's soul has never been more true to her until it applied to Christopher Wells.

He might appear tough, cold and moody on the exterior but his personality surely has gentle affection hidden on the inside.

As crazy as it sounded, something about that excited her.

She loved the thought of exploring a side of him he kept closed off to other people.

Maybe that's why she hadn't given up on him.

Because she knew there was more to him than what met the naked eye.

When she made it to his bedroom it was surprisingly unlocked so she invited herself in.

It was the same vision of perfection as it always was.

The fact that he hadn't slept here last night was painfully obvious with the unruffled bedsheets.

She couldn't help but smirk at the sight of it.

Leslie was slow in her steps as she turned her head in search of the night crawler.

Her eyes caught sight of the back of his overpowering figure that ostensibly begged for attention. Glad she had finally found him, the woman started towards the bathroom. Her mouth opened to call him, but her feet ran towards him instead when she heard a string of crude curses and a clattering sound.

"Shit!"

Leslie made it just in time to catch him in a stoop, picking up some tiny things in his hands. It wasn't until she bent down to help him that she saw what they were. Her eyes trailed across the floor to see the white bottle that most likely slipped out his hands and caused them to scatter all over the place.

"Pills..." She blew out, shocked.

There was confusion that clouded that feeling and Christopher could see it all play out onto her face as he hurriedly removed her hands.

He stood up after putting it all inside and onto the table, looking down at her blankly.

Still in a cloudy daze, she couldn't help her outpouring of questions. "What is that? Wait...that's a stupid question. I can already see what it is. What I should be asking is, is there something wrong with you? Why are you taking..." He saw her hand reaching out so he tried to hide the bottle but she was swift and stole it.

Her eyes caught the description in a split second before he snatched it away again.

"Anxiety pills?"

He was silent.

"Why do you need anxiety pills?"

Leslie saw his eyes flare despite the consideration with which she had approached the issue.

"Is this why you came here? To pry? If that's the case, you should really learn how to mind your own business."

She reeled back at his sharp attacks.

It was so unlike him to be this worked up.

His reaction made her more inclined to get to the bottom of this.

"You are my business."

He rolled his eyes, putting away the bottle in a high cabinet.

Christopher saw her eyes follow it like a magnet.

"Not in all cases." He said tersely and her attention immediately came off it and onto him.

Her mouth opened.

"And this is one of them." He cut her off strictly and indicated with his arm for her to leave.

With eyes of shock, she stared at him flabbergasted. "Are you seriously dismissing me?"

He only stared back at her, hand still pointed at the door.

She felt a fire build in her chest. "Fine."

Her exit was rushed but she made a point of bumping into him on the way out.

Just as she made it out, the woman took a deep breath and confessed, "I was only trying to understand another part of you; your hardships, yet again, but you refuse to let me in. Is it always going to be like this with you, Christopher? Because I honestly don't think it's going to work out in the long run for us if it is. I value communication in a relationship. I can put up with everything else, from you not being talkative and even you not being touchy despite physical touch being my love language but a lack of transparency is something I can't deal with."

Being berated like this out loud made him feel irritated but also embarrassed.

His ears turned red at her scolding but he couldn't even say anything back because what she said was true.

Noticing his reaction, she took a step towards him, making him look up with hopeful eyes.

"I won't judge you," she assured him quietly. "I also won't force you to tell me anything you don't want to. But pushing me away and hurting my feelings isn't going to solve anything. We're adults. We should try our best to deal with things between us in that manner, don't you think?"

Leslie wanted nothing more than to hold him when she saw how downcasted his eyes became.

She didn't want to make him feel like crap but beating around the bush wasn't her style.

Instead of hugging him, she reached out a hand and squeezed his own reassuringly.

He looked up at her, eyes swirling with strong emotions.

"You can tell me you're not ready to reveal that side of you or take your time and tell me about it but don't say it's none of my business, okay? I care about you too much for you to downgrade my feelings like that."

Christopher nodded silently.

This time she smiled at him, the air clearing somewhat.

Her hand released his own, much to the protest of his fingers, and she couldn't help but laugh at it.

"I'm going to make breakfast. You have two options. You can use that as the fitting place it would be to tell me about those pills and why you're taking them." He blinked so many times during that one second it should have been impossible. "Or you can choose to let me know you'll need more time by us having breakfast in a normal fashion and talking about different things, like your book for example. It's your choice."

After that, she patted his cheek and walked out of the room in a collected manner.

However, deep inside she was insanely worried about the man she had fallen so hard for and what was wrong with him.

A/N:

I love how Leslie can be just as mature as she is childish.

Get you a girl who can do both, am I right?

Please don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts. Why do you think our Christopher takes these pills and what could be the root cause of them?

Also, I feel sorry towards him because it's very embarrassing to have your scars become known like that, especially when you're just as caught off guard as the other person.

[connect with the author:

insta: @writtenbyzan_]