Chapter 169 - 169 Not Allowed to Sleep Alone

169 Not Allowed to Sleep Alone

His arms tightened around me as he pressed my body tightly against his. His body felt very warm and his embrace very comforting. Automatically, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax in his reassuring embrace. His hand moved to stroke my back as his other hand began stroking my hair.

“Has life been too tough on you?” EROS whispered as he continued stroking my hair gently.

It has.

His tender words and beautiful voice somehow brought tears to my eyes. I felt the distinctive sting behind my eyes at his words and knew that I was about to burst out crying. It hadn’t occurred to me up until that point that I needed to cry or just how upset and tired I was of everything that was happening to me. His arms around me and his fingers running through my long hair made me feel strangely warm inside.

“Everything will be fine, Elena…” EROS whispered close to my ear.

I had no idea if everything would be fine or not and I knew well enough that just because he was telling me that it would be so, didn’t mean that things will simply turn out fine like magic. I also knew that letting my tears flow wouldn’t solve any of my problems. Despite all that I knew, I felt the warmth of my own tears as they leaked out of my eyes and trickled down my cheeks. I took in a deep breath and swung my arms around his body and held him tightly to me as if holding on to him would prevent me from drowning or getting swept away by the harsh tides of life.

I clutched at his clothes so hard that my fingers hurt as my body shook from the force of my own sobbing. EROS didn’t say anything anymore, but he did keep on stroking my back and my hair. It was very unlike him, but I had to admit that he was very good at comforting me. I had no idea how long we just stood there in each other’s arms. It took a while for me to calm down again. Quickly, I wiped my tears away before loosening my arms from around his body.

EROS slowly let go of me and I started to feel embarrassed all over again although it wasn’t my first time crying in his arms. I had no idea why I always seemed to be having emotional breakdowns in front of EROS of all people. I looked away from him while praying that he couldn’t see my face clearly because of how dimly lit the street was.

“I’m fine now. You should head back…” I said while trying my best to stop my voice from shaking.

.....

“Let’s go inside…” EROS replied without hesitation.

“Wait…” I protested but it seemed too late.

His hand held mine tightly as he pulled me after him towards the entrance of the building. EROS paused as he stared down at me while he waited for me to unlock the door to the building. Unlike the other day that he was here, he didn’t seem content to just go back silently without making a fuss and I wondered why that was the case. While feeling confused with my own emotions, I unlocked the door to the building. EROS’s large hand was on the door and pushing it open before I could even reach for it.

After seeing my hesitation, he took my hand into his again and pulled me firmly through the doorway into the building with him. It felt like he was the one living there instead of me and I was his visitor. EROS looked around the lobby of my apartment building although there wasn’t anything much for him to see at all.

“I’m fine now, so you can leave…” I said firmly.

“Take me to your room…” he replied while ignoring what I had just said.

“You don’t have to do that. You should head back and…I’ll see you at work…” I said while gesturing to the door with my hand.

“You don’t really understand anything, do you?” he asked with a disapproving stare my way.

My body stiffened under his intense stare as I got more confused than before. His golden eyes captured mine and I felt sucked into their unreadable depths. For the countless time, I wondered why he had to be made so attractive, alluring, and beautiful.

“EROS…” I whispered his name as I tried to take a step away from him.

My effort to put some distance between us didn’t quite succeed because he still held onto one of my hands. With a tug of his hand, he pulled me closer to him as his golden eyes continued staring down into my face.

“Take me to your room, Elena. I’m not letting you sleep alone tonight…” he said determinedly.

I wished that I could win against EROS in a staring competition; however, I was the first of us to look away from his intense golden gaze. I had no idea why EROS was being so stubborn about this all of a sudden. He came to see me at my apartment before but he had never been so stubborn about coming inside or going to my room. My heart raced in my chest so hard that I felt uncomfortable. I had no idea if I was scared or if I was just excited.

I let out a loud sigh without bothering to hold back my frustration. His hold on my wrist tightened as if signaling to me that he wasn’t at all willing to back down from his decision. It felt like we would be standing there for the remainder of the night if I didn’t take him to my room. Of course, what he was doing was infringing on my personal space which was why I started to hate myself a little for not quite minding him for doing so.

Something must be wrong with me…

“Let’s go…” I mumbled softly.

“Thank you, Elena…” EROS whispered tenderly to me as he pulled me into his embrace again.

–To be continued…