Page 96 of Lilah

?Azalea?

"I'm going to throat-punch you if you don't let me do it," I cross my arms at him, pausing the movie on the tv.

"Don't threaten me," he grumbles.

"It's a promise, Sugar," I flex my bicep.

He's literally bleeding through his bandage all while saying 'I'm fine, it's fine.'

He's been stabbed for crying out loud, he's not fine. Gosh knows how deep it is anyway.

"It's fine."

"Well if it's stitched up andstillbleeding then you could've opened the stitches," I scoot closer to him on the couch. I feel the heat radiating off his bare chest and I nearly have to fan myself.

"And if you've opened the stitches then it could get infected more easily and if it gets infected then you could get really sick and then you could maybe die or something and I don't want that to happen," I explain, "Bear doesn't want that to happen either."

I pat Bear's head and he licks my fingers. Grey lets out a frustrated sigh. He instructs me where to find all the bandages and disinfectant in the closet in his hallway and when I come back, he's sitting upright on the couch.

I bend down to his level and feeling his eyes on me, I take the bloodied bandage off. I nearly gasp at the sight. The stitches haven't been busted but on the end of the wound, there could have been one more stitch but there's not.

I clean around the wound, trying my absolute hardest to keep it from hurting him. When his body tenses though, I know I have.

I place my other hand on his strong arm giving it a sympathetic little squeeze. Then I give it one more squeeze, feeling the amount of muscle he has.

In response, the arm wraps around my waist and pulls me closer to him.

I put another clean bandage on it and as soon as it's done being taped, I'm pulled onto his lap. I hold in the gasp that wants to escape. He lays his head down on my shoulder and I feel my heart say 'aw.'

Bear gets jealous. He comes over to me and claws at my leg. I let a little giggle out and I rub his belly when he turns over for me.

I feel lips on my neck and a soft sigh comes out of my mouth. I forget about how unfriendly what he's doing is.

I keep telling myself that I don't want to get hurt again. I'm terrified of going through heartbreak. Terrified. Of all the things that have happened to me and are happening, I want to stay friends with someone because I'm scared that if he hurts me, then I'll go back to having no one except Mr. Terrip and my pillows.

I feel his finger trail down the crease in my back and I shudder under his touch. He kisses up my neck, over my jawline and he stops on my cheek.

"I can feel your spine," he grumbles.

I swear I eat a lot. I swear I do. I eat an imaginable amount when it's given to me. I reach my hand around his side and press my fingers into his spine gently. I can just faintly feel his spine and I grin.

"I can feel yours too," I return my eyes to his only to see them trained on my lips.

"Are you mad at me?" he suddenly asks and I feel my eyebrows furrow.

"For..." he trails off, his hand coming to rest on my neck where moments previous, his mouth was.

It felt too good to be wrong.

I shake my head. My eyes find the clock and I see that it's already almost five in the afternoon. I climb off Grey's lap and watch as his jaw clenches unhappily at my action. I sit next to him and lean my head on his tattooed arm.

Soon, I feel myself drifting off.

~~~

"Let's go to bed," Grey shakes me gently awake and I just give him a little sleepy nod. I feel his strong arms under me and I relish in the feeling of his warm chest under my hands.

He opens his bedroom door and he sets me on my feet.