Page 13 of Timber Hollow

13

Goodnight, Artemis

L ater, after we all leave the festival and get back to the apartment, I go up to my room and change... I can't go to bed yet… There's this empty hole in my middle, yawning open, threatening to swallow me whole. So, I go back downstairs, maybe I will watch TV for a little while. When I enter the living room, I see Jay setting up his makeshift bed on the couch. Immediately, I feel like turning around...instead, I’m frozen in the doorframe for entirely too long. Eventually, I make my way over to the couch though... It's just Jay.

He settles into the cushions, patting the seat next to him. The TV has an anime show on, one I'm not familiar with, but it doesn't matter. It's effective enough to distract me. I settle into the corner of the couch, resting my chin on my knee, arms laced around my leg. The screen drones on and on, characters having a battle and I almost immediately zone out.

"What's wrong?" Jay asks after a minute, not even bothering to pretend to pay attention to the TV.

"What makes you think something is wrong?" I ask, glancing at him through my lashes.

"I know that face," Jay replies, shifting his eyes back to the TV.

"Hmm." Is all I respond. Truth is I don't know what's wrong either. Jay lets the silence stand for a few minutes, the two of us staring at the glowing screen. I have no idea what the plot of the show is, or what is even happening in this episode. I don’t think I could even point out the characters in a line-up.

"Artemis," Jay demands again, making my head turn towards him.

"Hmm?" I hum back in response. I’m still not sleepy, but I do feel settled somehow.

"Come here." Jay orders, opening his arms. I hesitate for all of a second before I crawl across the cushion and curl into his embrace. "Relax, Gorgeous. Everything is okay." Jay says again, squeezing his arm around me.

At first, I have no idea how to manage that. How am I supposed to relax when Jay is wrapped around me, and the world is dark and quiet? How am I supposed to think about anything other than the way he'd held me in my bed, how he'd kissed me at Coyote Bills?

This is all supposed to be fake. So why doesn’t it feel fake? Why does it feel like I’m already in way too deep? Eventually, though, my breathing matches his, slow and steady, muscles loosening one by one. I still couldn’t tell you what the plot of the show is, but I think I might be able to point out a character or two.

I don't fall asleep, but I know Jay has by the end of the second episode. Moving as slowly as possible to rise off the couch, I break Jay’s grip around my middle. Jay keeps snoring softly the whole time. After a quick visit to the bathroom, I come back into the living room and stare at his large form spread across the couch. There's no way he's comfortable sleeping on that thing all night. No way that he’s been comfortable sleeping on it for however long Alex and Helena have been here.

Immediately, my mind is made up. Silently padding over to him, I grab a pillow and toss it onto his face.

Jay wakes with a jolt, his eyes flying open, arm reaching out to the space I'd vacated. When his blue-green eyes focus on me, I say "Come on handsome, you're not sleeping on the couch." It takes him a minute, neurons and synapses firing before he silently rises from the couch and follows me up the stairs.

"Where am I going?" He asks sleepily, his feet shuffling on the carpet.

"My room."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not letting you sleep on that tiny couch anymore," I answer simply. If I'm already in too deep, I might as well drown myself.

"It's not that bad. Where are you sleeping?"

"In my bed."

"Where am I sleeping?" Jay asks suspiciously.

"My bed. Unless, you…?" I haven’t even considered that he might not want to. Might not want to share a bed with me.

Jay's blue eyes sear straight through me, the edge of sleepiness still visible, but something sharper and more predatory has come forward too. His wolf.

"Unless I what?"

"Unless you don't want to." I squeak.

"Are you going to be able to sleep?" He asks, searching my face.

"Yes. We're adults, are we not? You're going to wreck your back sleeping on that couch." I sass back, with much more confidence than I feel.

"Sure we are," Jay replies easily, And I feel like I've made a big mistake–a big, dumb one, but there is no backing down now.

"Then come on handsome. Let's go to bed." I order, opening my door. He groans softly as he follows me in. I don't bother with the lights, just walks in and climbs into the bed and under the covers. Jay comes and lays on top of the blankets, settling on the far edge. " Jay . What are you doing?" I ask exasperated.

"Laying down?"

"What are you doing on top of the blankets?" I almost add you should be on top of me . It’s a tiny blessing that I barely manage to keep that particular thought locked behind my teeth.

"I didn't want to assume." He answers, voice rising at the end.

"Oh for fucks sake. Get under the blankets and go to sleep, Jay." I order, and he listens, grumbling to himself about bossy women . I barely restrain a laugh, letting the quiet settle back over us.

"Goodnight Artemis." Jay eventually whispers into the dark.

"Goodnight, Jay," I whisper back, and listening to Jay's steady breathing beside me, I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.