Moira

30.

The next time I opened my eyes, I was in a bed way too comfortable, it was bright out, and I felt as groggy as one possibly could.

My throat was dry, my head heavy, and my mind was running overtime despite the fact I had woken up no more than thirty seconds ago.

Eyes flickering around the room, noticing the time displayed on the opposite wall read ten past ten, and remembering that the room I slept in wasn't mine at all, all the while not remembering ever entering it before.

I stretched, then, a low groan slipping past my lips as my limbs moved for the first time in hours. My eyes were still squinted slightly from the bright light coming from outside. Though, despite my limited field of vision, I still noticed the large cup on the bedside table to my right.

Hoping it was coffee, I reached for it and immediately thought I should've known it was tea. I took a sip anyway — the liquid still surprisingly warm — right as a head poked through the doorway that made me almost choke on the drink.

The worried frown on his face turned into mild surprise when he realised I was awake, stepping fully into the doorway and leaning against the doorframe afterwards. He crossed his arms in front of his chest; an eyebrow quirked in interest.

"Did you know you snore?" He asked in amusement, eyes flickering over towards the large window stretched across the entire wall to my right.

My eyes widening slightly, I opened my mouth in playful disbelieve before hurrying to place the cup in my hands back on the bedside table. "I do not!" I argued, quickly reaching for the second pillow beside me to throw it at him.

I was surprised by the velocity in which the pillow hurled his way, though before it managed to hit his head the way I planned for it to, he grabbed it mid-air, and therefore kept it far enough from his face to ever harm him — not that it would've, anyway.

My cheeks were already tinted a slight pink when a low laugh rattled through his chest, and he waved me off before throwing the pillow back onto the bed. "You might," He teased as his lips twitched into a smile. "But I wouldn't know," He clarified then, eyes flickering over to the other side of the bed that looked pretty much untouched.

I followed his gaze, giving him a small, rather awkward smile as I did so. "Anyway," He quickly cut through the silence. "It's brunch your friends and family are coming for. So, you have about an hour and twenty minutes until they get here."

"And you didn't think of waking me earlier?" I huffed, already half-way out of bed to realise I've slept in my clothes from yesterday. My nose scrunched up in mild disgust at the thought.

"Well, I was tempted to wake you at five in the morning."

Everything that followed after was so hectic; I didn't even have a moment to think about our conversation yesterday. It seemed too detached from everything else. It almost felt like nothing more than a bad dream.

So, I treated it as such as I hurried over to my own apartment to freshen up and change. I treated it as such on my way back, and I treated it as such until the doorbell rang ten minutes early.

I forgot about Esmond's sister coming until she stood in front of me; casual attire, her long hair in a ponytail and her sleeve barely covering the bandage around her wrist.

The usual attitude was sprawled across her face, and she pushed past me without another word, muttering something to her brother in the living room I couldn't understand.

When I opened the door a second time, it was far more pleasant faces I was greeted with; embracing first my mother and then Eniola and Aiden in a quick hug before stepping out of the doorway.