Dominic |18+|

14

CAITLIN

I woke up to the smell of cooking.

An aroma of something delicious wafted through my room's door and I sighed into the pillow. The cosiness I felt was short-lived when my stomach cramped so hard I was forced on my knees with my forehead still against the mattress. I breathed in deeply and squeezed my eyes closed.

I needed a shower so I willed myself out of bed. A soft smile formed on my lips when I saw the two painkillers with a glass of water on my dresser. Dominic...I needed to show him my appreciation when my period was finally over.

I downed the tablets, groaning in satisfaction when my dry throat got quenched. I could hear the sound of pots and pans clinking and as much as I wanted to join him, I needed a bathe.

One cold shower later and everything necessary, I was dressed in comfortable clothes and feeling way better than when I woke up. Entering the kitchen, my heart swelled as I witnessed Dominic standing by the stove, bare chested and his gaze fixated on the pan in front of him. His back muscles flexed as he moved the spatula.

I couldn't help but feel bad that he didn't leave like I did. Instead, he was making breakfast.

I padded towards where he stood and wrapped my arms around him, resting my palms against the top of his toned stomach.

My first instinct was to give him a kiss on the middle of his back and his body tensed slightly. I felt him place his hand on my forearm. He smelled like my body wash and shampoo and I grinned at the lavender scent radiating off him.

"How do I say 'good morning' in Russian?" I mumbled against his skin.

"Dobroye Utro." He said, his voice still husky and deep with sleep.

"Nevermind." I muttered and felt his chest shake with laughter. I let go of him and stepped back - we were acting like a couple but I realised in that moment, there was absolutely no harm in doing so. I had to stop allowing my issues to ruin a potentially good thing.

"Did you sleep well?" Dominic asked tilting his head to look at me. I smiled when I saw the sleep lines on his face and his slightly damp messy hair. Last night was rough, we were up until nearly 3am watching terrible low quality movies and laughing at the horrible acting. It was fun. At one point Dominic fell asleep on top of me and I was nearly squashed to death.

"Yes, thank you. You look like you did too."

"Oh, it was amazing. You have a really nice bed." He said and averted his attention to the pan in front of him. We didn't cuddle in bed, he understood that I needed my space because of my period and surprisingly he stuck to his side the whole night.

There was a moment when my cramps were so bad that it woke me up and I was groaning in pain. Dominic didn't say anything, instead he just quietly passed me a fresh hot water bottle and went back to sleep.

"I have to go, just thought I'd make you something to eat before I leave." He said while folding up the dish cloth, his eyes trained on me.

I pursed my lips. "You're not going to eat with me?"

"I wish I could..." Dominic picked up his phone and stared at it for a few seconds, his mood darkened the smallest bit but I immediately caught it.

"Okay," I tried to hide the disappointment I felt. "Thank you."

He smiled but the stress in his eyes was obvious. I had a feeling Dominic was carrying a lot more on his shoulders than he let on and I could only imagine the immense amount of pressure he was under.