PELAGIC - Ace x Reader x Law

CHAPTER TWELVE: Used To This

Yeah, spend time together...Like this will entertain me...

Barely fifteen minutes after entering the room, Doflamingo had fallen asleep on his chaise lounge, leaving me to putter around doing nothing. It had been five hours now, and I had already read several magazines, the morning paper, had three drinks, attempted a headstand and plucked all the loose feathers from his coat.

I was used to being bored, but it didn't make it any less frustrating. Now, I was just watching my future husband as he slept, taking note of the sweat beading across his exposed neck. The book that he had placed open over his face twitched a bit, and his breathing had gotten heavier.

No doubt he was having another nightmare.

There had been several instances where I had witnessed this, and each time it hurt to watch. It didn't feel right seeing such a composed man in that kind of state. Standing up from my place on the ground, I moved closer, crouching by his side and tapping his arm.

I hadn't expected him to shoot up as violently as he did, gasping for breath as the book tumbled to the floor. One hand grasped his chest, and the other had flown to my wrist. His grip was tight, nearly bruising, but I didn't dare speak up about it.

He had removed his glasses before falling asleep, and seeing the pure fear in his eyes made my chest ache. With my free hand, I cautiously reached to brush his cheek, hoping to calm him down and bring him back to reality.
"Hey...Doffy, it's okay...You just had a bad dream..." I whispered, choking out a yelp when he yanked me up into his lap, arms curling around me in a vice grip.

The thundering of his heart could have bruised me, and his sweat made him feel clammy, but I still kept my cool.
"It's...okay..." He repeated part of what I had said in a hoarse voice, and I wasn't sure whether he was fully awake. Most other times he just played it off as nothing. "Don't leave...Promise...I can't...cope...if..."

"I won't, Doffy. I promise." I hushed him in my softest voice, urging him to lay back down with a careful push. He did, but he brought me down with him, much to my dismay.
"Stay." He demanded, but it sounded so weak.
"I will." I responded.
"You can't leave."

"I won't."

"I'll die."

"Good thing I'm not leaving then, huh?"

Once upon a time I had wanted to leave him, but things had changed. As I grew, I realised the lengths he would go to to keep me safe. The way he acted like the real him around me, and only me. There was no way his love for me was fake, and I told myself that over and over, every day. Every single waking moment of every day.

I stayed trapped against his chest for the longest time, ear to his chest, hearing it slow back to a regular, relaxed rate, and then remained even longer. That's what wives did, wasn't it? Look after their husbands, and vice versa?

Once I noticed the sky changing hue from the window, I carefully escaped his arms, taking a moment to look at his peaceful, sleeping face. He looked like a different man without those shades, and I think I preferred it.

Sighing, I leaned in and pressed a kiss to his slightly parted lips before leaving the room. I still wanted time to myself, out of the palace, so I decided he owed me that much, especially after sleeping through our one on one time.

After a quick pit stop in my room to gather my coin purse, I made sure to stay out of sight as I took the one route nobody else knew of. Besides Violet, of course, who had been the one to show me. Even Doflamingo himself wasn't aware of the secret tunnels and passages all around the palace, and I was glad that was the case.