With You

Chapter 5

I honestly expected to find the giant of a man in the living area when I descended the stairs in the morning. Instead, I find the room dead silent and empty, leading me to assume he must still be in bed. I let out a sigh of relief, not having to deal with his intimidating presence for the time being.

Glancing around the massive living area, I decide to take advantage of the fact that I'm unsupervised, free and have a new area to explore. So I do exactly that. I explore.

Gravitating towards the bookshelf in the lounge area, I glance over the spines of the books. Unable to read any of the bigger words, I spell out the smaller words under my breath as I pass by each book.

My exploration of the room is cut off before I even get the chance to properly begin, the front door slamming its way open. The loud noise made me squeak slightly in surprise as my body jumps to face the direction of the disruption. I feel my heart running a million miles a minute.

"Oh good, you're up." He says blankly, kicking the door shut behind him because his hands are full of chopped-up firewood. I don't reply, but choose to watch him instead as he makes his way over towards me. Dropping the firewood into a diminishing pile to my right. Next to the fireplace that is.

I'm a little in shock at how much more comfortable I am in his presence knowing he isn't who I originally thought he was.

He straights his body and towers over me, reminding me almost of a massive bear. He takes a quick look down at the clothes he generously let me borrow, so quick I could've almost missed it. Once his eyes return to my face, he smiles slightly. Like actually smiling. At me.

Here I was certain I would get in trouble for not remaining in my room and instead of lashing out at me, he's smiling at me.

I was a little concerned at him being mad at me for going through the bookshelf, instead he was smiling at me. It makes a warm feeling spread across my chest, not feeling so scared. It's been a while since someone looked at me so gently. No pity, no malice or anger. Just a simple happy smile.

"You've got uh, some dried up drool on your cheek" He points out cheekily. Slapping my hand over the cheek he pointed at, I feel the embarrassment I felt earlier come back full force.

Of course, he wasn't smiling at me, he was trying to not laugh at how ridiculous I must look. I try my best to scrub away the crusty drool on my cheek as I follow him silently into the kitchen. Keeping my head lowered the whole walk over.

"Toast?" He pulls out a loaf of what looks like homemade bread and looks at me. I nod my head eagerly, knowing it's been a long while since I've been lucky enough to receive breakfast.

He nods his head at the stool I was sitting on last night, I take the hint and jump up onto it to watch him while he works. We sit in silence while he prepares the bread and heats a pan.

I desperately want to ask him his name. Considering he isn't friends with Alex, It means he truly is a complete stranger to me. I use the silence as a chance to build up the courage to do so.

"W-what's your name?" I mumble at him quietly. Sufficiently embarrassed enough as it is.

"Huh? Did you say something?" He turns his head around to ask. I feel myself die a little on the inside, knowing that I'm going to have to repeat myself. Taking a deep breath in, I say it again.

"You never told me y-your name." I attempt to say louder. Thankfully he caught it this time and let's out a deep husky chuckle under his breath.

"Kyran." Is he all said, returning to the pan that is crisping up the bread. He just went silent after that, no last name, no follow-up comment or even a question is thrown back my way.