Just as she was about to leave, Cass watched him get on his knees and place his hands on his lap, one over the other.
"Anything you tell me to, Cassandra." He followed her every movement, his eyes jumping around her face, looking for any sign of wha...
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Ent was desperate and restless for the few weeks after Cass told him she was leaving.
He took a while to come to terms with it, or at least he tried to. He didn't really see her or talk to her for something like 10 days. And she understood. She accepted it.
And she would've accepted it if he hadn't talked to her at all. God knows she probably wouldn't have if he'd done something similar.
But that was not who he was, apparently.
He came to her tonight. He walked into her bedroom to find her watching TV in bed.
"Hey," she said when he sat on the edge of the bed, wearing a wet coat and what looked like pajama pants underneath. "How are you?"
"I'm... not good. I don't know, I'm sorry I took so long..." he looked down at her. She moved the laptop to the nightstand and closed it.
"You have nothing to apologize for," she assured him and sat higher up. "Take this off and come."
He threw the coat on the floor next to the bed and sat next to her, back to the headboard, on top of the duvet. He wasn't wearing a shirt. Did he bike here?
"Ah, I—" he started. "There are so many things I thought we'd do, so many things I wanted to try... It doesn't feel real that you're leaving."
"Yeah," she agreed. "I know."
"I don't know what to do," his voice broke. "I can't sleep... Food tastes like coal... I haven't been to work in a week, I left everything in the hands of a 23-year-old boy who has never in his life had this type of responsibility. I feel terrible for it but I can't... Just the thought of going into a shower and getting wet sounds like a nightmare."
"Oh, baby..." she gently invited him to lie his head on her lap. It usually calmed him. She didn't know what else to offer him.
"Every time I remember you're leaving, I just want to throw up so I can finally get rid of the lump in my throat that keeps me from breathing..." The duvet muffled his tone.
"It's not even December, yet," she reminded him. "I'm not leaving tomorrow. We have time. Was there something you wanted to do?"
He frantically shook his head into the bedding. His whole body shook with him.
"Okay, okay," she tipped his face up to look at her. "Are you up for doing something? I have a few ideas I've been thinking about. Or do you want to sit here and talk? Watch TV?"
"I'm up for anything you want," he nodded at her.
"Including sex?"
"Most definitely including sex," he chuckled.
"Say that without tears running down your face." Cass ran her fingers through his hair. It pained her to see him cry and to know it wasn't because of her punishing him or torturing him on purpose... It hurt to know she couldn't make it better afterward.
