Welcome to the Queendom

Chapter Fifty-Two

When I woke up it was only 2:30 in the morning, about two hours since I'd been in Dean's custody. I opened my eyes and saw that he was looking right at me, seeming unfazed that I had caught him staring. I touched the corners of my mouth, something I always did when I thought someone had been staring at me while I was asleep, but there was no drool there.
"Have you been looking at me the whole time?" I asked him.
"Yep," he said casually, not cutting his eyes away.
His intense stare was making it hard for me to make eye contact. "You know, you can go to sleep," I told him. "It's not like I'm just gonna vanish if you look away."
He didn't respond to this, still keeping his gaze steady on my face. I noticed there were deep purple bags under his eyes.
"Dean," I said. "You need to go to sleep."
"No, I don't," Dean protested.
I pushed him onto his back and pulled the covers over him. I laid my head on his chest, using the tip of my pointer finger to make little pictures on his T-shirt. "Sleep," I demanded.
He sighed and when I looked up, his eyes were fluttering closed.

"How long has he been asleep?"
"18 hours," I answered simply as I peeked around the doorway and watched Dean sleep, taking a sip of my coffee. The bags under his eyes were disappearing. "So, he didn't sleep at all?" I turned back to Seth.
He shook his head. "Not even a nap," he said. "I've never seen him like that."
I kicked the cabinets underneath the countertop I was sitting on in the kitchenette. "You know, for a second, I thought he didn't care I was gone," I admitted.
Seth frowned. "Why would you think that?" he questioned.
"I don't know," I sighed, rubbing the middle of my forehead with the heel of my hand. "I mean with me gone and Kelsey there-" Seth's laugh cut me off. "What?"
"You actually thought he was gonna chose Kelsey over you," He chuckled. "You're too cute."
"Don't patronize me," I snapped. "I didn't know what to think at that time."
He just shrugged. "You need to stop feeling so insecure," he said.
"I don't feel that way," I protested.
He stared at me, not at all convinced. "Whatever," he mumbled, shaking his head. "But you can't sit there and tell me that you don't have a crazy ex or a guy friend that has the hots for you."
"Actually I can," I countered. "I actually think before agreeing to go out with someone and I let my guy friends know exactly how I feel about them from the get-go."
Seth's shoulders touched his ears again. I heard fumbling from the bed.
"I should go," he said, stretching with a yawn that took over his whole face. "Need some sleep."
"Yeah," I agreed, patting him on the back as he passed me out the doorway. I heard the room door open and close a few moments later.

"Hey, Erik," I whispered as he walked past, his hands buried in his front pockets.
He nodded a greet before winking at me and moving on. Something-a piece of paper-fell out of his pocket.
"Erik," I called out, holding the object above my head, but he didn't turn back.
I put my arm down and looked at the crumpled up slip. I should've just stuffed it in my pocket and ran after him, but my curiosity got the better of my and I flattened it out in my palm.
It was a check for $500 and it was dated back two weeks ago. My eyes scanned down the paper to the signature. The only thing I could make out was the R and O at the beginning of each name before they trailed off in squiggly lines. I dropped the check as if it was burning in my hand. It wasn't an accident that Erik had dropped this out of his pocket. He wanted me to see this.
"No. Way."