The Choosing

Forgive

~Forgive~

Sophie woke to soft breathing in her ear. Rolling away in alarm she turned to face the person beside her. She frowned over at Thaddeus who was still sleeping peacefully. Sophie had made him sleep on top of the covers with the spare blanket from the cupboard, he had agreed wholeheartedly and wished her a goodnights sleep. She traced her over his features, his hair was untidy, sticking up at odd angles in a way she'd never seen before, his lips were parted and forehead smooth of their usual creases. 

She slid from the bed quietly, watching Thaddeus for any signs of waking as she did so. When he didn't stir, she dashed for the cupboard to get changed. Once she was dressed, Sophie tiptoed from the walk-in to find Thaddeus still sleeping. She slunk to the door and pulled it open. She glanced back at Thaddeus' sleeping form and found herself smiling before she could help it. 

She padded down the quiet hallway, it was still early, hues of sunrise were still streaming in through the windows, washing the house in a soft pink. Taking the stairs two at a time, Sophie landed at the bottom of the staircase with a low thud. Her eyes strayed to the back door and her fingers twitched by her sides, as soon as the idea of running entered her mind, the toothless man did too. Sophie sighed, her shoulders slouching forwards as she decided to take the familiar path to the kitchen and was glad to see it was empty when she poked her head through the door. Pulling open the kitchen window to let in the early morning air, Sophie set to work.

Sophie let the pancake batter to sit, and began to slice deep red strawberries whilst she waited. The door to the kitchen burst open and slammed against the wall. Sophie looked up in alarm, the knife she was holding narrowly missing her fingers. 

"You scared me!" she rasped at Ronan, who was staring at her as if she'd grown a second head. 

"We've been looking for you for half an hour." His voice was filled will relief, his chest still rising and falling rapidly.

Sophie frowned in annoyance, they'd thought she'd made a run for it. To be fair, she would have run, if she wasn't terrified to step foot outside now that she knew what lived in the woods. "You found me" she grumbled, slicing the strawberry in half with more force than necessary. Thaddeus rounded the corner next, his eyes landing on Sophie as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. She watched Ronan duck out of the room as Thaddeus charged towards her, Sophie was grateful for the counter top between them. 

"I thought you-" he trailed off and closed his eyes, as if the sentence itself was causing him pain.

"I'm just making us breakfast." she spoke softly, even though she was furious he had people searching for her as if she were a child "do you like pancakes?"

"Yes," Thaddeus nodded sat on a stool "I woke up and you were gone Sophie, I thought you-" Sophie frowned as a sense of understanding washed over her. No wonder he had panicked, to wake up and find the space next to you empty. Especially when all she ever asked for was her family.

"I'm not going into those woods. You have nothing to worry about." She murmured, spooning the batter into a frying pan. If she could help it, she'd never leave the house again. Thaddeus didn't respond to her, she supposed it was because he was still trying to calm down. 

Plating up the pancakes and strawberries, Sophie pushed Thaddeus' plate in his direction. He didn't say anything, he stared at Sophie an undecipherable emotion in his eyes. She watched as his eyes trailed down her face until he reached the ugly bruise marring her skin, she watched the muscles in his jaw twitch as he ground his teeth together in silent fury. Unthinkingly Sophie reached for him, brushing her fingers gently over his calloused palm in an attempt to calm him. Thaddeus' eyes shot up to meet hers, burning intensely.