The Silent Brute

Chapter 16: Whimsical Whimsy Whims

Miriam

I stared up at his window and sighed. Rain seeped onto my hoodie and into the clothes underneath. It was on a whim that I even headed there.

The light was on in his room. It shined like a beacon or like a lighthouse, warning me not to get to close to shore.

I tried to muster up the courage to see him.

In the day that passed, the swelling on my face had gone down while the bruises turned all sorts of freaky colors. The rain felt nice against the hot area on my face.

To come over so randomly and just to see him made me feel weak. Another part of me felt fickle, so I began to rethink coming over. The bag in my hands felt heavy and I turned around to head home.

"Miri?" I turned around to see a dark figure peaking out from Cassius's window. I lifted up an arm and waved back at him. "What are you doing here?" He whisper-yelled.

"I don't know. I just felt like seeing you."  I yelled and felt embarrassed immediately after. " Well, I'm gonna go home now." I pivoted again but stopped once I heard his voice again.

"You came this far. I'll come let you in." By the time he finished, I was already climbing the side of his home. It was easy enough especially after I held the bag between my teeth. The rain made everything a little harder to grab but I made it to his window.

Cassius sat on his bed astonished. I laughed as I dangled on the edge on the window. "Are you gonna help me up, Cassie?" I smiled at him.

"Cassie?" He made a move to help me up but a knock on the door interrupted us. My foot slipped an my body dropped out of sight.

"Hey were you just yelling outside?" Hera's voice called out.

There was a short silence before he responded, "Uh yeah, Miriam was outside."

"Well tell her we want her to stop by for dinner again next time." The sound of the door closing before it squeaked open again. "I'm happy she's okay." The door shut and I wrenched myself up with a grunt. He rushed to help me up and lifted me over his bed and onto the rug.

I stood in his room awkwardly. My clothes were soaking wet. My eyes followed him around the room as he gathered items. Cassius sat a pile of clothes on onto my palms.

"Change." He grunted out and shifted back around the room. Cassius turned around briefly to glance back at me, "The bathroom is across the hall."

For once, I did as I was told and went to change as quietly as possible. When I entered the room again he sat quietly in a chair and hovered over things on his desk. He looked at me before looking at the desk, picking up a pen this time and scribbling something on a piece of paper.

"Well, hello to you too" I mumbled underneath my breath. I sat on the damp rug on the floor, not feeling welcome.

"Kinda hard to talk to you with those bruises."

I winced a little and stood up from my position on the floor. Maybe coming here wasn't a good idea. I could feel his eyes gazing at me. My own personal hawk sitting at a desk. I couldn't tell if he was angry or not and felt myself shrink. The sleeves on the shirt he gave me looked so much more interesting.

The chair let out a sigh of relief as he stood up. I saw his bare feet march over. His hands were cool compared to my skin . He lifted my chin gingerly between two fingers and I felt completely breakable. "I'm happy to see you but not like this."

"You should see the other guy." I tried to joke but his face remained serious. A nervous laugh left my throat.

"What happened? Who's the other guy?" His demeanor changed. The usually passive hawk was ready to hunt.

"I'm not ready to explain yet." I took his hand from my face and leaned my back up against a nearby wall.

He let out a sigh of exhaustion and rolled his eyes at me. They looked darker than usual.

"People care about you is that so hard to understand." He huffed before running a big hand through his hair in frustration. "Why are you trying to act so tough? Everyone needs someone at least some of the time. "

"I came here, didn't I? I am relying on you as much as I can." Tears began to well in my eyes. Honestly, I wish I could be more open with people but there was always a part of me holding back. There was also a fact that if he knew the type of person I was and the things I'd done that he'd be disgusted by me.

"Rely on me more."Cassius made a demand that coerced me to let out a cry of help.

His arms came around me and I wrapped my arms around his waist. Tears stained Cassius' shirt. I balled my hands into fists around the fabric of his shirt.

I cried about myself for once.

After the whimpers stopped, Cassius pushed me towards his bed. "Go to sleep." His voice was softer now.

I frowned at him before releasing those muscles from the pain. "Where will you sleep?" He pointed to the floor and it took some convincing before we decided to share the bed.

The duvet was tossed over me and I snuggled into the sheets. His bed was always comfier than my own.

Although I was dead tired, I stayed awake. I focused on the speck on the wall and faced away from Cassius.

It didn't take long before he shut off the lights and slid into the bed. I waited until his breathing slowed before I turned to face him. His face softened underneath of the glow of the moonlight and his eyelashes looked so long. I scooted closer to him. My cheek stung against the pillow as I slowly entwined my arms around his arm. I waited for his reaction. He did nothing but lean into my touch and shiver as my breath fanned over his skin.