Therapy for the Supernatural

7

Cheryl wakes up to find herself wrapped up in a blanket like a burrito on top of a strange bed in a strange room, but in her pj's. She doesn't remember-

Slowly memories of the previous day start slipping into her mind.

There is a soft knock at her door. She unwinds herself from the blanket and doesn't quite manage to free herself without tripping. She catches her balance before she completely falls and muttering to herself opens the door.

Eric is there and looking unsure, "Sorry if I woke you. I was just going to order some breakfast, or if you'd like we can go down to the free breakfast they offer."

"Eric, did you carry me to bed last night?"

"I did. I didn't think you'd find the couch all that comfortable. I'm sorry if I should have left you..." Eric has never felt so out of his depth with a female before. He's always known what to say and what to do, but with Cheryl, he doesn't. That scares him spitless. He won't get another chance and he doesn't want to die. 

His wolf whines to him, he doesn't want to die either.

Eric snarls at him, 'Then you shouldn't have let me cheat on her in the first place.'

The wolf snarls back, 'You wouldn't have if you didn't want to. No matter what, you are just as guilty of cheating as I am. You are only innocent of knowing the outcome of what happens when mates cheat.'

'Yeah, if I had known I wouldn't have cheated on her and you know it!' Eric silently yells at his wolf and his wolf shuts up. He did know it, that's why he kept it quiet.

"Eric?" Cheryl says snapping her fingers in front of his face to get his attention.

"Sorry, I was having a fight with my wolf. What was it you were saying?" Eric is having a hard time looking at Cheryl. Him carrying her to her bed was borderline unacceptable and he doesn't want to see Cheryl upset with him.

"I said thank you, that was very thoughtful. It doesn't matter to me if we eat here or down in the breakfast room."

"Room service is generally better. What would you like?" Eric happily skips over to the phone and picks it up ready to dial room service.

"Heavy protein, no biscuits or gravy," Cheryl shivers. She doesn't like biscuits and gravy. For over a year she had to eat them while dealing with a mental patient. It was the only food the patient would eat and only if someone was eating it with them.

"Okay, I'll order that while you get ready for the day. If it's alright with you, could we start our date early? Like for lunch?" Eric is biting his lip, this is the only thing he could think of yesterday and he hopes that she likes it.

Cheryl looks at him with her head to the side and a small smile on her lips, "Okay, is it because you just want to get rid of me faster or because you want to spend the whole day with me?"

"The whole day, if it's not too much bother. If you don't like what I have planned we can do something else." Eric stands unsure holding the phone.

"Tell ya what, you help me clean up the disaster that is now my apartment and then the rest of the day is yours. You'll not hear any complaints from me." Cheryl would like the help. Shelly has to work and Matt would have already returned to the pack. He likely left last night and would be in a foul mood because of it. She doesn't feel sorry for Myra though, she should know better than to sneak off the safety of the pack territory.

She does, however, feel sorry for Matt and Shelly. They had their bonding time cut short and that isn't good. She wonders if Shelly let Matt mark her already. Probably not, Cheryl shakes her head as she thinks about it. The mark is irrevocable. Shelly will likely want more time to think about it. And Matt will want time to get the pack on board with the idea of having a witch as a luna.

Cheryl comes out dressed ready to clean her apartment and finds that breakfast is just coming through the door. Eric looks over at her and throws her a quick smile, "Good timing."

Cheryl takes the same seat she had last night and Eric brings her the food he'd ordered for her. "I wasn't sure if you'd prefer juice or coffee. I ordered orange juice and coffee both so you can have both or neither." Eric abruptly shuts his mouth. He turns red as he realizes that he's babbling and Cheryl has to hold back the giggles she feels.

"I would love some orange juice, please." Cheryl smiles at Eric and takes the glass he hands her.

As they eat they talk about what they'll be doing. "The apartment clean up will likely take a couple of days even with your help. Matt has expressly forbidden me to return to stay until it is clean and better locks are placed on the door. He's already talked to my landlord and the locks should be on sometime today or tomorrow. So until the apartment is cleaned up I'll be forcing my company on you." Cheryl is less pleased about this, but not as unhappy as she would have been before yesterday.

"I know you don't wish to stay here. Let's get as much done today as we can. We can do my date another time." Eric says morosely. 

"Nope. I agreed to the date and I said if you helped me with my apartment you can have the rest of the day with no complaints. I meant it to. So we'll clean for a few hours and by then we'll more than likely be more than ready for a break. We'll just do as much as we can during that time. Tomorrow I'll work on it some more."

"I'll help you if you'd like?" Eric offers diffidently. He's not sure how much time she'll want to spend with him.

"Are you sure? You'll likely be sick of my company by then. Not to mention cleaning the mess left behind isn't going to be fun."

Eric shrugs, "Spending time with you in any form is fine. Besides cleaning doesn't have to be burdensome, it goes a lot faster if you have fun with it."

Cheryl lets a smile play about her mouth, "Really?"

Eric nods as he eats. 

Cheryl thinks that this day might be more fun than she had anticipated.