“Noway,” I pushed on his stomach in a failing attempt to shove him off. “I’ve barely worked there for two weeks! I’m not going to call out already.”
His brows creased. “Please?”
“I’m fine, Graysen. The nightmares may never let up. Can’t let them hold me back.”
He shifted his weight off me reluctantly, the squint of his eyes telling me he was debating just how much he should argue with me about this. I ignored him, rolling off the mattress and fumbling around for clothing. God, a bath sounded incredible. I was sticky from the physiological storm of my nightmares, but there wasn’t enough time before work.
“What are the nightmares like?” Graysen sounded curious, concerned.
“I really don’t want to talk about this.”
“Humor me.”
I turned on my heels and smashed into Graysen’s chest, not realizing he was so close. His hands gripped my upper arms to steady me as I regained my composure. When I looked up at him, I saw a line above his brow where blood had begun to clot.
“What happened to your forehead?”
He reached up, dabbing at the red and lowering his hand to inspect the stain on his fingertips. “You scratched me a little. It’s fine, really.”
“Shit,” I sighed, storming out of the open doorway towards the bathroom to grab a rag. I was already running late, but felt the need to care for him as a form of apology. Graysen appeared in the doorway as I wet the fabric. “I’m so sorry, Graysen. Come here.”
Although clearly unbothered by the cut, he stepped beside me, ducking his head to give me better access to dab the wound clean.
“I have nightmares calling me back to Earth. I can’t explain it, but they hurt,” I muttered.
“Do you ever think about returning to Earth?”
“Of course. But there’s nothing that can be done about it, so I prefer to ignore those thoughts and the dreams that encourage them.”
His expression fell, and I immediately regretted the words. Of course, I thought about Earth, it’d be hard to forget when every night my dreams reminded me of the life I left behind. There were no memories for me to cling to, which made choosing Trebianna the easy option. I’d never know what Earthly bonds I was giving up on, but I was certain I wanted to be here with Graysen. This world was all I knew in my heart, and I was content to keep it that way.
“Graysen.” I dropped the rag in the sink.
“Yes, Fae?” He looked so crestfallen.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered, running my thumb gently over his now clean cut. I wanted to take away all of his pain, be it physical or emotional. My skin tingled as I dragged it across the raised gash.
Did his cut fade? I could have sworn it was noticeably swollen and irritated moments before, but when I moved my thumb away from it, it looked flat and pale. Like a cut from the day before. I gently moved his head to the side, trying to see it in better lighting.
Did I do that?It was a ridiculous thought. I’d just cleaned it, of course it was less red. I was still shaky from my nightmare, and it was messing with my senses, probably. Plus, if I healedquickly on this planet, Graysen likely did, too. But the way my fingers tingled when I touched him…
“Fae? Are you alright?” he asked.
I blinked away the feeling, embarrassment flushing my cheeks. I wasnotabout to assign myself magical powers as a feeble attempt to fit into this world. “Yes, I just need to get to work. I’m sorry again, Graysen. Thank you for taking such good care of me.”
The first couple of hours at work were spent cleaning up from the evening before. Thankfully, it was dead. Dried spills covered the top of the bar, and the bottles that had been full three days ago were completely empty. I knew Graysen, Theo, and Stella always stayed late if it meant leaving things in decent condition. The only team member who didn’t bother was Mitus, who, unfortunately, was in charge of closing the last several evenings. I didn’t understand why Theo kept him around. I scrubbed away, organized things neatly, and tried to get the place back into a presentable condition. Humming quietly to myself, I rearranged bottles back into their sensible order. Even I knew at this point that things had their own place for a reason. The system had been bastardized by its last attendant.
“Welcome back,” a smooth voice said behind me.
There stood my devilishly handsome new friend Cassius, leaning against the bar with his usual charming grin. He’d become somewhat of a regular, showing up to more of my shifts than not and always making some effort to chat. I didn’t usually engage for long, but it was comforting to know what to expect from him. The same drink, the same geniality, and the sameopportunity to exchange pleasantries to pass the time. He’d become a semi-reliable reset button when my shift was difficult, snapping me out of my zone when I was particularly high strung.
“Oh hey.” Happy to take a break from repairing last night’s damages, I walked over. “Same as usual?”
“What can I say, your initial recommendation was a hit.”
“How is the school project going?” I asked, squatting down to fill the stein. I learned quickly that bending over in front of a crowd routinely was as bad for my self-respect as it was for my back. Patrons lost their decency filters after a few too many drinks.
“Really well. I think we should have it up and ready to go within a season or so. You should come by and visit sometime.”
