Strings of Fate

74- Trip and tangle “Stay here.” he demands. | know if I insist he will let go, but he’s not usually so clingy, we were kind of having an emotional moment and | suspect he hasn't finished processing that yet and isn’t ready to move on. Which makes sense because | don’t think I've processed it yet and | started it! Megan rolls her eyes.

“Told you he would be all bossy tonight. I'm pretty exhausted anyway since I've been sleeping badly. I'm happy to just let you guys hang out. A potion to help with the nightmares would be amazing.” She looks near tears. | start to feel guilty. Maybe | should be spending twith her tonight. | don’t want to neglect my new relationship with Bellamy, but surely Megan needs up both right now. More than we need each other at least.

“Oh, well it’s in a bag on the table. There's about three doses. It's a controlled substance though and I've signed for it so take care of it please. No sharing it. Also remember not to take it more than one night, it shouldn't be taken consecutively for multiple nights. And you can’t have more than three doses in a month so maybe keep it for when you really need it. Ast | said, the instructions that cwith it give more information and the reasons why and stuff. Please be careful with it.” | warn her. | know it’s a little risky to just hand over a controlled substance to someone. If she were to misuse it in sway then | would be the one who got in trouble for it. But | trust Megan and she needs it more than most right now. Megan seems eager at the idea of a dreamless night.

“I think I'm going to turn in early and make the most of it. | wonder how many hours | can physically sleep in one go?” she wonders aloud. She waves and blowsa kiss.

“Night Ry, night Bel, have a nice evening, don’t do anything I wouldn't do.” Megan practically skips up the stairs.

“Did she even eat dinner? It’s fairly early.” | comment. Bellamy shrugs around me.

“I don’t think so, but it won't hurt this once...” He pauses.

“She never mentioned nightmares to me.” He sounds a little frustrated. | frown.

“You can’t hear her in her room? She’s been waking up screaming. She was on the phone with 1/4at stupid-o-clock in the morning today.” “No, the private bedrooms in this house are pretty well sound-proofed for privacy. Since our hearing is pretty good and we tend to live in family groups even as adults, it's pretty common in our homes. | don’t want to hear everything my sister gets up to in her room and | definitely don’t want her listening in onall the time.” Bellamy shudders. | laugh.

“And you question why | don’t want guards around all the time. My house isn’t all sound proofed like yours.” | point out. Bellamy perks up.

“What exactly are you doing at night that you don’t want people listening to, and can I join in?” He remarks suggestively. | inhale a breath and somehow find myself choking on air.

“Bellamy!” | take a second to breathe properly then roll my eyes.

“I'm pretty sure | just told you I spent the night talking to your sister on the phone. So sure, you can join in on that if you really want.” | joke. Bellamy pouts.

“Spoil sport.” He hesitates before continuing.

“Seriously though. Is Megan okay? | want to help but she’s still acting like everything is fine. She didn’t mention nightmares at all.” he says sadly.

“I think she’s doing as well as we can reasonably expect. Maybe she should find someone to talk to about it all, like a professional. | might suggest it to her later. I'm happy to chat in the middle of the night but | think she might benefit from talking to someone impartial.” | think aloud.

“I agree that it would be a good idea if she’s willing. It might be too soon. | guess we can only suggest it and see how it goes.” Bellamy is looking atfunny again. Like he is still givinghis undivided attention, but | suspect in his head he is on a completely different line of thinking to where I'm at. We both fall silent for a couple minutes and Bellamy seems content to sit quietly staring at me. It’s actually makingnervous so | decide to speak up.

“So, are you hungry?” | prompt. Bellamy grins at me.

“I'm always hungry. What do you feel like for dinner? We could go out somewhere. Just the 2/4 two of us?” He suggests.

“I don’t know, I'm not really dressed for going out anywhere. I'm not sure | have the energy to deal with people right now. | wore myself out with work and shopping today. Ignoring people’s threads and walking past, or even through what look like solid items tois weirdly exhausting.” | explain. Bellamy looks fascinated.

“Is it always like that?” he asks. | shrug.

“Sometimes. It’s not so bad all the time. If people are really far apart then the threads aren't visible, and I'm pretty good at, ignoring them for the most part. But busy crowds and groups of people can be a bit frustrating.

There are so many threads all tangled together and it’s just a lot visually to deal with. | sometimes walk into people or trip over things because the threads block my view.” | complain.

“I hadn't thought of them like that. As something that obscures your regular vision. That would be pretty frustrating.” | shrug.

“I guess so, but it's always been this way for me. | don’t know what it’s like to NOT see them all the time. | guess if | went out into the middle of nowhere | might get a break, but I've never bothered. Most of the tit's okay. It just wearsout sometimes, having to be careful and also not react to sof the things | see. But whatever.” | finish awkwardly.

“Okay, so maybe something more low-key. We could order in again? Or cook something?” Bellamy suggests.

“Can you cook? I've seen you make pancakes but that’s all I've seen.” | ask curiously.

“I'm okay. Not great, but | can make basic meals. What about you?” “Pretty much the same. But cooking does sound nice.” “We might need to go shopping. It's been a busy couple of weeks and we haven't gotten everything done here like usual.” “No problem, we can go get sstuff and then make something. Do you wanna cook here or at my place? Your kitchen is better than mine but if we're going out anyway it savesa trip 3/4 going hagain.” | suggest. Bellamy responds quickly.

“Your place is fine. Can | stay over?” he asks. He doesn’t SOUND nervous, but he does look a little awkward. Like he’s trying to seem casual about it.

“I suppose so. Just don’t go... expecting anything... alright?” | respond, trying to politely tell him | don’t plan to sleep with him. Well | do, but like real sleep not... and | mean | don’t intend to never sleep with him. I just- Okay, I'm stressing myself out in my own head. Tto stop. Bellamy smiles happily.

“Of course, no problem. | just want to spend more twith you. No pressure.” He assures 1. me.

“I want to spend twith you too.” | admit shyly. | yelp as Bellamy stands up, liftingwith him.