Not beta'd, sorry for any grammatical mistakes!
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The cream sofa is usually a soft haven after a long day at the hospital, but tonight, it is immeasurably lumpy and stiff, the springs sharpened with lies and broken promises. It has been hours since he first came home but Chase hasn't gotten a minute of sleep or relief. His body twists and turns against the rocks he is certain fill the fat cushion until he can't stand the rush of forlorn as he remembers the way the soft features of Cameron's face had frozen at the realization of his deceit. The way her skin slipped through his fingers as she turned away, the genuine panic replaced with dejection.
Rising from the couch too quickly, Chase's head instantly begins to throb and the lights dancing across his eyes almost cause him to fall back onto the makeshift bed. Steadying himself against the shoulder of the couch, he forces his body to hold itself up and start moving. Shuffling his feet, the empty silence bounces back every step against hardwood into his ears, causing his head to ache just a little bit more.
The door to their bedroom is opened a crack, opposed to entirely shut, and it provides him with a trace of hope. Hesitating for a moment, he pushes the door lightly and it swings itself opens, a faint light from the hall highlighting a corner of the bedsheet and the hill that her legs create underneath the comforter. There's a slight shift and his heart nearly stops until he realizes she's facing the wall and is fast sleep. He tiptoes his way across the room, wondering if the floorboards have always been this loud. Chase slowly presses his hands into the side of the mattress, testing to see if she moves at the shift before he crawls in beside her warm figure.
Her scent alone clears the fading ache in his temples and the even pattern of her breathing temporarily sooths the throbbing guilt. Her golden hair is partially splayed across his pillow and leaves a section of her neck and shoulder bare. Leaning into her, he briefly places his lips to the velvet skin of her shoulder blade and her body automatically shifts into the touch. "Mmm," Cameron purrs in a sleepy haze. Switching sides to face him, her eyelashes flutter until the emerald of her irises shine at him, the chaos momentarily forgotten. Fingertips trace along her cheek and he kisses her forehead. "Love you," she murmurs, eyes speaking to him more than her words, before nuzzling into him, drifting back into a deep slumber.
A shaky breath escapes him and his heart begins the race, the guilt submerging once again as her arms wrap their way around him. He is unable to escape from his lies, even in this stolen moment that Cameron won't even remember. Fighting the part of him that wants to pretend that this isn't happening, he moves away from her, horrified by his selfishness and quickly returns to the deserving spot on the couch, the cushions filled with the stones where his lies are engraved.
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fin