He'd realized that his usual routine had become dissatisfying. Usually, large amounts of alcohol would allow him to forget the unforgettable. Until recently, it had done just that. Then, well, it had begun to fail. That's when he knew he needed something else. That he needed her.
Not just to let him forget for one night, but to allow him to remember for eternity.
He needed to know that she would be there, his silent solace.
So he, out on a whim, told her everything. Things he'd never thought he'd say.
She had complied with his request. She could never say "no" to him, could she?
He had awoken the following morning, feeling purified of his past. Without the routine headache. And as he looked at her sleeping form, her hair in blunt disarray, he smiled.
Not the smile of pretence he perfected with years of training.
A smile of someone who no longer searched for the impossible because he had found it.
He had gone out, to get his routine dose of coffee and bought her a glazed donut. When he returned he found her weeping, as a child does who is left alone in the dark.
Had she really thought he would leave her all alone?
"Hey." His voice a sharp contrast to her sobs.
She looked at him, bewildered, eyes red rimmed from tears and offered a watery smile as she draped her arms around him. He dropped the bag with the coffee and donuts and all was forgotten.
Except her.