Chapter 10
Told You So
"Niles!" C.C. hissed into the darkness. "Niiiiiles!"
She stumbled into the room, her equilibrium still off-kilter from the brandy. She squinted her eyes and could just barely make out a lump spread across the bed. C.C.'s lips curled into a self-satisfied smile; she'd know that lump anywhere.
"I found you!" she said with as much relief as her slurring speech would allow.
C.C. staggered to the bed and flopped down beside the sleeping figure.
"Niles, wake up," she whined, shaking him forcefully.
Niles groaned and began to stir from his sleep.
"That cow isn't pregnant," he mumbled between snores. "That's Miss Babcock."
C.C. pressed her lips into a thin line.
"NILES!" she shouted into his ear as she punched his arm with as much force as she could muster.
Niles jerked awake, sitting up in bed as his eyes popped open wide. Seeing C.C. sitting before him, he sighed in frustration, his heart still hammering wildly in his chest from being startled.
"Miss Babcock, what are you doing here?" he grumbled, kicking at his blankets as he lay back down.
"I'm scared," she said, her eyes wide.
"That's just your reflection," he answered, turning away from her.
"No!" she exclaimed, slapping his arm adamantly. "I heard a noise."
"It was probably the wind."
"It sounded like someone was breaking in the house. What if they kidnapped me, Niles? It'd be all your fault!"
"They'd bring you back," he yawned.
She tugged at his blankets.
"Can I sleep here?" she nearly whispered.
"No."
"Why not?" she whimpered. "You're going to leave out there alone to get robbed and kidnapped?"
"You're drunk," he answered simply. "And I'm drunk."
"So?"
Niles groaned once more.
"There is no one breaking into the house. Go back to bed."
"I'm sleeping here," C.C. said defiantly.
"No, you're not."
"Watch me!"
She yanked his pillow out from under his head and began working on tugging his blankets from off of him. He kicked at her. She scratched at him.
"Have you lost your mind?!"
"I wanna sleep here!" she exclaimed loudly.
"You won't fit," he argued.
"I will so," she replied, elbowing him hard in the back and delighting from the pained "Oh!" he yelped out.
She lay down next to him and worked her way under the covers, situating the pillow underneath both their heads.
"See?" she said sweetly as she tossed an arm loosely around him. "Isn't this nice?"
"Sure," he seethed sarcastically. "Just lovely.
C.C. snuggled further down into the bed and inhaled deeply, enjoying his scent as it enveloped her and his warmth as it calmed her fears.
"I told you so."
To be continued