...And, of course, because of the imcompetent Authoress, it took Alyssa much longer than expected to wake up. Gah! So sorry, guys! .:Backhands self:. I've been so, so busy lately, and I- gr, I have no excuse. I need to update sooner in the future, no getting around it!
Disclaimer: As usual, I still don't own anything except the plot of this particular fic.
In the late hours of the morning Alyssa finally awoke. She didn't open her eyes at first, but sighed contentedly againt the warmth pressed to her cheek. In her mind she wondered what it was, but didn't untimately consider it to be a big deal.
Then she heard it. Thump-thump, thump-thump. An echoing beat of some sort. Alyssa frowned slightly, wondering to herself where she heard that sound before. Her eyes shot open when she realized that it was... a heartbeat.
Her mind quicklypieced togetherwhat was happening. She was in bed, lying on... Erik's chest! Erik's bare chest!
"Oh my god..." Alyssa whispered. She hadn't moved, her fear taking over her muscles and making them seize up. She whimpered pitifully, biting back tears. At last, though, it all became too much. Alyssa jerked away, nearly falling off the bed and instantly rousing Erik. He sat up and gave her a concerned look.
"Alyssa, are you all right?" he asked, throwing the sheets aside to give his legs room to move. Alyssa noticed that from the waist down he was still dressed, but even that couldn't calm her down.
"Oh my god, no!" she shouted. "You... you... And after I trusted you... oh my god. I... I can't..." Overwhelmed, Alyssa turned and ran into the bathroom behind her. She slammed the door as hard as she could and locked it.
Erik was utterly confused. He stood up and approached the door, his thoughts to muddled to allow him to be angry.
"What on earth are you talking about, Alyssa?" he called. "As far as I know, I haven't done anything! Is this another misunderstanding of yours? Come out here!"
Huddled in the opposite corner of the room, Alyss completely ignored him. Tears coursed down her face, and she made not attempt to stop them. I can't believe him... she thought. I was beginning to trust him! Was that his plan all along? Get me drunk and then... Alyssa shuddered and pulled her legs more tightly to her chest.
"Please just listen to me, Alyssa," Erik pleaded. "I swear to God that I did nothing to harm you last night. Don't you remember?" He knew that she didn't, obviously, and not only because of her actions. The first time he'd taken that much alcohol, he hadn't remembered much, either.
Part of Alyssa heard him, and she wanted to believe him. She wanted him to be right so, so badly. So badly that she decided to at least listen to what he had to say. Carefully and hesitantly Alyssa eased herself away from the wall, toward the door. She was going to say something when her head suddenly began to pound and ache like it never had before, and her stomach felt twisted and knotted.
Not knowing what else to do, Alyssa scrabbled over to the sink. She bowed her head over it an vomited. Her throat burned, and she could faintly taste the wine as the contents of her stomach came up.
"Alyssa, are you okay? Alyssa, unlock this door or I'm coming in anyway!" Erik threatened. Alyssa was in no state to open it, so he was forced to pick the lock (which, considering his expertise, took little more than a second) and enter the small bathroom.
"Oh god!" Erik exclaimed as he saw Alyssa turn the tap of the sink and wash down what she had thrown up. She groaned and clutched her gut with one chalk-white hand.
Gently Erik placed his fingers over hers from behind her. "Let me help you," he murmured into Alyssa's ear, and she nodded. He allowed her to lean back onto him, and helped her walk back into his room.
Once Erik had laid her body down softly, Alyssa found herself asking him weakly, "What happened last night, Erik? What really happened?"
Sighing to himself, Erik sat down in the armchair opposite the bed. "Well," he began, "you asked me if you could drink wine instead of water-"
"Yes, yes, I remember that," Alyssa interrupted dismissively. "I mean, once I was drunk. What happened?"
"I recall that you asked me... if I could dance. I told you that I could, and the next thing I knew, you and I were doing the tango."
Fragments of the dance played across Alyssa's mind. "Oh! I... I remember that now, too."
Erik continued without acknowledging her. "Than I fell, uh, onto the bed, and I honestly don't know why now, but I pulled you down beside me. Mistake number one, I guess." (Alyssa's eyes grew hard as he spoke these words, but he didn't stop.) "After that, you tried to take off my mask, but I didn't let you, and then you asked me to... well..." It was pretty obvious to Alyssa what the end of his sentence would have been. Her eyes widened.
"I... asked you to?" she questioned. Lowering his eyes, Erik nodded. "What did you say?" she demanded next, searching Erik's cerulean eyes for any sign of dishonesty. But he could not find himself to answer. Even though he had refused her, Erik felt uneasy even discussing the matter with her, and he didn't know why.
Instead, he questioned, "Why don't you just try to remember? It isn't like you would believe me anyway if I told you, even if my answer was accurate."
Knowing that he was most likely rght, Alyssa sighed and searched her mind for the memories. She didn't find any at first, but merely concentrated harder. Then, bit by bit, the scene came back to her.
"No, Alyssa. I can't. I'm afraid you're intoxicated, and you don't know what you're saying. ...I'm afraid of losing the only friend I have. I'm afraid of what you would think of after I took advantage of your intoxication. And I'm afraid... of hurting you."
Alyssa felt tears of guilt, shock, and mostly relief come to her eyes. "Oh my god..." she breathed, looking at Erik with her mouth slightly agape. "I'm... so sorry. I... can't believe... so, so sorry." She bowed her head in shame, shoulders shaking as she cried.
Gently Erik reached out and titled her face toward him. "...D-don't cry, Alyssa," he muttered insecurely, revealing inhis tiny stutter how inexperienced he was at consoling people. Instantly he cursed himself for letting it slip. "What I mean to say is... it's... okay."
"No, it's not!" Alyssa shouted suddenly, her head snapping up so fast Erik wondered if she'd cracked her neck. "It's not okay! You... you just kept me safe, and then I yelled at you for it! I never trusted you, and I was always so mean to you, and you still kept me safe last night. I mean, I was a total bitch, yet you still didn't take advantage of me. And all you got for it was me being more of a bitch and still not even trusting you, and-"
"Do you trust me now?" Erik cut in, staring softly at her but keeping his distance just the same.
Through her tears, Alyssa nodded. "Yes... I d-do. I'm so sorry. Thank you... so much. I feel so terrible about the way I... treated y-"
"Sshh," Erik shushed, leaning over and retrieving a small handkerchief from his nightstand drawer, then handing it to her. "It's okay, Alyssa. There's no need to feel bad. Anyone with a little common sense would have been just as alarmed as you were if they woke up in the arms of a man. And anyone with a lot of common sense would have been shocked even more so if the man was me." He half-muttered the last part bitterly to himself, but Alyssa heard him. She laughed weakly and dried her eyes with the soft cloth.
Erik grinned at her, relieved with her sudden change of mood, then stood up. "So, my dear, are you ready to go out and get some proper clothes?"
Alyssa gawked at him. "Erik, after what I did- after what I said- I hardly think I deserve-"
"Please, Alyssa. You need new things to wear. Like I said before, the best day to go would be today. So either you come with me, or I shall go alone to get you new clothes. Now, I'm not sure what types of clothes you might like, and it might attract attention for me to go alone- as, I'm sure it is rather odd for a man to be shopping for women's clothing- but if you insist upon staying here I will go alone."
"...All right, then," Alyssa muttered at last. "I'll go. You know, so you don't look weird. But I owe you so much, it isn't even funny."
With a small sigh Erik turned lazily around and stared into her eyes. "Alyssa, you have given me your trust. I have never before in my life gotten such a wonderful gift." He knew that he was lying, but Alyssa's relaxed smile was enough for him to know that he would do it again if he had to.
"Okay, but... uh, Erik? What am I supposed to wear outside before I actually get anything?" Alyssa asked, and Erik froze, realizing he hadn't thought of that. Showing complete indifference as usual, he let his eyes sweep the room. He didn't see anything that might help until he looked at his own dresser.
"Well, Alyssa, I think I may have found an answer to that problem. However, I'm not sure you'll want to hear it." Alyssa gave him a wondering look, and he mumbled, "You could borrow some of my clothes."
There was a second of silence before Alyssa suddenly burst out laughing. She laughed for such a long time and so hard that her face turned red and Erik found himself instictively worry about her ability to breathe. He was about to express his concern when he realized that she was calming down.
"No, you can't be serious!" she exclaimed. "Me? Wear your clothes? Ha! And you said that a guy shopping for for women's clothing would be weird!"
Erik waited patiently for her to calm down. "You could always, of course,just wear your nightgown." he murmured.
Faster than the eyes could blink Alyssa was silent. "Point taken," she muttered sullenly before she took the shirt and pants from Erik. She walked into the bathroom and shut the door, and the expected click followed as she locked it.
Alyssa quickly changed her clothes, and she found that (after she rolled up the legs of the pants, pulled in the waistline and pinned the shirt closed above the highest button) they actuallyfit pretty well.
The soft sound of someone knocking on the door interrupted her smoothing down her hair, and Alyssa quickly opened the door. Just to tease her, Erik pretended to stifle a laugh at the sight of her, and Alyssa playfully shoved him to even the score.
"I don't mean it, of course, Alyssa," Erik assured her. "You actually look fairly nice, considering your attire. I hope that the hole left by that pin will be unnoticeable once you take the shirt off, though." Before Alyssa could respond, he offered her his arm. "But never mind that. Shall we?"
"Sure," Alyssa laughed, hooking her arm with his. "Let's go."
So there you go. Sorry about the immensely long wait. Gr! I must set aside more time for my fics! I don't know how I've let myself slip so far! Argh! Anyway, let me know how you guys liked it, please?