Chapter 4
Many hours later, Maggie awoke to intense heat and a faint smell she would have once recognized. Opening her eyes, all she could see was darkness. She closed her eyes once more while that day's events flooded back into her mind. Sands. Sands in a bed. Sands in a bed with her. She then realized the heat was being emitted from his body and the smell was the after-tones of his cologne. Backing away, Maggie realized that she was trapped; something was keeping her from moving. Opening her eyes, she let them adjust to the surrounding dimness. Once her eyes were regulated, she saw Sand's neck and realized that she was trapped by Sands. Maggie had turned on her side, facing Sands, while asleep and they had wrapped their arms around each other. His chin rested against her head and his deep breathing indicated that he was still asleep.
Maggie squirmed around faintly until she could twist her head enough to see the clock; 11:43 p.m. she slowly removed Sands arm from her side and attempted to writhe out of the bed. This movement though faintly woke Sands up. He slightly lifted his head, shifted, and spoke groggily. A clear indication that he was still half-asleep.
"Baby? Somethin' wrong?" He blindly reached out and grabbed her hand.
"No Shel, go back to sleep." she said, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. Sands released her hand and turned onto his back, mumbling something incoherent.
Silently exiting the room, Maggie made her way to the washroom.
She hadn't realized how bad she was in need of a shower. Unbeknownst to her, she had gotten some of Sands' blood on herself.
Turning off the water, Maggie wrung out her now-clean hair and stepped out off the shower… to the sight of Sands standing there.
Maggie yelped, only causing Sands to yelp in return.
"Damn Mags! It's just me." Sands said, putting his arms up in defense.
By this time, Maggie had grabbed her towel and was clutching it to her body.
"Sorry Shel… I'm just not used to coming out of the shower and have someone standing there!" she nearly yelled. No anymore, anyways. She snickered.
She felt the blood rush to her face, embarrassed by the fact that she knew Sands couldn't have seen her, even if he wanted to. "What are you doing here anyways?"
"I had a nightmare and when I woke up I was alone. I heard noise, so I came to see if you were okay. I didn't mean to scare you." The gentle tone in his voice told Maggie he was telling the truth. It was a side of him she had missed desperately.
Maggie then noticed he was shaking. "Are you all right?"
"Peachy-fuckin-keen." Sands replied.
"Look, why don't you go sit down in the kitchen or something while I go get dressed?" Maggie offered, Sands nodded and walked off.
Maggie sighed and trudged off to her room to dress. Once there she chose simple sweat pants and tank top, tied her hair back and walked into the living room where she found Sands standing there with his boxers barely hanging off his slim hips and blindfold gone, exchanged for his sunglasses.
Maggie stood there watching him. After a few moments, he took a few unsteady steps towards her. Before she knew it he had his arms around her waist and his head buried in the crook of her shoulder.
"I missed you so much." he whispered hoarsely. "I'm sorry baby, I'm so sorry."
Maggie was sure that if Sands could, he would be crying now. She soothingly ran a hand through his hair. He slowly lifted his head and approached his face to hers.
"I love you, Mags…"
He didn't give her time to answer. In an instant his lips were on hers. He kissed her with all the relented passion of the past year and a half apart. He missed the taste of her.
Maggie broke the kiss and gently ran a hand on his cheek. Just as she touched his sunglasses, he grabbed her wrist.
"Please don't." he said in an almost child-like voice. Maggie had never seen him so vulnerable.
"It's okay." she whispered. He released her wrist and she slowly took off his glasses. She turned and threw them on the small coffee table. Turning back, she saw Sands, not as she remembered him. She saw Sands gulp and shake a bit. He was scared. He was scared she wouldn't accept him.
Maggie slowly traced a finger on his cheekbone, then his jawline. She leisurely raised herself and kissed him lightly.
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Please R&R.
