The pillows and blankets seemed to call to me as I slipped my shoes off before falling into bed. The last couple of days have been exhausting and my sleeping has been shortened to a mere handful of hours each night because of all the extra work. As I started to drift off, everything around me grew dark and distant- 'Feyre'

I groaned softly, turning over and ignoring him, 'Feyre.'

"What," I whispered.

'Feyyyy- rahhhhh'

"What!" my eyes snapped open and I bolted upright in bed looking around for Rhys, 'What?'

'I need you… to come get me. From Rita's."

I rubbed my eyes, trying to rid them of tiredness, 'Why?'

'...Cassian and Azriel left, and she won't let me leave without someone.'

'Who? Why?...Rhys?'

I waited a moment for another answer, but he stayed silent. Getting up, I pulled my shoes on again before leaving the room, glancing at the bed as I walked out. To be honest I didn't think I could winnow all the way to Rita's right now so I pulled a coat out of the closet before making my way down the stairs and out the door.

Children ran up and down the street, throwing snowballs at each other and laughing as I passed by, sunlight peeked through clouds… Rita's was as packed as usual and it took me a moment to find him in the crowd. "Rhys!" I called out as I raised my hand.

His face lit up and he got up from his chair, teetering slightly before starting towards me. His leg bumped into the table and his drink fell. I gave him a confused look, "Are you… drunk?"

He gave me a stupid lopsided grin as his tettering turned into a fall; I caught him, "Watch out Rhys."

"I might be a little drunk, Feyre darling," he muttered as he wrapped his arm over my shoulder and leaned against me.

I bit my lip, trying to hold in laughter as he absentmindedly played with the hair by my ear, and looked at Rita, "Thank you for watching him."

She nodded at me, smirking, "Of course, it's been a long while since I've seen him like this. It's always an entertaining sight to see."

I laughed, nudging Rhys out the door as I did so, and grabbed his hand before leading him down the road, every step he took was crooked. As we reached the corner he started to say something but he swerved left and hit a pole, grunting as he shot his arms out to steady himself. I laughed again.

As I helped him up, I realized that at the rate we were going we were never going to get home, so I braced myself for his weight as I bent down to lift him up; his knees hanging over one arm while his lower back resting on the other. A soft groan came out of me, but I held him steady. He rested a hand on my arm as he leaned farther to the left so he could see me better, "You know Feyre, I love you so goddamn much."

"Hmm, really?"

"You are the most beautiful soul I've ever met and I am so fortunate to have you," he teared up a bit, "How did I find you? How do I deserve you?"

My cheeks grew warm as he lifted his finger and tapped my nose swiftly and I couldn't help but giggle at his drunken state. As we neared a corner of the road he pointed towards a chocolate shopnearby, "When Mor and I were children, we used to sneak out of our studies and go there," he smiled, "The shop owners would give us free sweets."

My lips parted slightly as he kept going, "And that fabric shop over there… it's where my mother would buy all of her fabric for all those gowns she made. They really were lovely dresses."

I continued walking, a line of sweat starting to form at my brow, "What about that one over there?" I said, motioning towards a cafe to the left of us.

"Cassian, Azriel, and I used to go there before we were old enough to drink; we would sit there for hours even if we had nothing to talk about."

And so we kept going, him telling me about the places of his childhood as I listened, walking us home.

vVv

I put him down in the hall, taking off my coat as he made his way towards the kitchen. "Rhys, let's go to bed… I'm tired," I yawned.

"No."

I stopped, scrunching my eyebrows; I couldn't leave him down here alone while he was drunk, "Why?"

"I want to make a cake with you. We've never done it before and I read about it in a book one time."

I smirked, looking at him as he swayed before leaning against the counter, "Are you sure you're in the condition to do so?"

He nodded before going to pull the sugar off the shelf, but I ran up behind him and took it, "I'll get the ingredients, you get the bowls."

vVv

The kitchen was a mess. Neither of us were great at baking, but we tried nevertheless. I watched as Rhys went to pour in a cup of sugar, resulting in half of the bag emptying out into the bowl. I cackled as he went to scoop it back into the bag, "It's fine, it'll be sweet… like you," laugher laced every syllable.

I moved to help him, swerving myself as he turned around quickly, a wing hitting the flour container. It went everywhere. "Shit!"

I laughed at him as I went to clean it up, moving my hand across the table as I gathered it into a pile. A sudden hand on my shoulder had me gasping as Rhys spun me around before pressing his lips to mine. A moan escaped me as I ran my hand through his hair. He pulled back, smiling widely at me as heat rushed through me.

vVv

When the cake came out of the oven I cut two large pieces and sat down with him before taking the first bite, scrunching my nose a little as I realized it was sickeningly sweet. Rhys chuckled as he ran a lazy circle on my thumb, murmuring sweet nothings. As we finished up, I put the plates in the sink and washed them, looking at Rhys's reflection on the kitchen window and seeing the flour that covered him head to toe, making his hair white.

I snorted, drying my hands before guiding him up the stairs so he wouldn't stumble or fall. He made his way to bed but I stopped him, grabbing his hand and giving him a pointed look before leading him to the bathroom, "Bathe."

He obliged, smirking at me the whole time, "You know Feyre, if you wanted to see me naked you could have just asked," he slurred.

My cheeks reddened as I shot back, "The only reason I'm in here is because you're drunk."

"And?"

"And I don't want you doing something stupid."

He laughed before reaching for the pajama bottoms I had grabbed for him, slipping them on as he made his way towards me. He stumbled and I caught him, cursing as I guided him to bed before getting in myself.

I picked up my book on the bedside table, thumbing through the pages to find the place I left off before starting to read. Rhys slid his head onto my lap, his legs hanging off the edge of the bed as he watched me, and after a few moments I couldn't help but ask, "Why are you staring at me?"

He kept staring, seemingly collecting his thoughts before mumbling, "Because I love you."

My heart melted at his words, and I smiled; he was an emotional drunk. That thought had me puffing out a breath of laughter, and I looked down at him, at his own smile lighting up his face, 'I love you too.'

I looked down at the flour covering my clothing and got up to bathe, "I'll be back Rhys."

I lowered myself into the warm water, sighing at the blissful touch of it, and started to scrub at my hair and my skin. I drained the water before drying off and putting on my pajamas.

My exhaustion was starting to push through as I made my way towards bed and laid down, looking at Rhys and pushing a strand of hair out of his face. I wondered what story he would be telling me tomorrow about how he got left behind while drinking.