Hours later, the TV, detecting no activity for a while, shut itself off.
The static thump of the TV shutting down startled Tim, waking him suddenly. The room was dark except for the light coming in from the deck. He'd fallen asleep sitting up. He must have drank more than he thought. He realized his arm was resting on Lucy's side, at some point she'd reclined on the sofa, using his chest as a pillow, one arm draped over him, the other curled under her. A far cry from last night, she seemed so at peace. He didn't want to wake her, but he'd never get any rest sitting like this. While he silently debated what to do, he felt her stir next to him.
"Hmmmph, what time is it" she asked sleepily, making no attempt to move.
Tim looked at his watch "It's a quarter past 3". The headache had started creeping in, he needed to get up and take something, along with about 5 gallons of water. He was normally smarter than this.
"Arrrggghhh, that's too early for a run" she groaned, snuggling closer to him and pulling the blanket up around her, not even opening her eyes.
Tim chuckled "We're not going for a run now Boot, but come on, I can't sleep on this couch I need to get up". he pulled the afghan off her and she groaned, burying her face in his chest and pulling her legs up snuggling even closer to him. "Five more minutes".
"Up" he pulled her arm from around his waist trying to get up.
She huffed in protest, finally opening her eyes and sitting up.
As he stood, he could really feel the pain in his temples. Tim brought his hands up to his head and ran them over his short cropped hair, bringing one hand back to his temple, as if holding it there would stop it.
"Headache"? Lucy asked.
"Hm? No, I'm fine". He said.
"You never admit when you're in pain, do you". But it was more a statement than a question.
Lucy had picked up a few things when they were at the store, she walked around him, stepping up into the kitchen.
He watched her walk past him to the kitchen. She got a glass, some ice, and pulled a sports drink out of the fridge. Then she pulled open a drawer, pulling out a few bottles and looked up realizing he was watching her.
"What are you doing"? He asked.
The look she gave him said 'Isn't it obvious, I'm trying to help you". Instead she just said "Go, I'm right behind you".
But of course, he didn't. Tim Bradford still went to all the doors to make sure they were all locked.
Then he left her in the kitchen and headed up the stairs. If he could just lie down and sleep the headache would eventually just go away.
Not even turning on the light he walked in their room and immediately lay down on the bed, on top of the covers, and folded his hands over his abdomen. It was dark and quiet in the room and he figured eventually he'd fall asleep and hopefully headache gone when he woke.
He heard her come in and place something on the nightstand next to him but he didn't open his eyes to see.
"Sit". She commanded. Standing over him. Tim opened his eyes, giving her that same TO stare she'd been used to for the past year. Usually it meant she had done something wrong, and he was waiting for her to realize what it was.
She picked up a glass full of a clear liquid of some kind and held her hand out to give him the pills she'd collected from the bottles downstairs. Reluctantly he sat up, taking the pills from her.
"What, I'm not taking all this". He insisted looking down at the handful of pills she'd brought him.
"Don't be a baby, it's just vitamins with some Ibuprofen". He gave her a side eye but reached for the glass as well. Once he took that she walked over and opened the door to the deck, letting the fresh sea air in and headed to the bathroom.
He trusted Lucy, knew she was big on natural remedies so he took them all, and finished half the glass of what tasted like some citrus sports drink. He put the glass back on the table and laid back down shutting his eyes again.
Some time later he felt her climb into the other side of the bed, and slide up next to him. Then he felt her place something cold on his forehead, he hadn't expected that, with a sharp intake of breath he reached up and grabbed her hand. She just brushed his hand away, and began to massage the washcloth very lightly, flattening invisible wrinkles in it from the center all the way to his temples. Almost immediately the pain was better. She settled in sitting down right next to him leaning slightly over him so she could access both sides of his face.
Lucy noticed the muscles in his face and neck begin to relax. Every few minutes she'd replace the washcloth with the other one she'd brought on a small tray.
"That's nice". Tim admitted, he opened his eyes, looking at her "Thanks", the apologetic tone evident.
Lucy smiled back at him and he closed his eyes again putting his hands back folded over his chest and took a deep breath.
Lucy continued massaging his temples for a while, alternating wash cloths so it was always cool. She thought he'd drifted off to sleep at one point, but when she stopped, he let out a frustrated breath, clearly unhappy she'd stopped.
She reached back up to his temples, but then slowly her touch became lighter, and she moved down the sides of his face. Tracing the lines of his jaw, feeling the slight shadow of a beard there, down his neck, feeling the pulse point there, strong and steady. That was a good way to describe Tim Bradford. Strong and steady. He hadn't stirred yet so she kept going. How many times had she sat next to him in their shop admiring this jawline. He really was beautiful, half the time he had the cocky attitude of a man who knows how women see him, and the other half he would avert his eyes when a civilian would call him on it. That fortune teller who flat out told him to come back to her room, the housewife who invited him to watch her sunbathe, she enjoyed how uncomfortable he got when women came on to him like that.
Yawning, she couldn't believe she could be tired sitting next to him like this. His breathing was slow and deep, he'd finally fallen asleep, hopefully the headache gone. Not wanting the physical contact to end, she rotated the washcloth one more time taking advantage of his sleep to trace his jawline one more time with her fingers before searching on the bed for the fuzzy blanket he'd given her the night before. Finding it she lifted it into the air letting it open. Then, unfolding his hands, she lifted his one arm so she could once again squeeze into that space right next to him, forming her whole body against his using his chest as her pillow. Once again she breathed in deeply, that smell of Tim. It was just intoxicating. Masculine, sexy, subtle and him. Smiling she wondered if you could order a candle that smelled like this. She opened the blanket to lie over both of them. She was sure he was asleep, but he turned just a little bit toward her, his other arm across her, his hand resting at her lower back.
As Lucy was falling asleep, she realized this was only the second night and she was starting to dread when the assignment would be over. The thought of sleeping back in her own bed, or any bed for that matter without him had already become impossible to imagine. She may not have thought this whole exposure therapy thing through. She thought would help still the fire that began every single time he looked at her, called her by name, or touched her. She hadn't thought about how strong their emotional tie would get. She hoped by the time this was done, the two of them being together were one of those things 'more important than the rules' for Tim.
