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Blearily she sat up already missing his warmth. "Where are you going?" she whined.
"I didn't think it would do for your mother to catch me in your bed even if we were just sleeping. I'm going to run to my apartment and change clothes. I'll pick us up some tea and be back soon," he whispered from the window sill before disappearing over the edge. She snuggled back down into the covers in the warm spot where he'd lain even though she knew she wouldn't fall back asleep.
A half hour later she listened to the sounds of her mom preparing for work thankful that it was Saturday and she could take her time waking up. After she heard the click of the front door locking behind her mother she crawled out of bed and padded to the kitchen. Her mom had laid out cereal fixings and left her a note telling her what time Chloe could expect her back that night with money to pick herself up something for lunch. Just as she was finishing the last few bites of her Lucky Charms her phone buzzed. It was a text from Alek informing her his ETA was thirty seconds. By the time she got to the door and opened it he was strolling up the walk with two steaming Chai lattes balanced in a drink holder.
"What took you so long?" she asked him. She didn't want to admit it, but she was glad he didn't seem to plan on leaving her alone for long. Alek sat gracefully on the end of her couch, looking as worn as she felt. She sat as near to him as she could without actually sitting on his lap. She felt bleary and hollow. Usually she was a morning person. She rolled out of bed perky. Her mom used to joke that all she was missing was a flock of birds chirping out a Disney melody her Mary Sunshine act was that bad. It scared her a little how lethargic she'd been lately, a cloud of fatigue seemed to cling to her body. Alek handed her one of the mugs of warm, spicy goodness and blew on his own for a moment before turning to her.
"Chloe, you haven't seemed yourself lately so I was paging through the Oracle today and I found a few passages I think Valentina," his voice broke a bit as he said her name but Alek forged on pretending it didn't, "I think Valentina was waiting to discuss with you until you'd had a chance to adjust a bit more. I guess the Uniter suffers certain side effects from the strain of pulling your soul back into your body. Each time you die it will take more energy to bring yourself back. You'll be left weaker and sicker for longer periods of time after each death." He sighed and ran a hand through his already tousled blond locks.
"Well I guess that means I don't have mono, which is what my mom keeps bringing up. Although that would have been just perfect since I've only ever had two kisses. But I guess I shouldn't complain if I did have mono. Better than being dead," Chloe said bitterly. Alek winced at the hurt in her face and put his mug on the coffee table so he could hold her.
"Chloe, you need to give yourself a break. You never would have knowingly killed Brian or the other boy. Brian caught you when you were disoriented. You had literally just died and then had your soul forced back into your body. Even though the consequences were rough, you have to forgive yourself," Alek tried to soothe her.