I woke up with a stiff ache running down my spine, the duvet tangled around me like a punishment for daring to sleep on the floor. For a moment, I didn't remember where I was. Then the faint scent of Grey's cologne drifted through the air, dragging the memories back one by one.
The argument.The shirt.The silence.
I hissed and rolled my eyes as I pushed myself up, rubbing my neck. The early morning light shone through the curtains, pale and soft, stretching across the room like it was afraid to touch anything too harshly.
I blinked, half expecting to see Grey on the bed still asleep and probably snoring like a little arrogant pig that he always proves to be, still distant but the sheets were empty, neatly arranged like no one had slept there at all. "Well that's surprising" I said to myself.
My chest tightened. He was gone.
Good, I told myself. Less shenanigans to wake up to.
I got up slowly, stretching my arms overhead. My joints cracked quietly. As I lifted my head. I froze in that same posture for a moment before my hands fell slowly. He caught my eye as the bathroom door opened.
Grey stepped out, a white towel slung low around his waist, water still dripping from his hair and tracing lines down his chest. His skin glowed faintly from the shower, steam curling behind him like a halo made of heat and arrogance.
For a moment, just one stupid, uncontrollable moment, my mind froze, then drifted,then betrayed me entirely,I just stood there and stared.
I stared at the long lines of his muscles,at his broad shoulders, at the droplets clinging to him like they were jealous of the towel.
My thoughts weren't noble. They weren't even neutral. They spiraled into places I had no business thinking about, a marriage built on lies shouldn't have space for this… whatever this sudden heat in my stomach was.
God, Seraphim. Stop it, one part of my mind whispered to me, but I was too lost in this marvel before me so I didn't .
I got lost in it.
Completely, embarrassingly lost.
I must have stared too long because the next thing I heard was his voice, sharp and irritated.
"Seraphim."
I flinched. "W..what?"
"You're staring."
I looked away so fast my neck almost snapped. "Me …nah i…. I wasn't staring, I was just, you know, stretching since you weren't gentleman enough to let me sleep on the bed or give me a more comfortable space other than a duvet on the floor."
He raised a brow, amused in that mocking way of his. " Hmm..hmm, Sure."
My cheeks burned. I hated that he noticed. I hated even more that he was right.
I opened my mouth to say something, anything to cancel this insane awkwardness I just caused when a sudden voice echoed from downstairs:
"Grey? Seraphim? Hellooo? — Anyone home?"
My stomach dropped.
"Shit, Lucy", I said to myself
My heart slammed against my ribs. I looked at Grey, whose entire expression shifted anger, dread, irritation, calculation all struggling for dominance at once.
And then another voice floated up, warm and surprised:
"Oh? And who might you be?"Grey's mother asked.
The universe hated me. Truly.
We both froze.
Then, like we were controlled by the same invisible hand, we rushed out of the room, practically tripping over each other as we hurried downstairs.
When we reached the living room, the scene was already unfolding.
Lucy stood by the door, too dressed, too painted, too familiar.
Grey's mother stood in front of her, with a mixed look of confusion and displeasure but still wanted to appear nice and polite, even with the confusion clouding her expression.
And I...I felt the tension snap inside me like a wire pulled too tight.
"Lucy?" Grey's mother asked. "You are…?"
Before Lucy could speak, Grey stepped in.
"She—uh—she came b…..because…" He paused, eyes darting to her, silently begging her to catch up. "…because Seraphim… forgot something."
My eyes widened in shock. "I did ?" I said. "Yes you did grey said immediately, winking at me, so I'll follow up with their whack ass lie. "You did the other day, you went to see her, remember" he continued with the obvious lie.
Lucy blinked rapidly, obviously not expecting Grey's mother to be in the house. She swallowed hard, forcing a smile that looked painfully strained.
"Yes! Yes she forgot… her…"
Grey shot me a desperate look, then turned back to his mother.
"…hair clip," he said slowly, as if searching for each word in the dark.
"Yes, yes, a hair clip," Lucy repeated, nodding stiffly. "Exactly. A hair clip she dropped the other day when we met."
I stared between them. Their fake story sounded like two kids trying to lie about breaking a vase—slow, stuttered, and painfully transparent.
Grey's mother's eyes narrowed just a fraction. "Hmm. I see."
Lucy laughed awkwardly, waving a small imaginary object in the air. "Yes, so uhh I came to return it."
"But you're not holding anything darling," Grey's mother pointed out sarcastically.
Lucy froze.
I stepped in quickly, desperate to end this circus. "Oh I already took it. She gave it to me at the door." then I sighed.
Lucy exhaled like she'd been underwater.
Grey's mother's expression softened slightly. "Alright then. Thank you for returning it, dear."
"Yes of course." Lucy's voice cracked. "Well, I'll be going now."
Grey nodded stiffly. "Good."
She glanced at him one last time something sharp, something dangerous then hurried out as though her life depended on it.
The door closed.
Silence.
Then Grey's mother turned to him, her face frowned but her tone anything but.
"Grey."
"Yes, Mom?"
"I don't want to see that girl anywhere near this family again."
Her voice sounded a little bit authoritative but firm, like someone laying down the final rule in a house built on shifting sand.
Grey swallowed. "Understood."
She gave a small nod, then moved toward the kitchen, leaving the two of us suspended in the thick, suffocating quiet she left behind.
I let out a shaky breath.
Grey ran a hand through his hair as he let out a sigh if relief, muttering, "Perfect. Just perfect."
For once, I couldn't disagree.