Page 4 of Werewolf Heart

“Hey, you mind if I change channels?” Sara asks from the other end of the sofa.

“Sure," he mumbles.

He hasn’t been paying that much attention to what's on the screen, anyway. All he’s thought about for the past thirty minutes is how her pyjamas shorts rile up her thighs, showing soft skin. He can smell her lotion. Robert is thankful her wash day is only four days from now, because then he would definitely have to hide his hard on. Guilt charges at him at full speed once more.

Sara has always looked pretty, he can admit that. He might have needed glasses but Robert was never blind, that was never the problem. The problem is that… The problem is—

“You sure you’re alright?” She asks, again. “You’ve been acting… Well, strange.”

He sighs (exhales, mostly). “I’m surprised you’re not more freaked out about this whole werewolf thing, honestly.”

Sara hums to herself, expression sobering.

“I guess when I caught you on the floor, surrounded by raw meat and sobbing like a child, I was in shock,” she confesses. “I was in a zone when I pulled you up and lead you into the shower. Reality didn’t come crashing down till much later. But I kept my cool. It’s not that I wasn’t freaked out, that I haven’t been freaked out since this whole thing started, but you’re you. I’ve only felt safe around you. That didn’t change when you told me you may have accidentally become a werewolf. Even when I locked you in your uncle’s cabin, I never… It’s hard to explain. It wasn’t like with Tom, you know? Even in our best moments, I was never able to fully relax around him, as if any little thing would set him off. You would never harm me, Rob. I’ve known this since school and that feeling didn’t stop when I learnt about your, well, condition.”

They don’t talk much about Tom. Not since Robert helped move her stuff out of his flat while he was at work. He knows it’s a lot for her to speak about her abusive ex, how hard it is to even mention his name. She’s doing it for him, he realises. Because she wants him to know she would never compare Robert to Tom in any shape or form.

He nods at her words. “I’m glad you have so much faith in me.”

“It’s not about faith,” she shrugs. “We’ve known each other for years. And the few times you actually hurt my feelings? You apologised right away. I could see how sick with guilt you were… You are not the type to hurt, Rob. I wish I’d listened to my instincts and broken up with Tom a lot sooner. You never gave my gut that kind of reaction. Even in the sorry state I found you.”

Robert smiles, his needs mixing with comfort and affection. The animal in him settles. Or perhaps it’s the anxiety settling. Both feel very similar.

“You’re the best person I know.” Sara continues on, gaze now sliding away from him, almost in embarrassment. “I don’t know what’s so complicated about that.”

His ears pick up at the rise of her heartbeat, how her breath stills just the tiniest bit. Robert is confused.

What does this mean?

“Anyway,” she cuts in. “I’m super hungry. Wanna order in?”

“Uh, sure?”

“Okay, so sushi for me and you, a large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese?”

“Don’t make me beg for it.”

Sara lets out a laugh, harsh and sudden. She covers her mouth as if she never intended for Robert to hear such a thing.

He frowns. Is she alright?

“Yep, yep,” she says, rapid fast. “Ordering it right now.”

“Okay.”

“I’m just— I need to go to the toilet.”

“Okay?”

“Okay!”

Sara jumps out of the sofa and runs to the restroom in the same manner Robert would describe a frightened mouse. Which is odd. Because Sara is anything but mousy, or shy, or an anxious riddle like Robert.

Did I do something to upset her? Oh— Maybe it was Tom. It was probably too much to mention him. Fucking hell, I’m a twat. She shouldn’t have to relive bad memories because of my own insecurities.

The young man walks to the kitchen and grabs the store bought muffins. Puts the kettle on. He cuts four muffins in half and butters each side generously, then sets them over a heated pan till they turn golden brown. He slides the cream, then the jam, stocks them up in an orderly fashion. When he spots Sara, the two cups of hot tea are ready to drink at leisure.

He thinks she showered. Robert smells body wash and that lotion of hers. None of it on her upper body though.

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