Page 68 of Chase

“Go easy on him, Izzy,” he says as he walks over to the door, “and perhaps we can meet properly next time. I have a feeling you two are going to come as a pair from now on.”

“Thanks,” I murmur with a hot blush taking over my face.

“Thank God!” Theo mutters to himself as he appears in the doorway, then quickly bridges the gap between us. He sits on the bed beside me, and grips hold of my hands which are still trembling between the sheets. “What the hell, Izzy? I’ve been going out of my mind with worry!”

“You kind of fucked up a little bit, Theo,” I whisper, but looking a little sheepish myself. “Everything felt so heavy on top of me yesterday, so I decided to resort to my good ol’ method of numbing it all out.”

“Yeah, well, thank fuck Daniel found you,” he says as he brushes his fingers against my cheek. “You’re as white as a sheet by the way.”

I laugh a little before shoving him away suddenly and urgently.

“Move! I need to go and throw up!” I dash to the toilet and begin retching up a nasty cocktail of booze and bile. Theo is immediately behind me, clutching hold of my hair and rubbing my back while he waits for me to empty last night’s contents into the toilet bowl.

“God, don’t look at me!” I cry, flapping my hand about to try and get him to leave; this is so not what you want the love of your life to be seeing. It’s precisely why I bolted for the bathroom instead of using the bowl.

“I’m not going anywhere, baby, so don’t even try,” he says as he continues to hold my limp hair away from my face.

After I feel like my whole body has been expelled into the porcelain bowl before me, I sink to the floor and grab a towel to wipe my face. He sits down beside my sickly body and pulls me to his side. His jacket is cold from being outside, but he is as warm as he always is.

“I’m such a mess,” I groan as I grip onto his jacket; I instantly feel him shuddering from his laughing at me.

“Hey, we’ve all been there,” he says, “hopefully, it reminds us not to do it again…at least, not for a while anyway.”

“Theo?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I ran,” I tell him quietly. “I don’t want to run anymore…not from you.”

He kisses the top of my head, then stands to lift me, and put me back into Daniel’s spare bed. Thankfully, he closes the curtains before getting on top of the bed to lie with me until I fall back to sleep.

_____

Izzy

I have no idea what time it is when I wake up again, but Theo’s comforting presence is still there when I open my eyes. He’s tapping quietly away on his laptop and appears to be oblivious to my consciousness. I watch him for a little while, his eyes darting across the screen as he taps away, deep in concentration. I eventually shuffle toward him, making him jump a little, but he soon puts the laptop down and huddles down next to me with eyes full of concern, but also love.

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispers, “how you feeling?”

He cups my cheek while I stare at him for a little bit. His gorgeous smile snaps me out of it, so I try to talk with a croaky voice.

“Not sure yet,” I admit, “ask me when I get out of bed.” He grins over my unfortunate condition before pressing his lips to my forehead. “What time is it?”

He looks at his watch, an expensive Rolex, at which I have to laugh. How stupid I’ve been not to have realized that Theo doesn’t need money from anyone.

“Nearly three o’clock,” he replies at the same time as I wince when I try to move my head.

“I slept all day?” I sigh. “I really am disgusting.”

“Not possible, Twiglet,” he says, stroking my hair affectionately. “Besides, I think it was more than a hangover that caused you to pass out. I’m…I’m so sorry for lying to you Iz.”

“Believe me, your lie has been the nicest one by far,” I smile as I run my fingers along his jaw. “I get what you were trying to do, but maybe next time pick up a phone and talk to me first?” He chuckles softly before turning serious. “Oh, God, what now?”

“Grandma has been taken to hospital,” he announces, “she’s not doing so well, Izzy.” I close my eyes tightly, releasing the tears that are quick to spill. I’ve known this was on the cards for a while, but now that it’s happened, I am still shocked to the core. Taking in my tears, he squeezes me tightly. “Do you feel up to going?”

“Yes, of course,” I rush out, only to move and flinch over my aching head. “Could you maybe get some painkillers for me? I’ll jump in the shower and be right with you.”

“Sure thing, Iz.”

---