https://youtu.be/0Y0PH_Khk-w

(Author's Note: If you would wish to listen to Chapter 24 parts 1 and 2 on audio, please click the videos. Thank you!)

  I hear snoring, at first, I thought it was Sadie lightly snoring, as she usually does, but then the snoring becomes heavy and when I open my eyes, my brain wraps around my head and I realize Chris is sleeping on my bed. I remember last night, he came here to my house- drunk, him smelling of vodka, then my nightmare; him coming into my bedroom because he suddenly cared about me, and how I felt secure in his arms. I'm still tangled in his arms and he has them wrapped around me like he's hugging a pillow. I don't want to leave these arms, but I have to use the bathroom and I wouldn't want to deal with the awkwardness good morning routine this early in the morning.

  What time is it, anyway? I glance at my clock on the nightstand it says 5:56. I never have woken this early before; it must be Chris's snoring that woke me up.

  I attempt to wiggle my way free out of his arms, but his body weight is too heavy for me. So, I try a second approach, I put my palm on Chris's arm and gently remove them from my waist. I slide from under his embrace.

  I get up off the bed and tiptoe to my dresser. I open the bottom drawer, to retrieve a pair of panties. Then I hurry to the closet, pulling out a pair of faded blue jeans and a white T-shirt. I grab my bra from behind the door and head out when Sadie jumps off the bed.

  Chris starts groaning and rolls onto his back. No, don't wake up yet.

   I rush to pick up Sadie off the floor, so she won't make any more noise. I glance toward Chris to see he's still asleep, and I'm thankful he didn't wake up. He looks peaceful and so relaxed. With his lips slightly parted, he makes soft snoring sounds, and as he snores his chest slowly moves up and down. He has his shirt rolled up to his stomach, revealing his belly button, his abs, and that red rose tattoo, I've become fond of. His short black hair is spiraled out of control on the pillow and instead of his arms being at his sides, they're above his head now. Even when he's asleep, he looks gorgeous.

  As enticing as it would be to go over to him and have him wrap those arms around me again. I can't deal with him just yet, and plus I have to use the bathroom. I wonder how he's going to be today. Is he going to be the pleasant and charming guy he sometimes is? Or would he be back to the guy who gets me mad and pushes my buttons?

  With Sadie in one arm and my clothes in the other, I walk out of the room and gently close the door behind me. I put Sadie down and head to the bathroom.

  Once in the bathroom, I use the restroom and then I strip off my pajamas and climb into the shower. I feel the water falls over me and I welcome the warm water for my intense body. I'm grateful for the shower being warm, and not its usual freezing self.

  As the water crashes over me, my brain ponders to Chris- this is the first time in my life, I ever slept with anyone before and in my own bed, especially with a guy. And he's still here, sleeping in my bed. I wonder how he will feel once he gets up. Probably he'll be hungover. Who knows how much he drank last night?

  I reach for the body wash and start to wash my body. As I wash, my mind keeps going over Chris and how he showed up at my house. I wonder why he came here, anyway? I thought he would not speak to me again after the stunt he pulled yesterday. If he'd never shown up here, I surely was not going to talk to him. My subconscious rears her little head around and tells me, sure you wouldn't have spoken to him and never seen him again, you must be still dreaming.

  When rinsing the soap off my body, I shake my head underneath the water because I know my subconscious always speaks the truth, even though I don't want to hear it, she is always right.

  I turn off the faucet and climb out of the shower. I grab my towel and dry myself. Then I wrap it around my body and quickly, brush my teeth.

  Hastily, I get dressed. As usual, my hair is stubborn and my only choice is to put it in a hair tie. With him having a hangover, he must have a headache, I know I used to wake up with a massive headache, so I grab two aspirins out of the medicine cabinet for him to take when he woke.

  Those were old times- having hangovers, and I'm so glad those days are over in my life.

  I'm eager to know if he's up yet. I gather my wits to deal with Mr. Bewildering Man outside of this bathroom and when I open the bathroom door, my bedroom door is still closed as I'd left it. I suppose, he must be still asleep and I decide to let him sleep off his hangover.

  I head to the kitchen, set the two aspirins on the kitchen counter, and go over to feed Sadie. Once I fed Sadie, I open the kitchen cabinet and grab hold of the blender. I plan to make him Camille's cure for hangovers. I remember Camille making this for me when I used to have my hangovers and showed me how to make it. It helped me. It tastes awful at first, but it does help.

  I get a few ingredients out of the fridge, as well as the other ingredients out of the cupboard, and set them all next to the blender. First, I pour the tomato juice, then I start to add beef stock, a dash of lemon, two drops of Tabasco sauce, a pinch of celery salt, a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, and a pinch of black pepper into the blender. I turn on the blender and watch it turn into a deep shade of red.

  "What's with the noise?" Chris startles me as he emerges into the kitchen. He has his hand over his head, rubbing it. I expect, his head must be hurting him and this noise does not help.

  "I got you some aspirin," I say, pointing to the two aspirin seated on the counter. I fetch a glass and fill it with water.

  His mouth slightly curves when he grabs the aspirin, along with the water I hand him. He chuckles. "Thanks."

  After he swallows down the rest of the water and places it on the counter, he points to the blender. "What's that?" He asks.

  "Hum... Camille's cure for hangovers."

  "Which is?"

  "She told me it's called a Bloody Mary." Something about the tomato sauce helps with the detoxification of the alcohol in your system.

  "A Bloody Mary? Are you trying to get me drunk?"

  "No! Bloody Mary shouldn't get you drunk." I shout and then lower my voice. "And it's a Virgin Bloody Mary." I blush furiously as I said the word "virgin." Gosh, why am I so embarrassed at my choice of wording?

  "You seem to know this stuff."

  "This stuff?" I ask slowly.

  "You know an excessive indulgence when it comes to liquor."

  Ah. That's one way to put it.

  I nod to him.

  "You're telling me that you used to get wasted?"

   Used being the operative word and I nod again, I can't seem to tell him, I used to act that way, and I feel ashamed for my actions.

  "I'm sorry, I just can't picture you being drunk. That doesn't seem like you."

   And he knows me? Honestly, Chris, you don't really know me, and I don't know you either.

   I grab the glass and pour the drink. "Here," I say as I pass it toward him.

  He looks at me with hesitation and I laugh. "Don't worry Chris, I'm not planning on killing you if that's what you think."

  He gives me an uncertain smile when he grabs the glass and takes a drink. He quickly spits it back into the glass. "Urgh. This tastes like shit. What is in this?" He asks with disgust.

  I giggle. "The main ingredient is tomato. It's supposed to help get rid of the toxins in your body. Trust me it helps."

  "I'm assuming you used to drink a lot of these."

  I nod once more. It's something I'm not proud to admit.

  "What made you quit drinking?"

   I put my hands on the counter and stare at them. "I..." I sigh and shrug at the same time. I was hoping he was not going to bring this up and I pray he doesn't bring up last night- about my nightmare. I never want to talk about it, sometimes it's good to talk, but under this circumstance, it's not the time to tell him. "I just got tired of it."

   He nods several times like he's taking something into consideration. Then he glares at me as if I'm some creature that came to a different planet. "Why do I get the feeling that you are not telling me the whole story."

   I give him a pleading look to-drop-it-please.

    He holds up his hands in the air. "Alright, I'll leave it alone." He runs his hand through his messy hair. "I guess we all have dark secrets."

   Dark secrets? Yes, you can call it that. But what dark secrets are you hiding Chris? Maybe if I open up my secrets about everything- my parents, and my nightmares. Just maybe he would open what he's hiding from me. I don't know, but I have the impression that I'm not the only one that is hiding something, and perhaps he has secrets of his own.

   I point to the glass; he's still holding it in his hand. "You should finish it, and in an hour or so you should be feeling better," I smile.

  He looks back and forth at me and the glass like he doesn't really want to drink it. I try to bite my lip to stop my laughter but fail miserably. I don't blame him for not wanting to drink it. I was the same way when I first drank that.

  He takes a deep breath and puts the glass onto his lips. He swiftly drinks it all with one gulp, he protrudes his tongue and looks queasy.

  "You're alright?" I ask.

  He nods seeming he's fine, but I can tell he's nauseous.

 "Do you mind if I take a shower?" He asks as he sets the empty glass on the counter.

 "Yeah, go ahead..." Then I remember something. "Wait, with this kind of shower you have to wait thirty minutes for it to heat up." I laugh. "Unless you want to take a cold shower."

 "No, I don't mind a cold shower, Sussianna." His blue eyes burn intensely, sending a profound emotion right through me.

  Crap, my mouth just went dry.

  "Okay," I choke. Great, make it look obvious that he has an effect on you. "Let me get you a towel."

  I go grab a towel from my closet and I return to the living room where Chris is washing the glass along with the blender.

  "Chris, you didn't have to wash the dishes. I could have done it."

  "It's no trouble. You know for someone helping another person, usually, someone would say thank you," he smirks at me. He's arrogant, isn't he?

   I roll my eyes. "Thank you."

  He chuckles. I hand him the towel.

 "What's so funny?" I ask him. 

  He shrugs. "Nothing..." He still grinning at me. "I'm going to take a shower, now."

  He begins approaching me, his long legs have him in front of me in no time, and he's inches from me. He's grinning wide, he reaches out to touch me under my chin, but he stops himself and shakes his head like he shouldn't be doing this. I want him to, yet at the same time, I agree with him that we shouldn't do this. This is all confusing to me.

  He precedes to the bathroom and closes the door behind him.