Midnight

After two more pieces, Aiden is satisfactorily tired and could probably fall asleep if he wanted to. He's about to slip back into his room when he remembers Elise on the couch. She's fallen asleep, which he takes more as a compliment to his playing than an insult, but he supposes it could go either way.

This, however, presents a dilemma. The easiest solution would be to leave Elise on the couch, but she might catch a cold or start the next day with pains. He could wake her up so she could return to her room, but he doesn't really want to when she'd already had trouble falling asleep. The last option is to carry her to her room, but he isn't sure how she would react if she realized. Given her stubbornness, probably not well.

But then again, Aiden cares more about Elise's wellbeing than what she might do to him if he princess-style carries her to her room. Besides, it's possible that she might never find out. He hopes. The other possibility is that she'll never live it down, and hate him forever, which he hopes won't happen.

He observes her for a minute, trying to determine how he can lift her up without waking her up. She's cocooned around that cushion on the couch, the one decorated with the sheet music of the Queen of the Night aria winding around it. Her expression is almost smiling, and she's calmer, more relaxed in sleep than he's seen her all day. A few stray blond locks frame her face artfully, although he knows she'd punch him if he ever told her that.

Well, here goes nothing, he thinks, as he goes for it and picks her up. She's surprisingly light, less than he expected. At the movement, she stirs a little and her head brushes against his shoulder, and he freezes, but he smiles.

He's glad it's only a few steps to her room. Of course, he's just glad, and that is definitely the only thing he's feeling.

"I've…" he clears his throat, "...missed you," he whispers to her sleeping expression, before pushing open the door, gently setting Elise in her bed, and leaving.