Chapter Thirty: Gentle Rebuild 

Thane’s POV

“Don't wait up for me, don't make anything for me, respect our boundaries.”

I repeat to the sad face of Avery.

“What part of the teams don't you get? They're all spoken in English, and for your sake, I didn't write them.”

I say in a derogatory manner.

“It's just dinner.” She mumbles. “It's quite late, I thought to get useful around here.”

I smack my lips. “If getting useful, you mean trampling on my feet, by all means, remain useless.”

“Th- Sir.” She is quick to correct herself.

Good.

“I'm so-” Again, she stops on her track, reminding herself of my dislikes. “Pardon me.” She says instead.

“I'd love to believe that this will be the last time this silly act repeats itself.”

“Yes sir.” She nods.

I slip my hand into my pocket and turn to leave, but stop abruptly. Retracing my steps to the front of her room, I stare into her face as she's yet to close the door.

“One more thing,” I say grimly. “I'm expecting Lily tomorrow and she may be here a few minutes before myself.”

*Okay?”

“You should be smart enough to know where I'm driving at.” I scold. “Do not step an inch out of your room, good?”

“What if she tries to come in.”

“Simple, don't open.” I sigh. “You’re not so dumb.”

“I appreciate that you want to run your complicated relationship with her in a delicate way, and I respect your privacy,” she says, tired of being treated like trash.

“But what I don't appreciate, is your demeaning and disrespectful tone.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.” She is fierce on business. “You should be making provision on getting me a separate home,” she continues to speak in her defense.

“I can't be here any longer, plus, if you hold me against my will, it's trampling on my human right, Mr. Thane, and you'll be accountable for that “

“I see someone got smart overnight.” I chuckle. “And your damn human right encompasses lying to trample on another’s civil right?”

She breathes heavily but keeps mute.

“I thought so too.” Turning to leave, I have the last bite. “For the accommodation, I'm working on it. It's not rosy living with you.”

My footsteps as my shoes clink on the floor, is the only noise heard. “Be sure to shut the door, and start now.”

I feel her grumbling, and frankly, she has the right to. For a second, I won't blame her so much, because I started enabling her excesses. Well, I'm human too, and she's just so adorable to not feel sorry for.

Thane.

I puff, getting off the thoughts and walking upstairs to my room. Finally, in, I slump on the couch and gently take off my clothes. The last thing that I peel off, are my ankle socks.

It's been a while Piper and I had quite some fun and even though I should be looking forward to it, it only feels like a desert, lately.

Before my incident in front of Avery, I always looked forward to coming home, but being with Lily, is totally different, I can't fathom.

“Yup.”

I make my way to the bathroom to have a warm bath beneath the shower.

‘I can't be here any longer, plus, if you hold me against my will, it's trampling on my human right, Mr. Thane, and you'll be accountable for that.’

Avery’s words replay in my head a thousand and one times and no matter how hard I try to block it, I can't help but feel bad for her and terrible.

Her face holds much fear and hate and disdain. Not even my early days of tormenting her measures up to this.

“Oh, Thane. What have you done?”

I stutter in my head, the running water streaming down my face after heaping on my hair.

I feel like a bad person. I guess I deserve to feel like one, perhaps, terrible.

We were doing just fine until she saw me in my most vulnerable state. Even though I should feel like a human too, I feel the most embarrassed.

It's even worse that I can't lie to her about it being an allergic reaction because I wasn't eating anything. It was a clear response to her touch.

“Oops.”

Getting done with the shower, I head out of the bathroom, after drying up my body and hair with the bath towel.

Curling up like a baby, I try to sleep and distract my mind from Avery’s sad face and our complicated situation.

You’re a bad, bad person!

My mind haunts me.

Rolling to the side, I try to shake the voice off, but it keeps getting worse. Not even hiding beneath the duvet can rescue me from my head.

Damn it.

Instead of feeling better in minutes, I feel my skin crawl and my hair stand erect, like an episode of my PTSD, is impending.

Not now.

“Crap.”

I cover my eyes for a moment, willing the demons away. I've got a long day tomorrow, Aside from Lily coming, I've got a series of projects to attend to, and I need to be energized for that as well.

Left with no choice, I get into my pajamas, pick up my laptop, and head downstairs to the dining table, in my usual routine.

The plate of food she made, is still on the table, hitting my brain hard with her thoughts once more, just when I think I'm over it.

Setting up my laptop and just staring into space, so many thoughts badger my mind, with my recently horrible behavior taking the lead.

What if she doesn't see me as a monster?

I pause to think it through. I always assume that people would assume the worst when they see me through an episode.

What if you're wrong?

I sigh, burying my face in my cupped hands. I've refused to seek help because of what people will say and also scared that they'd liquid-milk the situation if they learned of my predicament.

Avery’s shocked expression and pale face come to me in vivid flashes. If there's anything, she wanted to help. Even after I ran off, she kept bothering me and apologizing for what she couldn't avoid. It was just a harmless touch.

Getting to my feet, I walk over to the other table and slump into it. I'm in front of the covered dish. On the lid, there's a small blue note.

My favorite color.

‘Hey, Thane,

I hope you're good and u hope you've forgiven me. If you ever need a shoulder, I'm always here for you, with an arm as a bonus.

The thorn in your flesh,

Pregnant Avery.’

I smile hard, trying not to laugh. It's cute, she's cute. Opening the kid, I'm greeted with a delicious sleeping dish. It looks equally yummy.

Stir-fry spaghetti and grilled chicken that she made. There's a bottle of white wine by the side and a glass.

“Hmm,”

The warm smile returns to my lips, broadening in seconds. How did she know my addiction? Oh, I mentioned it once to her.

Still, her attention to detail is top-notch.

The food is already cold. I pick the dish up, about to microwave it, when the nasty side of rears up.

For putting her through such meaningless trouble, I'll feel just a chunk of the punishment.

Setting the dish down, I begin to dig into the cold pasta, making a gloomy face. Except that I hate cold food, this tastes just as nice as the breakfast she made us days back. Precisely, on the day it happened.

Just maybe we get past this and she accepts me for who I am, with my good and dark side, as an imperfect whole.