Chapter 22: Skin Care

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What greater thing there is for two human souls, than to feel that they are joined for life- to strengthen each other in all labor, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of last parting?

A N N A B E T H

I was going to faint.

Full-on faint. As in Indian Serial/Soap-opera faint with the dramatic music playing in the background, with my wrist pressed against my forehead.

"Good Lord," I mutter under my breath as I stare into the room I was supposed to be staying in for the night.

It was tiny. Tinier than the dorm room I had been staying in. There was a single bed smack in the middle, that could probably just about fit both of us if we tried to sleep next to each other.

I didn't think there was a choice in that matter, considering there was hardly any room on the ground to lie down. A tiny door that probably led to a tiny bathroom and another tinier door that was for a closet.

Did she mention what size everything in the room is? I can practically hear people saying, their voices full of sarcasm, I don't think she said anything, did she?

Everything was tiny, by the way- in case you missed it.

The only cheerful one in our group was the little blonde woman who had been assigned to escort us- James, me, and Ms. Langford- to our rooms.

None of the other students had someone escorting them, but I think Ms. Langford's persistence at the front desk made this woman step out of nowhere- quite literally, and volunteer to help.

I'd almost say she looked a little familiar, but I was exhausted- and it was probably my mind playing tricks on me.

"Oh heavens," the blonde woman in question says, cheerily, "The smallest room, no? It must be written in the stars."

James glares at her a little while I close my eyes and let out a breath.

Wonderful. Fantabulous. Brilliant.

I was throwing around words like a thesaurus because I was so darn surprised. Or should I say, flabbergasted.

Ms. Langford lets out another tired sigh. Same, lady. I feel you.

"Thank you, Miss," Ms. Langford says tightly to the woman, "If you'll excuse us now, please."

The woman smiles, her bright green eyes flickering over to both James and me. Her gaze lingers for a long moment, and then she's off before I can think more of it.

"Okay, kids," Ms. Langford says, rubbing her forehead, "I'm not going to give you the talk or anything. If you're planning to do... whatever kids do these days-"

"Oh Lord," I say, closing my eyes and looking the other way while James lets out a choked sound.

"-I'd much rather you don't," she continues, pretending like we hadn't reacted at all, "Save it for your homes, yeah?"

I can only manage a nod. I'm too mortified to look in the direction of the tall figure next to me but I'm assuming he does the same because Ms. Langford gives us both another resigned look- before she leaves.

"Titanic," I say after a point because I can't handle the awkward silence.

James gives me the side-eye to which I give him an innocent look.

"I thought that'd be a great ice-breaker."

The side-eye turns into an expression of exasperation and that makes me burst out laughing.

"Idiot," he mutters as he brushes past me, into the room, while I stand there cackling at my own joke.

"That was one of the greatest puns of all time," I tell him between wheezes, to which he just gives me another unimpressed look that sets off the laughter again.

"You're sleeping outside," he tells me, making a motion to shut the door in my face but I step in before he can- sticking my tongue out at him.

"Rude," I jeer again, as he rolls his eyes and makes his way in, "I'm super tempted to dive onto the bed and mess it up just to annoy you."

He grits his jaw as he stares at it, but doesn't say anything. Oh right. We're supposed to be sharing that.

Lovely. Fantastic. Gre- yeah, no I'm not doing that again.

"Well," I say again before an awkward silence can descend, "I call dibs on using the bathroom first."

"Whatever," he mutters grouchily, kicking his shoes off and setting his duffel bag down. I pull a face at him, and then set my bag down- pulling my little pouch of skin-care products out, and trudging to the bathroom.

Only once I'm inside the bathroom, does my smile slip.

I press my back against the door, letting out a shaky breath and closing my eyes.

Why? Because I was scared.

I was scared to get anywhere close to a bed with a guy on it. I was scared to go to sleep after last night's dream. And I was even more scared that I'd make any of it obvious in front of James.

Sometimes nightmares weren't just made-up stuff. They were built on bad memories that haunted us even later.

Even during dinner, I had felt nauseous about the mere prospect of going to sleep. I had decided right then, that I was going to force myself to stay awake through the night and not even go close to the bed.

It hadn't occurred to me then, that I'd be rooming with someone. Much less, him.

I tie my hair back and then splash some cold water onto my face. What was I going to do?

"What the hell are you doing in there?"

I nearly jump. "Huh?"

"It's been ten minutes, what the hell are you doing Evans?" I hear him say from right behind the door. Good Golly, ten minutes?

I plaster on a smile before pulling the door open. He frowns down at me and his eyes give me a once over.

"My bad," I laugh it off, holding my little pouch up, "I have a skincare routine that I religiously follow every day, right before going to bed. Wanna see?"

He rolls his eyes, leaning against the door frame. "I'm good."

"I have a better offer," I say brightly, "Wanna do it with me for a day?"

"Hell no," he shakes his head, moving to back away but my hand wraps around his arm, "No- Evans, absolutely the fuck not-"

"Just five minutes of it," I insist, tugging him closer, "Your skin's going to feel super duper refreshed. And, your face is going to glow tomorrow. It's a win-win, see?"

He groans as I tug him into the tiny bathroom. "I'm not putting any of that nasty shit on my face."

I give him an offended look. "It's not nasty! It's taking care of your skin!"

"I don't want to take care of my skin," he grumbles, "My skin is fine."

Why was that true, though? Sometimes I got huge pimples even after taking care of my skin.

But boys? They could wash their faces with hand wash and still have clear skin.

Consider me officially jealous.

"Three minutes," I bargain, wiggling the little pouch in front of him, "If you don't want to, you can get up in exactly three minutes, I promise."

I cross my fingers behind my back while promising him that. Sorry, not sorry.

He huffs, glares at me a little, and then finally, rolls his eyes.

"Fine. Three minutes."

"Yes!" I cheer, but nearly knock over one of my lotions, "Okay, hold on- wash your face first."

He does that with another disgruntled look. Then he grabs onto one of the face towels and aggressively wipes at his face.

"Are you trying to rip your skin off?" I ask, scandalized, "You're supposed to dab- not wipe like your skin is on fire!"

He glares at me. "Two more minutes."

"Get down here," I demand, wiggling my fingers towards his face, "I need you to be at my level."

"A shitty-ass level?"

"You're done," I shake my head, backing away, "I take back my offer, you're not getting any of my cre-"

"Don't be dramatic," he grumbles, as he sits against the sink counter, and pulls me closer by the wrist till I'm almost between his legs, "There, my face is at your level now. One minute and thirty seconds. Go on."

His face is close.

Pretty close since I'm standing between his legs.

If I moved any closer, our chests would be brushing.

But he seems completely unaffected, and so- that meant I had to be that unaffected too. Even if I was not on the inside. No, ma'am, we're not going to talk about that.

To play it off, I stick my tongue out at him, before rubbing the tips of my fingers and pressing it against his face.

"This shit smells like you," he tells me after a bit, and that has my eyebrows going up.

"Like me?"

"Mhm," he nods as his eyes slowly close, "I'm going to smell like fucking lavender for the next three days, thanks to you."

"Aha," I smirk, "I'm sure you're laven-der scent. Geddit? Like loving-the scent.'

"That made no sense."

"Let me be, James."

*****

"Motherfu- that hurt!"

"Stop whining," I press his forehead back when he tries to move, "And stop grabbing my hand! It's not helping-"

"I don't need my eyebrows to be plucked," he narrows his eyes at me, but I narrow mine right back. "And these stupid-eye masks are bothering me-"

"They're only bothering you because you can't glare properly with them," I chide, shaking my head while bringing the tweezer to the bottom of his eyebrow again, "And I'm almost done."

"Little fu-" he hisses, his other hand squeezing my hip hard while one hand goes to pull my wrist away. He didn't realize that every time he did that, he only brought me closer and that it got me flustered as heck.

I was more likely to mess up when I was flustered, so if I did- technically it would be his fault. Big Brain Moment.

"Evans, you said two minutes," he complains, as the hand on my hip flexes over the curve of my waist, "It's been an hour!"

"And look at how much better your skin looks now!" I praise, running a thumb over his eyelid, "You're glowing. I'll bet you ten bucks that Tyler will tell you that too. And then he's going to be super-duper jealous that he got to experience my routine- and you know what?"

I take a step back, but his grip on my side doesn't loosen.

"Maybe I should do this with him," I ponder out loud, "He'd be so much more appreciative of it-"

"No the fuck you shouldn't," he glares at me, pulling me even closer, "You're my partner. Tell fucking Elliot to do a routine with Tyler."

"That's what I thought," I nod at him smugly, pushing some of his dark hair back- and then pulling the shriveled up eye masks off, "See? All done."

He lets out a long relieved sigh, but I know that deep down he enjoyed it. Besides, I didn't use some of my products and my facemasks and eye-masks for him to grumble about it- no ma'am.

I take a step back and he slides off the counter, stretching.

"Can't believe you roped me into doing that," he grumbles, brushing past me into the little room.

"Eh, I have great charm," I tell him, as he settles into the bed. I lean back against the bathroom door, watching as he slumps onto the mattress, stretching his pajama-clad legs.

We had changed into night-wear somewhere in the middle of that routine, both of us taking separate turns to use the bathroom. Black like your soul, I told him when he changed into his dark-colored nightwear- to which he gave me a displeased look.

"Are you going to stand there all night?"

"Hm?" I look back at him, realizing I had zoned out. He stares at me expectantly, and then his eyes flick over to the space next to him.

Oh.

I feel my smile falter. It's evident enough for him to notice, because his eyebrows furrow.

"What?" he says, sitting up slightly.

"I-" I swallow, looking at the pillow, "I don't think I want to sleep."

He raises an eyebrow, his expression dry. "You do know that it's late now and that we have to be up early?"

"Yeah," I nod, swallowing again, "Go ahead, go to sleep. I-uh, I think I'll stay up for a bit."

"Doing what?"

I chew on my lip. "My skin-care routine."

"The one you did with me?" he narrows his eyes at me.

"Ye-I mean," I backtracked, realizing the excuse was horrible, "I have other routines."

"Evans," he sits up, scowling over at me, "What's wrong?"

I hesitate.

"I don't want to go to sleep."

He makes an impatient sound. "You've said th-"

"I don't want to go to sleep," I say again, and my voice wobbles, "I can't James. I'll just, sit here- and you can-you can sleep, I won't mind-"

"Evans," he says again, but his voice is gentler this time. Something about it makes me stop.

"Is this... related to why you were crying this morning?"

I purse my lips together, as my tongue runs over the front of my teeth.

He sighs again, sitting up straight.

"Come here," he says after a pause.

"I don't want to go near the be-"

"Come here," he says again, a little more firm than the last time- patting the bed by his side. "Just sit beside me."

Slowly, with the reluctance of a pet going to the vet, I gingerly take a seat at the very corner of the mattress.

"Closer."

I scoot a millimeter closer.

I hear a huff. "Evans."

I look at him over my shoulder to see him giving me an impatient look.

"You either come closer, or I will make you," he says lowly.

"No you wo-"

His arm shoots out, wrapping around my waist before he pulls me right to him. I let out a sound that resembled a bird's squawk before I swatted his chest.

"Hey!" I say indignantly, "Let me go!"

"No," he grumbles, as both his arms wrap around me. "I'm offer-"

"I don't want you to offer comfort right now," I glare up at him from underneath his chin, "Release me at this instant, fool."

"Fool?" His hand comes up, threading through the strands of my hair, and pressing against my scalp.

Oh.

Suddenly he doesn't seem like a fool. Because no one would ever let a random fool touch their hair and have it actually feel nice.

"What are you doing?" I question, but I don't make a move to wriggle out of his grip.

He completely ignores the question. "Remind me of all the exhibits we saw today."

"Say what?" I pull a face, but he can't see it.

"I said-"

"No, I know what you said," I try looking up at him, but he has me squished against his chest, "Why?"

"Because I can't remember."

I almost scoff. That wasn't true.

I had asked Tyler why James seemed disinterested in the museum tour when he had initially looked pleased with the idea, and he had told me that James had been to all the museums in Pittsburgh at least twice. It was old news to him.

Not remembering? Pfft.

"I'm waiting," James says quietly against my head, and his hand slowly travels to the back of my neck- his fingers pressing against the skin there. That action has me all but melting because oh, it feels good.

"Um," I clear my throat, "There was the dinosaur exhibit."

"Mhm," his fingers press harder, and my eyes flutter, "What else?"

"Uh," I try not to close my eyes, "The taxidermy displays? With all the ancient animals?"

"Good. Tell me another one."

I couldn't keep my eyes open. One of his hands was massaging this one spot at the bottom of my back while the other was still working the back of my neck.

Why was he doing it? Heck if I knew.

I wasn't going to stop him though. It hits me right then, how truly tired I am- especially with the lack of sleep from the night before and with all the energy I had spent running around the museums.

"The one with the pretty gem display," I mumble into his chest, "I wanted to rob it."

His chest rumbles, and for a moment I was almost certain he laughed. But Nah, he was way too grumpy for that.

"Tell me more."

I sigh when his hand presses against a knot in a muscle that I didn't even know about. That seems to be a good enough indication because I feel the pressure against my skin increase right there.

"Oh, um," I clear my throat a little when I remembered that I was supposed to continue naming displays, "That one hall with all the statues- does that count?"

"Good girl," he murmurs against my head, and I all but pass out right there, "Keep going."

And I do. I keep going, even though my voice gets more sluggish and tired- naming the exhibits I could remember from the day. I keep going until I don't anymore.

*****

My phone buzzes with the sound of my morning alarm, and I blearily reach over in its direction- blindly gripping at the tiny bedside table until I feel its cool screen against my hand.

Silencing it, I make a move to stretch but a weight against my chest stops me from arching.

Huh?

I tilt my head downward, and I'm greeted with a mop of fluffy, dark hair.

Double huh??

It takes another moment until my sleep-riddled brain realized that someone is quite literally wrapped around me.

That someone, being James.

His face is snuggled into my chest, one of his legs is in between both of mine and both his arms are wrapped around my waist.

Naturally, he was fast asleep. Much like I had been, two seconds ago.

Wait.

Asleep. Asleep?!

I blink a little more so that my eyes can adjust to the darkness of the room.

Did I fall asleep?

I did. Oh my Gosh, I did.

He quite literally put me to sleep when I didn't want to with the whole 'talk to me about the museum' ruse and whatever it was that he was doing with his hands.

This was embarrassing- embarrassing enough for heat to surge through my body. I don't know whether to be flustered or annoyed.

Especially because his face was currently in my boobs!

There were two more pillows, but no. This man chose to sleep on me and get all cozy between my girls.

"James," I demand sleepily, "Get off me, you oaf."

I try wiggling out of his grip, but the more I squirm- the tighter his grip seems to get. I didn't even think he was awake because he hadn't made a single sound and he was still breathing soundly against my chest as if he was sleeping on a cloud.

The nerve of him.

I huff, glaring weakly at the ceiling.

Apparently, I had a thing for guys who could give you massages good enough to put you to sleep. No nightmares either. What on Earth did he do to me?

"James," I poke his shoulder a few times, but he doesn't even stir, "Yo wake up."

He doesn't. Shocker.

I huff again but reach over to my phone. I squint a little when the screen lights up, and because I don't have anything better

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