Alpha Belt
Venura Residence
September 2014
Miles was asleep.
Arianne watched him
from her bed. He had insisted on merely sitting on the chair and they had
argued about his comfort, so she ended up leaving and bringing in a comfier
chair than the office one she used when at her desk.
Her eyes glanced away
and she sighed, wrapping herself in the blue TARDIS blanket and curling up. She
didn’t know why Miles did that. She didn’t know why Miles always did that. “I
don’t get you,” she muttered to herself, shutting her eyes at the thought.
He mumbled something in
his sleep. She cringed slightly and managed to relax, trying to not think of
anything else but the dark-haired man who sat only a few feet away from her. When
she found herself needing him – craving for someone to rant to than the norm –
he would always appear minutes later, green eyes scanning her from head to toe.
Arianne didn’t want to
admit that she needed him – not to him, at least. She still wanted to maintain
distance from the strange creature who claimed to be there to protect her.
Distance.
She just wanted to
protect herself.
It seemed that every time
they were going to attack, he would
be there to combat them away. And she wasn’t sure if she should be grateful or
not.
Miles gave another
mumble. She heard him shift in the seat and tried not to look at him again. She
didn’t want him to find out that she just faked falling asleep for the sake of
making him worry less.
Before she knew it, the
tears were coming again.
“Just let it out, Venura.” he murmured
quietly, gently running his fingers through the girl’s hair while his other
hand rubbed her back, attempting to set her back at ease.
She didn’t know why she couldn’t stop crying.
“M-Miles–”
“Shh. Just forget that I’m here…you need to let it
out.”
But how could she forget? Instead of questioning him
any further, she buried her head into his chest and the tears flowed. Miles
gave a quiet sigh and pulled his fingers away, this time wrapping his arms
around her tighter, in a more protective way.
It wasn’t usually like that, with both of them
sitting on the bed and she sobbing into his chest. Miles thought it was
strangely reminiscent of those books she read, but there was no heartfelt
confession or brazen declaration of love. Usually, the person would look up
with stray tears and the other would wipe them away, leading to a brief moment
of tension.
But there was no tension, just anger and confusion and
deeply-rooted unhappiness.
“I’m tired, Miles…”
“I know you are.” She had been crying for a long
time. He wasn’t sure of how long. So he decided to pull away gently and tug at
her arm, yearning for her to rest.
But she resisted and Miles understood, reverting
back to his original position and letting her collapse into him, unable to hold
herself back any further.
The more she buried
herself underneath the sheets, the more she trembled, shook, sobbed while
burying her face into the pillow in her arms. She was tired, so tired –
She heard a sound from
the chair and bit her lip, stifling the noises she made. Miles couldn’t know.
Miles couldn’t find out that she was awake.
I’m sorry, Miles.
She covered her face
and let out a breath, shuddery and full of hesitation.
Just leave. You shouldn’t be wasting your time on
me.
Please leave.
She turned on her side
and peeked from outside the blanket, seeing his form still on the chair, asleep
as he could be. His head tilted to the side and he breathed slowly, deeply,
eyes twitching as if threatening to wake.
“Why are you still
here,” she muttered thickly, rubbing her eyes and wiping the tears away. She couldn’t
understand it. She didn’t understand why he persisted, staying and keeping watch
over her patiently until she fell asleep.
“I can’t exactly leave
you alone.”
She nearly jumped.
Scrambling for the switch of the lamp, Miles’ groggy voice went on. “I don’t
trust myself to leave you alone, Arianne.” When the light went back on, she saw
his tussled hair and half-open eyes, still dazed with sleep. She glanced away. “…why
are you asking? And why the hell do I have a blanket over me?”
“Be thankful I worried
about you getting cold,” she snapped. His eyes grew soft and Miles studied her,
seeing her own messy hair, her arms folded over her chest.
And her red eyes.
He slowly got up from
the chair and left the blanket there, sitting back on her bed and beckoning her
to come closer. She did (although begrudgingly) and he patted down her hair,
smoothening it and reverting it back to its usual form. She said nothing.
“I can’t leave you
alone because I never know what goes on in your head.” He let those words sink
in and then continued, “And I don’t trust myself to let you get hurt over them.
You know what I mean?” she managed a nod. “As much as you want to be alone, you
can’t be alone. I can’t leave you alone. Especially tonight.”
Her shoulders quaked.
“So for me…just tonight…just
let me stay. Let me at least help you battle them away, alright? You can’t do
everything by yourself. It isn’t healthy,” he joked, and waited for her to
smile or roll her eyes – anything.
But she didn’t.
When Miles looked at
her again, he felt his heart break for the nth time that night. Instantly, he
opened his arms and she embraced him tightly, sobbing, crying, unable to hold
back. And Miles stayed there, letting her, rubbing her back and whispering his
own comforts. Arianne felt tired, so damned tired but she couldn’t stop crying.
He didn’t say anything
else – the Forest Original merely waited for her sobs to subside, eventually
tucking in the tired girl into bed after God-knows-how-long. He needed a change
of shirt and maybe another drink to get him straight, but he refused to leave
her.
Miles gradually fell
asleep, her hand clutching onto his with a refusal to let go.
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