One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep.

The covers were warm. Too warm. Their weight pressed down on Rose, intent on slowly pushing all the air out of her lungs. 

Six sheep. Seven sheep.

The room was deadly quiet, the silence punctuated only by the distant racket of crickets, and the sound of her unsteady breathing. Her clothes felt too thin; she could feel the creases of the bedspread under her. She could move, try to find a more comfortable angle. But no. Something about the silence of the room felt... delicate. Fragile. It felt wrong to break it.

Ten sheep. Eleven sheep.

Sleep wasn't coming.

She wasn't sure if she wanted it to, either. Not when it could mean yet another morning waking up in the most mortifying of ways again. 

But it had felt so warm.

Rose grit her teeth, making her imaginary sheep disappear in a puff of wool and smoke. Why had Sebastian not bought that mattress? She could've slept on it, spared herself, and him, from the dreadful possibility of her crawling into his arms in her sleep. Instead, she now lay here, wide awake, mere blankets separating her from the man that lay beside her, quiet as a mouse.

The man who was suddenly moving in a loud rustle of sheets.

Rose jerked her head his way, squinting to make out his silhouette suddenly sitting up in the dark. Before she could say something, he had reached over the bed to turn on the small lampshade on his nightstand. Eyes adjusting to the dim light, Rose could make out the look of disarray about him—his crinkled clothes, his confused eyes, his messed up hair. 

He turned to look at her, dark eyes studying her silently for the longest time, before finally, he said, "You didn't have a nightmare yesterday."

This was unexpected. 

Rose had figured he'd get up to go sleep on the floor again. Maybe banish her to the couch, if his niceness had finally run out. But this, she wasn't sure how to react to. So, she just stared.

"Do you think it... helped?" His voice was full of uncertainty, and that soft gentleness that always seemed to linger in his every word. "Having somebody to hold?"

Rose's eyes widened. "I—I don't know."

"You didn't, though. Right? Have a nightmare?"

Rose swallowed dryly, and shook her head. "I didn't" 

"When was the last time you slept without a nightmare?"

Rose was silent for a long while, his questioning eyes on her the whole time. Finally, she let out a breath, looking away. "I don't remember."

Sebastian nodded once. Then again. Then, in a split second's decision, he grabbed the blankets that he had put between them, tossing them to the carpeted floor in one smooth throw. 

"If holding me helps you sleep," he stated, turning to switch the light off, "then you can hold me all you want."

With that, he lay back down, and Rose was certain he shifted a bit closer. Strangely enough, this time around, sleep took mere seconds to pull her under.

-🥀-

The scent of cedarwood was the first thing to greet her. It surrounded her, that warm, woody scent, blanketing her in a sense of calm she hadn't known in a long time. Maybe ever. Rose blinked a few times, clearing her eyes of the lingering sleep and focusing on Sebastian.

Who was wide awake.

He had a hint of a smile on his face as he lay still between her arms, which had formed a vice-like grip around his chest. His hair was completely messed up from the sleep, falling all over his sleep creased face. Rose must have stolen the poor man's blankets sometime during the night, because he had none on him, exposing the frog patterned shirt and grey pants he had gone to bed in. 

Although she was awake, Rose didn't let go of him immediately.

"Morning, sleepy," he murmured, his voice deeper from the sleep.

"Morning," Rose mumbled back as Sebastian lifted a hand and gently shifted some of the stray curls away from her face.

"For someone so tiny," Sebastian remarked, tucking some curls back into her bun with extreme care, "You sure have a tight grip."

That  made her let him go and scramble up quite quickly, her face flushing a bright red as Sebastian's laugh broke through the stillness of the morning. 

"And," he added between his laughter, "you stole my blanket, too. Very greedy, Rosaline."

"Oh my god," Rose breathed, swinging her feet off the bed, face somehow managing to turn redder still. "I'm sleeping on the floor tonight."

Sebastian chuckled as he got off the bed, walking up to the mortified Rose. "Am I such a terrible side pillow?"

Rose gaped at him, before pointedly looking away. "You're buying that mattress today. Clearly this arrangement is torture for you." 

"Mhm," Seb hummed as he looked down at her, amusement dancing in his eyes. "But that's fine. Turns out I am rather fond of torture." 

"Unbelievable," Rose muttered, pushing a grinning Sebastian aside to stomp her way towards the washroom. But, once her back was turned to him, she allowed a small smile to snake across her strawberry-tinted face.

The rest of the day passed in a flurry of words and activities, filled with walks to local haunts and lazy conversations under a tree by the river. Before Rose knew it, the blissful, sun-kissed winter days were turning into weeks. In this little town, so far away from the life she knew, Rose could picture it. A real, new life. One far away from the dreams and aspirations she once had, yes, but a life. A fresh start, where he was far away enough for her to forget. The apples, the farm, the river, the people—there were things here, real, new things, that could erase the past. 

And, there was Sebastian.

Sebastian, with his warm eyes and ever kind words. Sebastian, with his surprisingly woeful attempts at helping her bake, and his many stories to fill her mind. 

Sebastian, with his warmth that enveloped her each night, surrendering comfort, surrendering restful sleep, just for her sake.

Yes. She really could start anew here.

But that wasn't the life that had been doled out to her.

The real world, her real world, with business meetings and event planning and plastic smiles awaited impatiently, drawing ever nearer. Even out here, they hadn't truly escaped the media eye; not when the Price family's PR consultant had coaxed them into releasing pictures of their time here. 'To keep the interest alive,' they had claimed. And while Rose knew that was the logical thing to do, especially when the entire brand of their new hotel hinged on the romance of their relationship, it still made her feel... dirty.  

So when the day finally arrived, the day when they had to make the long drive back to the city, Rose was eagerly tempted to fake an illness.

"What if we miss the gala? Tell them I fell violently ill?" Rose asked, coming up with the fifth suggestion of the day.

Sebastian laughed softly, shaking his head. "I want to stay here as badly as you. But the investors will be there. And the designers I talked to. You need to—"

"Yes, yes, I know," Rose sighed, helping him lug a suitcase into the backseat. "I need to meet them, mingle, socialize, blah blah blah," she tilted her face up, looking at him. He looked so very different here, in his cozy sweaters and messy hair, without any performative hairstyles and business suits. "It's just... things will be different there."

"They don't have to be," he reassured her, his voice soft.

"They will," she insisted, her brows knitting together. "Everything is different here, it's like we're in a whole new world. But back there..."

Sebastian smiled softly, taking a step closer to her. "I'll still be me. You'll still be you."

Rose was quiet for a moment, hesitating. "Can I still..."

Seb chuckled, nodding. "I'm yours to mistreat, every night."

Rose gasped, immediately smacking his chest. "Don't phrase it like that!"

Sebastian laughed, his chest vibrating under her fingers. But, as his eyes took in the strange look that had creeped onto Rose's face, his laugh winded down, replaced by breathing that suddenly seemed a touch unsteady. His eyes held hers, waiting, before flicking down, just for a second. Rose's breathing quickened too, like the air was being drained of all its oxygen.

She didn't want to leave. This, right here, felt perfect.

Sebastian was still looking at her, with those warm, honeyed, dark eyes, and an expression that she wasn't blind enough to not be able to comprehend.

"Just in case everything does change," Rose whispered as her fingers curled around Sebastian's sweater. And before her brain could come crashing in, with its logic and reasoning and caution, she tugged him down, his face inches from hers. He breathed in sharply, his eyes widening.

And then her lips were on his.

—🥀—

A/N: 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭

Let me know your thoughts! Mine are mostly just giggles, I had wayyy too much fun writing this chapter.

Also, I recently realised ALL my em-dashes had been changed to regular, teeny-tiny hyphens?? So now I have to go and edit ALL of them. On all twenty chapters. Such fun. If you randomly see chapters being updated, that's why.

Next actual chapter update will be on Sunday! Have a great weekend, take much care <3

Love,
Mimia