Nico
Morning came earlier than expected, but I hadn't caught a single wink of sleep. I had spent the entire night tossing and turning from one side of the bed to the other, the heavy wooden framing of the cabin's mattress creaking quietly in the dark.
My mind was a chaotic loop, desperately trying to figure out what I could possibly say to Alaric to make him understand. I didn't see him as a sex toy.
I had never viewed him as such. Never. It was just a brutal miscommunication, combined with my own pathetic cowardice, that had twisted everything into this ugly shape.
But how could I tell him the truth? How could I tell him about my family, about the legacy of control, and the way they broke a person down until there was nothing left? How could I?
Alaric hadn't even slept on the bed beside me. Instead, he had taken a blanket and slept straight on the hard ground.
