Reunion - chapter 5
Chapter 5 - 10.54am A dusty light filtered in through the window, alighting gently onto Rex's face. He batted at it futilely, still half asleep. He groaned when his sleep-fogged brain realised that it wasn't going away. Rolling over, warm flesh met warm flesh and his eyes shot open in mild surprise. It took a few seconds before the haziness disappeared and his eyes could focus on who was lying next to him.
Melissa.
As the memories of the night before washed over him his mouth quirked into a self-satisfactory smirk which quickly became a grin as a stretch revealed the ache in his back.
He watched her as she slept, taking in every little detail that he could and memorising them. He desperately wanted to think that she would stay with him, as she had done last night. Subconsciously though, he knew that this was just a futile wish. Without Jess there was no chance that Melissa would stay with him, no mater what he said.
The morning light shone gently on her, softening her features and making her skin glow. Details that hadn't shown last night became clearer as Melissa slept soundly.
Something stirred deep within Rex. A feeling of longing so painful rose from his gut that he almost gagged at the sheer force. With slight trepidation Rex reached out and brushed his fingertips again Melissa's cheek. He watched as her eyes opened sleepily; eyelashes fluttering gently against her cheeks.
Hit with a sudden desire, Rex leant forward and softly kissed her temple. Melissa moaned sleepily, closed her eyes and snuggled down further into the warmth of her pillow. Smiling softly, Rex carefully untangled himself from the covers and paced to the bathroom intent on having a shower to wake him up.
As the hot water hit his skin Rex stifled a curse. The ache in his back blazed white hot streaks that made him arch out of the spray. Turning so he could see his reflection in the mirror he peered through the mist. Dozens of scratch marks littered his back, crisscrossing each other randomly. Most of them were situated up around his shoulder blades and Rex knew just who had caused them. Over three quarters of them were shallow scratches that had healed in the few hours of sleep that he had managed to get but the rest were deeper and still raw. Hence the pain.
Rex grinned. He could handle a little pain.
As he let the water wash over him his mind wandered to the figure in his bed.
Melissa.
The same feeling as before filled him and he frowned, concentrating on trying to figure out what it meant. There were the feelings of longing and desire but it went much deeper than something physical. He wanted to posses her, yes, but he also wanted to just be with her and not have her leave him anymore. Then there was a feeling of wanting to mark her, to mark his territory so to speak. Rex had no doubt that this was his Darkling side coming into play; the animal instincts were almost as strong as his consciousness.
Rex blushed slightly as he recognised the instinct to impregnate his newly found mate to shown that she belonged to him and no one else and was carry his offspring.
Somehow, Rex just knew that Melissa might not be too keen on that idea.
He wanted her to stay though, had always wanted her to stay with him. Ever since he had first laid eyes on her all those years ago.
The pain he felt at losing her the first time was nothing at the pain he knew was going to be in store for him this time around. This second time that he would have to give her up, straight after tasting the delight of having her and holding her in his arms.
Swallowing thickly, Rex switched off the water and stepped out of the shower. All he could do was cope and work as hard as he could to figure out how to say Jess so that Melissa would come back to him. Stay with him.
Because he wasn't sure if he could survive her leaving him a third time.
OOO
Melissa woke as the shower was switched off. Stretching she found she was pleasantly stiff but the feeling of warmth and softness that surrounded her was foreign. Her eyes snapped open and she gazed at her surroundings.
It took her a moment or two for her to orientate herself. She was in a bedroom. Rex's bedroom to be exact.
But why?
It was then that Rex walked through the door. One hand holding up the towel that was loosely draped around his waist.
Ah.
Melissa blushed bright red as the memories of last night hit her full force. Rex, seeing her face and correctly guessing what she was thinking about, grinned at her. He bent down to pick his t-shirt of the floor presenting her with a lovely view of his back and the marks she had caused. Her blush intensified and she had to look away. Some part of her thought that he had done that on purpose - to show her what she had done and her claim of him last night. Another, smaller part of her was secretly pleased that he was marked like that by her.
But before she started to think about anything like that, she really needed a shower.
"Um…"
Rex glanced up at the sound. A quizzical look upon his face.
"Can I use your shower?"
Rex grinned again. "Yeah sure."
The silence stretched out as they both stared at each other. It was then that Melissa realised that he wasn't going to leave or turn around.
"Could you get me something to wear?"
Somehow Rex's grin managed to increase. "Here," he said, passing her another t-shirt "you can wear this. There's a clean towel in the bathroom you can use as well."
"Thanks." Melissa mumbled as she pulled the shirt over her head. It reached mid-thigh and she was slightly embarrassed as she made her way to the bathroom for her shower. It didn't help that she could feel Rex's eyes on her the whole time.
OOO
As the warm water soothed away the ache of he body, Melissa thought about what had happened and what she still had to do.
It pained her to admit it but she knew that she couldn't stay. Jess still needed her help and there were plenty of places still left unexplored where new Midnighters might need help and instruction as they came into their powers.
There was so much to do but all she really wanted was to be with Rex. Sometimes she hated the fact that she felt obliged to do these things - to make sure that the darklings didn't win and that no one else died or disappeared into the blue time.
She sighed as she slipped out the shower. This goodbye was going to be painful. Even more so than the last and she definitely didn't want to go through this a third. She would stay away until they got Jess back and they had finished helping other Midnighters.
She would stay away.
And love him from a distance.
OOO
Luckily Rex had left the bedroom by the time she had got there so she quickly slipped into her clothes. Finding them had been a small problem as they had been scattered across the room but eventually she found them all.
Once she was dressed she went to find Rex. It took her a few moments but she caught up with him in the living room, tending to his Father who was still fast asleep.
"He's going to be out for another hour."
Melissa jumped in surprise at the low voice. Rex hadn't moved.
"Oh."
Silence fell heavily between them. Eventually Rex stood up with a sigh and turned to face the window, away from her.
"You're going now."
It wasn't a question but Melissa answered it anyway, trying to ignore the hurt and longing that she could hear in his voice.
"Yes."
"Now?"
Melissa swallowed thickly against the lump in her throat that had suddenly appeared.
"Yes."
"Ah…"
In two quick steps Melissa crossed the room and hugged Rex tightly from behind, her arms snaked around his waist and her forehead pressed between his shoulder blades. She felt him stiffen slightly and belatedly remembers the scratches. Before she could pull away Rex twisted in her grip and enveloped her in his own hug. He hands twisted almost desperately in her hair as he pulled her against him. The silence fell again but this time it was too thick for either one of them to try and break it.
Eventually Melissa worked up the courage and with a small noise leant back and untangled herself from Rex. He kept his head bowed so that she couldn't see his face but Melissa could taste the utter heartbreak of the moment emanating from him.
Blinking rapidly to stifle the tears from falling she made her way to the door. Turning back to look at him one last time for whoever knew how long she saw that he hadn't moved at all. Her lip trembled.
"Goodbye Rex."
OOO
The sound of the door closing seemed to echo around the house. Rex still stood there, all that was running through his mind was the fact that he had lost her again. Melissa had gone again and he hadn't done anything to stop her. Had let her go even.
He might not ever see her again.
That thought hit him the hardest and his legs buckled out from under him as he collapsed onto his knees on the floor.
A tear trickled down his cheek.
"Goodbye."