Sacred Ties

Chapter Eight

Zach's POV

I opened my eyes and looked around me. I wasn't in the study where I mostly wake up in, after a night like yesterday. I tried to get up but a weight on me made the act difficult. I looked on my chest and my breath caught in my throat.

Lying comfortably on my chest was Cemil. I watched him sleep and couldn't help but wonder why I wasn't in the study and how I ended up in bed with him.

Cemil.

He looked so cute sleeping and his hair was wild. He was completely lying on top of my body and somehow I could partially see his face. His eyes showed movement though they were closed. I saw him smile and wondered what he was dreaming about. Then my eyes lingered on those lips. I shook my head and focused on how I got here.

Slowly it all came back; drinking beer, the smashing of the office and windows, Cemil calling me and the hug. My eyes widened when I remembered how I cried on him and the fact that he held me. Then he bandaged my cuts and laid me down to sleep.

I glanced towards the window and it was still dark meaning it was not yet day. I lied back on the bed and closed my eyes. Was I mad that he didn't stay out of the study when I told him to?

No.

It was a relief that he didn't keep his word but came to find me when he heard the sounds. I had been hoping that someone would come to save me from myself and Cemil was that someone. After years of suffering, someone came and took me away from the memories.

A day like yesterday brought lots of bad memories that I could no longer hold it in back at home. I made this place my hide out; where I could lose myself. It has been going on for years now and every time I left home, I wished Charles would hold me back or at least come with me. I longed to hear him tell me that he would come with me but he never did.

I didn't blame Charles for not holding me back though, because I never spoke out to him and I also made him believe I was fine each time I left. He had also tried to come with but I had refused him and so he stopped. If only I could find the courage to tell him I wasn't fine, then he would have helped me right away.

I knew Cemil would see me if he remained here but I didn't care. I was fine with him seeing me at my weakest time. I even lied to him about gas because I wanted him to stay with me. I didn't want him to leave.

I came back from my mind when I felt him move from me and I pretended to be asleep.

I could feel his eyes on me and I tried my best to keep up the facade. I held my breath when his hands felt my forehead. I wished I could open my eyes at that moment but I still faked asleep.

He sighed, probably in relief when he found my temperature was okay, and got up to where I assumed was the bathroom. When I heard the running shower, I opened my eyes and touched my forehead. I sighed and closed my eyes again faking sleep until I wasn't faking anymore.

***

The next time I woke up, the sun was shining bright. I got up and brushed my teeth then went down to the kitchen where I found Cemil.

"Good morning, Cemil." I greeted and took a sit on the table.

"I didn't know you greet people in the morning." He said and I scowled at that. "And please take your butt off the table. Sit on a chair or something."

I got off the table and walked to stand by him as he took out a pan, eggs and some other things for breakfast.

"Isn't this late for breakfast? What were you doing this morning? Unless if you had just woken up like me. Or better yet, were you waiting for me?" I wondered.

Cemil scowled and waved his hand out. "If you take a good look in the kitchen then maybe you will get a clue to what I was doing. But now I'm hungry and you just walked in."

I looked around and saw what he was saying. He had taken his time to clean around the room. It was looking good. I turned to him to complement him on the job well done but he turned away from me fast. I smiled when I realized I had just caught him staring at me.

"Uh, why don't you put on a shirt?" He asked and my smile got bigger. He was staring at my chest.

"I'm so hot, Cemil. Putting on a shirt will make me boil."

"Oh, okay." He said and continued cooking. He was giving me side glances though and I just pretended I didn't see it. I was just happy that my abs caught his attention.

We remained silent as he cooked and I stood by the table and watched him while drinking my coffee. It was odd to have him stay silent and I could see how tense he was. I wondered what was wrong but I didn't ask.

We sat down when he finished cooking and had our late breakfast. He would look at me when he thought I wasn't looking until I had enough of it. I knew it wasn't my chest he was still looking at but me and probably wondering about yesterday.

"Thank you for helping me out last night. I tend to act crazy when I drink beer." I said.

"Oh. I guess you can say that." He mumbled.

"I hope I didn't do anything crazy when you came in the study." I said cautiously as I waited for what he would say.

"No you didn't do anything." I nodded at him and continued eating but then he asked, "are you sure you don't remember anything?"

"No I don't. Is there something I should remember?" I asked him and he shook his head and sighed.

He was now relaxed and not tense like before. We then started talking about other things and I was glad he was back to his normal self now. I was also glad that he wasn't asking much on why yesterday happened. I wasn't ready to talk about it.

After breakfast I went up to the study to start cleaning the room. I was surprised to find the door to the study closed and normal. I actually thought it was broken yesterday and maybe it wasn't. It must have been an error of my memories.

I opened the door expecting to find lots and lots of broken things and bottles of beer but it was clean. If it wasn't for the absence of the desk and chair and the holes on the windows, I would have thought I was just dreaming about yesterday. The room was cleaned and spotless.

"I cleaned your study and repaired the door. I'm sorry for breaking it."

I turned to look at Cemil who was sheepishly standing by the door. He averted his gaze at anything but me. I thought he would now ask about what happened or at least the cause of it but he didn't.

"I found this drawing on the floor. It's you or in that case two you." He came inside the study and took the drawing from where he left it by the window, to me.

I looked at the drawing and it had two images of me holding hands. It was the same face but different clothes. I then remembered the drawing my son gave me and I smiled.

"It's not two me, silly. It's I and my brother, Zander." I told him as I folded the paper. I knew I wasn't ready to tell him about things but at least I could tell him about that.

"You have a twin brother? Is he rude like you?"

I scoffed at his choice of words. Why was rude something that came to his mind to associate with me? I wasn't even that rude and we were actually friends now.

"No he wasn't rude." I snapped.

"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss." He said.

"Since you've started on the cleaning, why don't we just clean the whole house?" I suggested and his face lighted up so I added, "starting with the library." He hollered and ran to the library.

I chuckled at his behavior and followed him there. And that's how we spent the day; cleaning.

The next day came as quick as the next one until it was finally our last night sleeping here. There wasn’t much to do around since I had long ago stopped coming here as a vacation spots but rather a solitary place. The environment itself was very unattractive but since we had enough time on our hands, Cemil and I, we worked on making it better. I planned to send a cleaning team once a week or as Cemil suggested, I’d have to employ someone to stay here and they can look after the house while I’m in town.

I couldn't bring myself to sleep, so I was sitting on the couch with my laptop placed on the coffee table. I was watching Arrow season one. I was partly watching the series while the other part was deep in thoughts.

I had learned a few things about Cemil on our time here. We still argued sometimes but it wasn't that bad. He had some excellent personalities that I came to like in these past days. I wouldn’t say that I knew him but at least I knew something now than before when he was just an angry omega, a complete stranger to me.

On one of our talks, he mentioned about how he hates lying which made me feel guilty and I came clean about the gas. I thought he would get mad, which he was, but I worried he would demand that I drove him home right there and then but he didn't. He said we were spending the one week and then we would leave. I was grateful he had decided to stay but how sad it was that today was our last night here.

"Hey," I looked up to the voice and found Cemil standing beside the couch.

I didn't wait to hear his explanation as to what he wanted this late night as I made some space for him to sit beside me. I knew he wouldn't sleep like I and that's why he was out of bed.

"What are you watching?" He asked and I began narrating some of the plot to him.

"I hate guys like him that makes moving on like it’s a simple thing and why would he." He said after I finished telling him about Oliver Queen and his complicated love life.

I played Jumping The Broom on the laptop and somehow, Cemil had his head on my shoulder and I had my arm around him. We stayed like that and watched the movie silently. I closed my eyes enjoying the moment. For once, since I started coming to this place after what happened, I didn't want to leave. In the past years, it was a day that I looked forward to but not anymore. It was funny how one person changed that.

We were now closer than when we first came here. I think the splashing of water at each other when cleaning or the food fights in the kitchen or when we would watch the sunset together or the bathroom incident that was so innocent than what entails as a bathroom incident; they all contributed to us getting closer as individuals.

I’d lie if I were to say I wasn’t attracted to Cemil because I was crushing hard and the sad thing was that it was bound to end in tears. Werewolves have soul mates which meant there was a certain werewolf out there waiting to meet Cemil so that they can be together forever. He was off limits and I had to remind myself of that every time I came so close to kiss him. Yeah, he was that perfect that my head wondered a bit too far with day dreams.

I opened my eyes when the movie ended and Cemil was already asleep. I carried him to bed and tucked him in. I didn’t linger as I went back down to collect my laptop and then I went to my room to sleep.

***

The day mysteriously went by when I woke up the next day. I couldn't even recall what I had done from the time I woke up. It was later on in the afternoon that we started our journey back home. It was a boring ride and no words were exchanged between us. When the signal was better, Cemil’s phone kept on pinging and I assumed they were notifications of missed calls and messages. He got busy with the phone and I got lost in my mind until he spoke up, when we reached the city, giving me his address and I drove him there.

"Thanks for both the ride and a wonderful week." He smiled to me and got out of the car. It was already dark by the time we got to his house.

“Cemil,” I called when he was about to walk away.

"What?" He asked.

"Can I have your number?"

"What for?"

"What do people do with other people’s numbers?"

"I don't give my number to rude people." He grinned.

I scowled and was about to drive off when he spoke.

"Give me yours." He demanded and I gave it to him in a heartbeat; it was kind of embarrassing. "I'll send you a text." He promised and I drove off with a smile as he walked away.

I looked forward to his text.

-----------------------------------------