Two weeks later
Téa's apartment
He watches in fascination as the light of the moon rests on her, lighting her in an almost exquisite glow. He sits far away, on the floor, not daring to get close, afraid to wake her. He'd have to talk to her, though, about getting better locks, cuz hers were way to easy to pick.
It had been two weeks since Thanksgiving, two weeks of Todd Manning playing the tried and true avoidance game. Truth was, the feelings that bubbled to the surface whenever he saw her, the feelings of love and protectiveness as he watched her at her grandmother's grave, were just too much for him. He didn't know how to deal, because he wanted to hate her. Hate was so much easier. Actually, more than that, he wanted not to care. He wanted to be numb to her smile, numb to her beautiful brown eyes, numb to her soft voice. So, he avoided. Oh, he was good at that by this stage in his life. He'd only talked to her on the phone and only about Starr, brusquely pushing aside any attempts she made to reach out to him, any attempts to get through to him, any attempts to see him. Safer, yeah. Made him miserable as hell, but at least they were both safe.
But tonight, tonight he had to see her. Just had to be near her, in her calming presence. He swallows the lump in his throat, determined not to lose it, determined not to cry. He inches closer, wanting to be in the light of the moon with her, but not feeling he deserved that, or that he deserved her comfort after the way he had treated her the past few weeks. But crawl closer he did anyway, gazing upon her large, closed eyelids, imagining the warmth of her eyes staring back at him, making him feel human. Calming him, as only she could.
He watches as she turns slightly more towards him, the blanket fall slightly, revealing the dark red silk nightgown she was wearing. He remembered it, having seen her wear it at the penthouse. Drove him crazy, as usual. Most of the time, she had her robe on over it, but it was still distracting, because he knew it was under there, knew exactly what she looked like in it. More terrifying feelings.
His jaw quivers slightly as he thinks yet again of the news he had heard today. He had tried to deal with it, in his own Todd way. Went to the docks, drove around aimlessly. Hoping it would all go away. And before he knew it, he found himself in front of her new apartment. Knowing she'd be sleeping at this hour, he had 'let' himself in, just needing to see her, hoping it would help him make sense out of everything.
He inches closer. The slight noise of him moving against the rug causes Téa to stir. Todd freezes, not knowing what to do, that old 'fight or flight' response kicking in. His heart stops as her eyes flutter open. As if she senses him, they immediately move towards him. She sits up suddenly, squinting in the darkness.
"Todd?" she whispers, her voice, husky from sleep.
"Uh, yeah...it's me," he says back quietly, unsure of what to do, how to act.
"How did you...what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
"My time of day Delgado, you know that."
Téa's about to ask how he got in when she notices his position. He's sitting on the floor near her bed, knees hugged to his chest. Even in the darkness she senses something is wrong.
"Todd...are you okay?" She hears him take a deep breath, which makes her even more nervous for him. "Todd? Come sit up here, okay?" she says gently, her worry kicking in. He glances up at her, a little surprised that she's not pissed at him. But then, she could always read him, and no doubt with that Delgado intuition of hers, senses that he's not alright. He gets up and sits on the edge of the bed, looking down at his hands. "What's wrong?"
"What's not wrong?"
"Come on Todd, I would hope that you didn't break into my apartment in the middle of the night to play games with me...," her voice trails off as a thought occurs to her, "Oh my God, it's not Starr is it?"
His head shoots up, and for the first time he looks directly into her eyes, seeing the real fear that something may be wrong with Starr. It constantly amazed him how much she loved his daughter. "No, no don't worry, Shorty's fine."
"Then, what is it?"
Todd shoves his hands through his hair nervously. This would be it, the first time he would actually say the words out loud. And it would be real. It was funny, nothing was real to him until he told Téa.
"It's Viki," he says quietly.
"What happened, is she alright?"
There is a moment of silence as he tries to find the words, as he tries to control the tears that are now coming into his eyes.
"The....her cancer...it came back," he finally says, his voice breaking as he finishes. His body starts to shake with soft sobs as he finally hears himself say the words to her.
Téa's eyes widen at his words, and almost immediately tears spring to her eyes. "Oh Todd, oh I'm so sorry," she says softly. She reaches out to touch him, but then pulls back, not sure if he would be receptive...or if it would chase him away. Tears begin to fall as she sees his pain, knowing how much he loves and relies on Viki, and how it would just about to kill him to lose her. She inches closer to him on the bed, her heart breaking as she watches him cry for his sister.
"Todd, Viki's a fighter, if anyone will get through this, it's her," she says, trying to comfort him. Tentatively, she reaches out her hand and gently brushes back his hair from his face. The slight contact feels like...relief to Todd, and before his head can scream at him to stop, he reaches out and pulls her closer, laying his head on her shoulder. Téa gently lays her cheek against the top of his head, stroking his hair softly, his anguish ripping her apart, but she was thankful that he allowed her to comfort him. She rocks him slowly, cooing softly in Spanish to calm him, knowing in her heart that nothing short of a clean bill of health for his sister would calm him completely, but trying the best she can to at least make it bearable for him.
His tears lessen as he snuggles his head further into her neck, craving her warmth, her comfort. He closes his eyes, hearing her whispering softly in Spanish to him, as she had done other times when he was distressed, more often than not from nightmares. He pulls her even tighter to him, as if he were trying to bury himself inside her warmth. He grinned slightly at the irony of it all. Here he was trying to keep himself, his heart, and hers, safe by pushing her away, yet he never felt as safe as he did when he was in her arms, being comforted by her gentle voice.
Téa continues to rock him slowly, stroking his hair and back, feeling his breathing finally slow down into a relaxed rhythm. She pulls her head away slowly and looks down at him, and sees his eyes are closed. She smiles, as she knows how rare it is that he actually sleeps. She scoots herself forward slightly, then slowly leans them both back down on the bed. Sensing the movement even in sleep, Todd brings his legs up onto the bed, moving closer to her. She moves one hand down and strokes his arm, that is across her waist. As her hand gets to his, he instinctively grabs it, intertwining their fingers and resting them on her stomach. A tear slips down her cheek as she watches him sleep, his head on her shoulder.
"God, I love you," she whispers. The rhythm of his gentle breathing and the comfort of having him so close soon sends Téa into a deep, comforting sleep.
To Be Continued...
