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ngela’s eyes widened. She looked over at David with hope swirling in her eyes as she spoke.
“What are we waiting for? We need to get going and get him back.”
David still had his phone placed in his hand as he spoke up.
"I need to gather my people and make sure that area is secure. For today, we'll pull the blueprints of the building, and tomorrow around noon, we'll strike."
Angela nodded her head as the same sense of anxiety started to spread through her body. She didn't know what exactly David meant when he used the word ‘strike,’ but it worried her. He noticed the shift in the expression on her face, and he immediately walked towards her. Angela saw the way his gaze softened towards her; he reached for her hands in a gentle manner and approached. Angela looked up at him as the words left his mouth.
"Hey, you don't need to worry about a single thing, okay? I have your back. I won't let anything happen to him."
Angela pressed on tighter to him as she spoke.
“What about you? Will you be okay?”
He looked away from her, and she knew that something was up. She stared at him, trying to catch his gaze, but his eyes remained away from her. Angela took a deep breath before she decided to go for it. She reached out for him gently and placed her hands against the sides of his face as she whispered over to him.
“David? Are you going to be okay?”
She noticed a sudden shift in his attitude; he stood up abruptly and made his way over to the side of the room; he didn't even look back at her as he placed his phone to his ear and began to speak. She listened to the words that left his mouth.
"Yeah, I've sent you the location. I need you to get me the blueprints by morning. Get the backup team ready and make sure they're in shape. I don't want anyone messing up even once."
She noticed how his voice had shifted and become more dominant within seconds. Angela didn't know what caused the sudden change in his attitude. He placed the phone in the side pocket of his coat and began to walk towards Angela, but his eyes were still placed on the ground. He spoke, but she could tell that he was refusing to meet her eyes, and it made anger bubble up in her chest.
"It's getting late; we should get to bed. We have a big day ahead."
She looked around, not knowing anything about the place. She was about to grab her coat in a hurry, thinking that he was about to kick her out, but before she could even grab it, he reached forward and grabbed onto her hand. She looked up and her eyes landed directly on him, and her breath stifled as he spoke. His facial expression had softened this time; he seemed a little calmer.
"Where are you going? You realize I'm not letting you leave; it's not safe out there at all. I have plenty of extra bedrooms; you can choose any and stay; if you need spare clothes or anything at all, Anthony can arrange it all for you."
Angela's eyes shifted away from him. She gave him a single nod knowing that he still seemed distant from her, she reached for his hand, but instead of taking it into his like he usually did, he allowed it to drop to the side.
Angela's eyes widened, she felt like he had just brushed her off, and the hurt spread through her system. She didn't get the chance to say anything at all; the double glass doors opened; Andrew walked through the doors. He was standing near the end of the lounge; Angela watched as David turned towards the man, completely disregarding her gaze. He spoke up.
"Andrew, you can lead her to the guest rooms."
Before anyone had the chance to say anything at all, David marched off towards a distant hallway on the other side. She turned to look at Anthony, and the man picked up on the look of hurt that spread across her face. Before he led her down a hallway in the opposite direction, he stopped in his way; he turned to face her and spoke in a low tone.
"Don't worry about him; he gets like this sometimes. He just needs some space."
Angela didn't know what to say; she had never seen him this way; she was exposed to a new side of David, and she didn't like seeing it at all.
She remained silently lost in her thoughts as she slowly made her way down the hall. She stopped in her steps behind Andrew; he gestured towards the room in front of her; she could see a wooden door was wide open, leading to a bedroom with a king bed placed inside. She smiled the best she could as she offered him a thank you.
As soon as Angela closed the door to the bedroom behind her, she felt her body sliding against the door. She replayed the way he had refused to even hold her hand in the back of her mind, and the anger rushed through her body. She felt it coming at her all at once. The tears had barely slid down the corners of her cheeks when she was suddenly distracted by the sound of glass shattering in the distance.
Angela's body froze up. She felt her body going cold as she took a deep breath and turned towards the door. A part of her was telling her to stay in the room, but a part of her was worried about David. She shook the fear out of her body as she heard rattling glass once again, and she knew she needed to make sure he was okay.
Slowly, she turned the knob of the door, and before she knew she was in the hallway, she tried her best to stay quiet as she made her way towards the living room. She would continue to hear rattling glass in the distance again and again, and she tried her best to stay calm.
Angela had barely made it to the end of the hallway when her eyes landed on the bar across the living room. She raised her eyebrows; she found herself staring at David. He wasn't wearing a shirt; his sweatpants were loosely clinging to his waist, and she forced herself not to stare too much as she approached him.
His back was towards him, and her eyes ran over his broad shoulders. She could see him bending down and trying to take care of what looked to be broken glass on the floor. His body was hovering from one side to the other; it made her realize that he was most probably drunk. She crossed her arms as she stared back at him and finally cleared her throat loudly.
He turned around in an instant, and his eyes widened; he looked like a deer that was caught in the headlights. Angela could tell that he was slightly drunk by the red rings around his eyes. She sighed. He spoke up, and his words slurred a little as she could tell that he was trying his best to stay sober.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t wake you, did I?”
She sighed once again and knelt down closer to him and whispered over to him.
“No, I didn’t fall asleep yet. What are you even doing up at this hour? Move away from the glass, you’re going to cut yourself.”
She had her arms crossed over her body as she spoke. He looked down towards the glass and then back up at her; for a moment, he looked like a child who had just been caught breaking something in the house. She kept her eyes fixated on him while he spoke.
"Well, I was trying to make myself my seventh drink of the night, but the glass just slipped from my hands....and here we are."
She barely made sense of what he had said with how messed up his words were. Even though she was still conflicted about the way he had treated her, she didn't say anything at all. At the moment, she could see that he needed her even though he had too much ego to ever admit it; she could see it written all over his face.
Angela reached down carefully and held onto his arm; as soon as her skin made contact with his, he looked up. There was a look of surprise written all over his face as Angela spoke.
"Come on, let me take care of you."
She helped him up to his feet slowly, and he leaned on her with half his weight. Just as she was about to lead him down the hall towards the guest room, he stopped in his steps and pointed towards the glass on the ground as he spoke.
“What...what about the glass?”
Angela smiled at him in the softest manner she could as she spoke.
"Don't worry about it. For now, we just need to get you to bed, okay?"
She saw new sides of David. There were very rare moments when he would open up to her and be vulnerable, and she knew this was one of those moments. Angela noticed the way he rested his head upon her shoulder, and suddenly, it didn't seem like he was the same man who carried a gun around with him everywhere, ready to go to war.
For now, he was just wanting some peace in the chaos that surrounded him all over. As she reached the guest room, she pulled open the door and looked to her right, only to notice that David had made a face; he looked around the room and slurred his words at her once.
"Wait, this isn't even my room."
Angela rolled her eyes at him as she pointed towards the bed. She didn't wait for him to say anything else. She just carefully threw him upon the bed in one instant and smiled at him. His body was laid down on the double bed, and the second his head hit the pillow, his eyelids began to flicker like he was moments away from falling asleep.
She pulled the comforter onto his body, and just as she was about to head towards the hallway, he grabbed her by the hand. Angela's body froze up for a moment, but she was quick to gather herself. She turned around, and she could see him staring back at her with his eyes wide.
She gulped; his collarbones were visible from the sheets, and his hair was a mess reaching down to his forehead as he made sure to keep his eyes fixated on her and spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
She felt a part of her melting at the words; she raised an eyebrow, but before she had the chance to say anything at all, he spoke up again. His tone had changed from being drunk to being sleepy, and she picked up on it instantly.
"I'm sorry about the way I acted in the hallway. I didn't mean to push you away; I just got scared."
She stared back at him as she pulled herself a little closer to the bed, and before she knew it, he reached forward and grabbed her by her hands, pulling her closer to him. At that moment, Angela felt her whole body freezing. Strings of emotion rushed through her body, and she felt her heart practically stop within her chest. She turned and felt shivers going down her spine as she spoke, with her face being just inches away from his.
“What did you get scared of?”
He looked away from her for a moment before his gaze landed on her again, and his grip on her body tightened as he pulled her closer to him.
“Of losing you. The thought alone was enough to kill me on the inside.”
She felt her breath stop; she didn't wait for him to say anything else; instead, she pushed her body forward and allowed their lips to collide. She ran her fingers through his hair as he held onto her frame tighter, and after a few moments passed with their lips pressed together, Angela pulled away to take a deep breath. His fingers remained pressed to the side of her face as she spoke up, making a promise she wasn't quite sure she could even keep.
“You’re not losing me. I’m right here with you until the end, no matter what happens.”
He moved his head forward and placed another gentle kiss upon her lips before his head hit the pillow once again. A smile appeared upon her lips as she noticed how his eyelids immediately flickered shut. He had drifted off to sleep once again.
She felt her body pressed to his, but for some reason, she didn't feel suffocated; instead, the same feeling of safety washed over her body once again as she closed her own eyes.
