Chapter 5
Charity
The next day, I woke up bright and early—or, dark and early. I had slept in another one of Atticus's shirts, and one of Marcel's shorts. It was nice to sleep with a mix of minty freshness and tropical paradise.
I had tossed and turned every which way before falling asleep, my omega not at rest with the fact that I wasn't with my alphas. I was out in a few minutes when I napped with Matthias, but last night I'd had no such luck.
I took a hesitant look at the clock hanging by the door, scared of what it would say. Five forty-three...that wasn't terrible. The only problem I faced now was the fact that I was barely tired at all.
Carefully, I climbed out of the bed, goosebumps raising on my skin at the cold air in the room. I shivered, wrapped my arms around myself, and slowly walked out, making my way to what I hoped was the kitchen.
I sat on one of the barstools at the island, calming the wooziness from walking through a house of perfuming scents.
After a few minutes of staring blankly at things around the kitchen, I decided to get up and find a way to fill a glass with water.
I braced my hands on ledge of the counter and stood, immediately realizing I had pressed a button I didn't realize was there.
In what seemed like a few seconds, Atticus's voice sounded through the speakers, somehow not sounding groggy or tired at all, like he'd been awake for hours.
"Charity, I see you're in the kitchen. What do you need, dear?" I panicked, unsure what to say. "Charity? Do you need me to come down?" he asked, and without even thinking, without even a moment of hesitation, I held down the silver button and responded.
"Yes, please," I said. I slammed my hands over my mouth.
My omega had completely overridden my conscience, acting on her own turn.
Too quickly, Atticus was walking into the kitchen, shirtless and wearing gray sweatpants.
My eyes flitted back and forth from his sculpted, tattoo-littered torso and his piercing stormy eyes.
He chuckled softly, pressing his lips together to hide a smirk. "My eyes are up here, darling." I locked my eyes on his with as much self-control as I could muster. My omega wanted to throw herself at him, but I couldn't do that. "Did you need something?"
I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out. I just stared at him blankly, too mesmerized by him to say or do anything.
"I can't help you if you don't tell me what you need," he said. "Use your words." I swallowed, struggling to form a thought. He tilted his head and began moving closer to me. "Now."
"I-I need...need..." I trailed off, my mouth moving faster than my brain. I felt oddly warm, an unfamiliar tingling sensation erupting beneath my skin.
"Need what?" he asked, crossing his arms as he leaned on the countertop before me. "Be a big girl and tell me."
"A g-glass of water," I whispered. "Please." He reached forward to grab the back of my head and leaned down to place a kiss on my forehead.
"Such a good listener," he praised. "Thank you for being a big girl for me." He left my side and grabbed a glass, filled it with water, and held it out to me. I smiled up at him, my cheeks as red as tomatoes, and took the glass from his hand, beginning to slowly sip from it.
After I took a few sips, I pulled the glass away from my lips, and Atticus crossed his arms, his deep, velvety purr reverberating throughout the kitchen. "Finish it, Charity. I need you hydrated," he said, nodding towards the half-finished cup.
"Y-yes, Sir," I whispered out of instinct, not thinking twice about it before bringing the glass back to my lips and finishing it, keeping my eyes on his the entire time.
A muscle in his jaw ticked, his teeth grinding, and he closed his eyes for a moment, pressing them shut as if he was forcing certain thoughts away.
He took the glass from my hands and put it in the dishwasher.
I watched the muscles in his back stretch and flex as he bent down and back up.
When he straightened and turned back to me, I cleared my throat, wondering if my cheeks would ever not feel unbearably warm every time I was with him--or, really, any of them.
"Can I trust that you can find your way back to bed, or do you need help?" He asked me, tilting his head towards me. I thought on it for a moment, retracing my steps of how I got to the kitchen in the first place.
"I should be fine, but thank you," I replied, looking away from him nervously and avoiding eye contact with him while I waited for him to say something. My omega's boldness had calmed down, seemingly content and sleepy now that I was in Atticus's presence.
"Eyes," he said, and I quickly lifted my gaze to look into his swirling gray one.
"Charity, any time we're having a conversation, you look at me.
I refuse to let my omega be too afraid to look me in the eyes.
" Hearing him call me his omega forced a hot, aching sensation to tug at my core, and I whined softly, pressing my thighs together for reasons I didn't understand.
Why do they always make me feel this way?
He started purring again and pushed his minty fresh scent out to me in waves, calming me down ever so slightly.
"Do you remember me telling you to be a big girl and use your words?
" He asked, and I nodded. I noticed how my omega seemed to feel the safest when we were being told what to do.
"I need you to do that now so you can tell me that you understand.
" I swallowed, momentarily forgetting what he had been saying about me looking at him.
I did my best to keep my eyes on his as I spoke. "I-I understand. When we're talking, I look at you." He smiled softly, seeming proud of me.
"You're such a good girl for me, Charity," he said. "I know I didn't get to see much of you yesterday, but I plan to fix that today. Will you be able to fall back asleep on your own?" My brows furrowed and I tilted my head at him.
"Fall back asleep? Isn't it six o'clock in the morning?" I replied, confused since I thought that six was a perfectly reasonable wake-up time, but I guess I'd had way too many early mornings recently.
"In this household, we recognize the importance of sleep and maintaining a circadian rhythm.
You may not understand that quite yet, but I do want you to know that I typically wake up at six-thirty, and the other guys wake up at seven.
I just like to have some leisure time in the morning, so that's why I wake up earlier than everybody else," he explained.
I averted my gaze back down to the floor, realizing how bad my sleep schedule had been for nearly my entire life.
"O-oh. I'll try to remember that," I croaked out, wishing that my body would function normally and let me fall asleep and stay asleep.
"Charity, eyes," he reminded me. Reluctantly, I looked back up at him. "Tell me what you're thinking about." Something about the way he commanded me so gently made my omega eager to obey him every time.
"I've just always had a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep.
I can't even remember the last time I got just four straight hours of sleep," I admitted.
"The tiredness is just something I've learned to live with, I guess.
" He growled softly, but muffled it quickly, not wanting me to think he was growling at me.
"You fell asleep just fine with Matthias earlier. Did being around your alphas help?" My omega answered for me, and I nodded eagerly.
"It helped a lot, actually," I said, still blushing profusely. "Thank you."
He shook his head softly. "You never have to thank us for that, darling. That's simply our job." He stepped closer to me, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. "Do you know where Matthias sleeps?"
I thought about it for a moment, trying to remember which of the intricately-designed wooden doors was his. "I think so," I replied.
"Wonderful. Now go find his room and slip under the covers with him so you can sleep for a bit longer." My brows furrowed again, and I was concerned about me waking him up when he didn't want to be awoken.
"Won't I bother him if I wake him up? I don't want to disrupt his sleep." Atticus chuckled softly, his teeth showing for the first time ever.
"You could never bother any of us, Charity," he assured me.
"And even if you do wake him up, I'm sure his alpha won't mind the presence of his very sweet"--he kissed my left cheek--"very pretty"--he kissed my right cheek--"thoughtful little omega.
" He kissed my forehead. "Go get some sleep, darling.
I'll see you when you wake up." I watched him retreat back to his own room before I made my way to Matthias's, slipping past the door and under the covers.
a/n: that was chapter 5! I know it's pretty short, and I'm very sorry if the things the characters are doing/saying are inconsistent, it's just tricky to go perfectly back to a story I haven't touched in six months ??
I'm sorry I was absent for so long. I was struggling with some pretty severe depression.
Since February, I've honestly just been happy with the fact that I'm alive right now.
Lots of people didn't win that battle, but I did, and I'll forever be proud of myself for it.
You are so loved and cared for, even if it doesn't feel like it.
If you need help, please don't hesitate to ask for it.
There are people who want you in this life ??