Across The Hall (18 page)

dispensers. I stil had the plain old white one with a burned out light bulb.

I stood in the doorway of the kitchen, waiting for him to leave. These kitchens were smal , and I didn’t want to accidental y bump into him while I

made the tea. “Why don’t you go lay down? I’l bring you the tea when it’s ready.”

Quinn nodded and thanked me again. I was relieved when he went to the couch instead of his room. I didn’t want bring him anything in his bed. I

went about getting the tea ready. I chose the right cupboard on the first pick. I smiled at the fact that he had his dishes in the same location I did. I

fil ed a cup for him and decided to make one for myself, too. I put them both in the microwave and went back to the dining table to wait for the water

to heat up.

Quinn had cleaned up the Kleenex mess. He lay on the couch, stil wrapped up in the blanket, and flipped through the channels. I unpacked my

bag, setting al the books on the table. I had to write an in depth analysis comparing and contrasting the works of the Bronte sisters. I knew al the

works wel , so I didn’t expect it to be hard -- just time consuming.

The timer on the microwave went off, so I went back in and added the honey and lemon to Quinn’s cup. I set mine on the table and brought his

over to him. He was coughing again and I real y hoped it would help. He truly did look exhausted. He was stil flipping through channels. What is it

with guys and remotes? Why can’t they just find a channel and leave it there? He paused long enough to take the cup from me and give me an

appreciative grin.

“Drink that. It should help your throat. Then try to get some sleep. I’l just be right over there doing some work.” I pointed to the table. “Do you mind

if I plug my laptop in? I should be able to connect to my network from here.”

“I don’t care. You do what you need to. If you can’t get a connection let me know and you can log into mine.” His eyes were so heavy. I

momentarily wanted him to lay his head on my lap and let me run my fingers through his hair until he fel asleep. I shook that thought away and

headed to the table to get started on my work.

About ten minutes later Quinn final y quit flipping channels. “Hey, look what’s on.”

He had it turned to the show I was watching earlier. “It’s on al weekend. I started watching it last night. I never did see the last season. Did you?”

He was lying on the couch, al stretched out with his feet hanging off the edge. He shifted up a bit to look over at me. “No, I gave up on it. Maybe

we can catch it this weekend.”

Wait, what? We can catch it this weekend?
I wasn’t going to be there the whole weekend. I glanced up at him, wondering what he was thinking.

When I didn’t answer he lay back down and I turned back to my laptop. I couldn’t concentrate, though. My mind was at war with itself.
What am I

doing here? I’m in my ex-boyfriend’s apartment, alone with him. I have a boyfriend. I shouldn’t be here. He’s sleeping now. I should just go

home. But he’s sick. I can’t leave him alone like this. I’ll just wait here and when he’s feeling better I’ll leave.
I replayed that argument over and

over in my mind for the next couple hours while Quinn slept. I final y gave up completely on getting any work done. I closed the laptop and put it al

away. I went over and sat on the floor by the couch and watched TV.

I slipped out during a commercial to run home and take a shower and pick up a couple things. I wanted to make him some chicken soup, but he

didn’t have anything except TV dinners, frozen pizzas and cereal. No wonder the guy was sick. He wasn’t eating healthy enough. I got everything I

needed and brought it back over to his place.

He was sitting up on the couch, bent forward with his head in his hands. When he heard the door he jerked upright. “I thought you had left me. I

mean, I woke up and you were gone and I didn’t see your stuff here so I assumed you’d gone home.” His throat sounded a little better, but it was stil

scratchy.

I couldn’t help but smile at the hopeless-little-boy look on his face. “I just went home for a shower and to get real food for you. Seriously, hot

pockets and cereal? You need to eat better.”

“Yes, Mom.” He smirked at me.

“If your mom knew you were eating that crap she would have a fit. I’m surprised she doesn’t make you come home for dinner every night. She

used to be so adamant that you be home to have dinner as a family.” I fondly remembered dinners at Quinn’s on the nights that I didn’t make dinner

for my dad. We would al sit around the table and talk about our day and what was going on in our lives. It was just what I remembered family dinners

could be like, and I loved being part of it.

“She would love that. She always complains that she doesn’t see me enough.” He rol ed his eyes and looked over the bag I was carrying with

interest. “So what’s in there?”

“Just some stuff to make chicken soup for you. Nothing helps get over a cold like chicken soup.” I went into the kitchen and got started. I had

thawed out the chicken breasts in the microwave at my house while I was in the shower. Now I just had to cook them while I chopped vegetables. I

was working away and didn’t notice Quinn standing in the doorway watching me until he started talking.

“So you stil like cooking, huh?”

I glanced over at him. He looked so much like he used to. His hair was lying over his forehead as if it too were too tired to stick up. He was

wearing his glasses. I thought they were the same ones he’d had in high school. There were definite changes, too. The way the plain white t-shirt he

had on clung to him. I could see the faint definition of muscles in his arms and chest that had never been there before. I wondered what his chest felt

like now. I bit my lip and turned away. I had to stop these thoughts.

“Yeah, I stil like to cook. I used to cook for everyone more, but I’ve been pretty busy lately.” I thought of Beau and how he didn’t like getting

together with my friends. He did like it when I cooked for him though, and told me so often.

Quinn let out a snort. I thought I heard him mumble, “Held prisoner, more like it.” I should have said something to him about that comment, but I

real y didn’t want to argue with him today so I let it go.

“What else do you like to do now?” He stil watched me as I started to add everything to the big soup kettle I’d brought over. I had to real y think

about that. I real y hadn’t done anything for myself other than read in so long.

“I guess just reading. I like to hang out with Kai and Kerri. I could do without the shopping trips and the makeovers, but I always have a good time

with them. You haven’t met Jason, but I like to spend time with him.

I finished adding the water and spices to the pot and left it to simmer. I washed my hands and then turned to Quinn, who had moved further into

the kitchen. He was now very close in the too-smal kitchen, which shrank even more while we were in there. I searched his face, trying to read his

mind. He appeared to be deep in thought. He was staring right at me but I didn’t think he was actual y seeing me.

I took that moment of his inattention and real y looked him over. Even sick, he was impossibly handsome. To me, he had always been handsome.

I knew others didn’t see him like I did in high school, but it was always there. His current hair cut fit him much better. His jaw was much more defined

now, too. Before I realized what I was doing, I reached out and ran my fingers along it.

His eyes flashed to mine and I quickly pul ed my hand away as if it were burned. “I’m sorry, you were so lost in thought and I just...” I trailed off, not

real y having an answer to what I was doing.

His gaze lingered on mine a little longer. Both of us seemed to have trouble pul ing away. I felt my heartbeat pick up, and my breath hitched. I

lowered my eyes to his lips. They were slightly parted. I wondered if they stil felt the same. Did he stil taste the same? At that moment, I wanted

nothing more than to find out.

Quinn let out a soft sigh. “So how long until the soup is done?” That effectively snapped me out of my fantasy world and back into this one.

“Um, a little while yet.” Quinn’s eyes held a hint of disappointment. Whether it was because the soup wasn’t ready or something else, I couldn’t

say.

“What do you want to do while we wait? Did you finish your work?” Quinn asked as he walked out of the kitchen.

I let out a big breath, and wondered what had come over me. I fol owed Quinn out of the kitchen. “I gave up on my paper. I’l work on it later. We

could just watch some TV. I think it’s about the middle of season one. You were so off on your prediction of how it would end.” I chuckled

remembering his guess at the ending.

We sat on his big, black leather couch, one on each end, the gap in the middle mirroring the gap in our relationship. We spent the rest of the

afternoon on that couch, watching TV and talking about trivial things. We even ate our soup sitting there. Over the course of the afternoon and

evening, that gap closed a little more with each passing hour.

It was getting late and I should have gone home, but Quinn’s fever was back and I couldn’t leave him like that. He had been sleeping on and off for

about three hours, but it was a restless sleep. He woke up shivering and I went to get him another blanket.

His room was similar to the living room. He had minimal furnishings and the wal s were unadorned. It was done in the same black and tan color

scheme as the rest of the apartment. I wondered again at his lack of trappings. He didn’t even have pictures on any of the wal s, or anywhere for that

matter. Not even of his parents. The most he had on any wal was a clock in the dining area. I made note to ask him about it later.

There was a loud crack of thunder as I brought the blanket out to him. The storm had let up in the early afternoon but was back in ful force. The

lights flickered and went out. Great, no power. Now what do we do? “Quinn?” I tried to feel my way to the couch without tripping over everything. I

was clumsy enough with the lights on. With them off, my chances of injuring myself and others tripled.

“I’m stil here on the couch. Just go slow. You’l find it.”

I did take it slow, but stil managed to stub my toe on the end of the couch when I reached it. Quinn laughed when I swore at it. I handed him the

blanket and he wrapped it around himself. We sat on the couch in the dark, neither of us said anything. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable. It was

actual y peaceful. The wind and the rain raged outside and the thunder was deafening. The worst of the storm must have been right over us. The

lightning lit up the room and al owed us each occasional glimpses of the other.

At some point I became aware that Quinn was stil shivering. Even the extra blanket hadn’t helped his chil s. I knew ful wel that I shouldn’t do it,

but I quietly said, “Quinn, come here. Let me help you warm up.”

“I’m f-i-i-i-n-n-e,” He whispered with his teeth chattering.

“No, you’re not. Let me help.” I moved closer to him and wrapped my arms around him. He was stiff in my arms at first. Slowly, he started to relax.

“Are you getting tired again? Your cough has been a lot better. Maybe you’l be able to sleep tonight.”

“Yes, I’m tired. How about you? You’ve been so helpful today. I can’t thank you enough for being here, taking care of me like this. You real y didn’t

have to do it.”

“I know, but I couldn’t leave you alone in this state, either. Now stretch out and get comfortable. You sleep while you can. I’l go home when you’re

doing better.” We shifted around on the couch until I had my back pressed against the back of the couch and my arms around Quinn in front of me. It

was a little awkward with him being so much tal er than me. I didn’t care though. I just wrapped my arms around him and pul ed the blanket tighter

around him.

I felt Quinn slowly relax into sleep. Occasional y his muscles would twitch and make me smile. I was torn apart as I laid there holding him. The guilt

ate at me. What would Beau say if he knew where I was? It was al innocent. I was just helping a friend. I would do the same for Kai or Reed. Would

I? Would I real y hold Reed the same way I was holding Quinn right now? I told myself yes, but the voice in the back of my mind snorted in

disagreement. I tried to push al the thoughts away. I didn’t want to think of any of it right then. I had been here with him the whole day, and no matter

what I thought or did that wasn’t going to change. He stil needed me there.

I drifted off to sleep with hazy thoughts of how good being there felt, how right everything felt at that moment. I dreamt of Quinn out at our old farm.

He was holding me and tel ing me I was his world and about al the things we were going to do together. I smiled at my dream Quinn and sighed, “I

love you, Quinn,” as I lay my head on his chest. I snuggled closer to him on the couch as we both dreamed on.

God, my neck hurt. And my hips. Wait, what are my legs around? I opened my eyes and to see two brown pools peering into mine. I blinked. I

must stil be asleep. Nope, they’re stil here. Then I remembered where I was. I was stil on Quinn’s couch, with my body completely wrapped around

him. His face was so close to mine that our noses were practical y touching. I could feel his breath across my lips. His arms were around me,

holding me close. I was pretty sure I knew exactly what was pushing against my hip. I sighed. It felt so good being there, but it was so wrong.

“Good morning.” Damn, his voice was sexy. It was barely audible, and not because he whispered. Unfortunately, it sounded like he was losing his