Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 91

NADINE’S P.O.V

I considered it a miracle that we didn’t get caught. I tried my best to be quiet, I really did, but there were a few sounds that escaped me.

I was completely boneless and unable to move by the time we were done. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling while I tried to catch my breath and Rowan lay next to me, a sly grin on his face as he watched me.

"You’re unnaturally quiet," he mused. "A few minutes ago, I would’ve thought that was impossible."

I smacked his chest hard and earned a small bark of laughter. He propped himself on his elbows so he could turn to me completely. He brushed a strand of hair away from my forehead before kissing me softly.

I couldn’t help but smile as I shuffled closer to him. "We should go to sleep."

"We should," he echoed, but he didn’t try to move. He just continued gently stroking my hair.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

I knew he was lying. Something was obviously bothering him but he didn’t want to share. A part of me wanted to push and demand answers, but I knew Rowan and I trusted him. If he didn’t want to tell me, then it probably wasn’t a life or death situation. He’d never hide something from me that could hurt me.

It was so dark that I could already see the moon in the sky through the windows. Normally, I’d close the curtains all the way, but right now, I just wanted to enjoy the view. I nestled closer to Rowan, resting my head against his chest as I kept my eyes on the moon.

He placed a soft kiss to my temple and wrapped his arms around me. "One day, all of this will be over."

"When?" I asked. "It hasn’t gotten any better than when it started. We just learnt to adapt."

"Then we’ll adapt, and it’ll get easier."

I hope so.

I must have fallen asleep at some point because when I woke up next, it was to the sound of a floorboard creaking. I tried to rise but Rowan’s arm around my shoulder was firm and he placed the other over my mouth.

"Quiet," he whispered in my ear. "We’re going to get up slowly, okay? Just follow my lead."

I nodded.

It was still dark out. It couldn’t have been more than a few hours since we originally fell asleep. I wasn’t sure what was going on but I allowed Rowan to lead me.

Slowly, we got out of bed. My back was pressed to his chest, both of us naked as he walked us backwards. He grabbed his knife from the bedside table before backing us into the bathroom and gently shutting the door behind us.

"What-" I began but he held up his hands to his lips.

He gestured behind me and I found clothes folded neatly on the counter. It was clear he’d prepared for this long before I even woke up. I changed as quickly and quietly as I could. I couldn’t hear a thing outside but I didn’t dare speak.

"No matter what you hear, say nothing."

"Why?"

The words were barely out of my mouth when I heard a loud crash. My heart lurched in my chest when an answering growl followed. The monsters were in the house.

It didn’t make any sense to me. How did they manage to get in? We’d locked the doors- at least, I locked the doors. I couldn’t hear Amy or Joshua and a part of me feared that they’d been hurt. I strained my ears, searching for any sign of life when I heard the door to our room open.

My heart beat rapidly in my chest as I heard the sound of nails scraping against the wall. I turned to Rowan, eyes wide and panicked but he held up his hand to his lips, begging me to be quiet. I shut my eyes, hoping and praying that the monsters would somehow pass us by.

"It’s okay," Rowan mouthed. "We’re okay, I promise."

I wasn’t sure if he was saying the words for my benefit or his but I chose to hold onto them. I jumped when I heard something shatter. It sounded so close, like the monster was right outside the bathroom door.

"I love you," I mouthed to him. "I need you to know that."

Rowan’s eyes were hard. "This is not how it ends. Do you understand me?"

I nodded slowly, waiting, each second felt like torture but there was nothing more we could do. After what felt like hours, I heard the nails again, this time however, they sounded further away. I didn’t move, not even when I couldn’t hear them again because I worried that they were still in the house.

"I’m going to check," Rowan began after a few minutes, but I grabbed his arm hard.

"Np."

"Nadine-"

"They could be out there. Please, don’t go."

"Fine, I’ll wait."

He waited about half an hour before opening the door. I wanted to pull him back to safety, but he assured me that he would be fine. He had his knife in his hands and picked the other one from where he’d abandoned it after undressing yesterday.

"Wait here," he whispered as he left the room,

I tried to listen, tried to wait for a few minutes, but I couldn’t shake the thought that something would happen to him, so I grabbed my own weapons and followed him. When he noticed that I was behind him, he murmured a small curse under his breath but didn’t try to get me to leave.

We checked the living room and the kitchen but couldn’t find the monsters. They’d messed up the place though. They tore through couches and threw over some things. It seemed very out of character for them to just destroy a house but then again, they were monsters, and I didn’t know them well.

"Nadine?" a voice called out and I turned to find Amy making her way over to me with Joshua right behind her. "You’re okay."

She pulled me into a firm hug.

"I was so worried. We didn’t have time to warn you. When we heard them, we had to hide. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to get safe in time."

"I’m okay," I gave her a small smile. I turned to Joshua. "Are you good?"

"As good as I can be all things considering. This was your fault, you know."

My brows rose. "My fault?"

I thought we’d put the blame game behind us but it was clear that Joshua hadn’t. He seemed annoyed, his hands crossed over his chest and his eyes hard.

"If you weren’t so loud yesterday, maybe they wouldn’t have found us. I had to excuse myself last night because I couldn’t stand to listen to you both."

My cheeks burned a bright red color. We all knew what he was talking about. Amy whispered something to him but he brushed her off.

"I’m sorry that me having sex upset you so much," I spat.

He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak but he didn’t get the chance because Rowan’s voice echoed through the house.

"I found how they got in." I stared at Joshua for a minute, daring him to say something, but he wisely kept his mouth shut as Rowan made his way over to us. "You’re both safe."

Amy nodded. "We are. You said you knew how they got in?"

"Yes. The kitchen door was half-open. Someone must have forgotten to lock it."

Amy’s brows furrowed in confusion. "It was locked when Nadine and I were there."

I turned to Joshua who was actively avoiding my eyes. ’Didn’t you say you stepped out? Did you forget to lock the door?"

It was his turn to turn pink. He opened his mouth to speak but all he managed out were stutters and half sentences. I scoffed. When it was time to shame me, he found it very easy to do so, but now that he was guilty, he was silent.

"Perhaps next time you should make sure you’re innocent of all charges before pointing blame."

"I’m sorry," he managed out. "I didn’t know-"

"Of course you didn’t." I rolled my eyes. "Since we’re all awake, we may as well start moving."