Chapter Text
the sun shone through the window straight onto his face, waking him up. the smell of bacon and eggs filled through the small room. the sheets felt soft underneath his skin and had the faint scent of lavender remaining.
what the fuck?
andrew made a move to get up quickly, when a sharp pang permeated through his skull.
where was he?
he attempted to get up once again, when his ears began ringing. fuck, that's right. he'd hit his head against the boat.
the boat. he panicked as memories of his journey across the atlantic made their way back into his head. the last thing he remembered was passing out and now he was here, in a small room. he needed to leave as soon as possible.
the door creaked open and a small child peeked their head through. she had auburn hair, bright blue eyes that caught onto andrew's gaze - she looked no older than 5 or 6, he couldn't tell. the ringing in his ears dulled down and he heard her call out to someone else in the house? cabin?
"dad! the stranger's awake now! dad! dad! come here!" her voice was pitched high and caused for another jolt of pain to go through andrew's head. he heard footsteps approaching and forced himself to sit up properly, so that he wouldn't seem too vulnerable to whomever was about to come.
"mari, don't shout, i can still hear you, i'm not deaf," an accented voice spoke with amusement and then revealed itself to belong to a young man, who had the same vibrant hair and eyes as his daughter, yet had much more scarring on his face. andrew stared at the lines of his face. every part of him spoke of danger but presented a softness, when he looked at his daughter.
the two's eyes met and andrew couldn't look away. he was gorgeous, in a way that would make passersby turn their heads and gawk, andrew being no exception of course.
"um hi? i'm guessing you're probably really confused right now? i'll fill you in on the details, once you've had something to eat. you've been asleep for a day and a half, you must be starving." andrew began to protest, but his stomach growled and his face flushed red. he glared at his stomach, the darned traitor. the man seemed to chuckle and andrew turned his glare on him, when he spotted that in the man's hands was a tray with a plate of eggs, toast and bacon, along with a jug of orange juice.
as he revealed himself bodily to andrew and set the tray down by the bedside table, andrew realised the man was only a couple inches taller than himself.
he nodded a thanks, when mari spoke up, "you're meant to say 'thank you' after somebody does something nice for you." she had her hands on her hips and frowned adorably.
"mari-anne," the man chided and before he could continue to scold her, andrew shook his head and said, "you're right, i'm sorry."
andrew turned to the man, who's eyebrows were raised in surprise, "thank you." his voice was slightly scratchy and ended up breaking at one point, but the redhead just smiled warmly in response.
"you're welcome."
his lips formed an 'o' shape, like he just remembered something, "right, i forgot to tell you, my name is neil. i'm the lighthouse keeper here, if you need anything do give me a shout. in the meantime, i'll be making breakfast here for this troublemaker." he pinched mari's cheeks, making her squeal and lifted her up into his arms.
neil left the room with a, "bye andrew," and mari waving slightly at him from over neil's shoulder. andrew didn't have time to question how neil knew his name, before the door quietly shut - probably done to not make too much noise and cause andrew's poor head to throb again.
now that he was alone, he decided to take a better look at the room around him. the bedsheets were a simple white, donned onto a cushioned mattress. the frame itself was a shade of rich umber oakwood, matching the floorboards. the walls were white with few paintings hung up, each with stories that andrew couldn't possibly imagine. the wall, opposite to the bed, was made of glass, if you were to slide open the door, you'd find yourself on the balcony that gave an unobstructed view of the sea and the town nearby.
the rustic feel of the room along with his concussion, made andrew feel like he was in a dream. he decided to eat his breakfast, before it went cold. he took a bite and almost moaned at how good it was. it'd been a while since he'd had a proper breakfast, other than a cup of sugary coffee - he never had any time in the morning to cook up something decent, with his job requiring him to be at the university early, planning his next lectures.
as he finished his food, andrew wondered if this was heaven. the door that lead to the balcony was open and a gust of wind burst through, causing andrew to shiver. he put the tray aside and swung his legs off the bed noticing he was still in the clothes he left in. he lifted the neck of his shirt to his nose and grimaced at the smell of seaweed. gross. he needed a shower, the sooner the better, judging by the state of his appearance.
his head spun, as he stood up to close the door. andrew shrugged it off, his dizziness was the last of his problems.
trudging slowly towards the door, his legs felt like lead pieces detached from his body. another breeze came through the door, that made him sneeze. he felt the urge to take a further peek at the view from the balcony.
well shit.
he stood in awe, gazing up at the rolling clouds that hung over the still water. it all felt so surreal. andrew held onto the railing and looked down to find the end of a cliff. his mind flickered back to lone nights on the fox tower roof and watching countless sunsets, even sunrises if he stayed long enough on sleepless nights. a similar rush of vertigo filled his head, making his feet unsteady. this, along with his concussed head, was not a good mix he realised, as his world turned sideways. andrew braced himself for the eventual fall.
when it didn't come, he blinked in confusion. he found himself in the arms of a very pretty lighthouse keeper and oh god, his face was so close. he felt all the strength drain out of him and his body went lax in neil's arms. andrew continued to stare at neil's face, he has so many freckles, i think i see orion there, his eyelashes are so long, they're like… spider legs? what no. not spider legs, like.. hair. that's it. his lips are so pink, but move too much. oh they're moving. andrew realised neil had been talking to him this whole time.
"-ey? andrew! are you okay?" neil's face was scrunched in concern. andrew opened his mouth to assure neil, he was perfectly okay and didn't need neil to worry about him, when a wet hack was the only thing that came out.
"i'm guessing that's a no, you feel really warm. you might have a fever. is it okay, if i check your temperature?" andrew nodded and felt a cold palm touch his forehead.
neil hissed, "jesus, you're burning up, what were you doing out of bed?"
"..closing the door," andrew rasped out.
neil sighed and moved to get up, "come on, hold onto my arm and see if you can get on your feet." getting up onto his legs felt like a herculean task and the moment he got onto his feet, he felt unsteady and stumbled yet again. neil barely managed to catch him in time and andrew ended up going headfirst into neil's chest.
"woah there, be careful." andrew scowled up at neil's face, unamused.
"hold onto both my arms tightly and let's take it slow, yeah?" neil turned his body, so that he'd end up walking backwards in the direction of the bed. andrew kept his grip light on neil's arms and then tightened them as soon as he thought he might fall. if his grip hurt neil at all, andrew couldn't tell.
after what felt like an hour, andrew finally sat down on the bed and neil grabbed ahold of the tray, ready to take it with him.
"how did i get here?"
neil looked up and at andrew, he stood silent for a second and sighed, "let me put this away and then i'll explain everything, i also need to drop mari-anne at her aunt dan's, so i'll take some time." with that, he walked off leaving andrew alone.
he laid back onto his pillow and stared at the high ceiling. his exhaustion got the better of him and soon found himself in a deep slumber again.
"-e fell asleep. yes, yes he's fine kevin, all in one piece. he's got a fever and a concussion, the more rest he gets, the quicker he'll recover." andrew's eyes flickered open at the noise that filtered into the room coming from behind the door.
neil walked into the room, occupied by the phone he held up to his ear, "kevin he's a grown man you don't need me texting updates on-"
he stopped in the middle of his sentence, as neil's eyes landing on andrew, "he's awake now kev, i'll talk to you later."
he didn't wait for kevin to respond before hanging up and taking a stray stool by the window, dragging it by the bed so that he could sit by andrew.
andrew let himself stay lying down, he had a feeling he wouldn't want to be upright anytime soon.
"right, so where do we begin?"