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Alex stayed after the last call, and the rest of the customers and club staff left for the evening. He played on the piano as Annie counted the till and placed the evening's earnings in the safe.
"About ready to call it a night, Alex?"
He glanced down at his watch as he kept playing. "You mean morning, eh?"
She laughed and wandered over to the piano, nudging him gently to make room for her to take a seat on the bench beside him. She watched his fingers dance lightly over the keys, playing a slow but completely unfamiliar song. She always loved watching him play. "Something new?"
"Mm," He started humming the tune as well.
He played a few more minutes before pulling the key guard down over the keys and turning to her.
"Mind if I crash at your place tonight?"
"Was going to suggest it actually, you've had a few of those, not sure driving out to the reservoir is a good idea..." she raised an eyebrow as he knocked back what was left in the tumbler perched on top of the piano and refilled it with the bottle of Macallan’s sitting beside it, downing that one as well. Another shot of courage.
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She wondered if the routine of the past nights he had stayed with her would hold for tonight, despite for the first time, his presence here was different. It wasn’t of a man driven by grief, desperately needing a comforting presence. Those nights would typically end with him in her bed, either crying himself to sleep as she held him, or they would reminisce about Kate and Ella, nothing untoward. Two friends holding each other up and trying to make sense of a tragedy. But there was something different now; it had been since he was released from the hospital and had started seeing the therapist.
There was a peace in him that she hadn't seen in two years. The nights he sought her out got fewer and fewer. She had let herself entertain the thoughts of something more between them but was uncertain how to broach the subject, afraid of losing her friend. Fearful of losing a living connection to her best friend and goddaughter. There was also the partnership with the club to consider. But most important to her now, potentially making Alex pull away from a connection he himself needed.
The song he sang tonight, Open Up Your Door, and the way his eyes hadn’t left hers, maybe he was reaching out to her through the lyrics? Was hers the door he wanted to be opened for himself? It would require more contemplation for her to conclude comfortably. Then he had asked if he could crash at her place, and that asking was new. Before, he’d show up on her doorstep.
Ten minutes after climbing into bed, however, she silently relaxed as she heard him creep in.
"Annie?" A quiet question, just her name, but asking permission.
That was new. She lifted the blankets and gestured for him to join her. That was new, too, on her behalf. Before, he would always just lay atop the blankets, covering himself on colder nights with the spare she kept across the foot of the bed. He spooned himself around her, pulling her back flush against his chest. She couldn't hold back the shiver as she felt his lips press gently against her neck. That was new too.
"Alex..." She didn't know if it was a plea for more or for him to stop.
"Hmmm" Another press of his lips. Another shiver. He stopped and rubbed the side of her face with his. He hadn’t shaved before coming to the club, his stubble scratching her smooth cheek and neck. She could not hold back a low moan at the sensation, and she felt him smile.
“I take it this is permissible then?" He asked softly. Another gentle press of lips to her neck, just below her ear.
"I..." She shivered, pressing herself back against him. Door opened. "Yeah,"
He tightened his arms around her, nuzzling his face behind her ear and in her hair, humming softly the same tune he was playing on the piano earlier.
“You were playing that earlier…new song you will play at the club sometime?”
A slight snort of laughter against her neck, a shake of his head. Another shiver in response to his movement.
“Probably not. Just something I heard….” He hummed a few bars, “and thought of you…of us…goes like this,” voice low and soft, “If I leave my heart with you tonight- Will you promise me that you're gonna treat it right?...”
She turned in his arms, pulling him even closer, resting her head over the heart in question, feeling its anxious beat; she pressed a gentle kiss there as much of a promise to him and their shared ghosts as she whispered her pledge, “Yes, of course, I will…”