Sure enough,Becky soon realized that she was in very good company. Oddlyenough, it wasn’t Dorian who comforted her the most, it wasCrispin. The normally aloof Goth stuck to her like glue. It was asthough he sensed her need to not be left alone.
When they wentupstairs, and Dorian explained apologetically about the one room,Becky quickly put his mind at ease. “It’s no problem,” she said tothe very relieved Steampunk. “We share a house already. I can’t seewhy we can’t share a hotel room.” She really couldn’t understandwhy they’d been so concerned. In fact, she much preferred to be alltogether, rather than have a room to herself. Given thecircumstances, being alone was the last thing she wanted.
“This is all right, isn’t it?” Crispin asked, concerned, rakinghis hand through his long wavy hair. “You’ll have your very own bedand everything.”
Becky lookedfrom him to the two double beds. “All three of you won’t fit on onebed, will you?” she said matter of factly. Although they were slim,they were quite tall and lanky, and in the hotel room, they seemedto take up a lot of space.
“We’ll figure it out,” Crispin said with an unpleasantexpression on his otherwise handsome face. No, he was certainly notlooking forward to sleeping shoulder to shoulder with Dorian andKelley, but what other alternative was there?
“One of you could share my bed,” Becky offered withouthesitation.
Hearing her,Dorian nearly fell over himself, while Crispin simply staredblankly at her, turning an ungodly shade of pale. She frownedslightly at their odd reaction to her suggestion.
“Honestly, you two can be quite silly sometimes,” she said,unzipping her suitcase, taking her pyjamas and toiletries into thebathroom.
“She can’t be serious,” Dorian whispered, looking from Crispinto the beds. “Can she really be that naive?”
“Oh, I think she is very serious and extremely naive,” Crispinsaid with an indulgent smile.
“How is it possible that she is so trusting? Or are we theidiots here?” Dorian asked. “Perhaps she’d be into…”
Crispininstantly scowled at Dorian’s suggestion. “Get that filthy idea outof your head, man. The girl is a complete innocent. She’s obviouslyled a very sheltered life until now. I intend to keep it thatway.”
Dorian couldn’thelp but smile at Crispin’s sudden protective attitude towardsBecky. “Hmm, here I thought you didn’t even like her.”
Crispinsputtered in response. “How could I not like the little dormouse?I’d have to be a cold-blooded bastard. But that doesn’t mean Iwasn’t right about not wanting to let her into our lives in thefirst place. Mark my words, she’ll be the end of us yet.”
“How incredibly cryptic,” Dorian snickered. “Sometimes, Crisp,you make no sense at all.”
“We’ll see.”
***
“You two don’t have to stick around here all night just becauseof me,” Becky said, crawling into the bed closest to the bathroom.Although she was tired and in need of sleep, it was still ratherearly in the evening. Surely, the guys would rather be out at somespooky nightclub, Gothing it up with their peers. Probably, that’swhere Kelley was now. He obviously hadn’t concerned himself withleaving her behind. Why should they?
“Nonsense,” Crispin said, sitting up stiffly on the other bed,trying very hard not to comment on her insistence on wearing thoseincredibly annoying if not disturbingly adorable pyjamas. Who hadthe bigger cheeks, he wondered to himself. That dreadful cartoonishcat or the cherubic girl, staring up at him from herpillow.
“Really,” she insisted sleepily. “You guys should go out. Gomeet some nice Goth girls.”
“Perhaps she’s right,” Dorian said, peering down at her. “Icertainly wouldn’t mind hooking up with some local chicks,considering the slim pickings in Kingston.”
“Be my guest,” Crispin said with a dismissive wave of his hand.“If perchance you get lucky enough, I may even get this bed all tomyself tonight.”
“You forget that Kell will be back soon,” Dorianwarned.
Crispinshrugged unbothered. “He’s probably found himself other lodgings aswell. It’s not like Kell to have problems charming the ladies.”
Pretending tosleep, Becky heard everything they said. She couldn’t help but behurt by the idea that Kelley would so easily choose to be with somerandom girl rather than be there with her. Especially tonight, whenshe needed him most. Then again, why would he choose to be withher? He didn’t owe her anything. The fact that he’d been kindenough to offer to drive her to Toronto should be good enough. Thathe’d been there for her that afternoon was more than she could askfor.
Why then,couldn’t she get the memory of his near kiss at her locker theother day out of her mind? The way he’d pressed himself up againsther, his warm breath in her ear. The lovely weight of his bodysmashed up against hers. Restless, Becky turned over onto herside.
***
It had gottensuddenly very quiet and dark in the room. Perhaps the guys had leftwhile she dozed. She hadn’t even realized that she had fallenasleep. Curious, she opened one eye, only to find Crispin sittingin the very same position as before, staring at her in thedark.
“What are you doing?” she asked groggily. She must have dozedoff since she realized that Dorian had indeed gone out, leaving thetwo of them alone.
“What do you mean?” he asked, shuffling uncomfortably,pretending to dust himself off. Damn, he hadn’t realized he’d beensitting there staring at her the whole time. He couldn’t helphimself. The girl captivated him. He’d watched her stir in and outof consciousness, mumbling incoherently. The poor little thing hadeven cried in her sleep. He didn’t know whether to comfort her,wake her, or let it pass. In the end, he’d chosen to watch over herin stoic silence.
“You were staring at me,” she accused, tucking her nose underthe sheets so that only her eyes and that mop of brown hair wasleft visible.
He got up andleaned over her. With his fingers, he tucked an unruly lock of hairbehind her ear and wiped away a stray tear from her cheek. “I wasmerely concerned for you,” he whispered, watching her fade intounconsciousness once again.
Some timelater, Becky woke up in a cold sweat, having dreamt of Granny’supcoming funeral. The distant sound of street life and the muchnearer sound of Crispin’s even breathing brought her back down toearth. Checking the time, she realized that
