Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again. - Chapter 369

Chapter 369: End of the bed war.
Later that night, Sunshine returned home, slightly tipsy and smelling faintly of beer and chocolate. Hades, having arrived thirty seconds before her, met her at the door. A wary smile was plastered on his face.

He did not say a word, afraid to say something that would set her off again. He had sat by himself in the bar, nursing a single glass of wine while watching her vent.

As soon as she loudly said she was calling it a night, he rushed out of the bar and came home to wait for her. During this time, he had rehearsed apologies in his mind. He had whispered them, amended some parts and added clever words to blend sincerity and humor. But looking at her now, the words vanished.

Nonetheless, he wanted to try. “Suni,” he began, “I am so sorry for making you cry. I messed up, and you are right. You belong in our bed…”

Sunshine stretched her hand, covering his mouth. “Wait, I need to clarify why I reacted the way I have done. What hurt me was not that you kicked me out of our bedroom but that everyone slept there without me. It made me feel like an outsider Hades. It made me feel replaceable. It made me feel like I was not family. It made me wonder if someday maybe you would all kick me out your ex-wife would slide right in and take my place.”

Hades shuddered. “My ex-wife!”

Sunshine nodded.

Hades blinked. “Suni, I thought we buried this Amber issue. I told you then and I am telling you now that it is never going to happen. You’re my wife. You’re my partner. I chose you just like you chose me. I want you…I want us. White may have stolen your side of the bed for one night and your blanket, but no woman will ever steal your place in my life or this family. I am so sorry for not thinking with all of my brain cells and figuring things out. You were right to be angry; I was a fool.”

Sunshine’s eyes filled again, with relief mostly.

“If I ever go back on my words, kick me out of the base along with that woman. Or freeze and shatter us.” He told her, taking both of her hand in his. “Just keep the boys please, you are their mother.”

She laughed. “You just want a free lifetime babysitter.”

He laughed, pulling her into his embrace. “Now can we talk about how you broke our door with a hammer?”

She grimaced. “I would rather talk about your choice of putting pineapple and kiwi on pizza. Honestly Hades, it is foul.”

He laughed.

“I am still not sleeping in the bedroom; I want to sleep next to the window in the living room and watch the frost stones falling.” She said.

“Am I allowed to join you?” He asked.

She took a few seconds to reply, acting like she had to think about it really deeply.

He groaned. “You are killing me Suni.”

“No cuddling or kissing.” She finally said. “It is your punishment.”

“Can I at least sniff your hair?” He asked.

She giggled.

****

The residential area in the first wall was quiet. The night air was cold, carrying traces of the blizzard outside. Nimo sat in the passenger seat of Dwayne’s truck, her heart beating louder than the frost hitting the bubble shield. Beside her, Dwayne gripped the steering wheel a little too hard, like he was trying to rip it out.

His jaw was clenched; his eyes were cold. He seemed to be regretting the decision he had made when he offered to send Nimo home.

When he pulled up in front of her two-bedroom house, the headlights washed over the stone facade, illuminating the small fingerprints the young Quinn children had slapped on the walls with yellow and green paint.

He looked forward, silent, almost grim, waiting for her to step out. Nimo hesitated, her hand on her door but her feet still. She was unwilling to let the unexpected twist on the night end.

“Thanks for the ride.” She said softly, voice almost tentative. “Since you are here, would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?”

Dwayne turned to her, his eyes narrowed. “It is way past midnight, not suitable time for coffee unless you are on the night shift. And I don’t think I should do that. It is late, I should go home.”

Nimo smiled, trying to mask the sting of rejection. It was not the first time he was turning her down. She always thought she would get used to it but that had not happened so far.

In her mind, she laughed at herself. The advice she had offered Sunshine about not chasing men that did not want them, perhaps it was better suited to her. And yet, when she opened her mouth to bid him goodnight, something else was said. “It’s just coffee.”

It was lie, and they both knew this.

Dwayne looked out of the window, holding himself back from being tempted. He liked Nimo–more than liked her. She was brave, funny, beautiful, warm and had a laugh that made him forget how lonely and silent his empty house was. Whenever she was around him, she chattered like a bug on a adrenaline. She was like Philip in her own way.

Yet every time he felt his heart stirring, he imagined his late wife’s face, remembered the pictures of blood splattered across it. He imagined her watching and pictured her look of betrayal. He had led to her death, what right did he have to move on, fall in love and live happily ever after?

Nimo leaned back against the seat, borrowing courage from all the beer she had downed in the bar. “You know, Dwayne, I know what happened to your family. It has been many years. While it is okay to remember the past, it is not okay to live like you died too. You’re allowed to live again. She would want that.”

His jaw tightened. “I wish it was that simple.”

She turned her head to him, studying his face. He happened to look her way and their eyes collided. She studied the way his eyes quickly flickered from hers as if looking at her was a sin. It was hard to miss the way his shoulders hunched with the invisible weight he carried around all the time.

“It could be.” She whispered.

For a moment, silence stretched between them, heavy and charged. She touched his arm, and he looked at her again. In his eyes, she saw the battle raging within. A battle between desire and hope against guilt and memory.

That hope made her catch her breath. She leaned closer, fingers lightly brushing against his arm. The space between them narrowed to inches as she sought to fulfill a lingering that was always unsaid between them. His lips parted for a second–one brief second. His face tilted towards hers and his eyes closed.

And then he stopped.

Dwayne pulled back abruptly, leaning as far from her as he could as if he was avoiding something contagious. Or a fire. “I can’t,” he said, his voice rough.