Everlastingly Loving You - Chapter 136

Sophia could go on.

She momentarily wondered where Louis was – probably off with his boyfriend, she presumed. Julia looked… uncomfortable, to say the least.

Once Sophia’s gaze landed on her, she narrowed her eyes.

“Are you alright, Julia?” Nicholas asked, blinking.

“I’m alright. I just feel a tad bit lightheaded, ‘is all,” Julia exhaled sharply.

She was having trouble breathing but played it off as nothing.

Nicholas fed Sophia a spoonful of ricotta-filled lasagna lathered with marinara sauce.

Julia watched the two of them.

They reminded her of herself many, many years ago.

Then she reminded herself her husband was dead.

She gulped before pouring herself a cup of water in an attempt to not cause Sophia or Nicholas to worry for her.

__

Clarisse felt sick to her stomach.

Being in Blaine’s bedroom didn’t help things.

She grumbled, “I need to do something.”

She got off of the king-sized bed and ruffled her hair.

“I need more coffee to function,” Clarisse frowned.

“Who to call?” Clarisse wondered, scrolling through her contacts, nearly calling Sophia in the midst of it.

Sophia had told her she was having lunch with Julia, and god knows what Louis was doing with Marcus at the current moment.

She sighed, slumping down on one of Blaine’s expensive couches.

“What about Oliver?” She wondered if he was the best person to confide in.

Reminding herself he was the last person she ever should’ve considered to contact, she sent Sophia a text.

“You there, girl?”

Her message was read almost immediately.

“I’m sleeping, go text someone else,” Sophia texted her.

“Are you kidding me?” Clarisse texted her back.

“I’m not up to listen to you rambling, I just finished lunch with grandmere, go bother someone else.”

“And who do you suggest I bother?” Clarisse texted.

Sophia pretended to think about it.

“Hm…”

“What about Jaxson?” Sophia suggested.

“Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

“And besides, isn’t he still in Sanguis?”

“You woke me up,” Sophia lied.

“Is Nicholas with you?”

“No, why?”

Clarisse decided to call her.

“Oh come on,” Sophia whined once she picked up the phone.

“Did you have to call me?” She pouted.

“I’m exhausted, find someone else to bother, I’m not kidding.”

“Bother Jaxson, if I recall, he should already be back in Beldovia by now.”

“Besides, he is the guy you’re in an arrangement with, might as well get to know each other,” Sophia said nonchalantly.

Clarisse frowned.

Sophia added, “And if I get enough rest, we can go for a spa day or something afterwards.”

Clarisse smiled, “Sounds great.”

Sophia didn’t say anything else before she hung up. Boy, was she exhausted.

“Clarisse?” Nicholas asked her.

“Mhm,” Sophia nodded.

“She’s coming over,” Sophia told him.

“To talk to Jaxson, not to bother us again,” she mumbled.

Nicholas raised his brow, “She’s your friend, cut her some slack.”

“So she’s going through something, you have to be there for her, it’s when she needs you most, as much as how you think it’s unimportant,” Nicholas reasoned.

Sophia looked over at him, “So you’re telling me to ditch you and go comfort her?”

Nicholas chuckled, “I didn’t mean that.”

Sophia took a deep breath.

“But you’re right, I should set aside whatever I think of it and be there for her.”

“Just as soon as I take a quick nap,” she mumbled.

Nicholas snuggled beside her, making himself comfortable.

“Sleep,” he said to her.

“I’m trying to,” Sophia admitted.

“I just can’t.”

“Something’s bugging me.”

She looked up at him, “Could you just stay here and wait for me to fall asleep?”

Nicholas smiled, “Of course.”

“Where else could I go?”

“Besides, you’re adorable sleeping, which is a bonus,” he praised.

Sophia grunted, “If you keep flirting with me, then I won’t be able to sleep, or be able to take a nap.”

Nicholas played with her hair.

Sophia fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

__

“You’re awake,” Nicholas said, his lips inches away from hers. Sophia furrowed her brows.

He was looking at her a certain way.

“You snored,” Nicholas told her.

“I snored?” Sophia looked confused.

“I don’t snore,” she denied.

Nicholas trailed a finger up to her neck.

“But you did,” he said, adding, “Like a truck driver.”

Sophia looked majorly offended.

“I do NOT snore like some truck driver,” she pouted.

“You were tired,” Nicholas reasoned.

“Besides, I never said it was entirely a bad thing.”

She turned her head sideways to avoid looking directly at him.

“Why are we even discussing this?” Sophia laughed softly, crossing her arms while she looked up at the ceiling.

“What time is it anyway?” She asked Nicholas.

Nicholas answered with, “It’s 15 minutes past 4.”

Sophia’s eyes widened in horror and shock. “You let me sleep for 4 whole hours?!”

She reached for her phone, “I’ve got to tell Clarisse—”

“Oh you’ll be fine, she’ll understand,” Nicholas said reassuringly.

Sophia pouted, “Really?”

Nicholas admitted, “Well, not really, she might be infuriated.”

“But you do have the opportunity to blame this on tiredness,” he pointed out.

Sophia stared at him, “I can’t fathom how someone like you has any bit of positivity left in you.”

It was infrequent she looked at the bright side. She was negative right down to her core, albeit the fact she was changing for the better.

“It’s just my way of seeing things,” he said to her.

He wasn’t normally a positive person, but he was whenever he was around her. She made him want to think of the best, that everything would be okay so long as she was here with him and he was with her. So long the both of them were happy together.

Days where they got to talk, flirt and banter on the bed before ending the day falling asleep to a movie and waking up to breakfast in bed, those were his favourites. Not lavish dates that took days if not weeks to prepare, but rather, the simpler things. The simpler times he spent with her, being able to tell her and show just how much he loved her.