Chapter 129

Dylan POV

So Victoria ended up being mates to Oliver?! That was a shock to the system, in fact I think I found that more unbelievable than the battle I had witnessed earlier that day.

By the time me and Lewis made our way back up to the main pack house I sighed, my hand quickly rubbed my eyes in exasperation as the sound of celebration still met my ears.

I was tired and I was drained, not to mention I was covered in blood and I was still dressed in clothes that also belonged to other people, not that I actually had any of my own. Every single item of clothing I had worn since my uniform was taken from me and destroyed in the palace, was borrowed from someone or given to me with the sole purpose of making me feel uncomfortable.

All I wanted was somewhere to rest my head.

"Hey, are you ok?" I felt a comforting hand gently rest on my shoulder causing a small smile to form on my lips. Lewis was always the first person to notice if I was feeling anything, it didn't matter what emotion it was, he would always pick up on it.

"I'm ok..." I could almost feel his flat look staring at the back of my head so I turned around to face him. "I'm just tired, it's been a long day." He was satisfied with my answer and smiled at me nodding his head in understanding before commenting on my confession.

"I have a room here, I haven’t really stayed in it much recently but it's yours, for however long you want to use it for. Come on, no one will mind you leaving early." He gently grabbed my hand and began to lead me through the pack house.

I couldn't help but actually like it here, it was much less understated than the pack house from my home district, and was obviously a far cry from the palace.

Most of the walls here were decorated in warm orange tones, and the furniture was a mixture of brown fabrics and dark oak. It was rustic yet modern, and radiated nothing but comfort. I glanced around taking in everything as we walked to Lewis's room, which was on the far side of the building and situated on the floor directly below the top floor.

Even still it had two large doors that he effortlessly opened and held them for me to walk in. My mouth hung open at the size. It reminded me so much of the palace bedrooms, however this one was filled with Lewis's scent and didn't leave me feeling nothing but dread.

The bed looked insanely inviting and I really had to fight the urge to just jump on it stomach first, I didn't want to get blood on it after all.

"Make yourself comfortable." He pointed to the large sofa that sat at the side of the room resting against the wall, But all I wanted to do was to wash myself down and then get to sleep. "Do you want a bath?" What the fuck? Was he a mind reader or something? My head halted its movements in looking around the room and my eyes widened slightly when they landed on his form. He had his closet open and was pulling a large fluffy towel out of it before turning to me. "I can go and run one for you, so just relax ok."

"I can sort it out, you don't need to..." he cut me off with a small peck to my head and chuckled slightly at my surprised face.

"Look, I want to help in any way I can, so please just sit down and chill, do whatever you want to, ok. I'll be 10 minutes." He squeezed my upper arm gently with one hand before walking away to what I presume was the bathroom while I simply stared at his back.

Why did he want to do something so tedious? All you had to was turn on the two taps and wait.

I sat down on the sofa and rested my head on the back of it, for the first time in months my head was blank of thoughts, was I really feeling that peaceful that my mind wasn't even working in that moment?

Although, I admit, the quiet in my head didn't last that long as The sound of the taps gushing water out quickly filled the room, and I smiled as Lewis flooded my brain. No one had ever been so attentive to me before, it truly did make a change, Lewis made me feel like I could conquer anything as long as he was by my side.

I liked him, god help me, I really liked him, and the more things he would do for me, the more my feeling began to grow.

It took about 8 minutes before Lewis once again left the bathroom. He smiled as he walked up to me, he held his two hands out in an invitation to help me rise and I took them, without hesitation.

"Take your time. I'll be downstairs if you need anything, ok? I'll leave some of my clothes on the bed for when you're ready." I swallowed and nodded my head before strolling to the door of the bathroom. I halted before I entered though and turned to the man who was once again rummaging in his closet, however this time he was trying to locate some clothes for me to wear to bed.

"Hey, Lewis?" I was met with a simple yet friendly hum in reply, and I smiled when he turned back to me so he could look at me while I spoke to him. "You don't have to go? I mean... you can stay and wait if you want to? I won't be that long, I promise."

I made it sound like I didn't care whether he decided to stay or go, it was his choice, but I knew I really wanted him to be there when I got out of the bath, I wanted to be comforted by him. To bask in his warmth. I think he fully knew what my selfish desires were because he chuckled and played along perfectly.

"Ok, I'm pretty tired myself, so I wouldn't mind just staying up here for a while. But don't be too quick, just enjoy." I nodded and finally walked into the bathroom.

Instantly the scent of flowery soap met my nose and the warmth radiating from the tub, hit me and almost immediately relaxed my muscles, all but one. A large smile formed as I stared at the bath, that was filled to the brim with bubbles, soft instrumental music was playing out of a small box on a self in the corner, and little flamed tea light candles were dotted around, the main light was off and it created a beautiful calmness that completely took over the room.

"I might be a little longer than I thought." I shouted out to him, only to be once again met with a chuckle.

I closed the door gently, blocking out the entire world, before stripping my clothes off and gently climbing into the tub. The water was warm, yet it didn't scold me, or cause any problems to my scarred back, it simply enveloped me blissfully as I sunk into it.

The music and atmosphere began to lull me into a tranquil rest as my head leaned back and my eyes fluttered closed.

I had switched off to absolutely everything until a small knock disturbed my peace. I opened my eyes after what felt like five minutes only to find that the candles were flickering due to the wax disappearing and leaving nothing left to burn and all the luxurious bubbles that once surrounded my body, were now nonexistent.

I must have been the there for a while.

"Dylan? Are you alright?" Came Lewis's melodic voice. I don't know how long it had been but I knew I had to get out soon, and so reluctantly I climbed out and wrapped the towel around my now wrinkly self.

"I'm good, just lost track of the time." I answered before realizing my clothes were outside, with Lewis! "Could you pass me the clothes you found, please?" I asked before opening the door up a crack to see Lewis already holding them in his hands. His gaze averted me as he passed the bundle of fabric to me and once again patiently waited for me to exit the bathroom. "Thank you, Lewis." I smiled at him as I stepped out and awkwardly rocked on my feet slightly in the tshirt and jogging bottoms that were clearly far too big for me. My wet hair cascaded down my back and my bare feet curled slightly out of awkwardness. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long."

He didn't say a word about how long it had actually been, in fact he didn't say anything at all, he just stared at me, his eyes darting over every inch of my face, flashing with so many thoughts I couldn't for the life of me understand any of them.

"You look breathtaking." Came his response after a minute of me fidgeting with my bare feet. Nothing but sincerity could be found on his features as he dropped the book he had obviously been reading.

He too was dressed comfortably, he was sat up comfily in bed, an open book that most likely had his head buried in it, now sat in his lap, open but not even an after thought as he gazed at me.

"Was that you secretly complimenting your choice of clothes?" I asked after the shock of his confession had passed over me. He chuckled but kept his eyes trained on me, it was making my stomach flutter and so I quickly changed the subject. "What book are you reading?"

"Ah..." It was almost as if he had forgotten he was even reading until I mentioned it. He lifted it very briefly before plopping it once again back down on his legs. "Great expectations, by Charles Dickens. It's very old, but it's my one of my favorites." He had obviously read it much more than once.

"I've never heard of it..." I admitted to which he instantly feigned hurt. "I don't really like reading, after the new world I didn't really have the time to do any, I can't even remember what my favorite book was." He placed a small piece of paper into the page he was on and closing the book over quickly, before placing it onto the table next to the bed.

"My favorite, is A Tale Of Two Cities." He smiled before getting out of bed and walking over to the small shelf of books, pulling out an old battered one and handing it to me.

"Charles Dickens again? You must like the author." My fingers gently stroked over the hard cover and felt the indents of the books title.

"Hmm..." He agreed with a hum. "I enjoy his use of language." He stretched his arms over his head while I absentmindedly opened the book and quickly read the first line. "I could read it to you, if you wanted?"

I snapped my head up to him and smiled at the redness in his cheeks, before handing him the book, pulling the covers back on the opposite side to where he was lying, and jumped in.

"I'd like that!" I enjoyed hearing his voice. He smiled quickly and slid under the quilt himself before hesitantly holding his arm out for me to shuffle into him.

I did so immediately and placed my head on his shoulder while his arm wrapped around me to hold the book open.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." He read.

This... this is what I always imagined happiness would feel like.