Secrets Sullied

Wiping your mouth with your hand towel and tossing your toothbrush back into the cup on the vanity, you flicked off the light of the bathroom, stepping out into the dimly lit bedroom you shared with Copia. Coming to a stop at the edge of the bed, you carefully kneed your way up the mattress to cuddle up with your lover for the night. His arms came forward to wrap around your waist, pulling you close. “Oh, I thought you had fallen asleep already,” you yawned, your own arm coming to curl around his waist, burying your face into his chest.

“I was waiting for you, Mia Dolche. You know I can’t sleep unless you’re snug in my arms,” he said with a smile, pressing his lips to the crown of your head. With your own smile you snuggled closer to him, ready to fall asleep in his arms before you remember you hadn’t set your alarm yet. You peak your head up towards the night stand, realizing you’d left your phone on the bathroom counter.

“Oh, babe - could you go grab my phone from the bathroom? I need to set my alarm for the morning,” you asked, fingertips coming to cover your lips as you yawned again tiredly. Copia smiled again, placing a pecking kiss to your temple before scooting off the edge of the bed, half-jogging across the room to retrieve your phone from the bathroom.

Not bothering to flick on the light, Copia palmed at the bathroom counter, searching for your phone blindly in the dark. His hand bumped against it, giving a soft “Ah” to himself and grabbing it before turning back towards the door. Suddenly the phone’s screen lit up, lighting up his face in the dark with a dim glow. He glanced down at the screen briefly, not wanting to overstep privacy boundaries and snooping where he shouldn’t. However, something on the screen caught his eye and he looked down again, his thumb tracing over the text he saw.

His brow furrowed, a frown tugging at the corners of his lips as he read the text to himself-

I have the dates set. Tickets are purchased and everything. Don’t let Copia know. Don’t forget to pack all the important essentials. -Terzo

Copia’s eyes widened as they grazed over the screen, a single tear falling from his stinging eyes to land on the glass of the device in his hand. The screen went dark and he stared at it for a few more seconds, dumbfounded and heart breaking in his chest. He finally lifted his head up, staring up into the darkness in the direction of the bed he shared with you.

He paused at the bathroom doorway, frozen in place by the sudden hurt he felt in his heart. What have I done wrong? He asked himself silently, sucking his bottom lip between his teeth briefly, tasting his salty tears on his tongue.

Finally exiting the bathroom, he slowly crept over to the bed, clutching your phone in both hands in front of him. You open your eyes to see him standing by the bed. Even through the barely moonlit room you could see tears streaking down his face, his eyes glassy and pained as they pitifully stared down at you. You noticed your phone in his hands, his fingertips gripping the device hard enough you thought the glass might crack.

“Copia???” you called out to him, sitting up on your elbow and reaching your free arm out to him. He flinched, blinking down at you and sniffling meekly. “Copia what’s wrong?! Babe??” You sat up fully now, swinging your legs over the edge of the bed and reaching out to him with both hands.

Copia fell to his knees in front of you, his lip quivering as tears fell harder down his face. “Cara mia, have I been bad to you?” he sobbed pitifully, scooting closer to press himself into your thighs. “I-I’ll do anything you wish… I’ll make everything better, I promise!” he cried out, words coming out in gasps and heaves as his tears dripped down his face and onto your bare legs. “Just please, please don’t leave me-” he choked, gazing up at you with reddened, puffy eyes.

“Copia what are you talking about?? I’m not leaving!” you hurriedly assured him, your hands coming to either side of his face, clutching his damp cheeks in your palms. “What makes you think I’m leaving you??”

Copia sniffled, brow wrinkled in confusion as he slowly raised his hands that clutched your phone, glancing down at it once then back up to your face. You furrowed your own brow now, looking down at the phone and trepidatiously taking it from his hands. You tapped the on button, the screen glowing to life, lighting up your face in the darkness. With one glance up to Copia’s face you turned your attention back to the phone, flicking your notifications open to the one unread message from Papa Emeritus the Third.

Your lips pressed to a flat line as your expression changed from worry to a sheepish one. You locked your eyes with Copia’s once more, unceremoniously dropping your hands to your lap and cocking your head to the side. “Oh, Copia…” you sighed, tossing your phone beside you on the bed and leaning forward to take his face in your hands again. You pressed your lips to his in a tender kiss, Copia’s eyes wide in confusion momentarily before closing and leaning into you, his arms coming to wrap around your hips.

You pulled away, keeping your palms on his face. “That was supposed to be a surprise, baby,” you finally said, punctuating your sentence with a peck to his lips.

“A surp- you’re not leaving me? But what abou-” Copia started, and you pressed your thumb against his lips to shush him.

“Papa and I were planning a surprise for you… a surprise trip.” You sighed again, a little upset that the surprise was now pretty much ruined. “For your birthday.” you added with another exasperated sigh, leaning back a bit, propping your weight on one arm beside you as your other hand fell to rest in the crook of his neck and shoulder.

Copia’s eyes were wide and his jaw fell open, feeling particularly stupid at his overreaction but being unable to dwell on it for too long as his heart filled with relief. His lips curled up slightly in an open-mouthed smile, and the tenseness in his shoulders lifted, his posture relaxing. He exhaled a shuddering breath, blinking up at you reverently now. Suddenly his expression changed to a sheepish one, furrowing his brow again and looking embarrassed.

“Oh… I… I just ruined the surprise, didn’t I?” he said, looking like a puppy that just got reprimanded for ripping up your favorite pair of shoes.

You chuckled at his cute face, not at all angry with him over the incident, only slightly disappointed that you didn’t get to reveal the trip plans to him the way you’d originally wanted to. Oh well, what’s done is done.

“Well, might as well fill you in then, huh?” you said, scritching at the nape of his neck with your fingertips, humming softly when his eyes fluttered briefly in response. “We bought tickets to go see a show on Broadway,” you sat up again, leaning in close to him and throwing your arms over his shoulders. “A weekend trip, booked a lovely little Bed & Breakfast and everything - For the three of us.”

“Three?” Copia questioned, his voice sounding full of hopeful intrigue.

“Yep. Papa is coming along. You know he’d be distraught if he lost out on a chance to go to a Broadway show,” you giggled to yourself, smiling at the way Copia’s eyes glinted at the sound of your laughter. “But also…” you continued, leaning your lips in close to brush against the shell of his ear, “To share a bed with us, and give you a birthday night you’ll never forget.” Your tongue darted out to lick his earlobe, and you felt him shudder beneath you.

Copia let out a stuttered breath, his eyes fluttering shut at the thought. He very much liked that idea. You pulled back to look him in the eye, smiling gently at him through the darkness of the room.

Copia stared back, his eyes half-lidded, seemingly lost in his own imagination. Suddenly his eyes lit up again, appearing to remember where he was in the moment. “Oh, what show are we seeing, then?”

You chuckled breathily at him, so easily distracted this man. “Your favorite, of course. Mamma Mia.” you replied, giggling again when his expression widened to one of pure, unadulterated glee.

“Oh Cara, I can’t wait,” he breathed, hugging you close and burying his face in your chest. You hummed, petting your fingers through his hair with a sigh of contentment. A groan came from beneath you and suddenly your body was being dragged up the bed, Copia’s following suit and landing on top of you, a stiff bulge being pressed into your hip.

“Copia, what-” you started, making eye contact with him, his face looking sheepish again as he bit his lip.

“Sorry, Cara… I just can’t stop thinking about what we’ll be doing the night of my birthday…” he murmured, his hips grinding into yours lightly.

“Oh, Copia…” you said with a sigh, a smile growing wide on your face. Phone and alarm now forgotten, it didn’t look like you’d be getting to sleep tonight anyway.