Caspian stared at his phone until the device blacked out, he had hidden it well on the call but he hadn’t been expecting Asher to agree to dinner.
He had just woken up from his long afternoon nap and it hit really hard then that he missed Asher.
So he made the call before reality and common sense stopped him.
He knew that Asher had gone off to work to cut off the conversation, and if it would keep the Alpha away from him, he didn’t mind putting the discussion on hold for the meantime.
It was probably not a smart thing to do, considering that ignoring their problems wasn’t going to make it go away.
But he hadn’t slept beside Asher in a week and it was starting to tell on him.
He missed the Alpha’s scent.
Caspian got out of bed to go splash some water on his face, frowning at the red stripes on his cheek from sleeping on his palm.
It was still an hour or two to dinner so he wasn’t expecting Asher back so soon.
A good deal of scrubbing only managed to make his entire face red but at least it was even now.
He walked out of the bathroom and headed straight for the television to scroll through shows they could watch together.
He hadn’t even played games since Asher left...
They hadn’t gone on a date before.
That part could be excused because they couldn’t seem to have a single peaceful week.
It was either he was getting bought, kidnapped, or they were uncovering decades-long secrets, and there was also right now.
Caspian wasn’t even sure what he could call it.
Asher wanted him to leave because he couldn’t bring himself to send Caspian off...
Which was very selfish of the Alpha, because what made him think he could bear to leave either?
He sighed and refocused on the lit screen in front of him, unable to pick a show.
It didn’t help that his thoughts were a mess, Asher didn’t want to talk about it, and they couldn’t just go about their day with the size of the elephant in the room.
Caspian gave up on finding a show, and unable to sit still, he wandered over to the bed to straighten it out.
The more he tried to think about something else, the more his unresolved issues with Asher filled his head.
It was the sole reason he had been able to fall asleep, he had passed out simply from the mental exhaustion of rotating the same topic in his head over and over again.
Maybe he should ask Asher if he could accompany him to work the next day, because staying in the mansion alone would drive him mad.
After straightening the sheets, there was nothing to do so he was forced to sit on one of the sofas.
Just as he was about to get up again, the door swung open, to reveal Asher standing awkwardly at the door.
Caspian was already halfway across the room, "You’re back earlier than I thought."
"I wasn’t exactly occupied," Asher admitted, refusing to make eye contact.
Caspian bit back a smile, he really didn’t want to talk about finding a solution.
"Since we’ve got time to burn, why don’t we watch a movie?" He suggested, walking into the room so that Asher would stop lingering at the door.
"Would you prefer the cinema?" The Alpha asked as he finally crossed the threshold, taking off his coat.
Caspian turned around at that, big blue eyes sparkling. "Are we going to the movies?"
Asher froze with his coat halfway off, feeling like he had made a mistake of some kind.
When he said that, he had been thinking of setting up a cinema room for Caspian, since he liked movies so much.
But he could understand how the way he said it could be misunderstood.
Asher had never been to the cinema before, and he had never wanted to go, so it didn’t cross his mind that normal people would take it that way.
He wasn’t going to turn Caspian down though, not when he was so excited about something so mundane.
"Uh... sure," He accepted, not knowing what he was getting into.
"And we can just get dinner at a nice little restaurant instead of coming back home," Caspian was already making plans. "It’ll be like a date night."
"Right," Asher said absently, quickly recalculating.
He was supposed to be coming up with ways to convince Caspian to leave, and he doubted that date night would be any help.
"Shouldn’t you still be on bed rest?" He quickly added, recollecting himself.
Caspian waved his worries with a slender hand, "I’ve been on bed rest all week, a little fresh air wouldn’t hurt..."
Before Asher could come up with further plans to sabotage date night Caspian had already disappeared into the closet.
The Omega had been absent-minded, muttering to himself about how he needed a wardrobe change.
Asher just shrugged his coat back on, there was no stopping the wheels of what was already in motion.
He sat on the edge of the bed, breathing in Caspian’s sugary sweet scent deep like he had just come out of water for air.
With Caspian, he could just be Asher, just a guy waiting for his partner to dress up for their movie date.
And the thought that he would soon not have moments anymore made his chest seize painfully.
Caspian’s scent felt like it was clogging up his throat, and he could swear his vision was dimming.
The closet door opened at that moment, Caspian coming out with a megawatt smile. "Asher, are you ready?"
The sound of his name pulled him free of whatever was dragging him under, his hazel gold eyes unfocused for a second until they settled on Caspian.
The Omega was walking forward with that contagious smile, wearing a low-necked cashmere sweater and hip-hugging pants.
"Did you plan to change?" Caspian asked, offering him a hand.
Asher stared at it blankly for a few seconds before reaching out, "Do I need to?"