There was a sense of serenity traveling the air, but the turmoil that was breathing out from Hannah's lips was enough to turn the atmosphere mildly wild. There was still an entire foot between her and Riley, and yet her warm breaths caused Riley's long white hair to flutter due to how deep and strong they were.
"You know…" Hannah repeated her words in a whisper as she leaned ever so slowly closer to Riley, "...I feel really close to you for some reason."
"That is because you are, Hannah. You're only a few centimeters away from me right now."
"I'm… not talking about that, silly…" Hannah's words became even slower as her hand found itself sitting on top of Riley's thigh, "I mean…"
Hannah leaned even closer to Riley; her nose, almost touching his face before her head just suddenly dropped toward Riley's chest.
"..." And just like that, her body was overloaded with all sorts of emotions; partnered with her very tiring day, Hannah could not help but just faint from exhaustion there and then.
"..." Riley slightly leaned his head down to look at Hannah's hair, before just letting out a sigh and gently placing her down the sofa to rest. And as her whistling breaths whispered in the air, a blanket flew toward her, softly landing and covering every inch of her body, leaving only her head exposed to breathe comfortably.
"Hm," Riley then gently adjusted Hannah's bangs with his hand, delicately pushing them to the side so he could see her whole face—and there she is.
Hannah.
Unlike the other variants he had seen, there was absolutely no difference in physical appearance with Hannah. He had seen two other Bernards, yet they looked somewhat different from each other due to their weight and their overall style, same with Diana. As for Alice, well—she's older. Aerith was completely different.
But Hannah? Her height, her weight, and even the way her body curved and moved was the same. It truly felt like his sister was sleeping beside him.
If there was one thing that was different, it was their relationship. Of course, their relation to one another would be completely different—but this was different.
This Hannah Ross is presenting romantic feelings toward him, he had seen it so many times before. And with that thought circling in Riley's mind in a loop, he could not help but remember the fake wedding he had with Hannah. It was a weird feeling, but he recalls that it was also a nice feeling—almost as if he gained a semblance of normalcy in his life.
'Normal', Riley could not help but close his eyes and sigh upon thinking of the word. The smile that almost crawled on his face, gone before it could come to life, expressionless.
The reason he didn't continue torturing Jonas was that he really had no reason to. He wanted to hurt him because Riley knew that he gained his ability by extracting a part of Megawoman—Riley found himself a little… angry. But when he realized that the Megawoman of this world is not the one he knew, he stopped.
It should be the same with the Hannah of this world. She is completely different from his sister; no matter how similar they are, even if they truly are the same people and just different versions of each other, this is not his sister.
And so why?
Why does he feel some sort of attachment to the stranger lying and breathing beside him?
Riley breathed out as he opened his eyes and once again looked at Hannah's face.
Peaceful. This is her life without his genocidal brother in the picture.
Riley knew what is right and what is wrong—that was part of the fun. Destroying everything and torturing everyone was only fun because he knew it was wrong, and he didn't care. He just has to because that is what he was made to do, and he had learned to fully embrace and enjoy it.
He knows what is right and what is wrong. And this?
"This is wrong," a small whisper escaped Riley's lips as he looked away from Hannah, "You know, Hannah. I believe more than anything that if there is a way to truly control me, that is you. I could even perhaps consider you my weakness."
Riley smoothly brushed the back of his hand on Hannah's hair as he looked at nowhere in particular, "I want to ignore you, I want you to be rid of me—and yet every part of me needs you. I need to be with you. I made a promise to myself that I break over and over again. You are never going to be safe and happy with me."
"..."
"When I approached you, I thought things would be different," Riley placed his palm above Hannah's cheek, but did not touch it, "I thought that because you are a different person, it is alright to risk being by your side."
This Hannah is different, she is a complete stranger. So Riley thought that he wouldn't care even if he puts her in danger…
"But it's not," Riley moved his hand away, "I underestimated how dear you are to me. Even as a stranger who has lived a completely different life…
…you still remain as the most important object in my life."
And with those words whispering away into the quiet air, Riley carefully stood up and walked toward the kitchen… not knowing that Hannah was actually awake.
"What… what the fuck was that about?" Hannah very quickly but sneakily covered herself with the entire blanket, wanting to sink deeper into the sofa to hide the growing redness of her face. In truth, she just pretended to faint and fall asleep to test what Riley was going to do.
After all, although she might feel completely at ease with this stranger she just met hours ago, she wasn't a fool. She knew that she was feeling things that would cloud her judgment, and so she wanted to know what Riley was going to do to her when she fell asleep completely defenseless beside him.
Hannah expected a lot of things, but a monologue expressing a deep and fathomless love and a confession of how she was dearly wanted and needed was not one of them. She wanted to get up and ask Riley what he meant by all of that, but it would be too awkward now.
And so, Hannah found her mind completely filled with all sorts of thoughts Riley. As for Riley, he got a glass of milk from the fridge, before going to the penthouse's main bedroom and sleeping comfortably there…
…leaving the owner of the house to sleep on the sofa.
***
"I… I managed to fall asleep?"
It would seem Hannah completely underestimated how tired she was. She thought she wouldn't be able to fall asleep due to her overthinking mind—but now, as she opened her eyes, the morning sun that seeped into the tall and wide windows of her house blanketed her silhouette.
The brightness didn't wake her up, though. It was the sound of a sizzle and the smell of butter.
"..." Hannah just instinctively got up from the sofa, before lazily following the flavorful scent and walking toward the kitchen with her eyes still half-closed.
"Nina, I told you I was going to eat out to—You're not Nina." Hannah's eyes completely widened in surprise as she saw Riley cooking in the kitchen.
"Good morning, Hannah," Riley did not glance at Hannah and instead just continued cooking.
"I… have a personal chef to do that," Hannah did not really know what to think as she saw the sight.
"Perhaps," Riley shrugged before taking off the pan he was holding away from the stove and serving its contents onto the plate near him, "But I wanted to cook for you."
"What—"
"Scrambled egg, whisked with cream and cheese, and then cooked with salted butter," Riley then expertly placed the plate on the island counter, putting it beside another dish already plated, "Unseasoned bacon marinated in sweet soy sauce, and chili-garlic oil on the side."
"W…what?" Hannah batted her eyes a couple of times as she looked at the meal in front of her; plated even better than her personal chef, "Wait…
…I love these, how did you—"
"Avocado, completely covered and glazed with powdered milk," Riley was not done as he placed another plate on top of the counter, "Only eat it once you're done with your breakfast."
"...Fuck," Hannah could really only instinctively sit on the stool, casually accepting the fork that Riley handed him. Riley sat on the opposite of the counter as the two of them just started having a meal as if they were used to having it together.
"F…Fuck…" Hannah stuttered as she gulped her first bite, "Maybe… I should hire you instead?"
"There is no need to hire me, Hannah. This is just one of the things that I could at least do for you to repay everything that I have done."
"...Weirdo."
The two didn't really talk after that, with Hannah almost moaning as she enjoyed every bite of her food. As soon as they were done, Riley quickly grabbed the plates before Hannah could do so and started washing the dishes.
And with nothing to do, Hannah just decided to check her phone to see everything that she missed while she was in another universe…
…only to see the outside of her penthouse being broadcast on the news on live television.
[Hannah Ross and a mystery man, what is their relationship?]
[Hannah Ross's suspected boyfriend and Jonas Reuben caught in an altercation!]
"...What the fuck?"
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m