Chapter Text
The first night he come home late at night, reeks of strawberry sweet perfume she brushed it off as some scent that lingers just a tad too strong.
The second time, she smell the same scent again she feel sick to her stomach but she still have doubts because their coupling and sex life were never an issues before.
He still come to her every night, coaxing orgasm out of her every time they spend time together. Their dating life, when it's not very long time, but it's perfect. They're happy with each other, nothing wrong. So she starts to brushed it off again.
The third time she smell that same scent on him, she refuse to be kiss by him and he looks hurt by it but she prevails and ignores him for the rest of the night.
She turned her body away from him, keeping a distance in their share bedroom, she note that she needs to be prepared for the worse but she won't accuse him of something without any proof.
He try to pull her closer to him, but she won't budge. He get too many lenient as it is, that sometimes she forget that before her, he were never stay with one woman for longer than a year.
She thought that thing would be different with them, but it just her own daydream, she need to wake up soon enough. She will never ever let man to treat her like she's less than what she's worth, even him.
"Rhaenyra," he whispered her name, in the depth of the night. Like her actions confuse him, like she's the one that create inconvenience for him. He try to grab her hands, but she swat it away.
"Don't."
"What's wrong, sweetheart? Tell me, so we can fix it" he try to sit up and put his hands on her shoulder.
"Don't touch me." She said with finality that she can imagine his brain start to cataloguing course of action to avoid any confrontation.
He's quiet for a moment, she thought that he will get restless and start prying for answer. But to her disappointment, he stop and go back to sleep.
She listen to his breathing, she makes sure that he finally deeps in sleep before getting up and move to curl herself on the guest bedroom.
That night, she's wide awake and she can longer bears her feelings and she's crying silently.
She let her own memories drag her from this nightmare that she experienced with the love of her life.
Her soulmate. Daemon.
She mourn the love that she will lose and the inevitable thing that surely happened sooner than later. She decide to have mercy on him and will talk him sooner comes morning.
She didn't let sleep evoke her, she let herself drown on old memories where the time they spend together still feel like a dream, when everything still perfect.
—————
When they start to date, her day to day life always fill with so much joy, happiness and laughter.
Finally to have him for herself, after all those push and pull between the two of them, it's all worth the wait.
He let go of all the night life and chaos that it leaves on its trails, no more drugs, no more mayhem and no more women. Only the company of each other, fill with share joke and jab here and there, childhoods dream, desire and darkest dream, learn more about each other like and dislike, it feels like she finally belongs.
She is his home as much as she is him.
It also helps that their sex life were never a problem, they click from the start and there's no awkward fumbling.
Everything just so perfect. She experienced orgasm more times with him than her entire dating life combined. He's insatiable.
He keeps dragging her to their own bed and start to devour her, he can spend many times to go down on her and sometimes she did it just for her and not expected something in return.
"I've been wanting to kiss this cunt for so long," his words come out in a hungry rush as he lifts my dress, cupping me while pressing his cock in harder, "this is always hard, just from wanting you, sweetheart."
He slips a finger inside her panties and slides the pad of it along her clit, twisting her neck back to claim her mouth. Tongues dancing, he expertly toys with her center, rubbing her with the perfect amount of pressure so that she start whimpering in his mouth.
And then he's on his knees, taking off her fuzzy shocks that she wears at home, the same shocks that he wear now too, one by one before sliding warm hands up her thighs.
His lips are everywhere, on her calves, the skin on the back of her knees before trailing to the tops of her thighs, and then she feel his breath between her legs a second before he places a tongue-filled kiss to her clit. Her knees go weak as he works beneath her dress, licking her over her panties with mastered precision, her heart thundering as another orgasm builds.
"Daemon." She gasped his name when she feel a long swipe of his tongue on her clit. And then he coaxed her out of her orgasm. Again and again.
——————
He wakes up groggily, he use to Rhaenyra waking him up with peppered kisses and sometimes when she feel generous she woke him up by giving him heads. But today, he realized that something is wrong, she couldn't found her in their bed.
He didn't feel her presence in their bedroom. He start a beeline to the bathroom and still there's no sign of her.
He start to panicked a little, where she's going? Why she didn't wake him up? Why her side of the bed feel cold like she didn't sleep in here at all.
He open the bedroom door and start to go to her favorite place, her personal library. With ladder, secret door, corner nook and hundred of books for her company.
He start to renovate this apartment when they start dating and give her this library for her escape room, a gift that she always grateful for she said. But even then, he couldn't found her.
Not in her library, not in the kitchen, not in the patio, not in the swimming pool, not in the home theater, mot in the gym room. It only leaves him with one more other, guest bedroom that also works for their storage room.
Maybe she's just on her cleaning mood and start to clean the messiest room in their apartment. But even then, he feels like something is really wrong with her.
"Don't." "Don't touch me."
That whispered words coming out of her mouth feels like a stab through his heart. He plan to keep his distance, maybe she just feel overwhelmed with his presence is all. Or she's simply trying to sleep without any funny business tonight, but even then, she usually let him hug her close.
He realized that she start giving him the odd looks for quite sometimes. When he implored her to what she's thinking, she just give him a waned smile and shake her pretty head and leave to her library. She often spends her time there even when he finally home.
Odd, but again she maybe need time to adjust to their living arrangements. She used to live alone all her life, that he's not surprised that maybe she misses being alone.
He beeline to the guest room and he startled when he found that she's been awake in all of his quest looking out for her all morning.
He founds her curls in fatal positions in bed, her expression is hollow and her eyes numb. He didn't know what to say, he never see her like this and it guts him. He start to walk, to get closer to her and finally she look him in the eye and indicate him to stop, and then he stop.
"What's wrong, sweetheart? Why you were sleeping here?" He asked her gently, he's afraid that their close proximity is making her uncomfortable. He wishes that's not the reason.
"You." She whispered slowly.
He blinked, didn't understand her meaning but then she continued and the words that coming out of her mouth is like a punch to his stomach.
"I know." She said it with finality. He's quite and trying to process what does she mean with it, but then like a lightning zip.
Memories come rushing back at him, a night gathering where to many alcohol consume a kiss that usually land on cheek drift of a little to the corner of his coworker lips. Awkward fumbling, awkward kiss, and awkward laughter shared between them when they decided that it was a mistake.
But then it happened again, one, two and the third time is finally his last time. He couldn't hurt Rhaenyra, but he already did.
"Rhaenyra, i-
"I will move out from the house tomorrow, i just want to rest for today." She said and turn her back on him.
She said she want to move out, she don't want to be here, she doesn't want him any longer. She didn't even want to hear his explanation.
"Rhaenyra, sweetheart, i- please don't. Listen to me." He begs.
"I don't want to hear anything."
"Sweetheart, i could explain. It was a mistake, i-
She cut him off, "a mistake is when you pick a wrong cereal box when we go grocery shopping, a mistake is when you put the wrong detergent for out duvet, but cheating is not a mistake. It's a choice that you make."
"I-
"You hurt me, i trust you too much but you don't deserve my trust." She said and start to turn around and getting up from the bed. She walk closer to him, her eyes lingers on him for long and he's afraid of what he found there.
She close the distance between the two of them, and put her hand behind his necks.
She dragged him for a hug, but this hug feels like a final.
A goodbye hug.
He hold her closer and harder, he can't let her go. He can't, he can't lose her for a stupid mistake that he makes under the influence of alcohol. He won't. He hang on her for dear life even when she start to pull away, even when she start to back away, no, he won't let her.
"Let me go, Daemon." "No." "Daemon.."
"No, I won't let you go. Not now not ever."
"Even when you hurt me?"
"Yes."
"I see." Her words shocked him a little, her way of saying it, like she's numb and no longer want to feels a thing anymore.
"Rhaenyra, i-I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm doing that, it was a mistake i swear it, i end things yesterday. Please, don't shut me out. Please."
"What do you want then?" She asked him stoically.
"Just us. Together. We can start over again." He sounds so hopeful and he believes that they still have time to mends things.
"Even when i no longer want to be with you?"
"What? No, i-of course i want us to be together but i also want you to want it too."
"Well, i don't."
He didn't think that his actions will lead him to this very situation.
He thought that if she didn't know, things can get better again eventually.
He decided that his infidelity was a mistake that he will never ever repeat again, and yet.
He lose her already.
"It's hurt, doesn't it? I won't subject myself to someone that easily brushed away my feelings for the sake of fumbling mistake. I know what I'm worth, and you're no longer someone that's worth the effort. I told you, i can forgive you if you relapse with your old habit on occasion with alcohol or drugs, but i already told you that cheating is just not something i can forgive. You will always found a loophole so that your endeavor wouldn't go unnoticed." She shrugged, try to make light of this situation.
But he can see how she keep a strong hold on her hands, if he pray her hands he would found a crescent moon indent on her palm and it hurt him that his the one that cause this distress over her.
"Rhaenyra, I'm sorry."
"Okay. I'm going tomorrow, take good care of yourself, Uncle." She smile but her eyes is dead, she didn't want to be with him because of his stupid fucking mistakes and he regrets it now.
Truly, but regret is not something that she want to hear, it's action.
He will let her go for now, but not for long. He will show her he can be someone that she can spend the rest of her life with.
He want to grow old with her, he want her and only her alone. Let this be his lesson that will never be repeated ever again.
———————
Sometimes we need to let go of someone, even when that's someone's feels like a lifelines in this bleak world.
A time to grow and nurture ourselves, so when the time finally come for the two souls two join together, it's not only because they want it, they will join and become one because they need it.
Even when it took forever, what meant to be will always found a way back. Eventually.