Sun Upon Dark Clouds

48: Half Angel

Beads of sweat were forming on the brunette’s forehead as she stared at the chess pieces on the board with her eyebrows knitted in concentration. For the past five minutes, she had already drunk two bottles of beer while the raven had not drunk one yet. She felt stupid for even suggesting to make it a drinking game in the first place.

“Checkmate,” Ghrae blankly said after placing her queen piece vertically three boxes away from Coley’s king piece.

“What? How the—” The brunette did not even bother finish her sentence as she realized that she was an i***t for putting her king piece on the corner of the board.

The brunette buried her palms on her face as a muffle groan of frustration could be heard in the whole room. When she removed her hands, she caught the raven staring at her with a poker face as if winning a chess game was the easiest thing in the world. For some reason, Coley glared at her as she felt like she was being cocky internally even though she knew that she was not.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” The raven let out a light chuckle as she took her glass and poured cold iced tea in it.

“Stop being so arrogant,” Coley groaned as she leaned her head back, making her face the white ceiling.

“I’m not.”

The first game ended in just five minutes after taking up two pieces of Coley and cornering her king piece, which resulted to a checkmate. As a clubber, beer was not that strong enough to knock down Coley though she was still human, which meant that she could pass out if she would be the only one drinking the rest of the bottles of beer. That was when the brunette only remembered that the raven was skilled in almost everything, so it would be difficult to even make her drink a bottle.

“This isn’t over yet,” Coley clasped her hands together loudly as she leaned forward and began rearranging the chess pieces on the board.

“Yeah, this will only be over once you’ve passed out,” Ghrae teased as she followed her in rearranging the chess pieces.

“I wasn’t concentrating in the first round, Ghrae,” the brunette bluffed as she put on a cocky smile while stretching her fingers forward. “Are you black again?”

“Sure.”

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows as she scanned her eyes around the whole board while constructing a plan in her head before moving her pawn on e2 one step forward. It was as if Ghrae was a computer opponent as she followed Coley’s move without even thinking for a second.

Coley threw a glare at Ghrae when she followed her move again though the raven just shrugged at her. Since the brunette had already understood what the latter was doing, she decided to put a trap that could get one of her pieces killed if she would follow the same move. Just as expected, the raven fell for the trap as she finally got to drink one bottle of beer. Coley could not help but smirk in victory even though the match had not ended yet as she watched her chug the beer.

Five minutes had passed and Ghrae had already lost three pieces while Coley had not lost any yet. The smirk of victory on the brunette’s face could not be erased though she could not help but feel anxious when she saw how calm the raven was even though she was close to losing. When Coley moved her queen piece out, a small smirk appeared briefly on Ghrae’s face as she instantly ate it by moving her bishop that the brunette did not even notice.

“s**t!” the brunette leaned back on her seat in frustration as she rubbed her face with her palms. “Not my queen!”

“Relax, the game isn’t over yet,” Ghrae calmly replied as she rested her chin on her palms while staring at the latter.

“What are you thinking, Ghrae?” Coley leaned forward as she squinted at the woman across her in suspicion.

“You?” The raven wore a small innocent smile as she slightly tilted her head to the side.

The brunette rolled her eyes as she bit her bottom lip to suppress the smile that was about to stretch on her face because of what the raven just said; fortunately, she was able to stop herself from grinning thanks to her thoughts of frustration. Coley cleared her throat and ignored the latter’s reply as she looked back at the chess board in concentration while opening a beer bottle. Ghrae lightly shook her head with a small smile on her face while staring at the brunette across her before turning her attention back to the chess board as well.

Coley was wearing the same expression from the first round as she clasped her hands tightly while scanning on every box on the chess board in concentration after having her third pawn eaten. Her vision was starting to get blurry since she just drank her sixth bottle of beer. At this point, if she lost another piece, that would mean that she would instantly lose for passing out after her seventh bottle. As for Ghrae, she had not lost another piece after making her comeback as she would glance at the brunette in concern whenever she noticed her not being able to lift her hand properly.

“Damn it.”

The brunette shut her eyes as she felt her head spinning after seeing her last knight piece get eaten by the raven’s rook. Still, she was the one who suggested the rule of the game that they were playing as she reached for another bottle of beer and sloppily popped the cap off with a bottle opener. Coley barely swallowed any liquid from the bottle when she felt her body losing its balance as she saw Ghrae rushing toward her before losing her vision.

It was a good thing that Ghrae decided to go to the side of Coley as she swiftly caught the bottle of beer and her head from falling to the soft cushion. She put the bottle of beer on the table first as she sat down beside her and let the brunette’s head rest on her lap.

Ghrae had never got the chance to see Coley’s face while asleep nor had she watched her sleep since she never cared about that. But as she got to see the brunette sleep on her lap with her eyes closed, her lips pressed loosely into a thin line, and her slightly thick eyebrows unknitted comfortably; the raven just could not find herself looking away. It was as if she was looking at an angel as she watched her sleep peacefully. The Coley Raku who was often playful and alluring when she is awake was way different to the Coley Raku who was currently sleeping on her lap with a peaceful and innocent look. It almost looked like she was watching an adorable baby bear sleeping without wanting any disturbance.

The raven lifted her hand as she slowly caressed her smooth brown locks after gently raising her head so her hair could be free. While she caressed her hair, a smile unconsciously crept across her face as she stared at her angelic face. Ghrae had always known that Coley was beautiful but now that she was staring at her face up close, she realized that she was indeed gorgeous with that flawless face of hers as if she was God’s favorite for looking so perfect.

Ghrae stopped her hand for a while when she suddenly saw Coley move her lips as if she was mumbling something. Curious on what the brunette was mumbling, the raven slowly leaned her face in as she tilted her head for her to hear what she was saying clearly.

“Please… don’t leave… me,” the brunette softly mumbled though her eyes were remained shut.

The raven cooed at how adorable the brunette sounded as she continued to caress her head. She did not want to assume that she was referring to her as she just expressed her response through her action, which was to not leave her side at that moment. Ghrae was about to lean back when she caught the last word that Coley added before she slightly moved her head to the side.

“Mom.”

A soft sigh left the pink lips of the raven as she stopped caressing her brown locks and just stared at her sleeping face a little longer. A genuine smile stretched across her face as she felt her heart soften while imaging a baby bear needing love and affection on her when she saw a tiny drop of tear fell down the brunette’s eye. Ghrae lightly bit her bottom lip as she gently wiped the tear off her face and cupped her face, caressing her cheek with her thumb softly.

“I wish nothing for you but happiness,” Ghrae softly said as she looked at her warmly before leaning in to give her a gentle kiss of affection on her forehead.

The raven decided to slowly lift the brunette’s head and let her rest on the sofa for a while as she stood up when she realized that it would be better to tuck her in the bed instead of letting her sleep on her lap with a possibility of being uncomfortable for the whole night. Even though she had a slim figure, Ghrae was still strong as she used to work out regularly. With no difficulty, she tenderly scooped Coley up in her arms as she made sure that the brunette’s head was not hanging down uncomfortably before proceeding to walk toward the bedroom.

After gently putting her on her bed, she went to take her jacket and boots off for her to be comfortable in her slumber. Ghrae pulled the blanket up until her chest as she stood up properly and looked at her for a while to make sure that Coley was not feeling uncomfortable. When she was done, the raven heaved out a quiet sigh as she went to the bathroom to pee before changing into much more comfortable clothes from the dress that she wore for the entire night.

***

The next day came as the majority who attended the birthday party last night were still passed out. Though Ghrae was not completely drunk from last night, she still had a lot of drinks that she woke up at ten in the morning with a headache. The raven woke up next to the brunette on the same bed as she thought that she was in heaven at first because it was like she just saw an angel. Since she could not just stay on bed staring at Coley’s peaceful sleeping face while letting her head ache as if her brain was being drilled, she decided to get up and take a shower to leave the apartment.

After taking a jog around the park to relieve the hammering on her head, Ghrae decided to go to a grocery store that was close to the park to have a bottle of cold water that she had been craving for. The cold air in the store made her relieved as she lightly wiped the sweat on her forehead with her towel while scanning her eyes on the drinks in the refrigerator. Suddenly, a familiar purple head appeared from a distance until the woman turned around as they met eyes.