After watching three of the Ice Age films with popcorn and my father, he passed out from exhaustion. I am admittedly feeling a little better so I get up from the sofa and find a blanket to cover my father and then head upstairs.

I'm tempted to read something but my eyes are blurry and ache from the headache. My eyes have never been great, I've been wearing glasses most of my life and I've felt bad about them for just as long.

Suddenly, as I flop down on my bed and decide whether I should have a bath or not, my phone screen lights up.

Hey Katie, everything alright?

Uh... who is this?

Can't you tell darlin' ;)

No , do I know you?

If I do I'm so sorry

It's Rogue

Oh hello

Sorry

No problem

Are you ok?

Yeah I'm fine thank you

And your dad?

Asleep downstairs :(

Do you need anything?

No... I'll be fine

Katie...

I can practically feel Rogue's intense stare, he must somehow know I'm lying. The truth is, I have a bit of a phobia about being home alone when my dad is asleep and I'm not. A few years ago, when I was small, some teenagers broke into our house when dad had fallen asleep drunk on the sofa.

I always fell asleep before him from that point on, and my father never drank either.

My phone buzzes again from Rogue and I have to fight the grin that appears on my lips.

Katie

I... I don't like being awake when he isn't. I don't like being alone in the dark.

Give me 2 minutes darlin'

I stare at the message in surprise, not exactly sure what to do. When I finally realise what he meant by the text I squeal and dash to the bathroom. I frantically brush out my rats nest of hair and scrub the sour cream dip from my teeth with a toothbrush.

I refuse to even look in the mirror, knowing I will look pale and grotty which will make me insecure and miserable.

My phone pings again and I walk back into my room, frowning in confusion,

The text reads

Here

I quietly pad downstairs and hesitate before opening the door. Rogue is standing a few feet away from the door, nervously running a hand through his dark hair, a five o'clock shadow on his jaw.

"Hi..." I squeak out making Rogue jump and then grin lazily at me.

"Hey Katie." He smiles at me and my heart skips a beat.

"What are you doing here?" I whisper quietly, leaning on the door frame and nervously glancing at the closed living room door.

"You weren't ok, your father told me to look after you."

"He did?" I exclaim and then hastily slam a hand to my mouth after realising I've been too loud.

"Yes he did, may I come in Katie?"

"Sure." I mumble, moving out of the doorway and holding the door open wider to let the large man standing on the porch into the house.

He mumbles his thanks and steps into the house, ducking his head to fit through the doorway.

"Is he asleep in there?" He mouths at me and I nod, sheepishly shifting from foot to foot.

I turn and begin walking back upstairs, I can't talk to Rogue through just mouthing and I know nothing will happen with him- I trust him.

Heavy footsteps follow me up the stairs and I swallow nervously.

"So," Rogue says with a smile as soon as we walk into my room, "will you tell me what's wrong?"

"I uhhhh.... Don't like being in the house alone when I'm the only one awake. I know it sounds silly." I titter nervously as Rogue sits himself of my freshly made bed.

He frowns and shakes his head.

"No, I wouldn't say it's silly- do you know why you're frightened or is it an irrational fear?"

"Well," I slide down next to him on the bed, making sure to leave a large amount of space to separate us, "when I was younger and my dad was asleep some people broke into the house."

At my words Rogue whips his head around to look at me in surprise.

"Well that's definitely a rational fear." He says with a stern frown and a hint of a joke in his tone, that makes me blush down to my toes.

"Yeah...." I trail off and bite my lip nervously. I've never even spoken to a boy before, let alone had one in my bedroom before. And I would hardly call Rogue a boy, a hunk man with a body crafted by the gods maybe, but Rogue is no boy.

"So, how're you feeling? Still cold?"

"Yeah," I chuckle and wring my hands, "but I'm always cold."

Rogue smiles and then to my surprise he reaches over and grabs his hand in mine, the warmth and tingles from his hand race up my veins and meet my thumping heart.

"You are cold, aren't you." He smirks and continues to rub his thumb over my palm and I can feel my blush returning.

God, Grace is not going to believe this!

"Do you want to watch something?" I chuckle nervously which makes Rogue look over at me strangely. "Sorry, I'm just a little unsure about what you're doing here."

"I'm here to keep you company- so watching something sounds good."

Rogue flashes me with another heart thumping, pussy throbbing smile before I stand and find my laptop on my desk.

I hope he doesn't mind Disney films...