Wonders

Chapter 11

While we were looking for the thing that the key opened, I contemplated on why he would do that. He would always sleep as late as possible and after me. And I was determined to find out why.
I had taken a 2 hour power nap in the afternoon to charge myself up. When it was time, I crawled in bed and pretended to sleep. I knew he could hear the rhythm of my breathing from the living room, so I regulated it to keep it deep and steady. I waited for three hours before deciding to give up. I slowly closed my eyes but snapped them back open when I heard the sounds of his tea set disappearing. I heard him yawn and lie down. I waited for at least an hour. My entire body tense. When I thought he was asleep for sure, I got up and slowly went it the living room. His ears twitched slightly, making me cringe. I cautiously sat next to him.
He  was peacefully sleeping, looking like a child. I wondered what the big deal was about. I shrugged and and noticed the book he was reading. I picked it up and flipped through it. I decided to try it out, and before I knew it, two hours went by. I rubbed my sleepy eyes. I had managed to reach where he was in the book currently so I closed the book. I accidentally slammed it closed, making Mad Cat whimper. I flinched, staying still for a minute.
When no other sound came out, I got up to leave. For some reason, I was compelled to turn around, and when I did, I saw tears streaming down Mad Cat's face, but he was still sleeping. I gaped at him. This was the first time I had ever seen him so defenseless… and sleeping. Maybe this was why he always went to bed after me.
I carefully wiped the tears away with the sleeve of the pjs that I "borrowed" from White Rabbit. He started to thrash around, grumbling, while tears continued to pour down his face. I hovered over him, extremely worried.
"Ma-Mad Cat? Are you okay?" He started to stir. Then I realized that I had three choices: comfort him, harass him about it, or pretend I didn’t see anything. The first choice would lead to him looking at me like a freak and acting all haughty. The second would make him hate me. Lastly, the third would be the same as abandoning him by making him face his pain alone. But… maybe he wanted to face it alone. The thoughts swirled constantly in my head as Mad Cat slowly opened his eyes.
"Wha- Margaret?" I froze. Who was Margaret? He grabbed my wrist and jerked me towards him. He pulled me into a suffocating hug. "Maggie! I thought you really-"
"Mad Cat?! What are you-" He quickly let go and pushed me away.
"Alice. What are you doing here?" He sat up and refused to look at me. He was furious.
"Sorry. I-I was just curious." I fiddled with my fingers. The person in front of me wasn't like how I usually knew him. He was like a different person.
"You should just go to bed." I stood there for a minute before kneeling in front of him.
"Are... Are you alright?" I noticed that he was crying again. My heart squeezed, but I don't know why. "Who is Margaret?"
He slowly lifted his head, making his red eyes meet mine, and replied, "She was my fiancé."