7 Days 168 Hours

The rest of the evening passed fairly quickly, as a communal game of poker was suggested and accepted, with matchsticks used as currency. Jess won comfortably, in a way that provoked curiosity with its decisiveness, until she explained that she had studied the mathematics involved in poker and had played many times before. Still it did lead to joking suggestions of cheating, which were ridiculous, as Angel being much the most proficient dealer had been shuffling the whole night.

That night Henry climbed into bed and reflected on the events of the day. Angel was most definitely creating trouble which he could do without, but Sally wasn't helping. At the same time, the actions of Angel had conflicted him, enticing and frustrating at the same time. He was debating whether to masturbate again, when a knock came on the door and someone slipped into the room. His immediate thought was that it must be Angel but this was soon contradicted by the voice which asked if she could sleep here, the voice was Gemma's. Henry's immediate question was why, Gemma replied because she only had one bed in her home and hence normally slept with other members of her family, she was scared of sleeping alone.

"But why me" Henry queried and Gemma was silent for a moment before saying in a small voice that she was worried about her father. At that point Henry invited her into his bed, which was usefully a double and said no more. He wrapped his left arm around her and attempted to stay as still as possible, before the breathing fell into a monotonous rhythm and he was sure Gemma was asleep. Then he felt secure enough to finally drop off as well.