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I didn’t take my sleeping meds, but it was mostly because I fell asleep immediately. But when I woke up within an hour with a racing heart, I knew I wouldn’t be dropping off anytime soon. I grabbed my pillow and blanket before padding into the living room. Scott was fast asleep, and I smiled at his sleeping form before settling down on the couch. It wasn’t the most comfortable of positions, but I still felt better there than in the bedroom.
My eyes found Scott again, and I matched my breathing to his. Before I knew it, I was out again.
14
Scott
Iwokeupbeforethe sun rose, but the hazy dawn light was enough for me to spot the bundle on the couch. It was only once I’d rubbed the sleep out of my eyes that I realized it was Luke. I distinctly remembered checking in on him before I fell asleep. He’d been sleeping peacefully on the bed. Did he have another nightmare? Was that why he was on the couch?
I figured I’d get the answers once he was up, so I pushed the questions to the back of my mind for the moment and made my way to the bathroom. Once I was done taking care of business, showered, and dressed for the day, I headed into the kitchen and set the coffee to brew. I grabbed the last of the eggs and toast to make another light breakfast.
Just as I was plucking out the almost-burned toast from the age old toaster, Luke appeared in the doorway. His eyes zeroed in on the coffeemaker, and he quickly poured himself a mug before turning to look at me, a slight blush pinking his cheeks, his hair in a disarray from sleep. He was still wearing my t-shirt, and I’d never seen anyone look more adorable than he did at that moment.
“Good morning,” I greeted him as I plated the scrambled eggs and toast for the both of us.
“Morning,” Luke replied with a smile as he set aside his mug and made a mug for me the way I liked it.
We set our breakfast and coffee on the table and got seated beside each other on the tiny breakfast bar. I couldn’t keep the questions away anymore, so I turned to face him as I asked, “Did you sleep okay?”
Luke gave me a shy smile before nodding.
“Did you have another nightmare?”
Luke frowned, a small V forming between his eyebrows, and shook his head. “Not exactly. But I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. Sorry.”
“What for?”
He shrugged as he sipped his coffee. “You let me have the bed, and then I didn’t even sleep in it.”
“It’s all right, Luke. Don’t worry about it. So, you slept better on the couch?”
Luke blushed deeper, reddening from the tops of his cheeks to his neck as he looked down at his plate. “I, uh, I feel calmer...when you’re close by. I don’t know why. It’s kinda weird, but I feel...safe when I’m around you.”
My face was probably split in half with how widely I was smiling. It warmed my heart to think I could give that to Luke. I knew he’d had a lot of horrible experiences before I met him, and if my presence helped him in any way, then I was ready to stay by his side for as long as he needed me to.
Slowly, I extended my hand and touched the top of his until he looked up at me. “I’m glad you feel safe around me, Lu.”
Luke gave me a small smile, turned his hand palm up so he could hold mine, and we ate our breakfast just like that, holding hands. It was awkward, but I loved it. His smile made me realize I always wanted to see him smiling, and I’d do absolutely anything to make sure that happened. It also reminded me that I needed to plan an awesome official first date for Luke because as far as I understood, he’d never really had anyone romance him like he deserved, and I wanted to do that. I wanted to give him every experience he’d missed out on.
I grinned as I got the perfect idea for a cliché yet fun date for Luke. I was pretty sure he’d love it. The one bonus point I had was I already knew Luke so well, so I knew exactly what he liked.
“What are you grinning at?” Luke’s amused voice pulled me out of my plans, and I shook my head, grin still in place. “Nah, nothing.”
Once we’d cleared up after breakfast, I realized Luke looked tired from the continuous hiking of the past two days. Considering we both had to go to work tomorrow, I figured it’d be a good idea to stay in today.
We hadn’t brought the book we were reading together, so we ended up watchingFriendson my iPad. Thank god I had downloaded a few episodes before we’d left. We started off sitting side by side on the couch, but by the third episode, I was sprawled on the couch sideways, with Luke snuggled up on top of me. I wasn’t sure exactly of how we ended up in that position, but I didn’t mind one bit. I curled my free arm around Luke and held him close, smiling when he sighed contentedly against my chest. It wasn’t long before we ended up falling asleep in each other’s arms, and even Janice’s screech ofoh my godwasn’t enough to keep me from slipping away.
The sun was drifting lower on the west when I woke up again, sweaty and too warm from cuddling with Luke. I couldn’t bring myself to wake Luke up, but when I checked my watch, I realized we needed to get going soon if we wanted to make it home before the evening traffic hit the highways.
“Hey, wake up. Luke?” I nudged his shoulder softly.
Luke froze for a second before turning his head to look at me. “Oh. Did I fall asleep?”
I chuckled at his sleep-mussed look and ran my fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his forehead. “We both did. We should get going if we want to be home before the traffic hits.”
“Oh,” Luke mumbled, processing my words for a minute before scrambling to his feet.
“Do you want another coffee while you get changed and packed?”
