Habits

Everything Has Changed

The alarm clock that I had set earlier was blaring throughout the bedroom and waking the sleeping giant on my right side.

"Turn that off and get back in bed with me." He mumbles while I climb out of bed.

"No can do. I have work and so do you, so get up." I reply, giving him a soft kiss on his forehead.

He mumbles something incoherently while I head into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. I don't know his kitchen as well as mine but I manage to find everything that I need for a hot cup of coffee.

"Yay, coffee." I turn around to find a sleepy Nate leaning against the doorframe in only his boxers. Sexy, as usual.

Nate wraps me up into a tight hug and moves his hand under my shirt and over my belly. He rubs it gently.

"I love you so much." He murmurs into my ear.

I giggle "I love you too, babe. Can you fix me a cup while I get ready?"

He nods and finishes up in the kitchen while I go to my overnight bag and pull out my nurse's scrubs.

Perks of being a nurse, waking up before anybody else and working gruelingly long shifts.

And helping people who need it.

That's why I really became a nurse.

I walk into the master bathroom with my overnight bag and search for my toothbrush.

"Dammit! How did I forget a toothbrush?"

"You know, you could find things a whole lot easier if you just moved in with me." Nate announces from the bedroom.

He had asked me to move in with him a few days previously. Decisions like that can't be made right on the spot in my personal opinion. I have to be utterly and completely ready to take that step in our relationship if I want it to work out in the long run.

I don't respond to his remark. Instead, I continue getting ready for work.

Nate walks into the bathroom looking attractive as ever.
He works as a News Producer, therefore has to get up early every week day to prepare the Los Angeles local news.

"Are you purposely ignoring my question?"

I take his toothbrush and squirt some toothpaste on it and begin brushing.

"I just need to really think about it."

"Does this have anything to do with...Cory?" Nate breathes out.
It's been so long since I've heard his name. It feels so foreign to me.

"No, it has nothing to do with Cory."

*********

"You look awful." Brianna states while welcoming me into her house.

"That's what happens when you wake up at 4 in the morning and spend the majority of your work giving sponge baths and changing catheters."

Brianna giggles and leads me to her living room where we sit on the couch. This is the only piece of furniture left in the room.

"Are you ready for San Francisco?"

"Yes, I'm so proud of Liam and I'm happy to move across California with him. I'll just miss you like crazy."

"I'll miss you too." My mood drops tremendously.
I was going to lose my best friend by the end of tomorrow night.

"Speaking of Liam, how is the fiancé?" I ask while jabbing her in the side with my elbow. It was my attempt at lightening the mood.