You giggle at the comedy you’re watching and notice he doesn’t. You roll over on the couch to face him and he’s so beautiful with his sleeping face only lit by the television. You brush his hair out of his face and kiss him on the forehead, then move down to his lips and kiss him lightly. He looks so peaceful that you don’t want to wake him up.
“Baby,” you say quietly, and shake him a little. He stirs.
“Hmm?” his eyes flutter open.
“You missed the ending of the movie,” you said kissing his cheek.
“Was it good?” he says, his eyes closing again.
“Yeah, it was cute,” you say, nudging him again. “Get up so we can go to bed.”
“Okay okay,” and he gets up finally.
You jump up and head to the bedroom with Dan following behind you. You take off your shirt and peel your skinnies off and pull on one of Dan’s nerd shirts and crawl under the comforter. He pulls his shirt off and takes off his sweats to join you in a cuddle. You curl into his chest as he reaches over to turn the light off.
“Is this the part where you lie awake and can’t sleep?” I whisper to him playfully.
He laughs lightly.
“No,” he pulls you in closer and you can hear the smile in his voice. “I don’t have that problem anymore.”
“Good,” you smile in the dark and kiss his bare shoulder. He reaches up and tucks your hair behind your ear and kisses you softly in the darkness. His lips are full and soft and warm.
“I like you,” you whisper, running your fingers through his hair.
“I like you more,” he says, kissing your forehead.
You don’t remember falling asleep or when he fell asleep. You only remember you must have been happy.
When you wake up and roll over, the comforter is covering half his face and you pull it down so you can see him. You study him carefully, admiring his handsome features. Not wanting to wake him, you crawl out of bed quietly and have a shower and brush your teeth. You tiptoe to the kitchen to start breakfast but it’s hard to quietly make pancakes from scratch. The first pancake starts to get bubbly so you know it’s time to flip it…
“BOO!”
You scream and drop the spatula on the floor. Dan laughs uncontrollably.
“Jesus,” you say and shove him. He’s still laughing. “You scared the shit outta me!”
“I’m sorry,” he smiles and tries to kiss you. You shove him away playfully.
“FINE,” he says. “I’m gonna have a shower and those better be ready when I get out,” he teases.
“I am not conforming to your gender constructions!” you say but you can’t help but smile.
“Yeah yeah,” and goes to have a shower.
When he gets out, you do have the pancakes ready. You blush when you see his towel wrapped around his waist. He pretends not to notice you looking as he gets dressed.
“I’m sad you woke up,” I say.
“Why?” he says pulling on his shirt.
“I wanted to make you breakfast in bed.”
He looks at you and grins mischievously, revealing his one dimple. Before you even have the chance to wonder why he’s smiling, he picks you up and throws you over his shoulder. You scream as he throws you back on the bed. He laughs and kisses you.
“Well we’re back in bed now, aren’t we?” he smiles.
“Yeah, you’re right,” and kiss him again.
You come back to the bedroom with a large stack of pancakes; one plate, two forks, and two cups of coffee.
“Oh my God,” he says.
“What?”
“You didn’t tell me you were making American pancakes!”
“I love how you say ‘American’ pancakes,” you laugh. Everything sounds better in his accent.
“Well they are!” he says. “They’re so much better than our pancakes. They’re so fancy with the sugar and lemon. All this needs is butter and syrup,” he smiles.
“Even better than Delia Smith pancakes?” I laugh.
“EVEN BETTER THAN DELIA SMITH PANCAKES,” he says in all seriousness.
You kiss his damp, curly hair as he takes his first bite.
“Mmmmmmm,” he says.
“I love your curly hair,” you say, kissing it some more.
“It’s awwwwful,” he says with his mouth full. “I look like a fucking hobbit.”
“Shuddup, it’s beautiful,” you say and taste the pancakes. They are so fluffy.
“Mm,” you say. “They’re so perfect.”
“You’re perfect,” he says quickly.
“Shuddup.”
