See You Again

XXIII

I had taken a new interest in kissing her awake.

Although I had spent half the night awake, I had slept an impressive amount of time on my usual schedule. Twice had she awaken, and we had exchanged few words, many kisses. By six, I couldn't keep myself numb, stealing glances at the clock until it was a decent hour for me to wake her up.

I could've just got up, but I didn't want to leave her there alone and I had taken a certain liking to being with her and kissing her awake.

I had started with a simple kiss on her cheek, and then a down her jaw and neck. She shuddered and slowly turned to me, eyes shut, mumbling incoherent words as she found herself closer to me. I pecked her lips, and she smiled a bit. She refused to open her eyes, burying her head in the pillow and searching my face with her fingers until she found my mouth and kissed me slowly.

"Good morning," I whispered, and she finally looked at me with those honey eyes.

"Good morning, Willy," she breathed. "Have you been awake for long?"

I shook my head, and she grinned slightly. "Liar."

I didn't even try to contradict her. She had pegged my insomnia last holiday. The nights we slept together just proved her right.

We could've stayed in bed all day. I wish we did, but if we disappeared for too long, people would start wondering where were we.

"Do you like Italian food?" I asked out of nowhere.

She still sounded sleepy. "If you mean pizza, then yes."

That wouldn't be bad. I was thinking about this fancy Italian restaurant near my house and how much I would like to take her there. In my mind, could picture her in that black dress she wore when I was left with Phoebe and Cami, sitting on a table, smiling at me from behind a menu. I might have a problem.

"I'm starving," she said and sat up. "I'm going downstairs. Are you coming?"

I nodded and got up too, stopping in my bedroom quickly to get dressed rather than being scolded by Etsy.

Walt had joined us yesterday and was having breakfast with Peter and Etsy on the balcony. I could feel the tension in their forced smiles. On the bright side, if Etsy accepts Walt, they can have an actual relationship.

Etsy's cook was baking a thousand dishes for Ezra, who was drooling all over. I think he is in love.

"I wish I had his metabolism," Kenzie said, looking at him in horror as he drowned his food in syrup.

Before he could notice, she slid beside him and salvaged a plate full of pancakes from the syrup and sat on the other end of the table, eating them with only raspberries and blackberries.

I sat next to her after stealing what looked like a Petit Gâteau, still fuming. Ezra didn't seem to notice its absence in the middle of all that food.

"Here you are, darling." Vanessa's voice came from behind me and I tensed as I felt her hands on my shoulders. "I was going to the beach with Leah. Do you want to come along?"

"I was going anyway," I uttered. "I'll join after I finish breakfast."

"Oh, it's okay," she said, taking the chair right next to me. "I'll wait."

Wait? When did she ever wait for anyone? Vanessa Edwards doesn't wait for people, people wait for her. Maybe she is just monitoring Kenzie and me. She probably doesn't want to lose me to her. Little does she know she already has.

"There's no need. Just go."

She shook her head and laid her head on my shoulder, an arm around my own.