Renaissance

Chapter 8

"Good morning!"

Greyson groaned out loud, the annoyingly chirpy voice abruptly jolting him from his sleep. After (finally) arriving in London at around 8PM and a dinner, they had (finally) come to their hotel and checked into their room. After which they had both promptly collapsed on their beds, the bliss of an actual, soft, warm, comfortable mattress as compared to stiff, little-leg-room aeroplane seats, overcoming them. He had no idea how Melodie, after spending a good part of the flight sleeping, could still easily slip into a state of complete inertia felicitously.

And yet, here she was being the one cheerfully waking him up.

He grabbed the nearest thing his hand could find - a pillow - and chucked it in her direction. Unfortunately, he hit the television instead. "Go die," he grumbled. He pulled the blankets up to his face again.

Which, of course, did not deter Melodie. She reminded him of the Energizer bunny. Literally. She hopped onto his bed instead and kept bouncing up and down. The mattress jiggled below him.

"Melodie," he warned.

She snatched his blankets away, torturing him with the sudden burst of light in his vision. In her doing so, however, she fell flat on him. It shocked him awake. Her body, only clad in a tee and shorts, right on top of his. The smell of strawberries, her light blonde hair silky and cool against his face in the aftermath of a shower.

Stop! He commanded himself.

Her hands on both sides of his head, she pushed herself up, until their faces were barely five inches from each other. At that moment, with the morning sunlight streaming in from the window, casting a natural glow on her, she, well, she just... she took his breath away.

She flashed him a sheepish smile, her cheeks pink. "Err... wake up?"

He snapped himself out of it and gave her the fiercest glare he could manage even at that moment when he had just caught himself so raptured by her, though aware of the heat that was not only in his face and neck, but also between them, being that they were so close.

"Get off!" He shouted, pushing her away as he quickly sat up. She rolled over onto the floor, landing on her bum with a bump.

"Ow," she winced, then shot him a glare. "Jerk!"

A look of realisation crossed her face the instant she uttered the word, her eyes widening as they settled on his blank face. "Greyson -" she started. "Greyson, I didn't -"

He broke out in a grin. "Dumbass."

She stared at him, dumbfounded. "What -"

"Someone whispered in my ear that I wasn't a jerk," he said in a mocking voice.

Finally, it dawned on her. He was awake! She couldn't stop the rapid blush that was quickly spreading. At the same time, she couldn't let him win. "Oh, well someone found blankets for me and tucked me in," she teased back, laughing out loud at the way his face turned red even as it twisted in a scowl. "You look so cute!" She cooed, holding her hands out to him while still being seated on the floor. "Pull me up?"

He thought for a moment before finally returning her his hands, and she put her delicate hands in his. Slowly, she allowed him to pull her up, leaning all her weight on him and relying entirely on him.

Until he dropped her just as she was about to steady herself.

"Ow!" She cried, again in a heap on the floor. He laughed at her and got off the bed, walking away to the bathroom and leaving her behind.

"I revoke my statement," she yelled after him. "Jerk!"

∞

In a pattern that would imitate the rest of the trip, of course, Melodie would have activities in mind for every location they stopped in. Sometimes he wondered about her sanity.