Caught In Between

XXII. The Gift

Sometime during our moment the night before, we both fell asleep on the couch. I wake up sometime in the middle of the night and look over at Asher lying next to me, completely asleep. He still has one arm around me, even in his sleep. Through the little light that the moon provides through the window, I can faintly see how at peace he looks. There are no worry lines on his forehead, no signs of stress at all; he looks happy.

I don't want to wake him up, so I try to gently pry off his one arm that is still around me. Successfully, I quietly get up and walk over to the bathroom. I turn the light on and look at my reflection in the mirror, which consists of puffy and red eyes, reminding me of how I finally opened up to him last night. I guess he doesn't know any of the major details, but he knows what happened now.

Sighing to myself, I turn the faucet on and splash cold water on my face, hoping to reduce at least some of the puffiness and redness. After splashing my face, to no avail, I turn the water off and quietly walk back to the living room. I pass by the kitchen and see the clock, indicating that it's nearly four in the morning. When I reach the couch again, Asher isn't there.

I see the light on in his bedroom, or at least I think I remember it being his bedroom from the tour he gave me. I walk over to the door and knock on it.

"Asher? Are you in there?"

He opens the door and grabs my hand, rushing us to the door of his apartment. "Let's go somewhere."

"It's four in the morning! Where would we go right now?" Of course I want to go.

"There's plenty of things we can do in the early morning hours," He winks. "But, I have an idea where we can go."

"I was crying all night, I don't look decent enough to go anywhere." I know my eyes are hella red and puffy right now, and that isn't an attractive look on me.

Asher cups my face with his hand, his thumb gently tracing over my right eyelid before grazing over my cheekbone. My eyes close, and I feel him lean in closer. His breath is right by my ear as he whispers, "You look exquisite." He kisses my cheek before leaning back with a grin.

"Who knew you could be so romantic?" I chuckle, but I'm slightly flustered by what he just did. Damn that boy has game.

"I'm just being honest. Now, let's get out of here." I grab my jacket that was thrown in the living room earlier. He grabs my hand and opens the apartment door.

"Where are we going?" I ask while he's rushing us to his car.

"You'll find out." He unlocks his car, opens the passenger side door for me and waits for me to get in. When I'm inside, he closes the door and walks to his own door.

He starts his car and begins driving. I don't know where he's taking us, but there are not many places we can go this early in the morning.

If I remember correctly, yesterday was the 13th, meaning his birthday is today. He's pretty damn rich and can buy anything he wants, so finding his gift was extremely difficult. His gift lies in my jacket pocket, and I need to think of the perfect time to give it to him. More importantly, I'll have to figure out a way to see him again soon without Dad finding out.

He continues driving, while my mind drifts back to our conversation last night. Although I didn't reveal many details to him, I feel as if a burden has been lifted from my shoulders knowing that he knows about this traumatic event from my past. It feels as if we got closer, which might just be in my head. Even right now, his right hand is on my thigh, his thumb brushing over the material of my jeans. I've never felt safer with anyone in my whole life. Knowing he isn't judging me or blaming me makes my heart almost burst at the seams with the love I feel for him. I've got it bad.