mint; （ a. knight ）

20. mint;

"Come on, Awsten, get up," I said softly, shaking him softly.

He made a soft noise of annoyance and waved his hand in my general direction as if he was trying halfheartedly to swat my hands away. "Ellie, I'm sleeping."

"Yeah, but we have to get up."

"We really do not."

"We absolutely do! You're playing Warped Tour in two weeks and you'll be winded halfway through the show."

Awsten cracked one eye open to look up at me. "You're really calling me out of shape at six in the morning?"

I glared at him. "You told me to wake you up and force you to go running with me so you can expand your lung capacity so you don't get winded halfway through the set so don't start with me on that, Awsten Knight."

He closed his eye again but his mouth curved in a smile. "You're cute when you get mad at me."

"I will flip this mattress and you'll fall on the floor and then we'll see who's mad at who," I threatened him playfully. "Now get up!"

We were at the gym within the hour, thankfully, and there weren't a whole lot of people present. That meant I could yell at Awsten like a drill sergeant without too many people looking at me like I was foolish.

"This has to be some sort of abuse," Awsten complained as I followed him around the track.

"But it is motivating to know that a literal ballerina is making you look bad?" I laughed when he glared at me. "I can't wait to tell AP magazine that Awsten Knight can't even catch up to a ballerina during a very low intensity jog."

"I'm not having a good time in this relationship!" Awsten continued to complain and it made me laugh.

"Oh no, folks! Will Awsten Knight be able to catch his girlfriend and expand his lung capacity at the same time? Better buy the magazine to find out!"

He was actually doing well keeping up with me, but I was having too much fun messing with him. I was surprised at the sound of his cell phone ringtone. We stopped on the track so he could pull the phone out of his pocket, looking down at the screen.

"You mind if I take this?" I was surprised he asked my permission.

"Of course not. Just stay in the zone!" I teased him and then turned away to keep jogging around the track.

The conversation wasn't long at all because he started running with me again when I completed the first lap without him. Whatever was talked about seemed to renew his energy and I matched his pace when I noticed him running a little faster.

"Everything good, Aws?" I asked him curiously.

"Better than good!" He smiled at me. "Remind me to tell you later. Right now, I wanna beat you."

And then he took off down the track, faster than I anticipated, and I struggled to keep up with him the entire rest of our workout. I was looking forward to hearing about whatever had given him this kind of energy, that was for damn sure.

Two hours later, he was showered and my entire apartment now smelled very good. I liked the way his shower stuff made my entire bathroom just smell so distinctly like him. I was always sad when the scent of him wore off my bed sheets or my couch or my clothes.

Sweetly, Awsten took my hand as I came over to sit beside him on the couch and instead tugged me into his lap instead of letting me sit beside him. I got comfortable against him and folded my arms around his shoulders, smiling when he drew me closer so he could kiss me.