Scars [An Exclamation Point Fan Fiction]

PART 36

The next morning I wake up wrapped in Paul's arms. I look around the room and see our clothes thrown everywhere. I giggle, and feel Paul's grasp around me tighten. I roll over and face him.

"Good morning." He mumbles, still half asleep.

"Morning." I whisper softly kissing him.

He looks down. "I could get used to this." He says smiling at me.

I smile against his chest, and climb out of bed. I throw his clothes at him as I gather mine. We're finished changing when there's a knock at the door.

"Come in." I call.

Brady pokes his head in. "Mom made breakfast if y'all are hungry."

"Great." I say smiling. "We'll be down in a second."

I put my tangled hair up in a ponytail before we walk downstairs.

At the table we start eating.

"So how did you sleep?" My mom asks.

"Great." Paul says putting his hand on my thigh.I hope she doesn't see me turning bright red.  "Thanks again for letting me stay."

"It's no problem at all." My mom says.

"Where's dad?" I ask.

"Work." My mom says. "I'm about to leave too." She stands up and rinses her plate, and the other dishes.

"I'm leaving too. Meghan and I are going apartment hunting." Brady says.

"Apartment hunting?" I say.

"Yeah." He smiles. "I'm planning on proposing tonight. I know we've been apart for a while, but it was so easy picking up where we left off." Brady looks at Paul. "But you know what I'm saying don't you?" He winks at Paul, who chokes on his drink. I drop my fork and stare at him. Thankfully our mom had just left the room. She walks back in and kisses us goodbye.

"Please don't forget to clean up." She says. "I'll be back later tonight."

"Yes ma'am." Brady and I call.

Brady gets up and clears all of the dishes.

"So is there a ring?" I ask Brady.

He smiles. "Yeah it's pretty huge. I got a job coaching little leauge teams, so I was able to save up."

"Let me see!" I say.

He starts to pull it out, but the front door opens. "Hello? Brady?" Meghan calls.

Brady shoves the ring back in his pocket. "In here Meg!" He calls.

She walks in and kisses him. She turns to me and Paul. "Nikki! Hey! I've missed you so much!" She runs over and hugs me.

"Hey Meg! I've missed you too! How've you been?"

"Great!" She says. I think I see her cheeks turn a bright pink. "What about you? You look so skinny."

"Yeah I went through a uh.. kind of a rough patch."

She looks at Paul. "But it looks like everything's ok now?" She asks.

I nod. "Everything's great."

"Good. Well we gotta go. I'll see you later." She hugs me before her and Brady walk out of the house.

Paul and I spend the day unpacking my stuff, and cleaning up the house. After a couple of hours we take a break. I'm laying on the bed, my head hanging off the end, Paul sits on the floor next to me. He's checking his Twitter when I see pictures of us. I roll off my back and take his phone. We scroll through the news feed, there are pictures everywhere. Even of us dancing in the rain.