Her golden locks and forehead laid upon my shoulder, her breaths drawn out, lightly snoring. An oak tree obstructed the light. Our oak tree. We'd meet by it every afternoon. I'd been too busy catching up on reading that I had forgotten, and I planned an impromptu picnic as an apology. She had an exhausting day and fell asleep. By now, all that was left of lunch were the crumbs of leftover apple pie. I didn't want to wake apple up, but she'd been asleep for an hour.
With a few light taps, she awoke, a bit of drool on her face. I grabbed a small cloth and wiped it off gently. She blushed and looked away. I combed her hair with my fingers.
"Shouldn't we leave soon?- I mean, it's like 5 already-"
before I could get up, she pulled me into a tight hug, and I couldn't help but hug back. "Wait, don't move...not yet."
After a while, she let go, and we packed our basket. "Did you like the pie...be honest, you don't have to lie! It's just that it took some time and I wanted to make sure-"
she grabbed my hand and replied, "it was hexcelent, don't worry about it!" And with that, we left.
We walked back to her dorm, baskets in hand, and laid down. Her bed was soft as silk and had plenty of pillows. She said that it would just be the two of us, and I just wanted to lie down. I sat on her bed and continued reading. She was sitting next to me, scrolling on her phone. After a bit, she put her head on my shoulder, so close I could feel her heartbeat. It felt so personal.
"Apple, can I kiss your forehead?" I whispered, looking away.
Twirling a lock of hair, she replied, "Oh, uh-yea."
She moved a bit closer, and I tenderly kissed her forehead. When we were both exhausted, we set our things aside, curled up together, and fell asleep.
