Soft Spot

Back To Hiding

The next morning I wake to find myself still wrapped in her arms. I smile and move closer to her, tilting my head up to kiss her jaw. She stirs letting out a groan as she opens her eyes. She immediately smiles at me when she sees me. 

"How are you this morning my darling?" She asks me before leaning down to give me a sweet kiss on the lips. 

I smile up at her and answer "absolutely amazing, considering I woke up in your arms." I sigh and lean back against her chest. "I could get used to this you know."

She kisses my head and whispers "I know love, me too." She then turns to check the clock on her nightstand. She groans upon seeing the time, and quickly leaves the bed saying, "Shit. Ash breakfast starts in five minutes."

I gasp and quickly get out of bed as well. "What am I going to do? I don't have my clothes from yesterday, and I don't have time to go back to my room." 

I start to panic until I feel Leonora's arms wrap around me. "Hush darling, it's going to be fine." She says kissing my neck. She spins me around so we're face to face, and she looks me up and down and snaps her fingers. Instantly clean clothes appear on my body. I look down recognizing one of Leonora's many suits. I smile up at her and she smirks back as she snaps her fingers a second time dressing herself. She offers me her arm and we walk out of her dorm together. 

As we approach the doors of the castle, Leonora turns to me stopping me. "Ash I need to ask you something real quick." I look up at her as she continues. "I know you and I have both been waiting for the day we could be back together, but I don't know how the others are going to take it." She sighs and goes on in a strained voice. "I think we shouldn't be out in the open together. Not yet. I think we should keep us a secret for a bit longer." She leans her forehead against mine as she says "I'm so sorry my love, I know you hated doing this last time." 

I look into her eyes, and I see that she's holding back tears. In this moment, I feel nothing but an overwhelming feeling of love for this woman. "My darling, as long as we're together, I'll stay with you in secret until my dying day if I must." I too have tears in my eyes as I say these words. She looks up into my face to see I'm deadly serious. She gives me a small smile, and one last kiss before she pulls back. She takes a deep breath and says, "You should go across first. Say something about taking an early morning walk and loosing track of time if anyone asks why you're late."

"What are you going to say?" I ask her as I turn to walk away. She just laughs as she says, "I'm a Never. It's in our nature to be late. Now hurry up my love. I'll see you later."

I hurry across the bridge and in through the doors of the dining hall. I'm less than two minutes late, but still the last ever teacher to arrive. Dovey looks at me in relief as she exclaims "There you are Ashantae. I was getting worried." She looks me up and down as I sit down at the table and looks at me quizzically. "Isn't that one of Lesso's suits?" She asks, suspicious. I stammer denials as Leonora walks in. Dovey turns to her and calls, "Lesso, Is Ashantae wearing one of your suits?" Leonora stops and looks at Dovey quizzically and then looks to me looking me up and down. She answers coldly, "I've never seen that suit before in my life Dovey." 

She looks around for a chair, and sits down in the empty chair next to me. Dovey looks at the two of us suspiciously before letting it go and turning to the teacher next to her. I discretely look over at Leonora who lightly shakes her head. I turn my head down and focus on eating, lost in my thoughts. I look up as I feel Leonora's hand on my knee. I look over at her and she tilts her head in an 'are you alright look' I give her a slight smile, nodding my head saying "I'm fine" in a soft voice. She squeezes my knee and leaves her hand resting on it as we go on eating. 

Breakfast finally ends, and I go into the library. I grab a random book off the shelf to try and distract myself for the next few hours as I wait for the opening ceremony. I hear the library door open and I look up to see Leonora standing there. I smile at her and pat the seat next to me on the sofa, inviting her to sit with me. She gives a light smile as she walks over and sits next to me. She puts her arm around me and pulls the book from out of my hands. She laughs at my choice in reading material and looks at me with a teasing expression on her face "Sleeping Beauty? I didn't know you liked to read children's books." I blush and try to take the book from her, but she puts it out of my reach. I sit back, pouting, answering, "I just grabbed a random book and it happened to be Sleeping Beauty okay." She laughs again saying "mhm sure" still grinning. 

I try to grab the book back again, but she stops me shaking her head and tutting at me. I huff and lean back, arms crossed. She opens the book again, and to my dismay, starts reading it out loud to me. I look at her, taken aback, as she keeps reading. She pauses and looks up at me asking, with a raised brow, "Well are you going to come back here and listen or am I reading this to myself?" She pulls me back under her arm as she continues reading to me. I lean into her and listen to her modulated voice pull the words off the pages. 

We stay like this for about an hour and a half. I am snapped out of my reverie when she lightly closes the book saying, "And they lived happily ever after. The End." She looks down at me and kisses my forehead. I sigh and and lean my forehead against hers as I ask "Do you think we'll ever get a happily ever after my beloved?" She kisses my forehead again as she puts the book to the side so she can wrap her arms around me. "I do hope so angel. I really do hope so." 

She sighs as she leans back. She gives me a light kiss as she pulls out her pocket watch. She breaks the kiss to look down at the time. She sighs and pulls me into a one armed hug. "I have to go wait on my students now darling." She stands up not letting go of my hand. She pulls it up to her mouth and kisses it. She turns and walks away, and as she goes to open the door, she looks back to say "I'll see you at orientation love." 

I sit and watch her leave, sinking back into the couch as I listen to the clicking of her cane get fainter and fainter. I sigh and lay my arm across my face as I gather the energy to get up. I stand up taking the book Leonora had set down, and I decide to take it with me. I make my way to my room to wait for orientation. 

Little did either of us know, someone had seen us leave one after the other...

A/N: A bit of a cliffhanger I would say lolll. I think I'm going to try and keep the chapters at around 1000-1500 words. How are you liking the story so far? I honestly don't know how long this is going to be. I'm kind of thinking about keeping it short and sweet...we'll see. <3