Stormy Eyes

Chapter Seventeen: Aftermath

I woke up, alone, with the sun burning my tender eyes. Where is Carter? I sat up and examined the room, slightly confused. I can feel the puffy haze coating my eyes after sobbing last night. That's the worst feeling. My head is throbbing slightly, but it's tolerable. I hate that Nora is gone, knowing it was gonna happen didn't make it any easier. I feel myself heading towards a negative train of thought. Distract yourself, Espen.
I notice that Carters bag is neatly placed on my bed, one smaller bag placed next to it. It must be a toiletry bag. How is he up this early? I wipe the sleep from my eyes and release a big sigh.

"You okay, Love?" I move my hands away from my eyes, Carter.
"Yes. Just groggy." My smile is lopsided. He smiled and walked toward the bed. "You're cute." He says. He moves me over to the other side of the bed and climbs in beside me.
"What're you doing?" I smile.
"Lying by you before we have to get up." He places his arm under my head and pulls me into him. My stomach is fluttering. I follow suite and place my head where his shoulder and chest meet. My head fits here perfectly. I know that fact could be influenced by the fact that I'm in awe, but I don't care.
"What have you been doing?" I ask him. My head is positioned so that my morning breath doesn't waft towards a him. That might be one of my worst insecurities. I've never shared a bed with a guy, let alone have one bare witness to my gross morning situation.
"I hate staying in bed too long. I waited twenty minutes before I got out of bed incase you woke up." He ran his fingers through my hair. "I brushed my teeth, had a shower and had some coffee with Aroura and Storm." I smiled at the thought of Carter spending time with my family. If you had told me this would be my life a year ago I would never have believed it.
"I missed them." I sighed, settling deeper into his side.
"I can see why."
"What do you mean?" He reached for my hand that was resting on his stomach, our fingers intertwining.
"They're nice people." He's right. They are pretty cool.
"I'm just glad that Archer and Chris weren't so hard on you." I chuckled.
"They weren't wrong to be suspicious of me." He chuckled too. "What happened last night wasn't very 'friends' of us."
"I'm not complaining." I began smiling into his chest at the thought.
"I never would've thought that that would happen." He admitted.
"Why not?" I sat up looking at him.
"I just didn't think you felt those kind of feelings towards me." He sits up slightly. "And to be honest I wasn't really sure if what I had been feeling towards you was platonic or not. Now I know for sure it wasn't platonic." He smiles awkwardly. "I don't usually feel much other than anxiety and anger." In return my concerned expression morphs into a sympathetic one. He sat staring at me for a bit before he moves his hand towards my face, cupping it gently. Carter leans into my space until his face is close enough to mine to trigger self conscious thoughts, so I pull back, covering my mouth with my hand.
"Carter... I have morning breath." He smiles and uses his hand to move mine away.
"I don't care." He resumes his manoeuvre and he softly placed his lips against mine. His other hand finds my waits, pulling me deeper into him. He kisses me softly, similar to last night, but gentler... less eager. I savour the smell of spicy cologne that wafts around me. It's a smell that I'm familiar with: I smell it when I'm on his apartment, when he hugs me, basically whenever he's near. My chain of thought is broken, when he moves me to sit on his lap. I move with him naturally, my legs wrapping around his torso. I feel Carter's arms wrap tightly behind my back. He stops kissing me and looks me deep in my eyes. All I can do is smile awkwardly. How could I not, his eyes are so intense.
"Are you ready to get up?" He asks me.
"Yah." I respond, reluctantly. He pulls me into his chest, me still on his lap, and hugs me softly. I return the gesture. I've never self safer. This I could get used to. Moving away from each other, he stands up and helps me out of bed. I wonder if he'll want to share a bed again tonight. I wouldn't mind at all. I actually welcome it. Smiling openly at the idea, Crater asks what I'm thinking.
"Thinking about you." He smiles, taking my hand.
"Let's get some food in you." I nod in excitement. Archer's breakfasts are my favourite.