All Over You

Bad To The Bone

For the first time in ages, My alarm rings out and I shut it off before rolling over to Liam. My bare skin brushes against him as he leans into my touch. It feels so familiar and calming. Everything I have ever wished for has come true. I stroke my fingertips along his forearms to make sure he really is laying here holding me. I almost can't believe it. 

"Where are you going?" He murmurs sleepily as I lay my head on his chest.

"Work." I whisper.

"I'm sad." He whispers back.

I sit up abruptly, holding the duvet over me to protect my modesty.

"Whats wrong?"

He chuckles, squinting his eyes at me and playfully pulling the duvet down, exposing me. "You don't have to cover up, I've seen it all before and it is a sight!"

I gasp, noticing his desperation to change the subject. I cover myself up once more to stop us from playing tug of war with the bedsheets. It's way too early for that. 

"Liam, no. For once we are going to talk about our issues instead of distracting each other with sex."

"Fine." he rolls his eyes and shifts to face me.

I am surprised by his submission so soon, but remember the previous weekends' discussion about making a go of things again. Maybe this time he truly is trying to make an effort to have an open and honest relationship with me. I hope it's better than the last one where he slept with someone else and lied about it. I am ready for the lies to vanish. We need to communicate better for this to go anywhere. Talking in the mornings seems like a good start. Doing anything other than burying our emotions in each other sexually also seems like a worthy idea. 

"I used to complain about it; the alarm waking me up as I laid in some random woman's bed. I had no grip on life and responsibilities. Now I would give anything to be woken by an alarm. In your bed. Going to work together to sit in that shitty office that was always too warm regardless of the season." He whispers.

My stomach knots at his honesty and I run a finger over his collarbone gently. "Obviously, it's going to take some time to get used to not going to work."

"It hurts a little."

"I know, no one ever questioned the love you had for your job. Everyone could tell you adored it there."

"Tiffany, it feels like I'm losing everything. I woke up yesterday morning to see that half of the people that came to my leaving drinks have blocked me. Blocked me on social media, blocked my number and essentially blocked me in real life."

"That just proves they were superficial. They left when things got tough and they don't deserve you at your best. You're better without them."

"Gareth and I had arranged to go to a bar on Friday. He cancelled this morning and I can't help but feel that's the last time I'll see him."

Dismay takes over my body as Liam speaks. How dare everyone abandon him when he needs them the most? I feel so protective over this beautiful, half naked man in my bed that I almost want to strut into work and choke everyone out. I know that the people at Bramble Studios can be fickle, and Liam has had such a turnaround of character in the last few months. I did have a terrible suspicion that those people only turned up to his leaving drinks for another excuse to party. Still, that doesn't excuse them turning on him so fast. 

"Gareth? Really?"

"Some best mate he turned out to be. If I'm honest, I lost a lot of people when I settled down with you, ditching the partying and girls lifestyle."