The Second Tour of 44West

ch. 32 - face the music

Rion

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    I woke up with a weight on my chest and a slight pressure around my abdomen. Looking down, I smiled as I saw Elizabeth, completely relaxed, looking the picture of contempt. Her head was nuzzled underneath my jaw and her arm was wrapped tightly around my middle.

I couldn't help but think about how right this felt. And if I wasn't careful, I could see myself  getting used to this. However, I quickly shook that thought out of my head, understanding that I didn't know how Elizabeth felt. Not truly, at least. So I had to reign it all in, and trust that if something ever changed between us, she would tell me.

    I tried to go back to sleep, but the sun peeking in through the blinds was perfectly hitting me right in the eyes, so I gave up and decided to be happy in the moment.

    Elizabeth was with me, and that was all that mattered.

    I raised my free hand to stroke the hair that was flowing behind her, and smiled when she nuzzled further into my body at the touch. I continued running my fingers through her locks, but cursed myself  when I hit a tangle and caused her to wake up.

    "Ouch." She grumbled, and even though I felt guilty for waking her in a not-so-nice way, I was glad she was awake. Plus, her grumpy morning voice was adorable, especially when it was accompanied with the pout that was now resting on her lips.

    "Sorry." I replied, still grinning down at her.

    She lifted her head to look at me, and furrowed her eyebrows as she did. "You don't look sorry."

    I chuckled in response as I raised my hand to put behind my head. "I'm sorry I hit a tangle and you weren't woken up as gently as I meant to, but I'm not sorry that you're awake now. I like talking to you."

    She hummed in response as she laid her head back down, tracing mindless patterns over my tank-top above my waist. I let the silence hang in the air between us, but couldn't help it any longer as I could physically feel her thinking. I could practically hear the gears creaking and turning in her head.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" I asked.

She sighed before answering. "I have to face the music today."

I hummed in agreement before I continued my repetitive movements of stroking my hand through her hair.  "You'll probably feel a lot better once you do, though."

"I know." She said, "I just don't want to do it."

"I know."

"That feels nice."

I smiled at the comment before responding. "I would hope so now that I got your tangles out."

She snorted in response before pinching my side, making me squeal out at the unexpected pain. "Hey!"

"Deal with it." She shot back, but I could hear the smile in her words. We laid still for a second longer before she groaned and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I'm going to go plug my phone in, then make coffee while it charges. I'll deal with the realities of my life after that."

"Sounds like a solid plan, boss."

She turned her head to look at me, giving me a warm smile before getting up and heading out of my room, and back into the guest room. I reached over to my bedside table, and grabbed my phone, checking my socials so I could be prepared for whatever Elizabeth was about to see.

As I scrolled, I saw a few articles about the whole ordeal. Clicking on one with the headline "Arnett Left at the Altar," I braced myself for whatever I was about to see.