paper rings (l.h.)

12

He and I sit on the sofa that I usually abandon once Grandma's down for dinner. The TV is often way too loud for me, and I try to avoid a migraine any way I can. I draped a blanket across both of our laps as the beginning credits of my pick, Little Women, plays throughout the home. If Luke wasn't here, I'd probably be on my perch out on the porch.

"I'm glad you came back," I look over at him, watching how the lights and animations on the screen in front of us danced in his eyes. We had pushed my Grandma's TV-trays, and her arm chair to the side to allow us a better view of the television. I sat with the same blanket Luke covered himself with covering me, and I felt his gaze shift towards me. "To town."

"Me too," he looks over at me, a gentle smile growing across his face which shows me that he was looking for a sign he made the right decision.

I scoot closer to him, feeling his body as it embraces mine. It was as if it had always belonged this way, my head resting on his shoulder as I rewatched my favorite movie for the thousandth time. I listened to his heartbeats as I felt myself begin to wind down from an exhausting few days. I didn't know how tired I was until I allowed myself a second or two to be still. I felt my eyes fall shut. I was warm and I felt safe with him. His heartbeat was slow and consistent, as were his subtle breaths as they, too, began to slow. His hand rested on my hip.

We stayed there a while, at least we think we did. I didn't realize that we both had fallen asleep until I heard pots and pans in the kitchen, rattling around. For a second, I thought it was my Grandma. But I knew better.

Luke was sleeping beneath me, our bodies somehow had morphed together — his head resting on a pillow he must have shoved under his head before he fell asleep. Gentle snores came from his lips, and I raise my head up to see my Mom's, faced towards the stove as she unwraps items from grocery bags.

"Mom," I call out, half asleep while slowly untangling myself from the blanket we shared. I lay it back over him, his body shifting with the lack of warmth I provided. I felt my heart skip a beat when his eyes open for a second, before falling back behind his eyelids.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" She looks back from my Grandma's coffee pot, the scent of her decaf coffee brewing throughout the house reminded me of when it was busier. Grandpa liked coffee.

"I shouldn't have fallen asleep," I look back at Luke before sitting on a bench on the other side of the breakfast bar. The counter space was full of chips and poultry, shampoos and conditioners. My Mom is planning on staying a while. "Did she ever wake up?"

"She did," my Mother whispers, her hair tied up above her head. It was graying, slowly taking over the chocolate brown strands that she wore to her shoulders. Her glasses were folded neatly on the kitchen island behind her, and the quiet hisses of the coffee pot nearly drowned out the subtle snores of the man on the couch. "But she didn't stay awake too long. Probably ten minutes at most."

"Was she okay?" I watch as she brings a piece of leftover pizza to her mouth, standing directly across the bar from me. "Like... was she herself?"

"She didn't say much. Just to make sure to feed her chickens."

I smile warmly, listening to the lack of chirping coming from their coop. They're all asleep by now, the clock nearly midnight. Luke and I had been awake nearly 40 hours. I'm surprised I didn't spend the rest of the night on that couch. "I won't forget," I nod, resting my face in my hands as she turns towards Luke in the sitting room.

"Since when were you two together?" She asks, scoffing when she realizes what exactly was happening. "And here I was, worried that you wouldn't be able to make friends down here."