paper rings (l.h.)

19

I woke up to the sound of crickets outside my cracked bedroom window, my eyes fluttering open to find the body it belongs to is stuck to the mattress. I laid on my back, Luke's arm sprawled over my body to lay right at my stomach. He snores softly, soft breaths against my chest. His legs and wrapped around mine, as if we had slept like this a million times. I liked mornings around here, the sun fell through the windows perfectly. It found itself beaming it's rays on the sheets Luke and I lay under. I reached up to check my phone: 7:38 AM.

It was too early for my Mom to be awake, and much too early for us to leave. I heard the chickens dancing outside, and carefully I slipped out from under Luke's embrace.

"Where are you going?" He mumbled sleepily, his head buried in my pillow as I change into another oversized band shirt, and a pair of leggings.

"I'll be back soon, Luke," I whispered, leaning down to run my fingers through the hair on the back of his head. Things might not be perfect, and the world had chewed us up and spit us out and left us in this small town where we eventually crossed paths wasn't perfect either. But Luke was even with his flaws, I found him breathtaking.

The floor creaks louder when I'm the only one awake. The house was cold, and so was the floor beneath my bare feet. Quickly, I slipped on my coop shoes, and slipped out the back screen door with my wicker basket.

"Good morning, ladies," I say out loud, like I always do each time I pay them a visit. In exchange for eggs I give them feed, watching six balls of feather flap around before finding their way to their breakfast. I hummed softly as I collected each brown egg, some warmer than the others.

I didn't know it at the time, but I was humming the same song that had been playing in my mind since my Mom dug up a bit of Luke's story on the internet. I admit, before going to sleep the past few nights I'd hold it to my ear to hear exactly what made him so famous.

"You have chickens."

I look up from where I stand, Luke's head peeking out the screen door as my basket fills with an abundance of eggs. The sun was golden and bright in his blue eyes, which were barely parted as he tried to get used to the bright summer morning sunshine. "They're my Grandma's," I close the gate behind me once I'm finished gathering, and I walk over to the stairs that he stands on top of. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I get up early anyway," he smiles down at me, standing with his torso halfway out of the door. "Will your Mom be mad if she sees me here?"

"Not mad," I walk up the stairs, pulling my coop shoes off of my feet and neatly placing them besides the screen door. Luke stands back and watches me bring the eggs to the kitchen. "Surprised, maybe. Would you like coffee?"

"That would be lovely," he nods, and only now do I realize he is standing in front of me in nothing but his boxers.

"Luke," I laugh, looking at him up and down as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes. "What if my Mom sees you?"

"I heard her snoring a second ago," he smiles, walking over to me and wrapping his arms around my body to pull me close to his. "She won't be up anytime soon."

"It won't be like this once Grandma comes back," I look up at him. "Enjoy it while it lasts."

He grins down at me as he tries to fight the sleep from his eyes. I can't help but grin when I realize how tired he actually is. "What?" He smiles, looking down at me before I pull away from him to grab what's left of my fancy coffee grains I got for my birthday nearly a year ago. From Guatemala, the package read. I hear it begin to creak and rattle while I feel a pair of eyes drown me in their attention.

"You should go put pants on," I look over my shoulder, listening to the snores that are losing their pattern. She's not snoring as often as she did a second ago. She's waking up. "Or go back and get in bed. I'll be there soon."