Borrowed Time

Chapter 166

Juliette tried to be as quiet as humanly possible as she slipped out of Esme's arms in the morning so that she could get ready for church, which wasn't something she'd done in a long time, but she'd agreed to go the night before, and she wanted to keep her word while not waking Esme up.  They needed their rest.

She slipped into the clothing that she'd brought with her after brushing her teeth, which wasn't the best church clothing, but was more appropriate than the clothing she'd worn to the concert as she grimaced, brushing through her hair as she rubbed at her eyes, willing herself to wake up as she felt two arms slide around her chest, making her jump.

Esme... God, how had they moved so quietly?

"Mmm..." Juliette grinned to herself as she brought her hand up to cup Esme's cheek, letting her other one rest on their forearm as she looked in the mirror, her heart catching at the sleepy way that Esme smiled at her, their bedhead, the soft warmth that seemed to surround them as they pressed kisses to her shoulder, their arm tightening slightly around her waist.  "G'morning pretty girl." They mumbled, making Juliette's chest feel warm as she sighed, leaning her head back against them more.

Nothing could ever beat being with them in the morning, she was almost 100% sure of that - there was nothing in the world that could ever convince her otherwise.  Their softness, the rasp of their voice, the warmth of their skin... It was simply unbeatable.

"Yeah, I've gotta get ready for church." She said, and Esme frowned, holding her closer as they made eye contact with her in the mirror, clearly having an objection to her leaving their bed so early in the morning... Well... It was 8:00AM, so it wasn't that early, but she understood Esme's sadness.

She also wanted to spend all day in bed, but she wanted to prove her father wrong about her 'never coming to church anymore'... She would come to mass when she wanted to, and she needed that to be clear by going to mass when she didn't want to to prove a point...

Did that make sense?  No, of course not.  But she was sticking by it.

"Obviously I'm not trying to kill your passion for an institution that has been dear to you forever but..." They pressed kisses to the side of her neck, making Juliette let out a content sigh as she leaned her head to the side to give them more room, tugging their hair lightly where her hand was resting on their head.  God, their touch was addicting. "You could get back in bed with me." They murmured, and Juliette paused, thinking about it heavily for a moment before sighing and shaking her head.  She couldn't... If it was just her going, she could, but she'd promised Becky she'd go... And that had spiraled into Shelby and Carly both agreeing to go - Shelby because she knew that if Juliette ran into Samantha, she'd probably still need support, and Carly for a similar reason - but instead of Samantha, it was Becky's mother... And Ophelia and Honey were already going... It'd been a whole thing, now there was no way she could skip.

"Almost any other time, I would agree in a heartbeat."  She turned around in their arms, cupping their cheeks as she shook her head, rubbing her thumbs over their cheekbones, letting them lean into her touch as they closed their eyes with a soft smile.  Her heart squeezed as she leaned in, kissing them softly.  "But today I'm not going alone, so I have to go.  Do you wanna come with?" She asked, and Esme grimaced, opening one eye.

"How mad will you be if I say no?" They asked, and Juliette frowned, shaking her head... Why would she ever be mad at that?  If there was any way that she could not go today, she'd be doing the same thing, of course she wasn't expecting Esme to come along with her.

"Not at all, you're allowed to not want to go somewhere that you've never felt welcome, I'm not expecting you to do that." She said, and Esme let out a sigh of relief and nodded, clearing her throat.