The Deep End ✔️

30 - pour toujours

Lazy Saturdays were becoming the norm and I loved it.

Dallas ended up coming to my place more often than I did his out of convenience. His office wasn't far from my place and I was normally off on Friday evenings. I'd leave the door open for him and he'd walk right in, hang his jacket on the rack, and instantly come and give me love. We'd spend Friday night either cramming a date into the few hours we had before midnight or just lounging around the house doing nothing.

But Saturdays? They were my favorite.

Dallas would let me sleep in while he went on his run and inevitably picked up some coffee or breakfast for us. Then we'd do absolutely jack all for the entire day. Sometimes we'd nap from the afternoon until dinner time. Other times we'd just lay in bed and talk about nothing for hours or watch a new series we'd invested in together.

Today was Saturday.

I sat with my back to the wall and my legs extended and Dallas had his head in my lap. He finally caved to my constant begging to try watching anime with me. I could tell he was invested because he wasn't making any shitty jokes about the character design or asking one million questions instead of watching.

With my hands carding through his hair, I leaned back comfortably and just enjoyed this moment. It was my favorite anime, so I'd already seen it twice.

After three episodes, Dallas rolled over in my lap so he was looking up at me. There was thought behind those baby blues, his eyebrows slightly pushed together and his teeth nibbling at the inside of his bottom lip. I pushed the hair back from his forehead with one hand and cupped his cheek with the other.

"Was there a specific moment when you realized you loved me?"

I felt my cheeks tense with a smile. There had to be, right? Off the top of my head, I almost couldn't remember a time I didn't love this man; love at first sight, if you want to get technical. Of course, back then, I refused to even admit I wanted to hook up with him—let alone have feelings for him.

"Well, let me think about it. What about you?" I asked, running my thumb along the curve of his bottom lip.

Dallas stared up at me. "I know exactly when."

The familiar warmth that always ceased my body when Dallas said things like that made it's appearance. It was like he woke up in the morning with a script already burned in his brain with things that would make me blush like a school girl. Not to mention his weird ass telepathy thing, always knowing how I was feeling and what to say to make it better.

"Go on then, lover boy," I said, my smile growing even bigger.

Dallas's eyes averted to the ceiling as if the exact time of the exact day that he knew he loved me was projected above us. As if he could recall every detail.

"It was in the last week at the beach house. Do you remember when everybody went to the trampoline park but we stayed back because you had a headache?" he asked, glancing up at me. I let out a hum of confirmation. "You were sitting at the counter, writing in your journal, while I made us some food. And I must have been staring at you or something because you looked up from your writing and smiled. I remember just being hit hard by it. Like . . . you were just the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid my eyes on. That was when I knew."

I was rendered absolutely speechless. Our eyes met and I wanted to cry and kiss him and jump his bones and shove him out the door all at the same time. I don't deserve you. But I'll try.

"I couldn't fucking tell you, of course, because then you would have thrown a tantrum and slept on the couch or something," Dallas continued, making a laugh burst from my chest. He beamed up at me, reaching up to momentarily twist a strand of hair around his finger. "You don't remember when?"