ORANGE JUICE

NATURAL

The sheets were smeared with makeup from the night before.

You took those and his pillow cases to the laundry room. If he could break your back the way you wanted and make you feel deliciously sore after sex, the least you could do is help around the house.

Right?

"Babe..."

He was leaning against the doorframe, calm and relaxed. The way he gave your curves and exposed legs a once over made you want to surrender your body to him again. No matter how tired you were.

"Yes?"

You decided to mirror him, putting your weight against the washer as it started its cycle.

"You wearing my shirt?"

That smirk made his face look like a sculpture, those deep dimples of his carved into his skin so flawlessly. You thanked the lord for bringing a man like this into your life.

"Yeah..."

You dragged out that response as you brought the fabric to your nose, inhaling deeply. It smelled like many things, including his signature cologne. The laundry detergent he used.

And his natural scent.

"Don't steal my damn hoodies."

You could tell he was joking by the way he walked off, practically floating down the hall.

Now that the coast was clear, you grabbed your overnight bag and stepped into the bathroom.

Erik had never seen you without makeup and you liked to keep it that way. It wasn't that you didn't like yourself naturally. It was that you didn't think that he would. Hyperpigmentation gave you dark marks on your cheeks, forehead, and lower jawline especially. You had a light mustache and slight dark circles.

But your eyebrows.

Your eyebrows were the one thing you disliked the most.

You had to squint to see them because they were barely there and not dark enough to notice.

A friend told you that castor oil would work but you kept forgetting to try it.

It was definitely time to get the makeup off that you had on for hours. You took some cleansing balm and rubbed it between your palms, going in circular motions around your T-zone.

Patting your face dry, you dampened a cotton pad with micellar water and brought it to your eyes.

All that mascara and eyeliner was gone and so were your falsies once you gently took those off as well.

You looked at yourself, the difference stark compared to how you wanted to be perceived by the world. To be honest, you loved what you saw but you didn't think people would appreciate you if you went out without anything on.

The overnight bag was by your feet as you bent down to get your eyebrow makeup.

"Hey, babe..."

His voice startled you, your hands coming up to cover your face from his line of sight.

"Don't look."

You heard his feet shuffling towards you right before he picked you up by the arm softly.

"What are you talking about? Stop covering your face, Y/N."

He pried your hands away, looking into your eyes. The intensity made you find something else to focus on, like the Glade plug in that was hanging off the socket right behind his broad shoulders.

"I'm not the same person... Can't you see? I didn't want you to find me like this but here we are, I guess."

You couldn't believe that there wasn't an ounce of shock on his face. No regret. There must be a part of him disappointed in what he sees. He has to think that I've been catfishing him the whole time.