𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 || 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭

𝟐𝟕: 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞

   She woke up to the sunlight streaming through Walker's window, casting golden beams onto the opposite wall. Her lungs automatically drew in a deep breath as her eyes fluttered open.

Lying on her side and facing the wall, she groggily pulled her hand up from under the covers to her face. It took a few seconds to rub the sleep from her eyes, and when she finally did she tried to roll over, but froze.

Walker's arm was draped lazily across her waist, his hand limp and outstretched like he was reaching for something. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized moving was going to be harder than she thought.

Turning her head as much as she could, she glanced over her shoulder towards Walker's sleeping figure, which was rolled over on its side to face her. His features were relaxed, eyes closed and lips slightly parted as he inhaled and exhaled evenly. His bedhead was almost comical, and she let a small smile cross her face.

He looked so peaceful, She thought. It would be a crime to wake him up.

So instead, she let her head fall back onto the pillow, waiting as she listened to his breathing. She had almost started to drift off to sleep again when she felt Walker shift next to her, finally waking up.

She was faced away from him and towards the wall, so he couldn't tell that she was awake yet. Suddenly, she realized she didn't want him knowing that she knew he was possibly holding onto her while they slept. So, she did the only the she could think of: She shut her eyes again,  slowing down he breathing to appear as if she was still asleep.

Sophia heard Walker groan sleepily from next to her, shifting just a bit before freezing. He had probably noticed his arm, which all of a sudden tensed up. After a long pause it was slowly pulled away, leaving a cold and empty spot where it once was.

Not much more time passed before she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Sophia?" He asked softly. The hand on her shoulder shook her slightly, and she pretended to just be waking up.

Rolling over, she cracked one of her eyes open to look at Walker, who was sitting next to her. He reached up to run a hand through his hair, dragging it down and scratching the back of his neck.

He smiled softly. "Good morning."

She groaned, burying the bottom half of her face back in the covers. "Ugh, good morning."

Walker raised his brows. "What? All of a sudden you're not a morning person anymore?"

The sleep that was still left in his voice made her heart skip a beat. "I am a morning person. Just didn't expect to see your face so up close right off the bat. Give me a warning next time."

"Hey," He frowned, but she could see the ghost of a smirk in his eyes. "Someone's grumpy."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yuh-huh."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

Sophia finally sat up, stretching her arms above her head. "You're so annoying."

"I think you've mentioned that a few times." He grinned. Before either of them could say anything else, a knock rapped on the door, causing both of them to jump and whip their heads towards the sound.

"Walker?" His dad's voice called. "You up buddy?"

In no time flat Sophia slammed her head back down onto the bed, pulling the pillow over her face to hide herself. Walker hurriedly threw the covers back over her, and not a second too soon, because she heard the handle click and the drag of the door as it opened across the carpeted floor. She practically stopped breathing.