𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 ✹ 𝐠. 𝐠𝐢𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐧

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐯 - 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

Haven

My mom had Bonnie and Cupcake.
Johnny had Sookie.
But me, I had Atlas. Atlas was still young, almost 6, but he had the soul of an old dog. My family had rescued him from a shelter. He was used as a fighting dog at an illegal underground organization and when we'd gotten him, he was a shaking, whimpering mass of bones and skin that hid whenever anyone approached him. We tried everything varying from shit loads of treats to gentle coaxing voices, but nothing seemed to get him to trust us.
Except me, he trusted me. Whenever he decided something was scary on the initial days he spent with us, he bolted to hide between my legs or under my bed. Over the time he warmed up to everyone, but I was still his favorite out of the lot.

My sweet boy was a German Shepherd but my dad always believed he was mixed with a Belgian Malinois and some other breed. I never cared what he was, I would've loved him either way. The only dislikable thing about him is that he had a schedule. Every morning that I could sleep in on, he would wake me up at 9 am sharp to feed him breakfast. Not a minute more, not a minute less.

Sleep had problems reaching me last night so I wasn't excited to get up, but when I felt Atlas's hot breath on my face it was almost impossible to ignore. With a loud groan, I sat up. I saw him perched up right next to me, his body sprawled in my pillows and a wagging tail slapping against my mattress. I smiled at the sight and patted him on the head "Morning my love." I murmured to him, leaning over and placing a kiss on his head "Sleep well?"
I always spoke to him like he could understand me, but in my mind he did. He got up and sunk his paws on my blankets as he walked next to me, flopping again and placing his big head on my legs, looking at me with literal puppy eyes. I yawned and stretched my hands over my head, getting off the bed and beginning to walk outside.

Fluffy socks and wooden staircases are never a good combination and add to the mix the fact that my vision was still blurry by sleep. I slipped on the fourth step, landining square on my ass. "Jesus fucking Christ!" I shrilled when I felt the hardwood connect with my backside. Atlas jumped at the noise and hurried downstairs, hiding in the kitchen with his tail between his legs.

"You okay there Haven?" A voice asked. I looked up and my eyes widened ever so slightly when I saw Gerard at the end of the stairs, a piece of toast in hand. "All good." I groaned, getting up and finishing my descent down the stairs, looking at the steps this time. When I got to the base of the staircase, he eyed me up as if to check I was okay.

"You sure?" He spoke again, his tone a bit concerned "Took quite the fall there."

I nod and side step around him, walking inside the kitchen with him following hot on my heels. "You're a tad clumsy this morning." He jokes, going over to the kitchen island stool and hopping on it, propping his head on his hands.

"Maybe because I just woke up?" I state matter-of-factly while I open the fridge and scan the interior. "Why are you here so early anyways?"

"Can't a man visit his friend anymore?" He asks with a fake indignant tone. I look over my shoulder and give him an unimpressed look. He snickers, my heart swells. "Was bored, thought I'd drop by and see Johnny and eat his food while at it."

I give him a hum of acknowledgement and turn back to the fridge, looking at it mindlessly because I knew I wasn't willing to lower my standards and actually eat what was inside the fridge. I wondered if I should ask about the whole 'set up date' he offered to do. Would it be weird if I brought it up? I was thankful my back was to him because I knew my face probably looked puzzled right now. I kept looking at the fridge intently. Should I ask? Maybe I should. Maybe I will.

I shut the fridge softly and sauntered over to the walk-in pantry and talked from there "how's the search for my secret set up date going?" I asked, trying to make my voice sound as nonchalant as humanly possible.