Falling for the Fire

Chapter 41

*Ariana's POV

When I woke up the next morning and turned over to find Brooklyn next to me, I almost jumped. I had forgotten that she had stayed over.

Now that I saw her there, all I wanted to do was cuddle up next to her.

I could tell that my eyes were still bloodshot and puffy as I carefully stretched my arms above my head. I brought my hands down and rubbed them, trying not to move or make too much noise so I didn't wake Brooklyn.

I glanced over at her, replaying the events from last night in my head. Thank God she had been here.

I hadn't planned on telling her about everything with my mom, but now that it was out in the open, I had to admit that I felt a little bit better.

It caught me completely off guard when she'd told me about what happened to her dad, but there were a lot of things about Brooklyn that were catching me off guard lately.

I knew that I was getting into dangerous territory with the way that I was feeling, but I couldn't help it. Especially with how she'd been acting lately.

I don't think I could remember a time where someone had been as sweet and caring as she was last night. And on top of that, I could tell that she had been genuinely concerned about me.

It wasn't a side of her that I was used to seeing, but fuck, it was making me feel all sorts of things.

Her slight movement next to me pulled me out of my thoughts, and I rolled over so my body was against her back.

I kissed along the back of her shoulder and up to her neck as I wrapped my arms around her waist.

"Morning," I said quietly.

She turned over to face me, and a lazy grin spread across her face.

"Morning," she responded as she leaned in to kiss me.

She brought her hand up to cup the side of my face, and her thumb trailed back and forth over my jaw.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"I'm doing okay," I sighed, "thanks to you."

I saw her cheeks turn slightly red as she shook her head back and forth.

"Don't give me that much credit," she said.

"Well it's true," I told her, "I'm serious, I'm not sure what state I would've been in if you hadn't been here."

"I'm glad that I could help then," she responded.

She kissed me again, and I pressed my body further against hers. I wanted to lay here and do this all day long.

Her hand slid down and wrapped around the side of my neck, and I sighed against her lips. She kissed along my jaw before resting her head against me, and my eyes fluttered shut.

"Do you have anything going on today?" I asked, my hand rubbing gently along her waist.

"No," she mumbled, "just this."

"Good," I laughed.

"I know you usually don't do this," I continued, "but I liked having you here when I woke up."

She was silent for a moment, and I started to wish that I hadn't said anything. Brooklyn leaned away and sat up next to me, and I couldn't get a read on her expression.

"I like being here," she grinned, "but don't get used to it."

"I won't, don't worry," I told her as I returned her smile.

"Do you want coffee?" She asked, "I can go grab something."

"You know," I started, "how nice you're being is scaring me a little bit."

"You and me both," she teased, giving me a quick kiss before she got out of bed, "is that a yes then?"

"Yes please," I nodded.

"I'll grab something for breakfast too," she said, "I'll be right back."

Jesus this was not like her. I was doing my absolute best to not read into any of this, but maybe she was changing her mind. I knew that we were going to have to have a conversation about it eventually.

I couldn't continue to let my feelings get stronger if this wasn't going to go anywhere, and that's what I was afraid of.

By the time Brooklyn got back a while later, I was sitting in the living room waiting for her. She came in and set coffee and breakfast for each of us on the table as she sat down next to me.

"Thanks," I said, "I definitely need this."

"Me too," she agreed.

Once we were done with breakfast, I figured that she would get ready to leave, but it didn't appear that she was.

"Are you staying for a while?" I asked her.

"I thought I would," she said, "if that's okay with you of course."

She gave me a teasing grin, as if I could ever say no to that.

"I suppose you can stay," I told her, doing my best to sound serious, "I could use a lazy day."

"I'm not going to disagree with you there," she said.

She leaned back on the couch as I grabbed the remote and turned the television on. I found a cheesy rom-com for us to watch, it only seemed fitting.

I laid down next to Brooklyn and rested my head on her lap as she started to run her fingers through my hair. It seemed like this was becoming a habit.

I kept on thinking that she was going to come to her senses and decide that she needed to leave, but it didn't happen.

We had finished one movie and started another, when I heard my front door open. Before I could sit up to see who it was, Avery walked into the living room.

"Hey Ari, are you -" she started, stopping mid-sentence when she saw Brooklyn and I laying there.

"Oh, sorry," she continued, "hey guys."

"Hey Avery," Brooklyn quietly responded.

"You're fine," I said as I sat up, "I didn't realize you were home yet."

"Yeah I just got back," she told me, "I wanted to come check on you."

"This is why I said you shouldn't have worried her," I said as I glanced over at Brooklyn.

"Yes she should have," Avery jumped in.

"Yeah, yeah," I said with a joking eye roll.

"I'm going to get going and let you guys talk," Brooklyn grinned, "I don't think I want to be in the middle of this."

"Fine," I grumbled.

She grabbed her things and I walked with her to the front door.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" She said as we stood there.

I nodded at her and she leaned over and kissed me before walking out.

When I came back to the living room, Avery was sitting on the couch giving me a suspicious look.

"What?" I asked as I sat down next to her.

"That didn't look like casual friends with benefits," she said.

"She was just here because of what happened last night," I told her, "it's not a big deal."

"I don't want you to get hurt Ari," she sighed, "it still seems like a big red flag that she refuses to do anything but sleep with you."

"I - that's not completely true," I said defensively.

Avery raised her eyebrows at me, and I knew that she was still skeptical...and she was right.

"Look," I said, "I know I need to have a conversation with her, okay?"

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