Lily Of The Valley (Aris x Reader)

17) Darling

Waking up caused me to instantly freeze, my breath stuck in my throat. My face was completely red, my body flushing.

We had slept in the same bed before but never in this position. Never like this.

His arms were firmly wrapped around my stomach, his face resting on my back. His legs had intertwined with mine, essentially turning us into a mess of limbs.

Cursing under my breath, I carefully took his hands, prepared to untangle them from me.

Holding my breath, I tried to pry his hands off only for him to pull me closer, mumbling something I couldn't make out.

Cursing yet again, I took his hands, repeating the action of before. I did not want him to wake up and realize just how close we were right now, so cuddled up.

Leaning even closer, his face rested in the crook of my neck, his breath chilly on my skin. Closing my eyes, I internally brainstormed how to get out of this.

Suddenly, he mumbled again, though his words were clear due to how close he was. Now though, I so desperately wish he would have whispered in my deaf ear. So, so much.

My name. He was cuddled into me, whispering my name while unconscious.

I would not escape his grasp, and I was definitely not going to wake him up. I don't think I could if I tried, still absolutely speechless from what I just heard.

× ~ × ~ × ~ ×

I didn't fall back to sleep. As expected, I couldn't. He was far too close to me, his even breath soft on my skin, shivers down my spine.

As I was staying still as a statue, his grip suddenly left me, a loud gasp leaving him as he sat up. Doing the same, I avoided looking at him, my face  cherry red.

“I’m sorry. I didn't mean to, uh,”He sputtered out.

“It's okay. You were sleeping,”I promised.

“Sorry.”

“It's fine.”

Meeting his eyes, we stared at each other with completely blank faces, the situation officially registering. Unable to handle the awkwardness, I found myself laughing instead, an odd reaction indeed. As if it was contagious, he did the same, covering his mouth with his hand. Meeting his eyes again, I only laughed harder, falling back on the ground. Doing the exact same, we had to avoid eye contact to actually stop.

“We should get going soon,”I suggested, turning my head and meeting his gaze. His face was barely two inches from mine as he stared right back, his eyes sort of dazed, a soft smile on his lips.

“Are you alright there?”

“Uh huh. I’m fine,”He answered, his voice unnaturally breathy, his eyes scanning my face.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure, darling. I’m sure.”

I was used to the darling. It was nothing new, but something about it was different. The way he said it, the tone, it was one I hadn't heard from him before. One that made me more nervous than I’d like to admit.