You're My Hope for the Future

Chapter 13

Paul woke suddenly the next morning. Startled, he opened his eyes to find Hannah shifting around, making herself comfortable cuddling up to him. It was that physical contact that had woken him up. Other than that night at his flat, it had been a while since he'd shared a bed with anyone in this capacity. He wasn't used to it.

Deciding to focus on the here and now rather than what had gone before, Paul brought a hand up to rest against Hannah's shoulder, reveling in having her so close to him again. He pressed a kiss to the closest part of her head to his mouth and chuckled as she hummed contentedly in her sleep. He could quite happily stay like this; snug in bed, with Hannah cuddled up to him. But when he felt the muscles of her shoulder start to shift under his hand, he knew she was waking up. Her whole body tensed and relaxed again as she opened her eyes, kissing the junction of his neck and his shoulder.

"You awake?" She murmured, rubbing her hand gently against his ribs.

"Yeah. You woke me up with your complete misunderstanding of what personal space is." Paul told her, shifting his head slightly to see her face. She looked up at him, a mischievous look playing across her face.

"Well, I can move away if you want." She shrugged, starting to put some space between them.

"No you don't!" He chuckled, hugging her tightly to him as she tried to wriggle away. Hannah joined in with his laughter until she'd managed to wriggle to the point where they were now staring into each other's eyes, their faces only a few inches apart.

Paul's breath caught in his throat at the thought that this girl, this amazing, gorgeous girl, wanted him, wanted to be with him. Even after everything that had gone before. He slowly closed the space between them, two sets of eyes fluttering shut as their lips began to slide against each other. The kiss was languid, full of unspoken promises. When they pulled back, Hannah reached up to stroke his cheek.

"You ok?" She whispered, her eyes full of concern, hoping he wasn't regretting the night before.

"More than." He murmured back, a smile quirking up one side of his mouth. "Thanks for making me talk yesterday."

"I don't think you were the only one who benefited from it." Hannah chuckled, kissing the tip of his nose. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table, startled by the time. She groaned pitifully. "I need to get up. I'm meeting Stuart for lunch."

"What time is it?" Paul asked.

"Just gone ten." Hannah replied, watching as Paul went wide-eyed.

"Oh, God! Treena's supposed to be at mine by eleven." He cried, throwing the covers off and scrambling out of the bed.

Ten minutes later, he got out of the shower to find Hannah waiting with a cup of coffee. She watched as he ran around her bedroom, trying desperately to pull his trousers on at the same time as gulping down the drink. When he'd finally located all of his clothing, he headed back to where Hannah was sat cross-legged on the bed.

"I've got to go." He murmured. "I'll be in touch."

Hannah smiled at him, reaching up to pull his head down and press a chaste kiss to his lips, grinning when he stood back up. "Go on, before Treena wonders where you are."

Hannah sat on the bed until she heard the front door close. It was only after she got back from lunch later that afternoon that she realised Paul had left something behind.

'You forgot your jacket. I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement to get it back to you ;P xxx'

When the text came through to him, Treena was still there. She watched as he eagerly reached for his phone, a soft smile gracing his face as he looked at the screen. A couple of seconds later and he let out a small chuckle.