Stay (Completed)

Chapter 30- Laughing All Morning Long

Evan’s POV:

I woke up and felt someone curled up against my side. Wearily, I opened my eyes slightly, squinting into the morning light to see I wasn’t in my bedroom. I looked down and found Maria sound asleep next to me. I was shirtless and she only had a tank top on. What the hell happened last night and why was I in Maria’s bed?

I saw the pile of my soaked, but now dry, clothes and suddenly all came back to me. I had told Maria I loved her and she had said it back. We had come back here and crashed seeing that it was early in the morning. Last night had to have been one of the best nights of my life. I only wish I could tell my mom about it.

The pain of losing her hit once again, randomly as it usually did, but this time I was able to deal with it. This time I felt safe and I felt like even though she wasn’t here physically, she was still looking after me. Maybe it was due to how I felt when I was with Maria, or maybe it was the fact that I felt like she would be proud of me, but either way I needed it. I needed to feel like I hadn’t lost her completely.

Maria’s arm tightened around my torso and I instinctively tightened my arm around her. I brushed away the hair that had fallen over her eyes to see her still peacefully in dreamland. What to do now, what to do. I noticed that the alarm clock only read 8:22 so it wasn’t like I had to leave quite yet.

My friends planned on heading out after lunch so technically I didn’t need to be back until then. I could go back to sleep, but something about having Maria asleep next to me wanted to remember what she looked like when she was asleep. Maybe all those weird romance novels were right, there really is something strange about watching the one you love sleep.

Was it because she looked so innocent? Well Maria looked innocent all the time, except when she was plotting something, so that couldn’t be it. Was it because she seemed content with the world? Maybe, she always acted like everything was good, maybe not perfect but good enough and I loved that about her. She wasn’t always trying to make things perfect, she was content to just live and love the way life was in that moment. Maybe it was because right now, she was mine. Right now, nobody else could see her, nobody else knew this side of her, and nobody else knew how beautiful she looked right now. Maybe that was it.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The alarm clock blared and I practically jumped out of my skin at the noise. Maria kept her eyes closed but reached the arm that had been draped over my stomach towards the annoying noise.

“Why, why, why do I have to wake up?” Maria mumbled, burrowing down closer to me and giving up on stopping the alarm clock which she hadn’t even come close to touching.

I easily reached over and hit the off button which caused a content sight to escape Maria’s lips. I couldn’t help but chuckle silently about how something so simple as turning off the alarm clock could set someone at ease so easily.

“Knock knock, Maria honey are you awake?” Mrs. Mancini called from outside the doorway moments later.

Shit. What was I supposed to do? Say, “Oh good morning Mrs. Mancini. What? No, no I didn’t sleep with your daughter last night; I just fell asleep with her in her bed. I’ll just me going back to Wisconsin momentarily. Excuse me for causing you any trouble.” No! I couldn’t do that. There was nothing I could say that would get me out of this situation. It certainly didn’t help that I was shirtless either.

“Maria! Maria!” I whispered urgently, trying to get her to wake up but she only tightened her grip around me, if that was even possible. Great now I can’t even get up.

“Maria? Sweetie can I come in?” her mother asked, knocking once more. This was it; this was the moment I had to decide my fate.

The door opened slightly and her mother asked, “Maria, are you up? I’m coming in.”