Downside Up

Chapter Twenty-Nine (Shape Of You - Ed Sheeran)

I woke up and found my arms wrapped around a warm body.

The person was breathing softly, still fast asleep and I looked down to see an all too familiar boy. His hair was messed up and when I shifted slightly, his eyes opened and he looked at me in surprise.

"Morning, Tro", he greeted me and I smiled at him, still confused onto why I had slept not only next to but wrapped around him.

"Good morning, Connie", I replied and he giggled quietly.

"I like your morning voice. It's even deeper than usual."

I laughed and attempted to tickle him, which he escaped with a surprised squawk.

"Compliments are not going to hurt you", the older boy laughed and I pulled him close to me again, kissing him on the tip of his nose.

"Okay."

"Okay", he replied. I loved him, even more, when he was in a flirty mood.

"Okay", I told him, wiggling with my eyebrows.

"Whatever you say, big boy."

Suddenly I heard a loud knock on my door and my eyes shut open. I was still in bed, all on my own and the interaction with Connor was just another dream.

I had had a lot of them in the past. One night we were sailing along the coast, another time he took me out on a double date with Tyler and Korey. I wanted to do all these things with him, but on the other hand, I knew that my dreams would never come true. Well, at least that's what I thought until yesterday.

Because Connor, one of the straightest men on the planet, came out of the closet and told me, that he never really liked girls that much.

He asked me out on a date.

I kissed him on his cheek.

Only the thought of it made it seem like a dream and I would've never believed me if I told my younger self that these things were going to happen. It's so unlikely that I could have never imagined it in my wildest dreams.

And now this relationship was slowly coming to live. We would last forever – of course, we would. We had been best friends for such a long time and nothing could pull us apart. There was a big ocean that would separate us within a few days, but we were going to be stronger than the distance.

I could not stay calm around Connor anymore. I wanted to hug him and kiss him and do all these things, couples do, that I had dreamed about for weeks. Today was the day of our date and I was more than excited for it. It had been years since a boy had taken me out on a date, which had been my first one and it wasn't that great, but I was sure, that things were going to be different with Connor. I could talk to him for hours straight, we would laugh and rant about random topics.He often told be about his life in LA, his friends and about his family, which seemed to be a lovely bunch of people. His soft voice made me want to listen to him forever and his tales awoke my wanderlust. I wanted to go to America with him, to meet all these people he was constantly talking about and to spend every hour of the day with my friend.

IfI could only ask him out already. I wanted to be able to call him not only my best friend but my boyfriend and hopefully, someday he would be my husband as well. We could build a house together and adopt some children and cats and dogs ...

My thoughts were interrupted by another knock on my bedroom door and I suddenly remembered that someone was probably waiting for me to get up.

"Come in", I yelled, still tired. The door opened and revealed an amused Connor. He was already fully dressed and ready to go to wherever he wanted to go.