Stella and the Boxer

Chapter 33

I sleep past eleven on Saturday, and when I wake, Charlie sleeps still, his arm draped across my body. We face each other, and where I am in shadow, bright morning light spills over Charlie and highlights his features. His brown hair and heavy lashes, which lay against his cheeks in sleep, seem to glow golden at the ends, as if they’ve been dipped in sunlight. His plump, rosy lips are barely parted in the center. There is no tension in his jaw, no strain in his eyes or brow; his breathing is slow and comfortable, and the way that he holds me is wonderfully different: still longingly, but much less warily, as if he’s realized that he keeps me in much more than a physical way now, and that I won’t leave his side.

I remember the medicine from last night, and wonder if that is the reason for his deep, late slumber, or if he was simply as exhausted as I. Unaware of the possible affects of his prescription, and equally as unknowing of how to recognize them, I lay my palm against his cheek, and then his forehead, checking for a fever. His skin is no warmer than usual. I push his wavy curls back from his forehead and kiss his nose before shuffling out from under his arm. If it weren’t for my growling tummy, I would lie next to him all day. He moves his arm closer to himself as I scoot from the bed, and then he shifts to lie on his stomach.

I exit the bedroom, and am nearly to the kitchen when I realize that Cooper has followed me.

“Hey, buddy,” I scratch my fingertips against his head, “You’re not used to Charlie sleeping this late, huh?”

He walks beside me to the back door and scurries out. The air is brisk and I shiver as it hits my mostly bare skin – I wear only Charlie’s white, collared button down, which is mostly unbuttoned, at that. As I head into the kitchen, I pull up the neck where it has fallen from my shoulders, and decide quickly that I want hot tea for breakfast.

When I’ve made my cup, and let Cooper inside again, I pad back to the bedroom, taking small sips of my drink to test the temperature. I crawl back under the covers as quickly as I can, rubbing my cold feet together under the warm sheets. Charlie’s face is turned away from me now, but I can tell that he is still deep in sleep.

While I sip my hot tea, I text my parents good morning, and begin to think about how much studying I’ll need to do for my finals this week. I figure that I’ve kept up well, and if Charlie will help me with a few physics questions, I’ll need only a couple of hours of review before my tests on Monday and Wednesday.

As I’m finishing up my cup, Charlie suddenly moves his arms and stretches them over his head, sighing and turning towards me with a sleepy smirk, his large eyes still mostly closed. He scoots towards me, as I sit cross legged, leaning back only slightly against the pillows behind me, and he folds his arms in my lap and rests his head on them.

I shiver again, from the added warmth of his body. I take my last drink of tea and set my cup on the table beside the bed, reaching down to bury my fingers into his messy hair.

“Good morning,” I whisper.

“Morning, baby,” He says softly. I can see only his profile, his eyes still closed, and the corner of his lips blissfully upturned.

“Do you feel alright?” I ask, “We both slept so late.”

“You could’ve woken me up. I feel good, but those pills made me sleep like a rock.”

“You should eat something, especially if you’re going to be taking more. Let me make you breakfast?”

Charlie pulls himself from my lap with a large inhale of breath, grabbing my waist as he falls away and tugging me onto him. I straddle his hips, and trace my fingers in patters along his stomach.