It Begins In A Hospital

Chapter 17

Ethan POV

I wake up a few hours later, it only being around five at night. I remember dozing off somewhere around three, and I’m surprised to smell food when I wake up a bit more. I roll over and realized Avery isn’t with me, so I get out of bed to go look for her. I pull on my boxers and meander down the hall into the kitchen, where Avery stands, facing the sink and away from me, in my t shirt and her underwear. Shes rinsing dishes, and hasn’t heard my footsteps over the running water. I carefully walk up behind her, and wrap my arms around her, making her squeal. I pull her into me and slowly kiss her neck, tracing down her collarbone. I continue for a moment, only to leave a small hickey. She moans slightly, and turns the water off, and spins around.

“What was that for?” She smirks.

“Nothing, is that not allowed?” I ask back.

“I’m not complaining,” She says, and turns back to the dishes in the sink.

“Whatcha cooking, good looking?” I smile, as I hop up on a free space on the counter.

“Things,” Avery says absentmindedly, her face blushing a deep red.

“What kind of things?” I ask, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

“Baked things,” She smiles, “I made cupcakes, and I made cookies, and I’m making dinner too.”

“Whats for dinner?” I ask excitedly.

“What do you want?” She smiles, turning off the tap, and drying her hands off.

“What do you want to make me?” I smirk.

“Don’t you start,” She says, walking in front of me and standing on her toes to kiss my nose.

“Something easy,” I say simply, kissing her back.

“Stir-fry? I’m in the mood for some veggies and rice,” She states.

“Okay,” I say.

Avery starts clearing some mixing bowls and pastry tools off the counter, and replaces them with a cutting board and her best knife. She rummages in the fridge for a few minutes, pulling out bags of carrots, snap peas, broccoli, and other various vegetables. I sit in silence on the counter as I watch her cook. She begins by boiling some water to steam the rice. Then, in a large pan, she begins tossing the vegetables together with some seasonings and some oil. Totally mystified, I can’t do anything but watch her as she practically dances around the kitchen to the music of the vegetables sizzling in the pan.

“God, I love you,” I state.

“I love you too,” She laughs.

“Have I ever told you how much I like watching you cook?”

“No,” She say, not looking up from the pan.

“Well I do,” I say.

“But why?”  She asks, leaning against the counter next to me, crossing her arms.

“Its like you’re dancing, You’re so familiar with everything around the kitchen, its like you practically move. You basically glide, like your feet don’t even touch the floor. Its amazing,” I say, bending down to kiss the top of her head.

A small blush creeps across her cheeks, and she turns around to push herself up enough to kiss me on the cheek. Just as she turns away, I stop her head from moving, pulling her lips to mine. She kisses me back, and it feels like hours have gone by, even though they're mere seconds. Before we knew it, something smelt weird in the kitchen.

"Ave, are you burning my dinner?" I ask quickly.

"Shit!" She exclaimed as she rushed to move the pan off the burner.

"Its still good," She says finally, after pushing it around for a minute, "Nothing burned."

"Good," I say, hopping off the counter and grabbing a plate.

After we both had plates and were sitting on counter, I reached for a bottle of Jack I had hidden in the cabinets.

"Its our anniversary, let's get a little drunk," I say, pulling out a couple glasses. Without saying a word, Avery takes the bottle from my hands, twists the cap off, and tosses back a couple swigs.

"Touché," I reply, putting the glasses back.

*Posting from mobile, sorry if the format is weird*