Pieces

Chapter 5

I woke suddenly to the annoying beeps of my alarm. I was lying on my side and Bri was spooning me from behind.

I pulled her arm away and stretched over to shut the alarm off, then pushed myself back into the warmth of her arms. I started tracing the tips of my fingers over her arms, trying to wake her, but she just grumbled, pulled me closer and wrapped her leg around me. I turned my head as best as I could and said her name, but that didn't work either. I tried rolling over, but she had me in such a tight hold that I couldn't move. I finally yelled her name and that seemed to do it.

"What?!" She yelled.

"We need to get up, you have to be home in an hour," I said.

"Noooooo," she grumbled, as she nuzzled further into my head.

This made me smile, it's been a long time since someone held me and complained about getting up in the morning. Rebecca was not a morning person and I had to fight her for half an hour before she would get up. I can't tell you how many times we were almost late to school because of her horrible morning habits.

I laid there another 10 minutes, then decided we really needed to get up, so I wiggled my body and pulled her leg off of me, then rolled out from under her arm. Yes!! Sweet freedom!! I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic trapped in her arms. I padded downstairs and started the coffee, then went back upstairs to try to get Bri up.

She had turned onto her stomach and had the pillow over her head. Cute. I sat next to her and rubbed her back, then pulled the pillow off and kissed her cheek.

"Please Bri, we have to go soon," I said in a slightly higher pitch than normal.

She spun herself around and laid her head in my lap, wrapping an arm around me, with her face on my stomach and muttered, "I had fun this weekend, thank you."

I ran my fingers through her hair and massaged her scalp."Me too, thank you for making this birthday memorable."

She snuggled closer for a moment, then sat up, kissed me on the cheek and said, "You're welcome."

I put my hair in a half ponytail and poured 2 cups of coffee whilst waiting for Bri to come downstairs. I thought about the last 2 nights and felt a twinge of sadness that it had to be over. It's really better this way, neither of us are in a place to become involved any further than we already have. Oh my God, you've finally come to your senses with that girl. Not right now brain, I'm too tired for your shit.

I sat on the barstool at the island and put my forehead on my arms to rest a bit. I heard Bri coming down the stairs, so I turned my head to look at her; she looked pretty, despite her bedhead and dark circles under her eyes. I watched her sluggishly move to the coffee I had sitting on the counter, scrunch her nose, then open the refrigerator. She turned around with a slight smile and creamer in her hand, then poured an offensive amount into her coffee. I saw her looking around, then back to me and I knew what she wanted, so I pointed to the canister on the counter, next to the coffee pot that very obviously said sugar, then watched her dump an also offensive amount of sugar in her coffee. She must have seen the amusement in my eyes.

"Don't say anything," she said, looking right at me.

I put my hands in the air in surrender and kept my mouth shut. When she finished that drink that could no longer be considered coffee, she finally got up and found her purse, then put her shoes on.

"Are you ready?" She said sadly. I just nodded and followed suit.

I set the alarm and we went out the kitchen door to the garage. I have 3 cars, all luxury (I know, pretentious, but I love them) and chose the Audi R8. As we backed out, Bri made some crack about how she chose the wrong career. I flipped her off after putting the car in drive and screeching down the street.