Stranger Things Have Happened (Elvis Presley story)

Chapter 35

I wake up before Elvis does. At first I don't realize where I am, but after a few seconds I remember. I feel a blush spread to my cheeks as the memories of last night flicker through my mind. Letting out a yawn, I try to sit up but find that I am unable to. Elvis' heavy arm is draped over me, and when I roll over to face him he just tightens his grip on me, even in his sleep. Rolling my eyes and smiling, I accept my fate and give up on trying to move.

As I lay there, I take a moment to look at Elvis. I mean really look at him. It's been months since the last time we've really been together, and I can tell that in that time he has changed quite a bit. I got to see some of it last night but now I notice everything. I can tell that he's lost some weight. He doesn't look gaunt by any means, but he is sharper around the edges.

His face seems to have aged a bit. I can see faint lines in his forehead that I don't remember being there before. The couple days worth of facial hair that he has grown matures him as well. But at the same time, as I study him now in a faint morning light that trickles in through the curtains on his window, sleep seems to have brought him peace. With his face relaxed it makes him look younger. It is an odd mixture, life having worn him down but sleep turns back the clock somehow.

I bite the inside of my cheek as I continue to study him, feeling a sudden pang of sadness in my gut. He's gone through so much. Hell, he just lost his mother a couple of months ago, and I know that he is still suffering terribly. I've been a complete mess while we've been apart, I can only imagine how it's been for him.

Instinctively, I reach out and caress his cheek with my hand, my touch light as my fingers barely brush over the skin there. Almost instantly after I do this his dark eyelashes flutter open, revealing the deep blue eyes beneath. He looks a little disoriented at first but smiles at me anyway, pulling me tighter to him.

"I must be the luckiest man in the whole damn world," he murmurs, his voice deep and groggy, as he buries his face into my hair. I let out a giggle.

"Oh yeah, and why would that be?"

Elvis pulls his head back so that he can look at me. And lets just say he definitely takes his time looking. By the time he is finished I am blushing furiously. He just cocks his head to the side, letting a big grin spread over his face.

"It's not every day a man gets to wake up and lay eyes on the prettiest woman to ever walk this earth."

I roll my eyes. "Sure, I bet you say that to all the girls," I poke him playfully in the chest. Elvis furrows his eyebrows, narrowing his gaze.

"Hey missy, I'll have you know that that is not true. You are without a doubt the most beautiful girl I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."

"Okay fine." I say with defeat, letting my head fall back onto the pillow and let out a long sigh which makes Elvis chuckle. I look up and him and bat my eyelashes. "Oh and by the way, you are the most handsome man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, too." Elvis nudges me with his elbow.

"I bet you say that to all the boys," he retorts, playfully twisting my own words back at me.