The Fighter

Chapter Thirty Six

Chapter Thirty-Six 

“Wake up. Wake up. Baby, wake up. Bleu, please.” There was a little voice whispering in my ear, tickling me and annoying me at the same time. “I’m on vacation.” I mumbled, turning over and reaching for the pillow above me-well, the pillow that was supposed to be above me. All I felt was a person; hard muscle and soft skin. Then I felt a rumble of a laugh under my body, and I opened my eyes to the love of my life, smiling down at me. “You know, I don’t really enjoy being slapped in the face first thing in the morning.” He said, and I laughed, laying and hand on his chest before I rested my chin on it. “You have a half-naked female on top of you. Stop complaining.” I retorted, and he grinned cheekily before throwing an arm behind his head. “Aren’t you wondering how you got only half naked?” He asked, dropping a wink and trying to be slick. “No, because quite frankly I’m scared to ask.” I said, ending it with a smile. He let out his loud, gorgeous laugh, and I wished that I could replay it again. 

That morning was spent lazily talking about nothing in particular, lying around in the bed until one of us-Niall-got too hungry to ‘possibly go on’, as he put it. So as he walked to the bathroom, clad in just a pair of his black briefs showing hard muscle that I wanted to run my hands over, and I stole his abandoned t-shirt off the floor and slipped it onto my body. I padded out into the kitchen, searching for a coffee pot that I couldn’t find. Grumbling, I reached for the tea kettle instead and hunted down tea in the cupboard. I waited for the water to boil, tapping my fingers on the counter as images of last night flashed through my mind. All I could do was smile, and think of how he’d touched me, how he looked, how perfect-

“What are you doing?” He whispered in my ear, sneaking up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. I squeaked before turning my head slightly, ignoring his satisfied smirk. “Making water for tea.” “Mm, I see. What were you thinking about?” He asked, pressing his lips lightly to my neck before turning me around and trapping me against the counter with his body. “You.” I answered simply, resting my hands on his broad, bare chest, looking up at him. He looked down at me, a smile on his lips and love in his eyes. “Should I feel this arrogant, or is that inappropriate?” He teased. “No, feel arrogant. You’re quite special?” “Oh yeah?” He asked, his eyebrows raising. “Oh yeah. It’s not every morning a girl thinks about you while making her tea.” I winked, and he let out another loud laugh before kissing me. 

“Not what I meant, but touché.” He grinned. 

“What kind of tea do you want?” I asked, and he shrugged. “What kinds do you have?” “Um, some black tea, some flowery smelling tea, and then some lemon tea.” “Well, considering I don’t enjoy drinking flowers, I’ll have the lemon, please.” “Okay.” I laughed, and he let me go to find some mugs. I took the water off the stove and grabbed our tea bags, taking the mugs and making our cups of tea. After we’d grabbed our choice of breakfast-toast since it was the only thing there, much to Niall’s disappointment-we flopped onto the couch by the wall of windows. “I like this couch. It’s fluffy.” I said, munching on my toast and looking out the big window. “Yeah, we liked it because guests could sleep on it. It turned into the nap couch, though.” He said, reclining and throwing his arm behind his head. “I don’t blame you.” I wasn’t all in the conversation though, because I was up on my knees, looking out over the water. “We should come back here more often. I like it.” I said, and I felt his fingertips run over my calf, sending shivers shooting up my body. “Maybe we will. But, we have to get home soon.” His voice took on an edge, and I didn’t ask why, because I already knew the reason. 

What I did do was tear my eyes away from the scene outside to the perfect one right next to me. His eyes were closed and his lips were pressed into a thin line, so I laid myself next to him in hopes of easing the tension. I lifted his other arm and wiggled myself into the tight fit, gazing up and him and waiting until his eyes opened. He looked down at me and I smiled up at him, earning a half-hearted one in return. “Just relax. It’ll be okay.” I said, and he sat up, leaving me flopped over on the cushions. “No, I don’t think you understand.” He said calmly, and I sat up right behind him. “Niall, you know I love you, right?” He sighed. “Yeah, I know. But what does that-” “Then here’s a piece of advice, and I‘m not trying to be rude. Don’t ever tell me I don’t understand. I try to understand, but then you shield things from me and I can’t. Please, just don’t say that.” I shook my head, placing my legs on either side of him and wrapping my arms around his body. He sighed, nodding and turning his head slightly in my direction. “Okay, Bleu. But I disagree with you thinking it’ll be okay. It’ll be far from it.” “Yeah, but you’re there to protect me, right?” I asked, holding him to his word with a smirk on my face. He shot me a look that said ‘don’t push it’, which caused me to laugh and lay my head on his back. “Of course I will, Bleu.” He grumbled, and I kissed between his shoulder blades once.