All Love Lost (ON HOLD)

Chapter 20

I was wide awake, but the steady heartbeat underneath me was therapeutic and took away all my motivation to get up and get my day started. It didn't help that Adrian was rubbing my back as if he were cradling a small infant.

Night had faded away hours ago and the birds chirping outside of the window indicated that the morning was upon us. We — mostly I—spent most of the night talking about anything and everything to keep from thinking about what had transpired between me and Daniel just earlier. But, as much as I tried not to, amongst my rambling, I mentioned Daniel and Adrien was pissed. I'd seen him annoyed and/or irritated more times than I could count, but actually seeing him angry was a scary sight.

It took me close to an hour to talk him out of going to look for him. I felt I had to deal with Daniel myself and didn't need to drag anyone else into our issues to make them even worse.

After talking him out of his murderous mentality, he helped me cook a late dinner before finally going to bed.

I remained unmoving for a while before Adrian stopped his caressing and spoke, interrupting my serenity. "You want to get something to eat?"

I said nothing. I just wanted to lay here forever.

He chuckled, causing his chest to vibrate. " I know you're up, A'Bella."

"No I'm not." I denied, trying to go back to my peaceful space.

"Okay." Was all he said before turning on his side, effectively rolling me off of him and onto the opposite side of the bed.

I groaned and pulled the comforter over my head. "You're so annoying."

"Get up and get dressed. We're gonna go to York." He stated, suggesting going to a hiking trail that was similar to LA's Runyon Canyon. It was a shorter distance, but it was much steeper, making it just as terrible.

I uncovered my face to scowl at him, but he'd already exited the room. I contemplated just going back to sleep, but ultimately decided against it and got up.

I dragged myself to the bathroom and turned the shower to the hottest setting. As the water warmed up, I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair out of the nappy bun on top of my head. I finished brushing just as steam started to fill the room. After stripping out of my clothes I stepped into the shower and allowed the water to cascade down my body. The stream poured down onto my head like a gentle massage as I lathered my body with soap and my hair with shampoo. Once I'd repeated that process a few more times, I felt clean enough to get out. I then shut the water off and wrapped a large towel around my body.

After covering my body with shea butter, I pulled on a pair of Nike tights and an orange, loose fitting tank top. My hair was already starting to curl up from being wet, so I raked a glob of coconut oil through it and decided to deal with it later. Once I exited my room, I was immediately hit with the delectable aromas of something cooking.

That was certainly one thing I liked about having Adrian over. I literally never had to cook because he was willing to do it as long as I had the food on hand.

"It smells good in here." I complimented as I walked into the kitchen.

Adrian turned away from the stove, acknowledging my presence. He stared at me for a while before smirking.

"I like your hair like that."

My hair was naturally curly, but I almost always wore it straightened because it was easier to manage that way.

"Thank you. I call this style 'a mess'."

He chuckled while shaking his head. "It's not a mess."