I wake to a cold chill running down my left leg, and a pain in my neck that only comes from spending the night sleeping on a sofa. The rest of my body would be cold too if it wasn’t for Ed’s jumper that lies strewn on top of me, where it must have been placed at some point during the night. I don’t open my eyes yet but I can tell Ed is awake already as I feel his chest pressed against my back, and his tense arm moving over my waist. I’ve never been this close to him, so close that I can feel his short warm breaths on the back of my neck. I tense when this happens, and he must realise I’m awake.
“How are you feeling?” he whispers, in that raspy morning voice that just makes me want to never leave the comfort of his arms. I turn over onto my other side so I am facing him, and intertwine my freezing feet with his.
“Better.” I say with a smile, and I really mean it. He smiles back at me as his hand moves across my cheek sweeping a strand of purple hair behind my ear. I close my eyes and smile even though I probably look strange doing it, but I want to savour this moment.
Yesterday doesn’t matter anymore and I forget it even happened as he moves his chest so his face hovers barely an inch away from mine and his tousled hair brushes my nose.
“Good.” He says, and still smiling, he presses his lips to mine, gently pushing his fingers into my hair to steady my head. “There is, ” he says between kisses, “nothing I’d like more,” … “than to lie here all day,” .. “With you.”
I giggle, “Do you know how cheesy that sounds?” I press my lips to his quickly before arching my neck to rest my head against his chest. He laughs, “Yes, but I don’t care; it’s the truth! Though we can’t lie here all day, I have food that needs cooking, and a girlfriend who needs feeding.” My stomach fills with butterflies at the sound of that word. Girlfriend.
“Is that what I am now?” I’m grinning from ear to ear and I know that he can see through my satire, as I make no attempt to hide it. But suddenly his lips drop to a serious line.
“Is that what you want to be?” As he asks this, he nibbles on the side of his bottom lip, something he only does when he is nervous.
“Duh, I thought you would never ask!” I squeal, as we roll into a ball of laughter and mouths. His body on mine, I forget whose leg belongs to who, and we are two parts of a whole. We roll off of the sofa and onto the carpeted floor and when we stop, he lies underneath me as I look down at all I’ve ever wanted.
“ You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that, Kat.” He says, as he gently traces my collar bone with the tip of his forefinger.
“Oh trust me I do.”
