Greyhound [Marcus Rashford]

9

I wake up with a knock at my door at 6 am. Who wakes up this ungodly hour, let alone wake someone else up. Although I'm wearing a high school powder puff football t-shirt and some shorts with far too much paint on them, both articles of clothing that should have been thrown away by now but my hoarding self decided they were necessary to keep, I trudge over the door and answer it.

Standing before me is no other than Marcus in flannel pyjamas holding a picnic basket. While he looks adorable in his PJs and bears what I assume is food, I cannot help be still be grouchy due to the hour.

"Don't take this personally, but why the hell are you knocking at my door when the sun hasn't even bothered to wake up yet?" I ask him while rubbing my eyes.

"Well good morning to you too," he says while entering my room. He sets down the basket on the TV console, and gives me a hug."Since it's my last full day here, I figured we ought to get an early start so that I get to know every little thing about you before we're separated for a few weeks. Don't worry, I brought breakfast. I figured you'd appreciate eating in bed rather than going out."

"Well at least you know that about me," I say sarcastically while faceplanting back into my bed. I slowly raise my head, however, at the scent of pure black coffee being poured from a thermos into two mugs.

"If I've learned anything from the past few days, it's that coffee can motivate you to do anything, so I'm only going to give this to you if you promise to get dressed and ready to go after breakfast," he teases me. How dare he battle my morals of never waking up before the sun and my inner desire to always be 100% by sweet, sweet black coffee. I grunt and take the mug. Coffee beats morals pretty much any day of the week. "Great, now I wasn't sure what your morning thunder was so I brought a little of everything."

He opens the basket and pulls out eggs, pancakes, bacon, french toast, waffles, fruit, sausage, home fries, and more. "Are you Nanny McPhee or something? How much did you fit into that little basket!" I ask him.

"I just wanted it to be perfect,"he responds sheepishly, laying down next to me. I couldn't help but stare at him with awe and affection. He really did try so hard. I kind of feel bad for being so grouchy.

"Well you did great," I tell him, kissing his cheek. I then dig into some waffles faster than Leslie Knope at J.J.'s Diner. Marcus looks at me with wide eyes, as if he'd been surprised surprised by my semi-barbaric approach to stuffing my face with waffles and cool whip. "Now what's on our agenda today?"

"I figured we could eat and cuddle in bed until 8, then we'd take a walk around Oz Park because I saw they were going to have a small guitar group down there later, maybe hit up some shops, eat lunch, go down to Navy Pier and hang out, introduce you to some of the guys, get dinner at this cool outdoor bar, then bring you back here to chill and have the ever-dreaded goodbye," he says all in one breath.

"You seem to have it all figured out, I'm impressed."

"It's my turn to be the tour guide, plus planning was my only way to get it off my mind that I have to leave you."

"Well let's not start crying yet. I haven't even had a whole cup of coffee yet," I joke, attempting to lighten the mood, but I know there will be a tiny grey cloud following us all day.

We finish our breakfasts pretty quickly. I impressed Marcus with the amount I can consume in one sitting. If he thinks some eggs can stop me, he has a lot in store for anytime I have the opportunity to eat hot wings. We then cuddle, and enjoy each other's company before heading out. Hopefully I can find joy in all the moments i get to share with Marcus today rather than dwell on the fact we'll be separating after such a short time together.