The Art of Loving

[52] Winter in London

The following morning, they woke up together, cuddled up in Ellie's bed, still relatively dressed in their pyjamas. They really hadn't gone past a few very passionate kisses the night before, but how Ellie was woken up by Brian's restless curious fingers wandering over her body, gently tickling her into consciousness with their movements.

Ellie opened her eyes, only for a moment, and mumbled, "What are you doing..? I was sleeping.."

"I was admiring your beauty," Brian replied quietly, his voice still husky.

"Mh, you're lucky you're so charming and that I like you so much," she told him sleepily and rolled onto her side, looking at him. "I did miss this sight," she admitted and reached for his slightly messed up curls. "The bed head suits you, you look very cute."

"Thank you," he mumbled with a smile. "I missed you too.."

Ellie reached her arms out. "Come here, my dear," she told him quietly, which he gladly did, so she could hug him. She closed her eyes again and inhaled deeply, enjoying having him so close again. "We're going to have to go back soon together.."

"I'd love that, yes. Maybe during the easter break," he suggested.

"That sounds like a good plan," Ellie agreed. "I'm glad you didn't think it was horrible during the summer."

"No, not at all. I really enjoyed that, Ellie. I'm still really happy that you wanted me to come along even though it was so soon," he told her, letting his hand wander up underneath her shirt.

"Me too," Ellie agreed. "It may sound weird but it helped me a lot."

"With your ex?" Brian asked and looked at her curiously.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, with that and… with trusting you, and with… with realising that you're a good guy, that I can stop worrying around you."

"Really? How?" Brian asked, seeming genuinely surprised.

"If I'm honest, then it was mostly the way you handled the talk with my ex. That was amazing. It still makes me smile. I saw them again over Christmas of course, and he was still an ass at first, because he thought we had broken up. But then you called and suddenly he was very quiet. Neither he nor Elaine annoyed me after that. The way you handled that back then … amazing. That's when I realised you really do care about me. And then we went on that trip together. It helped. A lot," she told him, playing with his curls.

"Really?" Brian asked with a smile. "I had no idea. I thought something seemed a little different when we came back home, but it's wonderful to hear that was actually the case."

"It is, yes. It made me see that you are in fact an amazing boyfriend," she told him and kissed his cheek. "You make me very happy."

"You make me very happy too. Sometimes I still can't believe how lucky I am."

"You think you're lucky?" She asked him with a smile that grew bigger the longer she looked at him.

"I know I'm lucky to call you my girlfriend," he said. "And I don't mean to be superficial, and I hope you know I like you for who you are, but on top of that you're so beautiful, and how often does someone like me get such a sweet and gorgeous girl like you?"

"Don't talk about yourself like that, Bri… thank you for the compliment, but… you don't have to talk like being a smart, intelligent, and talented guy is such a bad thing. It's not at all. And it's not like you're bad looking either, you're very handsome and I often think how lucky I am to have someone wonderful like you by my side. Even though I am such a mess."

For him, it was interesting to hear her point of view. "Well… I think as long as we both feel lucky, then everything is perfectly fine, don't you think?"