Snapshots | ✓

Forty Seven: Micah

Tuesday, May 24th, 2016

Waking up with Hayes curled against his side was something Micah doubted he would ever get used to. The first time it had happened, after they'd fallen asleep fully clothed once he'd gotten off the phone with the last of his family to assure them he was okay, he hadn't been able to do much more than stare in wonder and try not to move out of fear that it would break the illusion and he would wake up to realize it had all been a dream.

He had seen Hayes sleeping plenty of times, but this was completely different. The way her hair fanned across his pillows, her gentle breathing, the small sounds she made in her sleep—each little thing was like magic to him, pearls of intimacy that he wasn't sure he deserved. Waking up that first morning to find her hand still firmly bunched in the fabric of his shirt, as though even in her sleep she didn't want to let him go, had been surreal.

It had been three days and he still wasn't quite ready to share whatever it was with the outside world. Hayes seemed more than content to stay in the apartment, exploring the new parameters of their relationship. He no longer had to keep himself carefully in check and could casually touch her without monitoring the line between friends and more-than-friends. Even things as simple as placing a hand on the small of her back when reaching for something above where she was standing had been off-limits. But now all of those rules were gone, and the framework of their relationship had been stripped down to vague possessiveness and the unequivocal fact that they belonged to each other wholeheartedly.

"G'morning," Hayes mumbled, one eye opening to a squint. Mid-morning light was filtering through the blinds, casting lines of white across the room.

"Hey," Micah greeted softly.

She stretched, then curled back into him with a contented hum. "I've made my decision."

"About what?"

"Whether I want you to ask me to stay or not."

"And?"

"I would like it very much if you asked me to stay with you. If you want to."

He smiled, running the tips of his fingers along her bare arm. "Stay with me, Hayes. And I'll stay with you, no matter where we are in the world or what life throws at us, for as long as you want me there."

"I want you with me forever," she admitted.

"Done. Just say that you'll stay."

"I'll stay," she whispered, a grin overtaking her face.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She buried her face in the pillow but couldn't hide her ears turning red.

"But you have to tell your dad, because he kind of scares me," Micah said.

Hayes laughed, turning back to face him. "Sure, I can do that."

"Good. Because I'm serious: for as long as you want me, I'm yours."

"Mine." She seemed to roll on the word around in her mouth, tasting it, deciding if she liked it. "Mine forever."

"If that's what you want."

"I do."

"Then I'm yours forever."