A/N: ok this could be a little bit longer than 6 chapters.
I fall asleep surprisingly quickly. When I wake up our bodies aren't actually touching but I can feel the warmth coming off her. She rolls over and snuggles deeper into the mattress, her hand landing on my chest. It's small and warm and perfect and it makes me smile uncontrollably. She sighs and mumbles incoherently and I chuckle. The movement slides her hand off my chest and her eyes start to open. "Hey you."
"Hi. I always forget how deep your voice is in the morning." Her voice is breathy and soft and she smiles up at me. "Do you want to get up? We can stay in bed for a bit if not." I'm worried that it's weird the moment I finish speaking. If we were in separate beds then it would be fine but I'm not totally sure it's a reasonable suggestion right now. "Hmm what time is it?" I roll over to check my phone. "Six." She grins "Yep we're staying here."
"Hang on if I just shuffle this way a bit then." She wriggles herself around until her chest is pressed against mine. "Is that ok?" I nod, unsure of my capacity to create actual sentences when she's this close to me. She lies her head on my chest and sighs contentedly. "Mmmm you're so warm" I laugh and she looks up "Are you sure this is ok? I mean I'm a pretty cuddly person but if this is weird."
"Kirstie it's fine. You're one of my best friends. We hug all the time and I've known you for years I think we're at this stage."
"Good." She places her hands on my chest either side of her head and when her fingertips brush against my skin I struggle to stay still. I hesitantly wrap my arms around her waist. "Cool?" She looks up at me again "The coolest." She sticks her tongue out and then cuddles even closer to me and we drift off to sleep.
"Avi, you need to wake up." I force my eyes open to see my mom standing beside my bed. "Mom what are you doing in here? Didn't you think of knocking?"
"Of course I knocked, I didn't want to walk in on anything." She winks at me and I groan. "Ok well we'll get up now." "Ok."
"Mom do you think you could maybe go?"
"Sorry, you two just look so sweet. I'm going, I'm going don't worry." I groan again once she's left and this time it's loud enough to wake Kirstie. "Do we need to get up Avi?"
"Yep sorry."
"It's ok, I slept well" She wriggles out of my arms and sits up. Her hair is messy and her eyes are still half-closed. "What are you smiling at?" I stand up from the bed and grab a shirt from my bag before answering "you."
Once we're dressed we go downstairs and sit at the table. "You two slept through breakfast so this is actually lunch." Kirstie blushes and looks down at her plate. Esther laughs "Stop teasing them mom."
"Come on, they know I'm just joking. Ella, James come and get some lunch." I've already said hi but they haven't had a chance to speak to Kirstie yet. "Kirstie."
"Hey Ella.' She stands up from the table and gives her a hug. "How are you?"
"I'm great thanks, how are you?" They're interrupted by James who walks down the stairs and holds his arms out. "How's my favourite member of Pentatonix then?"
"Hey. That's so rude." He grins at me as he hugs her "What? We all know she's your favourite member of Pentatonix." Ella and Esther laugh and Kirstie tries not to smile as she returns to her seat.
When we've finished our lunch my dad suggests that Kirstie and I take the dog for a walk. Kirstie's so adorably enthusiastic that it only takes her about a minute to be ready to leave. "Whoa slow down, he's not going to disappear." She laughs and crouches to pet him as I put on his leash. "I know, I just love him so much. Yes I do. You're so cute." I shake my head as Esther walks into the room. "You alright there Kirst?"
"Yep just hanging out with my favourite dog." Esther smiles at her fondly and then turns towards me. "So when are you planning to tell everyone that you're not a couple because they all seem pretty certain that you are and you really don't seem to be helping that." Kirstie stands up and starts playing with the bottom of her sweater. "We haven't said that we're together." "Yeah but you haven't exactly denied it either. Mom was telling me how sweet you looked when she came in to wake you this morning."
I'm trying to work out a way to reply when Kirstie cuts in. "We were just cuddling it's really not a big deal. Just like us sharing a bed isn't a big deal." "What are you saying, that you just don't tell them?" Kirstie bites her lip. "Kirstie. Listen, I obviously don't mind sharing a bed with you but this is actually a bit bigger than that."
"I know it is Avi. I'm sorry. This is probably way worse for you, they're your family. I just didn't want to make them feel awkward." She does have a point. I know that my mom'll feel bad if she finds out that she made us share a room and treated us like a couple when we're not together. "Kirst. If you're completely sure that you don't mind can we just keep this up for as long as we're here? We don't have to do anything extra or act any differently, just don't tell them that we're not a couple."
"Of course I can."
"Thank you."
We set out to walk the dog in silence. She holds the leash and I walk along next to her with my hands in my pockets. "Thank you for doing this Kirstie."
"What, walking your dog?" She's smiling but her eyes are serious. She knows what I mean. "It's ok Avi. It isn't that bad. Your family are polite. They'll make a few jokes but they're hardly going to do anything too drastic."
"Still, thank you." She bumps her shoulder into my arm and I stumble, not expecting it. She laughs and reaches out to grab my arm. When I'm steady she links her arm through mine and we carry on walking like that, chatting about whatever comes into our minds. When we get to the park I take a ball out of my pocket and we take it in turns to throw it. "It's so beautiful here." She looks more peaceful than I'm used to seeing her and her serene smile is so appealing that wrapping my arm around her and pulling her closer feels totally natural.
