The Art of Loving

[47] The Morning After

The two of them had a cosy last night in the highlands, talking until late at night about so many things. Ellie found it easy to talk to him about anything, especially when it was dark and she was wrapped up in his arms. She felt safe, she was comfortable and she wasn't scared to share the thoughts with him which she normally didn't share with anyone. They cuddled all night, partly due to the lack of space, partly because they really enjoyed being so close to each other.

That didn't stop when they woke up. They had planned to get going soon, because they had quite a bit of distance to cover, especially if they wanted to do the few stops they had planned. On top of that, Ellie didn't want to get back to Aberdeen too late, because if she knew her brother as well as she thought they would be spending some more time with him before they'd head back to Stonehaven. And there was nothing wrong with that, she simply knew that her mother would be giving her a lecture if they returned very late, because she always worried about her daughter driving at night.

However, Ellie found it hard to get up with Brian's arms around her, talking to him quietly. She was so comfortable like she had never thought she could be around anyone, and if she was honest it scared her a little. Not as much as it would have a month earlier, but still. However, she knew it was unreasonable to be scared of being comfortable around Brian, so she tried her best to hide it. She still struggled to look him in the eyes being so close to him, but she knew she had to give herself time to work on that. And she could, because Brian would be the last person to rush her. He might encourage her, and try to get her to push herself a little, but he wouldn't rush her so much she'd get uncomfrotable again. He was so wonderful and she knew she was really lucky.

Eventually they did get up though, because Brian said he was getting hungry. He was the first to get up and he made them some tea before they had an improvised but cosy breakfast in the back of the van, with the backdoors open to let in some fresh air. Once they were done and ready, they were on their way to the next stop, Loch Ness. It was just a lake, but it was kind of a mandatory stop if you were in Scotland. Ellie had been there a few times, but Brian hadn't, and since it was almost on the way anyway, it was no trouble showing him the lake. The landscape was beautiful, even if it was just another lake.

They even managed to make a quick stop in Inverness for lunch, where Ellie showed Brian a bit of the beautiful city centre, before they made their way back to Aberdeen along the nothern end of the Cairngorms National Park. It wasn't as spectacular as other places they had driven past on their short trip, but it was beautiful nonetheless, at least judging by how Brian's eyes were glued to the landscape the entire time. It was lucky that Ellie enjoyed driving so much, because he would have been too distracted to really get them anywhere safely.

Around five in the afternoon they made it back to Aberdeen and ended up staying with Henry and Betty for dinner before they caught a train back to Stonehaven. When they were back in Ellie's childhood home, the first thing they did was take a shower - separately of course because Ellie's parents were in the house. And once they were clean again, the entire family sat in the living room since Ellie's parents were keen to hear what they had experienced and where exactly they had ended up going on their trip.

Ffor the next couple of days they made the most of their time with Ellie's family. Brian was enjoying getting to know them even more, learning even more about Ellie and her family, while Ellie was soaking up the last bits of family time she would be getting in nearly five months. However, the day of their journey back to London did come eventually, and while Ellie never liked that day, it really helped her to have her boyfriend by her side. He didn't judge her, he was there to comfort her without many words. And once they had left, he distracted her as much as he could, in his own sweet way, which she appreciated more than she could tell him.