Forked Roads Back

93 - TESSA

I'M BREATHLESS AS ARCHIE rests his head on my chest, both of us spent with exhaustion.

Having enjoyed an amazing day at the Knicks game, ending it completely naked in Archie's bed, again, had not been where I had expected my evening to go.

I don't know what came over me. I don't know what came over us. Both here and at the game, there was something that neither of us could ignore anymore... because we've both been ignoring it for two weeks.

I thought it was fine. I had squashed it down and told myself it was fine, and it was. It had been. There was no awkwardness, no tension, and then all of a sudden, it all just boiled over and neither of us could control it.

But did I want to control it?

If I was being honest, the more I thought about it now, the more I realised I may not want to.

I didn't want to admit it to anyone, but Archie's kiss at the game meant more to me than I would ever openly let on. I didn't want to be the first to admit that I have been in agony each and every day since we slept together two weeks ago.

I didn't want to admit that I wanted his lips on mine for the rest of my life. Remembering what it feels like to be held by him, to hear him whisper my name, to have him look at me the like I was the centre of his world... it's something I never want to let go of.

I threw caution to the wind that split second before our mouths collided. I threw everything I'd had with Jamie aside, because it's Archie. Deep down I knew, despite what I was doing, this was who I belong with.

I smile as a soft snore comes from underneath the blanket.

He has his head on my stomach, wrapped around me, and I forgot how much I loved it when he did that. His arm is holding me tightly, protectively.

I risk a peek at him and smile wider. He looks so carefree when he sleeps. He looks almost younger, like there's no weight on his bare, beautifully muscular shoulders. As I watch, he's just a normal boy, and I'm a normal girl, both madly in love with the other.

Running my hand through his hair, I hear a soft moan come up from him. He loves it when I play with his hair, tugging it. It's wet at the bottom from our exertions, but it's soft and fluffy, as it always is after he has a shower. I take a deep breath and breathe in his orangey scent, the smells and sensations sending me back in time, back to that first night held me in his arms and showed me how much he loved me. Back in time to when we just held each other, and nothing else mattered.

As I listen to his breathing, matching my breaths to his, the last three years with Jamie simply melt away in front of me. I feel his lips kiss my stomach gently, but soon, I'm joining him in slumber, falling into a deep, peaceful sleep.

***

BOTH ARCHIE AND I jump awake when a loud, shrill noise rings from across the room.

Trying to get my bearings, I realise we're in the living room, underneath a fleecy blanket that Archie keeps on the back of the huge sofa.

"Who is it?" he groans, his voice still husky from sleep.

His hair is sticking up in all directions and he looks completely adorable as he rubs his eyes.

I stretch to grab my phone from the opposite side of the coffee table.

Frowning at it, the number isn't one I recognise, but it's an Essex number. I'd put in a few applications before I left, so it may be someone finally coming back to me.

"Hello, Tessa Granger speaking." I try to sound like I've been up for ages.

"Hi Tessa, my name is Melanie and I'm a St John's Ambulance paramedic, and I'm a friend of your dad's."