the book shop > j.l < MID EDIT

fifty eight

an/fully just a filler, it's so bad but i'm gonna get onto skipping further down their lives soon i promise. yous will be seeing their long term futures soon i have SO many ideas

john

back at the motel penelope had changed into her pyjamas which consisted of blue shorts and one of her fathers black shirts. john wore tartan pyjama bottoms with a white cotton vest. it was still quite early only getting onto six in the evening and they'd ordered room service for dinner only eating some soup as the motel didn't have a wide range of food to select from. thankfully it was the young boys mother who brought their food and she was much nicer than her son. penelope didn't eat much of hers, so john ate both.

after eating the time had gotten to half six but both were tired still from the early hours in the morning that they'd shared.

john lay on his stomach on the bed writing in a notepad he'd packed in his bag for moments like this, with his thick framed glasses perched upon his nose. penelope sat on the windowsill smoking a cigarette as she stared onto the bland scenery surrounding the motel. they were in complete silence, but it was nice.

her head rested on its side on top of her knees as they were pulled up to her chest. the sun was gradually setting which meant it blared perfectly through the window making a shadow of her silhouette on the floor behind her.

after spending way too much time smoking one cigarette she finally stubbed it out and threw it out the window. she climbed off of the windowsill and grabbed a book out of her bag.

she moved onto the mattress and crawled up it to lie on her back next to john, making sure to leave space in between the two so she wouldn't knock him whilst he wrote. she rested her head on the pillows and instantly felt her tiredness overcome her senses. she decided against reading the book she'd taken to the bed with her and dropped it onto the floor instead. she turned on her side facing away from john with one of her hands under her head and her other rested on her stomach as she twisted a loose thread off her shorts between her fingers.

she was awake but felt like she could fall asleep at any moment. she was completely overwhelmed and exhausted with the happiness she'd felt on this day.

she finally had someone, family.

finally.

john watched her as she turned onto her side, he saw that her eyes had become droopy ever since her head hit the pillow. he carefully closed his notepad in which he'd been doodling in since they got back, simply jotting down different words and making characters that depicted his day or feelings specifically in that moment. he did it a lot, it was almost like a journal but without fully formed paragraphs and sentences. he embodied his emotions into drawings and phrases. he carefully shut the notepad dropping it down onto the floor his side of the bed alongside his glasses and moved up right next to her placing an arm around her waist and pulling her close to him. his hand rested on top of hers on her stomach.

she turned her head for a millisecond before putting it back in its original position and intertwined their fingers. he pressed a small kiss of the back of her neck before resting his own head on the pillow beside her. he closed his eyes, not out of tiredness but just to savour this moment.

goosebumps arose on on her arms and neck as she felt his warm breath hit her repeatedly. his thumb absentmindedly stroked up and down her hand.

"he was great wasn't he?" she said quietly.

"caleb?" john replied.

"yeah."

"yeah, i'm so happy for you penny."

penelope rolled over to face john, his arm remained over her waist, she unravelled her fingers and moved her hand to rest on his own waist. his eyes were closed but penelope could tell that he wasn't asleep from his breathing.

"thank you, again," she whispered kissing his chin, as that's the only place she could reach from her position.

he opened his eyes and looked down onto her, "stop thanking me."

penelope smiled and john pulled her body even closer to him tangling their legs.

he leaned down onto her placing his lips on hers softly. penelope kissed back just as gently moving her hand up to his chest. she smiled into it breaking it and making john groan playfully and hide his head in the pillow.

penelope laughed and peppered kisses all over his face or anywhere she could reach making him pinch at her sides. she squealed and started hitting at his chest. he rolled on top of her and pecked kisses down her neck, she responded by wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him closer to her, he buried his head in the crook of her neck whilst lying half on top of her. penelope shifted into a more comfortable position.

johns head lay down her body with his arm draped across her waist and his head lying on her chest comfortably. she combed her fingers through his hair and eventually heard his breath become heavy and his body become less tense.

penelope didn't bother to try and shut the window or curtains, she just lay underneath john and let herself fall into a sleep of her own.

•

sunday 25th july 1959

penelope and john slept through the majority of the night in the same positions mostly.

well up until around four in the morning when penelope started to stir. the temperature had drastically decreased and the only warmth she felt was off johns body which had fallen to the side of her but his arm still remained around her waist and his head in the crook of her neck.

she tried to be as stealthy as possible as she slowly untangled herself from johns limbs and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. she stumbled still half asleep over to the window pulling the window shut and shutting the curtains.

"pen?" john called out croakily from his disorientated state. she internally scolded herself for being so un-ninja like.

"over here," she said leaning her elbows on the windowsill and turning her head towards him as she rested her head in her hands.

"what are you doing?" he said looking down onto her.

"i got cold so i just wanted to shut the window," she replied simply and made her way back to the bed.

john pulled the covers back realising that they'd been sleeping on top of the sheets, "well come on babe."

she lay next to johns body, he was still limp from having just woke up but he managed to pull her body back close to him, her head buried in his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist.

"i'll keep you warm, goodnight pen."

penelope felt him gently kiss the top of her head and she snuggled further into him letting the sleep take her over.