Nightmares ➳ Connor McDonough/ Before You Exit Fanfic { edited }

Nineteen

Gwen's POV

When I awoke the next morning my little crush -- if you would even call it that -- on Riley had evaporated and I smiled down at my sleeping boyfriend.

His blonde hair was scattered all over his forehead and his mouth was just slightly agape like it always was as soft snored escaped his lips. It made me smile just knowing that he was able to fall asleep last night.

I brushed some of his bangs to the side, continuing to comb my fingers through his soft blonde hair, before I let my index finger trace his jawline and just draw invisible patterns of affection onto his skin.

"I love you," I whispered and he smiled, his sleepy eyelids fluttering open to reveal the magnificent shade of blue hidden beneath them. It was the purest blue I had ever seen.

"Ilombvufoo," he muffled into his pillow and I let out a silent laugh. He was absolutely adorable.

Suddenly, I heard a pair, or maybe even two pairs of footsteps making their way towards where Connor and I were, which was the couch, since that's where we'd managed to fall asleep last night. I didn't know exactly how we were both able to fit, but we did.

"Hi Gwen," Riley greeted casually as he went inside the kitchen to pour himself a glass of chocolate milk.

I looked over at the other boy -- who must've been Toby -- as he stood awkwardly in front of me.

"Uh, hi," he said, offering his hand for me to shake while his other hand was rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm Toby."

"I'm Gwen. It's nice to meet you," I replied, smiling brightly. Connor wasn't lying when he told me Toby was shy. The boy could barely form a sentence in front of a new person.

"Hey Gwen, do you want anything to eat?" Riley asked from the kitchen.

"Do you have any granola bars?"

"Uh, yeah... here," he said, emerging from the kitchen and handing me my breakfast.

"Thanks."

"So, Toby. Do you feel any better?" I asked him, remembering that he also had the flu yesterday.

"I feel a lot better, thanks."

After ripping off the crinkly packaging, I bit into my granola bar and at the same time Connor's decided to sit up and wrap his arms around me.

"You're eating breakfast without me," he said, pouting, before peppering my face with quick kisses, and Riley pretended to gag from his spot on the table.

"Can you guys do that somewhere else, I'm trying to eat my cereal," the dark-haired boy said.

"Do you feel any better?" I asked, ignoring Riley, and Connor tucked his head into the crook of my neck, nodding, as played with my fingers.

He swung his legs off the couch after a few more minutes of -- in Riley's words -- being disgusting and was able to stand up without falling over, which was a pretty good improvement in comparison to yesterday.

"So, Starbucks?" Connor asked and all of us smiled. It was so typical of him to suggest to go.

All three of them stood up and started walking towards the door, much to my confusion.

"Uh, guys," I said, catching all three of their attention, making them turn back to face me. "We're all still in out pajamas. Shouldn't we get dressed or something?"

"It's Starbucks not church, so come on (a/n: if u know where i got this line from, i love you as much as connor loves gwen). We're all wearing sweats anyway, which isn't that weird" Riley said and I let out a laugh because of his sentence. "We're all wearing sweats anyway, which isn't that weird."

Toby and Riley wanted to take the elevator while Connor and I just decided on taking the stair like we always did. We would probably beat them to the lobby at the rate that that thing goes.

"So, Megan?" I asked. My curiosity towards her had seemed to grow overnight and I was starting to grow anxious as well. Although, I didn't really know for what reason.

"What about her?"

"Tell me about her. What was she like? Why'd you guys break up? You know, all that stuff."

"Uh, there isn't much to say," he replied, shrugging, pretending like it was no big deal, but I knew exactly what he was trying to do. "I only dated her for about two months."

"Stop dodging my question and tell me about her."

"Fine, calm down. She was my first girlfriend and pretty much my first real kiss. We met in ninth grade I took her to homecoming and prom and all that stuff. Everyone thought we looked good together, so we decided to just go with it and see what happens. Long story short, we broke up two months later because she found another blonde-haired, blue eyed boy that I could care less about," he said and I shook my head before looking at him.

"Well, whoever this Megan chick is, she's pretty stupid for dumping a guy like you," I said, stopping for a while to give him a peck on the cheek.

"Thanks and as for looks she was your typical brunette with brown eyes, nothing special, but she really was pretty," he said, then his gaze landed on me, making a smile spread across his step for some reason that I didn't know of. "You, on the other hand, are crazy beautiful. Everything about you is perfect, from your burgundy hair to the laces on your sneakers."

"Enough. I get it," I said, shoving him lightly with my free hand that wasn't intertwined with Connor's, and we stopped again on the sixty-fourth step (yes, I was counting).

"I sure do," he said, pulling me in for a sweet kiss. "I love you so much, Gwen Harper."

"Okay, enough of that. If we want to beat your brothers to Starbucks, we have to stop kissing and start walking".

"But I'd rather kiss than walk." Connor pouted.

"Well, you won't get anymore kisses if I don't get my daily dose of caffeine in the next twenty minutes".

"Fine, let's go," he replied, a smile still plastered on his face, grabbing my hand just as his phone rang. He'd received a message from Riley and he quickly opened it to see what his brother wanted.

ri-guy: ugh bro, toby and i have been in this elevator for forever and we've only made it down 3 floors. send help.

"The next time we go to Starbucks, they're probably gonna join us on the stairs," he said, chuckling.

"Yeah, they should."