Sweet Lantern

Chapter 10

Darry

Waking up next to Alice, visions of last night come flooding back. Oh my God! Did that really happen?! It did. It did happen. She's here now, next to me, close enough to my face that I can feel her breath on my nose.

The sun is coming in and blasting me in the face, so I keep my eyes closed, but I don't have to see her to know how beautiful she is this morning; she's beautiful every morning. She can't help it. I feel her body next to me, the heat between us. I reach up and run my hand down her hair. She's very close to my face and I know she's feeling kind of silly this morning. Yep, definitely in a goofy mood, I determine from her unusually cheerful greeting. She's not normally a morning person like this. It makes me happy to know I had a part in this rare mood she's in. I open one eye, like Popeye, and check her out. Yep, beautiful... Like always.

I make a snide remark about what's got her so chipper and she slaps me! Alice has gone rogue, she's getting violent. I laugh at the thought.

She's got me on my back before I know what's happening. I can't help but stare. She looks so sweet sitting next to me, staring at me with all the love in the world in her eyes. "You're so beautiful", I say, distracting her from the pillow that's clutched in my hand, and Wham! I smack her with it. The shock on her face and then her "I'm gonna get you" come back... priceless. Help! I'm being threatened by a peck!

In the midst of our pillow fight, I smell bacon. Oh, wonderful salty, greasy bacon! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

I jump up and head for the bathroom. I need a shower before breakfast, it's kind of my routine and I'm not one to break routine. I've been in this bathroom a million times before, but today it feels different. I know she's in her room waiting for me, so I hurry as fast as I can. Realizing I forgot my clothes in her room, I reach for the two towels hung on the racks beside the tub, wrapping one around me and using the other to dry this mop on my head, I walk into her room. She's right next to the bathroom door, looking through her delicates drawer, of all things for her to be doing right now, really? I feel my face flush.

She's staring at me again. When I call her out, she blushes and turns away. I catch her around her waist and pull her back to my chest, reaching down to press my lips against the warm skin of her neck. When I turn her toward me so we're facing each other, I see the love in her eyes, and it sends chills down my back. I kiss her again and walk away, grabbing my clothes, I head back into the bathroom. I so enjoy tormenting her, seeing her reaction. She gets very feisty.

I hear her frustration through the door and have to smile to myself. I've loved messing with her since we were kids. Granted it's never been like this, but this feels even better, because now I get to kiss her too. Win-win!

Once I'm dressed, I go back in the room with Alice. She's lying flat on her back, staring at the ceiling above her. When she hears me open the door, she sits up and scoots down to the edge of her bed, her face flushed and she's scowling at me. I ask if she's ready to go clean out some stalls, just picking on her, and she tells me she's still got to get dressed, so I leave her to it.

I don't want to be too far from her, so I wait for her in the hall. The smell of breakfast wafting up to hover under my nose. Her mom's a great cook. I love coming over to eat with them. I've preferred Mrs. Wilson's cooking to my own mom's since I can remember. Not because my mom's a bad cook, but because she's always trying "new and improved" ways to make stuff. She can go a little overboard. Mrs. Wilson sticks to a simple menu of things she knows we all like. A wooden sign that says, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" hangs over the basement door in the Wilson home. Thankfully, I think that applies in the kitchen here as well.

Alice opens the door and breaks my train of thought. She's wearing a white sundress with little colorful flowers all over it. I love when she wears these dresses. She wears them with her brown cowgirl boots, and it's the cutest thing.

I smile at her and she locks her arm in mine. We walk down the stairs together and into the kitchen. She grabs some bread to pop into the toaster for us, it's the only thing her mom doesn't normally serve with breakfast, but Alice knows I like buttered toast with my eggs. It's very sweet of her, she always makes sure I have my toast when I eat breakfast with her.

She sits in the stool at the island in the middle of the kitchen and looks at her mom. This is her favorite place to sit in the mornings, so she can watch her mom cook. She's liked to do this since she was a little girl, and still does it every morning as far as I know. I find these little things about her, sort of endearing. I know, it's weird.

I sit down on the stool next to her and pull her into me for a hug.

Mrs. Wilson turns to tell us "Good morning." And before I can say anything, Alice says "Good morning!" with far too much enthusiasm in her voice. Her mom knows somethings up immediately. I see the curiosity all over her face when she turns to look at us. Alice is not a morning person in any way. Not that she's mean in the mornings, but she's never this... cheery?

She turns to tend to the food in the pan in front of her and when she turns back to us, she's got this knowing grin across her face. Yep, she knows. I'm expecting the third degree, question after question, but she just asks if we slept well. I'm confused and I'm scared too. Why didn't she bust us? Alice is totally oblivious to her mother's observation of us and doesn't realize what I now understand... We've just outed ourselves.

Oh well, cat's out of the bag now... I reach down and pinch her arm to make her squeal and she doesn't disappoint. When Mr. Wilson comes into the kitchen, the hair stands up on the back of my neck.

-Infatuation High Effectively Extinguished-

I love him like he's my second dad, but he scares the heck out of me too. He's not a mean man, but he's very large and intimidating, and now that I have made out with his daughter, he seems larger somehow, as if that's even possible. I feel him looming over me and he hasn't even come close to us yet. He says, "Good morning" and we both tell him "Good morning back", I can hear the unsteadiness of my voice and cough to try and play it off as something else.

All I can think about is getting through breakfast so we can be alone again. We're both gonna have chores to catch up on today, and as much as I'm dreading the heat and the stench of the stables, I can't wait for it to be just us again. I fully plan on helping her through her chores before going home to help my parents. The faster we get this done; the sooner we'll be free to do whatever we want.

We're on our best behavior through breakfast, with everyone around the same table, we kind of have to be though. My head is in the clouds, thinking about the past 24 hours, when Alice's excited voice breaks through my daydreams. Shaking the thoughts from my mind, I try to grasp what's just happened.

New horses? *sigh* That means someone will be in the barn with us for most of the day, if not for the entire day. They're all looking at me. He's asked if I'll help with the horses, I realize. I agree and tell them I just have to let my parents know, trying my best to hide my disappointment. Alice is so lit up with excitement that I can't help but watch her, feeling a shift in my mood. She really does make me happy. I love her more than I've ever loved anyone, and I can't believe she's mine; she loves me and wants me just the same. It hasn't escaped me, just how lucky I am. I don't even realize I'm staring at her until I see her looking and smiling at me. I smile back and she reaches under the table to put her hand on my leg, giving me a squeeze.