Chapter One

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I stretched my body as my eyes opened to the glorious rising sun as its light penetrated through the window and caressed my cheek. The sky burst into a thousand colours, causing me to watch in awe for a short moment. The sunrise was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen and I couldn’t help but admire it. Each muscle in my body flexed and moved as they stretched until I felt the sharp stab through both of my shoulder blades. I winced in pain and my eyes burned with a single, agonised tear.

Carefully, I sat up and quickly grabbed my painkillers before taking the dosage I had been recommended and had been taking for the past few months. The tablets slowly moved down my throat with a quick sip of juice, causing me to feel slightly nauseous for a brief moment before I laid back down and turned to look at him. The cold morning air brushed against my neck, reminding me that winter was only just around the corner.

He was still deep in sleep, his hair a dark blond and his skin as white as newly fallen snow. The small amount of facial hair that was usually well kept, was slightly misshapen, meaning it needed a fresh trim to even it once again.

“Sweetie, it’s time to wake up,” I said in a soothing voice as I gently shook his smooth, muscular shoulder. Slowly, his eyes fluttered until they opened fully and he looked to me and smiled, his eyes the colour of brilliant sapphires as they sparkled with life. I felt yet another sharp pain in my shoulder and again, I winced before forcing myself to ignore the pain and returned to looking at his face.

His smile had been replaced by concern as he quickly sat up and began looking at me, clearly fearing the worst.

“What’s wrong?” Asked Lewis, as he began to fuss over me, “You haven’t dislocated anything in your sleep again, have you?”

“No, I’m fine. Just a bit of pain in my shoulders, nothing serious,” I muttered with a comforting smile before I softly kissed his forehead and forced myself out of the bubble of warmth and relaxation that was my bed, “I have University and you have College,” I continued as I stretched a second time, feeling all of my joints crack and pop.

It was hard to believe that Lewis was older than I. He was still attending college after dropping out repeatedly whilst I had worked exceptionally hard to reach university; after spending what seemed to be a life time deciding what I wanted to do with my life. Though Lewis had dropped out so many times, I was certain that this time would be his last year at college. He had done so well in the first year of his most recent college course and he only had another year to go before he would be able to move on to University, which was his plan.

Though, he felt the need to tell me at least once a week that the only reason he was still at college was because of me. He made it seem as though he was certain, had I been more than just a friend when he was at his previous two colleges, he would have completed the courses. But I had been just a friend, and there was no changing the past.

I couldn’t help but feel proud that he had actually stuck out for the entirety of the first year and all it meant was one more year to go, something he was going to finish, otherwise, I was going to kick him up the back side with a pretty heavy, steel-toecapped boot.

Don’t get me wrong, the only reason I would do something like that is because I care. Lewis just wasn’t used to people caring about him or supporting him, it was still an adjustment even after nearly a year of us sleeping together, and being more than just friends.

“Riley, if the pain is bad today, take the day off,” said Lewis and I sighed. The pain in my shoulders had been gradually getting worse over the course of autumn and it was still worsening as it grew closer to winter.

“I can’t afford to take a day off, Lewis, just like you can’t afford to take a day off at the moment. I have a whole heap of coursework and not enough time to do it all,” I replied.

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