Vince

Florence

I woke up in Vince's bed with Hannah's arm over my chest. I moved her off me without waking her and went to make breakfast. I entered the living room and looked at the couch Vince said he'd be sleeping on to find him missing.

I called his phone and he answered, "Good morning."

He sounded out of breath. A small voice in the back of my head kept saying he was with someone, and I tried to push it back, but it fought all my other thoughts for dominance.

"I was going to make breakfast. I didn't realize you weren't here," I said.

"Thanks. I've already eaten though."

I couldn't stop myself, "Where are you?"

"I'm at the gym."

The relief I felt made me feel ridiculous.

"What are you doing at the gym?" I asked.

"Mostly trying to get Kaleb to stop hitting on one of the trainers and spot me," Vince laughed.

And then I felt it. In that moment, I knew I cared about him so deeply that I wanted this to be how things always were. I wanted to hear his beautiful laugh and speak to him about anything. I wanted him to be mine.

"Well, if you're busy, I'll let you go." I chewed at my bottom lip.

"Wait, later, our date," Vince said, "You still want to do it?"

"What are we doing?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Nothing," Vince stated.

"Nothing?"

"We're just going to hang out. We're going to sit on the couch and watch tv and eat junk food. I just want to spend time with you."

And there it was again. That unmistakable feeling of warmth and connection that translated into three words. I felt it on the tip of my tongue, but I kept it to myself. I wasn't ready to share it.

"It's perfect," I said.

"Great. I'll see you when I get home."

I could hear Vince's smile through the phone when he talked to me. We ended the call and I went about making breakfast. I thought I would be making omelets until I realized there was no way to cut vegetables with a cast on.

Hannah got out of bed and assisted me with cooking, and by assisted I mean took over. I kissed her cheek and she helped me wrap my cast before I went to shower. I loved the shower in this house and I felt like I'd never leave if it wasn't so painful for the water to hit all my bruises.

I noticed that they had started to turn blue and dull slightly in color which I thought was a pretty good sign. I wanted them to heal so I could start to forget the trauma of getting them every time I saw them.

I got out of the shower, which is probably the hardest thing I'd have to do all day. It took me twice as long as normal to get dressed because of how careful I had to be. I looked at my stitches in the mirror and thought about how the scar would look.

My thoughts drifted into something else and I was snapped out of it when Vince kissed the side of my head. He was covered in sweat, little beads starting to roll down his biceps. He stood behind me and looked over my stitches.

"You're so strong," He whispered, his fingers ghosting over the skin below the stitches.

"I don't feel it."

Vince pressed the side of his face against mine and wrapped his arms around me.

I shoved him off, "I just showered!"