I am woken by the gentle motion of Michael's fingers running along my spine, his touch feather light on my bare back. I am lying on my stomach, my face turned away from him, but his arm is beneath my body. Curled around me, holding me.
I pull the sheet up and wrap myself in it before turning into his arms and burying my face in his neck. "Hi," Michael murmurs, his hand resting on the back of my head.
"What time is it?" I whisper.
"It's six in the morning," he says softly.
"Why are you awake?"
"I just woke up," he shrugs, looking away from me. We are quiet for a moment. "How... How are you?" He asks nervously.
"I'm good," I smile, wrapping my arms around him. "How are you?"
"Really good," he breathes with a light chuckle. I feel his tense body relax and my mind is inundated with memories from the night before. Michael's lean body moving fluidly with mine, his soft whispers of my name, his hands caressing every square inch of my skin like he wanted to leave no part of me untouched. I shiver at the memory.
"I have to go to class," I whisper.
"No you don't." Michael pulls me tighter to him, as if restraining me.
"Yes I do," I laugh. "Today and Friday are my last day of classes before Thanksgiving break, I have tests."
"Thanksgiving," Michael murmurs, as if he has forgotten. Perhaps he has, with everything else going on. I wouldn't blame him. "What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" He asks.
"I'm going to go back to my parents'. They make a big deal of it, they invite family and stuff. What are you doing?"
Michael shrugs. "I'm not exactly in a family mood these days," he says darkly. "Too many secrets."
"Hmm," I hum. "You can come with me?" I let the suggestion hang between us as a question.
"What?" Michael sits us up and I scoot away from him, pulling the sheet tighter around me so that I am not having this conversation naked.
"Come with me," I say again, this time almost insistently. "You said you wanted to meet my parents."
He looks doubtful of it now. "I do, I just... Thanksgiving? What if they don't like me?"
"They will," I laugh. "They trust me. Plus, we won't be far. It's about an hour from here. We can just pack some stuff and go for a few days. Please, Michael?" It's odd how I turned so quickly from suggesting to begging. It was not until I said it aloud that I realized how much I really want it. To be normal, like he said the other day.
"Will you be wearing this?" Michael asks, tugging at the sheet around my body.
"To Thanksgiving dinner? No."
"Kate, I want to come, I just..." His eye flicker away but I'm not having it. I grab his chin and make him face me again.
"What is it?" I ask.
"I don't want to bring any of this-" he gestures around the air- "With me."
"I would go crazy if you were alone," I say. It sounds bizarre, the thought of being without Michael for any extended period of time. Our odd and untraditional relationship has had us together so often, for so many reasons. We've not been apart- really apart- for more than a day at a time.
"I've always been alone," Michael smiles a little sadly. "I'm used to it. It was just me before... before you."
I sigh. "Just think about it," I say, kissing him on the nose. Michael scrunches his face adorably as I tuck the sheet around me and stand from the bed, on the way to the shower.
