I stared at Austin, my hand still gently cupping his face and as I opened my mouth to speak, my words caught in my throat and I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth.I wasn't ready to destroy him the way he destroyed me.I paused, swallowed hard and shook my head.Austin chuckled, "Come on, what is it?" He said softly, giving me a light push of encouragement.
I sighed, still unable to find the words, "I'm just glad to be here with you," I blurted out.And although it was the truth, it certainly wasn't what I was hoping to say.I mentally slapped myself as I forced a smile. Austin beamed over at me and hung his head briefly to hide his blushing face while I continued to scold myself.He leaned back on the bed, resting his head on the pillow and pulling me down with him so our faces were only inches apart. His nose gently brushed mine before he placed a gentle peck on the tip, smiling softly at me.
"Get some sleep," He said quietly, closing his eyes as he wrapped his arm tight around me, pulling me against his body. I nuzzled my head into his chest as his breathing slowed, drifting to sleep and taking me with him.
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By the time I woke up the next morning, Austin was already awake beside me, sitting up against the headboard while he played on his phone.I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I stared up at him, still trying to convince myself that last night wasn't a dream.I smiled up at him as I pulled the covers tighter around me, "Morning," I said softly.
He tore his eyes away from his phone to smile down at me, gently brushing a few stray strands of hair away from my face, "Morning," he replied.
"What time is it?" I asked, finally sitting up and mirroring his position.
"A little after noon." I groaned softly, reaching over to pull my phone off the bedside table to check my e-mails. I was anxiously awaiting a response from Mark about the pictures I had sent over. As I scrolled through the various spam e-mails littering my inbox I let out a quiet squeal of panic as my thumb hovered over the response from Mark. Austin narrowed his eyes at me, silently questioning what the squeal was for.
I chuckled, "Mark responded to my pictures finally, I was getting nervous," I explained, finally clicking on the e-mail.As my eyes poured over his words, thankful they were all words of praise, I managed to let out the nervous breath I had been holding.
"Well?" Austin asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I smiled over at him, "He liked them. I'm not getting fired!" I grinned triumphantly.
Austin chuckled and shook his head, "See I told you there was nothing to worry about," He teased, setting his phone down on the table beside him.I rolled my eyes playfully and waved him off, leaning back against the headboard as he looked down at me.Both of us were silent as we stared at each other and although slightly awkward, it wasn't tense and gave me a strange feeling of comfort having him so close to me.He let out a quiet sigh, "I should get going," He said softly, reluctantly throwing the covers off of him as he stood up from his spot.
