The Brightest Stars ✨

Chapter 14

Trigger Warning: Mild references to Domestic Violence about 3/4 of the way down.
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"Where are you going? Engaged folks don't leave the bed." He was a light sleeper, of course he'd wake up when Natalia tried to wiggle out of his tight embrace. She was desperate to take care of her bladder, and was also as thirsty as hell.

"Oh, don't they? Not even for the loo?"

"But hurry back." He loosened his hold on her just slightly and didn't make an effort to move. She still had to roll away from him to the edge of the bed. He had his eyes closed still. She loved to watch him sleep. He looked so relaxed and carefree. Benign, almost. Nothing like the man he thought he'd still be. You couldn't see the military in him when he slept.

The ring caught her eye when she leaned on the sink to look at the state of her hair in the mirror. It was a diamond, pretty hefty in an oval cut. It sparkled on her brown hand.

He was a foolish man, how did he think this ring could ever be construed as a promise ring? It screamed marriage and commitment. He definitely got outside help and she knew just the little birdie that had assisted him in making that purchase. The thought made her smile, and tingle inside.

When she had finished her business in the toilet, she brushed her teeth, washed her face and smoothed some product in her hair. Gabe had done a great job in packing all her essentials. The only thing she couldn't find were her birth control pills. She usually took them in the morning, and they lived in a drawer on her side of the bed at home.

Maybe she would have some in her handbag. She always found the most random things in there. She found her phone instead, and it was lit up with messages from her brother and Lima especially.

Lima sent her a voice note of one long, ear piercing scream and then several videos of herself screaming again on several different social media platforms. She had to laugh, Lima was a law unto herself. She recorded a reply back, showing her the ring excitedly and waited for her to wake up so they could have an actual conversation.

Her stomach growled, so she found herself rooting in the fridge for a snack. It was quite early, before 8 am. She didn't know what Gabe had planned for the day so she picked at some of the leftover strawberry chocolates and drank icy cold water.

"You didn't come back." Gabe was up, hovering in the doorway of the kitchen, scratching his bare sculpted stomach. Bare, because she was currently wearing his discarded shirt and nothing else.

"Sorry, I got sidetracked."

"By what?" he furrowed his brows, and crossed his arms. Natalia had to stifle a laugh. He was actually seriously standing there with his boxers riding low on his hips, looking entirely too indecent and asking her where she had been in the last 20 minutes or so.

"I was looking for my birth control pills, then I checked my phone and then I got hungry. Are these the kind of questions I have to deal with now that we're engaged?"

"Oh," he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I swear it wasn't on purpose. I thought you might have them in your purse or something, I never checked."

"It's okay."

"I can run down to the pharmacy if you want, there's one nearby and get you those Plan B things."

"No, it's fine, don't bother." He gave her a funny look but didn't comment and she didn't elaborate.

"Okay, so can you come back to bed?"

"For what?" she asked playing dumb.

"To paint my toenails and braid my hair, what do you think, woman?"