KATE
When I open my eyes, I am met with the confusing disorientation that comes from sleeping through a day. For a wild moment I can’t remember where Michael is, but my hands find him immediately when I reach next to me.
I didn’t intend to wake him, but he stirs and grabs onto my hand in his sleep before blearily opening his eyes and gazing down at me. I am suddenly devastated by thought of waking up without him and he looks on in confusion as I bury my face into his chest.
“Hey,” he croaks, sitting up and pulling me with him. I let him pull me into his lap and rock me back and forth for a little while, keeping my face pressed against his warm skin.
“What time is it?” I mumble into his neck.
“I don’t know,” he shrugs with a small chuckle. “I had to unplug your alarm clock this morning because I couldn’t get it to turn off.” He buries his face in my hair, embarrassed. I chuckle. “I’m sorry,” he sighs.
“It’s okay,” I breathe, my cheek pressed against his chest.
“I don’t mean just about the clock, I mean… everything.”
“I know,” I whisper, lifting my head to kiss his collarbone. “Can we talk about it though?”
“Of course,” he says, looking down at me with soft, earnest eyes.
“When you said that forever was a long shot…”
“I didn’t mean that,” he interjects immediately, as I knew he would.
“I know, but that has to come from somewhere. You said that you knew from the beginning, Michael. Is that true?”
“No, I just…” He trails of, shifting me off his lap so that he can see me properly. “In the beginning, after I first met you, when I realized that I was starting to like you… I had all my secrets still, and I never even dreamed that someday I would let you uncover them. Back then, I did think that. But Kate, I’ve let you so far in. I didn’t think that would happen, I didn’t think it could happen.”
I just stare at his face, his eyes pouring into mine.
“I didn’t know that I would want you to know everything, I thought that I would be hiding for the rest of my life.” My throat closes up as his eyes begin to water noticeably. “I didn’t think that any type of forever could even exist for me,” he says finally.
“Michael,” I mumble, scrambling back onto his lap and locking my arms around his neck. His arms form a protective cage around my back and we just hold each other for a few minutes, fixing whatever was momentarily broken between us.
“I’m sorry,” Michael whispers again. “I don’t know about the future Kate, but I know that I want you in mine.”
