What can I do? | Merluca

Part 4

A few weeks later

Meredith was slowly waking up. She missed all the people she lost every day. But she hadn't felt that kind of sadness often before. And it took her a few weeks. But she felt better now and she tried to look forward.

She felt some strays of sun on her face that were shining through the window. She blinked a few times to get used to the light, while she slowly turned around to see if Andrew was awake. Only to find him already looking at her.

"Hey." she greeted him, her voice a little croaky from the lack of use.

"Good morning." He smiled at her, meeting her eyes. The way he looked at her with so much love still made her heart flutter every time.

He leaned over to give her a small and tender kiss to wish her a good morning before he laid down on his side again and went back to looking at her. By now she should have gotten used to his intense but loving stare, but the way it made her feel surprised her every time anew.

"What? " She asked after a moment. Giving him a shy smile.

"Just- You are beautiful, Mer." He put a strand of hair behind her ear, while looking her in the eyes.

A moment later he added a bit more playful. "And you are cute when you get a little shy."

"I don't." She was blushing at his comment.

"What? You don't get shy or you aren't cute?" He asked, teasing her now, while chuckling slightly.

Not knowing what to say and to hide her face from him, she grabbed a small pillow from behind her and threw it in Andrew's direction.

"Hey, that's not fair. I wasn't prepared." He said, pretending to be hurt. But the big smile on his face gave him away.

Meredith had to giggle at Andrew's reaction. "This was more than fair." She justified herself, while laughing at the situation. Andrew knew how to make her blush. And she knew that he loved to do exactly that. So, he deserved that small pillow thrown at him.

"Well you know there are a lot of pillows here. So, why don't we-" before he could end his sentence another pillow hit him and with that he didn't wait any longer to throw one in her direction.

After a moment she realized just how many pillows there were in their bed. The room was soon filled with a lot of laughter and giggling. And in the end she was glad for all the pillows that were there. It was much more fun that way.

After a few more moments of pillows flying around the room and a lot of laughter and fun, she found herself lying half on top of his chest, with one of the last pillows in her hands. The other ones were now scattered all over the floor of her room.

"Really, a pillow fight? " She giggled, looking at him.

"Don't look at me. I'm not the one who started this. And I'm not the one who still has a pillow in their hands. This was all you, Mer." He teased her, while pointing at the pillows all over the floor.

"You really think that? " She asked him smiling. He was not wrong, but it's not like he was completely innocent.

"I do." He chuckled slightly, looking at her again, like he did when she woke up, what had started this whole pillow fight.

After a moment their giggling got quieter, getting lost in each other's eyes. Andrew placed his hand on her neck, after he put another strand of her hair behind her ear. This time he let his hand rest there, grazing with his thump over her cheek.

"I love you, Mer." He was looking deep into her eyes, caressing her cheek one more time, before he added "And I'm glad you're feeling better."

"I love you, too." She slowly leaned down to meet his lips in a slow and tender kiss.

She couldn't have imagined a better way to wake up this morning. To be loved by someone, who was also able to make her laugh.

The last few weeks had been hard for her. But, she had been feeling better the past few days. And part of this was because of Andrew. He had been there for her the whole time. And that helped her, to know that she wasn't left alone with her feelings.

He had listened to her. He had given her time. He had held her. And he had also made her laugh again. He knew how to bring that smile back onto her face. And for that she was thankful.