𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄

[𝟐𝟓] 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

When I wake up, my manboob is being squashed by something. Something that smells good. Like good. Like cherries. But like not. It's a sweet smell, almost like sugar but... natural sugar? Fruity. It's fruity, I just can't quite determine what fruit. But fruits involved. I think.

A low muffled moan come from my chest, and for a second, I think my boob is trying to speak to me. But nope. It's just Grace.

Not just. I mean, look at her. Her perfect lips and eyelashes covering her pretty blue eyes as they flutter open. I missed seeing her face. Sure facetime was cool and we talked almost every day but it's just not the same.

It's crazy to me that I finally get to see her. Be with her. Even if it's not the way I want to be. It's hard to have her right here; practically on top of me. And not be able to kiss her and hold her the way I want to. But I remind myself that the fact that I'm here with her is already enough.

She could hate my guts, not talk to me, not even breathe in my direction and still, I'd feel like I was floating just looking at her. Honestly, it isn't fair she has this effect on me. But I guess, at some point, I'd had the same effect on her.

"G' morning," I whisper, running my hand from her shoulder to her forearm and back again. Over and over until she looks up at me. Her blue eyes twinkle with something foreign to my own eyes, yet, no matter how foreign it, I swear it's almost familiar. She smiles goofily, nestling her head into my neck, her hand trailing down my arm until her fingers interlock with mine.

"Morning, Sammy." She sniffles, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. She lifts her head, resting her chin on my chest. "Why are your tits naked?"

I snort, nudging her. She giggles. A sweet sound, a comforting one I'd grown to miss. "It gets hot in here at night, apparently. Especially with someone hooked to your side."

"So I took off my shirt. Plus, I've been gifted a beautiful body that shouldn't go to waste." I continue.

"That makes one of us," She murmurs, I frown. Then she shrugs, yawning into my shoulder. "Maybe you should be a stripper then, Samuel."

"Only if you'll join me," I smirk. She rolls her eyes, snuggling back into my side and pulling the blanket over us.

We both stay quiet for so long that I'm pretty much convinced Grace's fallen back asleep. Then she shifts in my arms again and moves to sit in my lap, straddling me. I look up at her, my hands just above her knees to hold her in place.

"Well, hello there." I grin, she laughs quietly.

She stays quiet for a few more moments, her eyes trailing down to my abdomen. She sighs, leaning over and grabbing my shirt from the floor. She moves my arms to lift above my head and pulls my shirt on over my head, rolling it down my stomach as far as she can in this position.

I open my mouth to speak but she beats me to it.

"Are you mad I broke up with you?" She blurts out. She's looking everywhere but me, chewing on a few strands of her hair, something she tends to do when she's nervous. "And that I do stuff like this and act like it never happened?"

"Grace, look at me," I say, cupping his face and making her blue eyes meet mine. "I don't have the right to be mad at you for not being ready. And it was mutual, my love. Fuck, I act like it didn't happen too, I mean if I wasn't doing the same shit you are I would've thrown you to the floor the second you got in my lap."

She giggles. I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear as she says, "Yeah, I know we both agreed it was for the best but... I don't know I just feel like it was more my decision than yours."

She thinks it was just her doing? When we broke up I was the first to say anything about what was happening, if anything it was more on me than it was her.

I shrug. "So? Grace, even if it was all you, you don't owe me anything. We were in a relationship because we liked the idea of us and yeah, maybe we still like the idea, but I know more than anything else that you're not ready. And that's okay. When you figure out how to really love yourself, not this bullshit thing you keep telling everyone is love for yourself, then maybe we can try again."

Her lips quiver and she shakes her head, sniffling. "I don't deserve you."

"I know." I nod, the pads of my thumbs brushing under eyes, ridding of the tears. "You deserve better."

She shakes her head frantically, tucking hair behind both of her ears and tossing it over her shoulder. "No! You know you're the best there can be. I mean, you're hearts always in the right place, even when you don't notice it or mean it to be. You always know what to say and how to fix things. I don't know, you're just the kind of person that always knows what to do, and that always makes me feel better. 'Cause, I dunno, I always overthink. You just make me feel like there's no need to and that means a lot to me. So, yeah, Sammy, you're as good as it gets. At least for me."

Grace is all sheepish looking and fidgeting with the hem of my shirt while she says this. And honestly? I'm not even sure I got all of that. I couldn't stop looking at her. She's so amazing. And pretty. And sweet. And perfect. And I love her.

I wish I could be what she needed in the beginning. I wish I could've been the reason she got 'better' and I wish I could've been in it for her instead of Maddie.

But then I think about it more, and I realize I wouldn't change a thing about what we went through for the world. Even the bad parts and the fuck ups. We needed the bad parts to get here and when I think about it that way and think about how I wish we could stay the way we are right now forever, I realize that I'm in so deep with her, I'd do all this all over again.

"Well, you know, I don't deserve you then."

She frowns, smacking my chest. "You deserve the world. And I think maybe, I do too. So, what do you say, Samuel, you wanna take the world with me?"

"What do you say, Gracelyn, you wanna give me that kiss?"

She bites her lip, stopping her oncoming smile. "Under one condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to kiss me first."

I quirk a brow, my hands making their way to her hips. "Yeah?"

"Game on, Gracie, Game o-"

She cuts me off, her lips meeting mine. She's got her hands on either side of my neck, her thumb brushing the stubble on my jaw as she deepens the kiss, her tongue diving past my lips.

I was right.

It was cherries,

She smells like cherries.