Lily
I woke up slowly to the sounds of the city, blinking into the morning sun pouring through the gap in my curtains.
I stretched my arms out wide, yawning and groaning as my stiff muscles relished the feeling. Then let my arms drop back to the bed with a heavy sigh. I got lost in staring up at the ceiling, my eyes almost slipping shut again, before muffled voices out in the living room pulled my attention to the door.
Aiden was still here, and from the sound of the clattering and chatter in the kitchen, he was making breakfast.
I rolled over and checked my phone.
11:00 AM.
No panicked missed calls from anyone. No last-minute text to let me know I was working a shift tonight or needed in the basement. Sunday was mine for the taking, I planned to do nothing with it all day.
I slowly sat up, rubbing my face tiredly as my stomach rumbled.
“Shower first,” I murmured, rolling out of bed, combing a hand through my shoulder-length hair with another yawn as I shuffled myself into the bathroom.
Aiden had made pancakes using his own organic recipe. Standing in the kitchen in nothing but a pair of checked pajama shorts, his ash blonde hair in a bun, he piled several pancakes on a plate as I walked over to the counter, my phone in hand, and dressed in my PJs after that shower.
“Lucky, I made extra,” Aiden said. He pushed out his chest a little, straightening his shoulders in satisfaction as he slid the plate across the counter in my direction. Tattooed right across his heart, amongst several other minimalistic tattoos taking up his lightly tanned skin, was Kira’s name.
The girl behind the tattoo was perched in the back corner of the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee as she gave me a little wave.
“Thanks.” I smiled half-heartedly. Waiting for him to say anything about Romeo’s signature. I glanced at Kira, and she shook her head with a cheeky grin behind Aiden’s back.
The coaster would be a surprise for later then.
“How’d you sleep?” Kira said instead, swinging her legs as she raised her eyebrows smugly.
“Just fine, thank you.” I picked up the plate, mirroring her knowing expression, and moved over to the couch.
Kira huffed a laugh, eventually falling into conversation with Aiden again while I started on my pancakes. Or at least tried to. I forced myself to swallow the first bite when it tasted like my mouth was coated in flour.
“They’re pretty good, hey?” Aiden said.
I nodded vigorously. “Oh, yeah. Fantastic. Good job.”
Aiden smiled smugly to himself. Kira hopped down off the counter. “Did you want any syrup on them?” she chimed as she opened the pantry door.
“Ooh, yes plea—”
“Excuse me.” Aiden gaped. The corner of his lips twitched in a smile as he looked at us in disbelief. “You can’t have sugar-free pancakes and dump a shit load of sugar on them. It defeats the purpose of being sugar-free. She can have fruit instead.”
He turned back to the frypan.
I blinked, taken aback by his words, before Kira responded with her happy-go-lucky attitude. She waved her hand at what Aiden said as she retrieved the syrup from the pantry. Smiling as she did. “Don’t be silly, babe. She said she wanted syrup—”
The spatula dropped against the countertop by the stove with a little too much force. Aiden still had a grip on its handle as he looked at Kira side-on. “And I say it’ll ruin them.”
“Aiden.” Kira’s smile slowly faded under the gaze of his dark eyes.
“It’s fine,” I said quickly, getting to my feet and crossing to the fridge to grab whatever fruit we had.
Strawberries.
“They’ll taste great with these,” I smiled weakly, eyeing Kira as she quietly put away the syrup and moved back to her corner.
Aiden’s lips pressed together in a smile as a way of thanks, but his eyes said otherwise about his mood.
