“Pssst,” Anna whispered.
“Hmm?” Brooke hummed, not opening her eyes.
“You’re falling asleep, Honey-B.”
“No, I’m not. Promise.” A slight lie, but a necessary one if her plan was going to work.
Anna laughed and pressed a kiss to Brooke's forehead.“You said the same thing last time.” Her voice was sweeter than sugar and softer than a cloud.
Adrenaline coursed through Brooke's body faster than Anna could even pull back. A forehead kiss? Anna Fourchette was going to be the death of her. She should text Christine now.If I die, it’s Anna’s fault.When she could finally think clearly again, she mumbled out,“I’m just resting. It’s been a big day.” That was definitely the truth.
“Well come on, then. If you’re going to‘just rest,’the least you can do is get comfy.” Anna stood and lifted Brooke's feet up, settling them down nicely on the couch.“Come on, Honey, scoot down. Your neck is going to be so stiff tomorrow if you don’t slide down and use a pillow.”
Brooke let out a huff and wiggled down the cushions so that her neck wasn’t at such an awkward angle, using one of Nate and Mel’s throw pillows. Once she was comfortable, Anna sat back in her spot, Brooke's legs between Anna’s back and the couch. Anna scooted around in front of her until she found a spot that was comfy to lean back on.
Part of Brooke wondered if there was any way in the world that Anna could actually be comfortable like this, but then Mel spoke again and completely derailed her entire plan.
“You can just snuggle, seriously. It will not offend us at all,” Mel said.
Brooke had to fight her eyelids from flashing open. She was supposed to be asleep. Surely, Anna would have the sense to wave Mel off. There’s no way that she would… oh my god. Anna wiggled backwards and then tilted over so that she was laid out in front of Brooke. The tight, small span of the couch definitely did not give them room to fit without body contact from top to bottom. Brooke held her breath. That was her new plan. She would just hold her breath until she passed away. Anna wiggled in closer and reached over her side for Brooke's arm.
It wasn’t like she could actively fight Anna’s pull, she was supposed to be asleep, and they were supposed to be a couple. As soon as the movie got a little louder, Brooke dared to whisper in Anna’s ear.“What are you doing?”
Anna tilted her head back, twisting enough so that she could see Brooke's face.“Snuggling to watch the movie? Do you want me to not?”
Brooke thought back to the night that Anna had come over for pictures. She thought about how snuggled up they had ended up then. That had been arguably a much more intimate moment than spooning on the couch. She lifted her head enough to see that Nate and Mel were also pretty snuggled up on their side of the couch. He had his arm around her shoulder, and she was snuggled into the crook of his arm. This wasn’t weird, it was nice. It was just family, hanging out. She let her head fall back without protest.“It’s fine,” she whispered.
But it was more than fine, really. A warmth spread through her chest. First from feeling this sense of family for the first time. This feeling of being herself and still being accepted by an actual family member, someone who was supposed to love her unconditionally. Second from the actual human sunshine in her arms. It was in this happy bubble of warmth that Brooke fell asleep
Brooke woke up from the deepest sleep of her life to the sound of a door closing. The day before whizzed through her mind, the plane, the nap, her childhood memories, falling asleep on the couch with Anna in her arms. She felt a hum rumble against her chest, and her eyes snapped open. Anna had slept, practically on top of her, on the couch. Brooke froze. This had been the exact opposite of her plan. She tried her best to take stock of the situation. She was flat on her back and Anna was pretty much directly on top of her with her face buried in Brooke's neck. She could tell that much because she could feel each low exhale from Anna’s nose, tickling a few loose strands of hair that had gotten mushed between them.
She couldn’t help but marvel at how well she had slept. When they made it back home she might have to seriously consider a weighted blanket, because she hadn’t tossed or turned for one second. She hadn’t had any nightmares, either. She had just fallen asleep to the warmth of Anna in her arms and had woken up with the woman on top of her.
Anna nuzzled into her neck and Brooke’s heart-rate sky-rocketed. She didn’t exactly know how to get out of this position. Was she supposed to wake Anna up, gently so that she could wiggle out from under her? Was she supposed to just lay there and try not to hyperventilate while Anna continued to sleep? Was she supposed to pretend to still be asleep?
“Honey?” Anna croaked out, her voice thick and heavy with sleep. It shot straight to Brooke’s core.
Brooke didn’t know how alert she was supposed to be, but she felt like she had been woken like a light switch. Completely dark to fully lit up, with one flick of the wrist.“Hmmm?” She acknowledged, not wanting to speak yet.
She felt Anna lift herself up onto her forearms. Brooke's eyes fluttered open again, watching as Anna scanned the living room. Brooke felt her face heat up as she realized Anna had made no attempt to get off her. Instead, Anna flopped back down and snuggled back into her neck.“You’re cozy.”
Brooke swallowed, nervously. Unfortunately very aware that there was no way that Anna didn’t hear that from point blank range. She didn’t really know how to respond to that, honestly. She let her eyes close again and took a few, hopefully normal feeling, steadying breaths.
“Sorry I fell asleep on you,” Anna mumbled when Brooke never responded. Brooke couldn’t place it, but it almost sounded like guilt laced Anna’s words.
That was the last thing in the world that Brooke ever wanted Anna to feel. Her eyes shot open again and searched for Anna’s.“You don’t have to apologize, Anna. I fell asleep, too.”
Anna blushed and bit her bottom lip, propping herself up again.“I know, but I kind of got the feeling you were trying to fall asleep on the couch so you wouldn’t have to sleep with me, and then I fell asleep literally on top of you anyway.”
Brooke blushed. Her plan had been seen right through, and worse, by Anna’s reaction, it had kind of hurt Anna’s feelings.“I just didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable, Anna.”
“Well, clearly I don’t mind.” Anna blushed again and snuggled back down into the crook of Brooke's neck.“I’m not squishing you, am I?”
Brooke huffed out a laugh.“You’re worried about squishing me now?”
Anna immediately popped back up.“Did I squish you all night and you were just too genuinely polite to wake me up and tell me to get off you?”
Brooke shook her head no.“No, no. There is no and there was no squishing, I was mainly pointing out that it’s a bit late to be concerned about squishing.” She had never said‘squishing’so many times in her life.
