And just like that, we were in my room.
Silence for a tick.
I had my back pressed to the door still, unsure of whether I had enough strength in my knees to walk all the way inside.
March did. He made it to the middle of the room, looked around once, then turned to me.
He wore red today, too, like most days. Which was a blessing, as nothing else looked better on him than red. His shirt had short sleeves so I saw the curves of his biceps, too. And his dark gray sweatpants hung low on his hips like he knew exactly what my eyes liked.
Now I wished I could draw him.Now.Exactly as he was.
By the Everstill, I wouldn’t change a single hair on his head.
Then he smiled and my heart broke and mended again—same second. He came for me, both hands raised to reach for mine, and I didn’t hesitate. It had been tough the nightbefore, and today. It had been tough out there in the hallway just now, too, but it wasn’t anymore. It just…wasn’t.
I put my hands over his and let him pull me forward. He walked backward all the way to the bed and sat down, brought my hands to the back of his neck, wrapped his arms around me. His face was pressed to my chest as he hugged me.
Soeasy. It scared me a little, because was life really supposed to be this easy?
For a while there, we didn’t move. He had his eyes closed as he listened to my heart, which beat slower and slower by the minute, and I had my hands in his hair, playing with his curls, swirling them around my fingers.
“You want to lie down?” March mumbled after a moment. “Or sit? Or stand?”
“Lie down,” I said, a bit breathless.
So we did.
This time, though, we were in my bed. This time we wore clothes, not towels, and this time I lay facing him.
We were face to face, my head over his arm, his other draped over my waist. It came so naturally to be like this with him, like we were made for this very thing.
Little by little, the world outside fell away. Sleep tugged at my eyelids, and at his, too. We looked at each other, held on as long as we could, but we were both tired. We both needed rest—and that was okay.
“We’re inyourroom,” March whispered, eyes half closed already. “Remember that when you wake up. You can’t leave from your own room.”
My heart squeezed tightly, mostly with regret. I really should have stayed last night.
Leaning a bit closer, I planted a kiss on his lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”
We slept.
39
My eyes opened, my throat tight like I had a hand around my neck, but I didn’t. I had an arm around my waist, and another under my head instead.
March’s face was right in front of mine, his eyes closed, his breathing even. Sleeping.
We were sleeping together inmybed this time. Just sleeping.
My heart skipped half a beat. Last night had been real, though I could have sworn just a second ago when my eyes first opened that I’d dreamed it. Because no way could reality be so whole. Soclear.No way would March apologize for the night before, and no way could he take all the pain of it away so quickly. So cleanly.
But he had.
I moved, my body a little numb, and I was going to get a little closer so I could sniff the scent of him better, maybe hide my face under his neck, maybe lay my hand over his chest so the rhythm of his heartbeat could lull me back to sleep, but…
March opened his eyes.
Suddenly his arms wrapped around me all the way and he pulled me to his chest hard, squeezed and squeezed until it got a little difficult to breathe.
