Chapter Twenty-Two || when you're ready

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WHEN I WAKE UP the next morning, it's from a movement coming from behind me

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WHEN I WAKE UP the next morning, it's from a movement coming from behind me. My eyes slowly start to open. I have to blink rapidly so my eyes can adjust properly to the bright light of the morning sun coming from the slightly open curtains.

I bring my hands up to rub the sleep out of my eyes, yawning as I stretch out my half-asleep body when I feel something move behind me on the bed. How did I get on a bed?

The last thing I remember was watching a movie with everyone in the living room. Knowing me, I probably fell asleep and was carried up to my room at the end of the night.

When my arms come back down to my sides, I realize that a big arm is hugging my waist into a body. I smile to myself, knowing who is behind me just from the butterflies I get from their touch.

I promptly turn around in his arms to find a sleeping Vaughn.

His hair is all over the place, messy from sleep, while his face looks so calm in his sleeping state. I bring my arms around his shoulders to bring him closer to me, which makes him lowly groan, signaling he's waking up.

The corners of my lips lift when his grip around me tightens, bringing my head to his chest while he snuggles into me. How is he this perfect even in his sleep?

"Good morning." I barely hear his hoarse voice. It brings a small smile to my face and I pull away from his chest so I can look at him more clearly.

His eyes are slightly closed, still in a sleepy state, with an equally exhausted smile.

"Morning." I press my forehead against his.

"You excited for tonight?" He asks after a beat of comfortable silence.

"Yeah, you?"

"As long as you're there with me, yeah." I push him away from me, turning over on my back with a smile on my face. "What?"

"Stop being so... mushy." My face scrunches up in slight disgust and amusement.

"Well, I mean it." He traces my jawline with his finger, tilting my head up so I'm looking at him. "I've been going to these parties for years, it gets boring. But this year, I have you."

"So I'm only here for your entertainment." I retort jokingly, making him chuckle.

"Yeah." I hit his chest playfully, "what? You're very entertaining, Ricci." I roll my eyes, shaking my head with a small smile.

After a second of silence, I begin to speak again while Vaughn runs his fingers along my hand. "You seem close with Debbie and Stephen." He hums, nodding his head.

"I spent a lot of time here when we were kids. They're basically like my second family." I look at him as I start to play with his small, hoop earring.

"When I didn't want to go home for the holidays, they let me stay here. No questions asked. They even let me bring Jules if she wasn't already staying at a friend's house."

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