Forget-Me Not

Chapter 11

     When I woke up the next morning, Ludwig and I were tangled in each other's limbs. The feeling of his arms around me made me feel fuzzy and giddy inside. The sun filtered through the thin curtains, making the whole scenario cozier. I cuddled into Ludwig's chest, perfectly happy just going back to sleep. However, fate was not in my favour and Ludwig was soon awake and trying to carefully move away from me. I was not about to let him leave without a fight, so I held on tighter. "Arthur, I need to go clean up the kitchen," he grumbled, though he stopped his struggling. I only gave him a disapproving hum. "Fine. Ten minutes."

     Part of me wondered what the hell I was doing, but the blissful and calming feeling of laying with Ludwig overpowered the embarrassment and insecurity. "Thank you...for last night. I-I'm sorry for the trouble. " I whispered into his chest.

     "It's okay Arthur. These things happen and we will always support each other when they come up right?"

     "I...I guess so." He placed a light kiss on my head and pulled me closer.

     Things became quiet except for the distant sounds of cars and the wind outside. "C-Can I ask you something?" He eventually said.

     "Anything love."

     "Can...this...y-you and me...laying like this...s-sleeping like this be...an e-everyday thing?"

     The idea made my heart beat fast and my cheeks go warm. The answer came easier than I expected: "I would love that."

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     We eventually made our way to the kitchen to pick up the broken glass and clean up any leftover water. At first, Ludwig kept me back from the glass, but I wasn't about to let him clean up my mess (at least not without me helping). After some persuasion, I was also in there collecting the pieces and we were finished in no time.

     Ludwig got up with a sight. "I think some breakfast is in order."

     "Hey, let me cook you something. You've been cooking for me since I got home."

     "Arthur I always do the cooking."

     I gave him a slight pout. I concluded that this wasn't fair to Ludwig, so I was determined to at least make this one meal for him. "Repayment for last night."

     "Arthur. No cooking."

     "Please love."

     "Arthur, you're acting like a child."

     My cheeks went red at the statement. He wasn't wrong, but embarrassment was not about to get the best of me. So, in a last-ditch effort, I wrapped my arm around his waist and placed a soft kiss on his shoulder. "Please?" I asked once more, trying to push down my blush.

     He gave a long sigh, but finally agreed. "But on one condition. We cook together."

     "Fine by me."

     Despite Ludwig's protests, I began cooking us some eggs while he started on the sausages. Things seemed to be going good, until about halfway through. At that point, the food began to smoke suddenly and I was left unable to do anything as the smoke clouded my vision and irritated my eyes. Luckily, Ludwig was quick to act and immediately turned off the stove and put the lid over it.

      After he got everything out of control he turned to me with a stern look and crossed arms. I turned my gaze down to my feet. I felt like a child who was in deep trouble and was about to get yelled at. "This is why I don't let you cook," he said through gritted teeth. At first, I was just annoyed, but soon it dove into guilt and doubt.

     'How stupid can you be?'

     'You made him mad.'

     'He's going to hate you.'

     "Shut up..." I mumbled. Not to Ludwig, but to my own thoughts. I looked up to find his jaw soften and his glare turned into a concerned gaze. "S-Sorry," I gave him a soft smile (though it felt strained), "I wanted to do something nice, but it kind of backfired."

     Ludwig walked over to me and placed two comforting hands on my upper arms. "It's fine. We'll just try again and this time I'll help you." he moved back over to the sausages that looked almost finished. "Just let me put these in the oven to keep warm and you go grab some more eggs."

     I cracked an egg into the pan as Ludwig came up behind me, holding my hand that held the handle and wrapping his free arm around my waist. I felt my cheeks go red at the action, but I couldn't complain. I tried to focus on the food, but that became hard as he twisted my wrist to move the pan around and flip the egg (at least with Ludwig helping, my foggy and distracted mind wouldn't lead to another fire). Soon enough, we had two perfectly good plates of eggs, sausage, and toast and we sat down for a peaceful breakfast.

     After the eventful breakfast, we headed to the living room to watch a few movies (after Ludwig got clearance from the doctor of course). First, we started with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves upon Ludwig's request. I never considered him a Disney guy, but apparently, his brother loved the movie which rubbed off on him. Nevertheless, it was nice.

     Then it was my turn. I flipped through the countless movies we had, looking for something that might ring any bells. I eventually came across a film titled The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The cover showed a man, dressed in what appeared like lingerie and makeup, seated on a pair of bright red lips. I was about to pass over it until I felt a twinge in my chest. A twinge of familiarity. So I chose it. It was a musical and by the end of the film, I was singing along to the soundtrack which seemed to be a big relief to Ludwig. "What?" I asked as the movie came to an end.

     "It's...i-its just...nice to hear you sing...and know the lyrics...and...I'm just really happy." He gave me a shy smile as he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer. It was endearing. He quickly changed the subject however with an awkward cough. "I-I was thinking about going out for dinner. There is a new fish and chips place that just opened and you need to get out of the house."

     "Sounds good. Now how about another film? It's your turn."

     He cocked his eyebrow. "Are you sure? No headache or anything." With a shake of my, he complied and reached over for another film.