I Swear It: Herophine

Chapter 32

I wake up without a beautiful blonde in my bed, which is the exact opposite of how I wanted to wake up. I sit up quickly, regretting that almost immediately considering the bottle of wine we finished and the minimal sleep we got last night. I look around the room and see Josephine's clothes from last night are still on the floor of my bedroom, causing me to let out the breath I was holding. I need to chill the fuck out; she wouldn't have snuck out on me. Not after last night. She's my girlfriend. My fucking girlfriend. I'm laying on my bed, smiling like an idiot at the thought when Josephine comes in through my bedroom door, carrying a tray of food in nothing but my t-shirt from last night.

"Oh good you're up!" She says with a beautiful bright smile, placing the tray of food on the desk in the corner of my room. She makes her way over to me and I scoop her into my arms before she has a chance to reach the bed, dragging her body down to mine so she's sprawled out across me. Right where she should've been when I woke up this morning.

"How long have you been awake love?" I ask, brushing her hair behind her ear.

"Since about seven-thirty, it's nearly ten sleepyhead! Did I tucker you out last night?" she has this smirky smile playing at her lips and I want to kiss it right off of her, but then my stomach growls, causing her beautiful laugh to fill my bedroom which is why instead of going for round five, I find myself eating pancakes and drinking coffee in bed with Josephine Langford on a Sunday morning.

After breakfast in bed, round five, a movie, and round six, Josephine has finally convinced me she needs to go home and shower. I told her she could shower with me, the glint in her eyes told me she at least considered it, before she shook her head no, saying she needed to change her clothes anyway since all she had here was her dress and heels from last night. I feel a slight pain in my chest, one I've begun to grow familiar with since spending time with Josephine. I'm not ready to say goodbye. I spend an abhorrent amount of time in the shower trying to think of a plan to prolong our day together and it isn't until the water starts to run cold that I decide it's time to get out. When I come out of the bathroom I see Josephine fully dressed, fiddling with our phones and panic courses through me, worried she thought she saw something she wouldn't like on my phone despite the fact that I know there's nothing on there.

"Sorry, this isn't what it looks like, I'm just trying to link our calendars so you can see my work schedule a little bit easier. I hope you don't mind Hero." She looks a little guilty as she says it, which makes me chuckle.

"I don't mind one bit love, gives me a reason to actually use the fucking app." I say with a smile before grabbing my keys to give her a ride home.

When we pull up to her apartment building the slight pain in my chest has blossomed larger and I can't stop my knee from bouncing and fingers from tapping against the steering wheel. Josephine must notice this because she makes no move to get out of the car.

"Hero, is everything okay? Are you upset I linked our calendars? I'm sorry, I should've asked first but I swear that's all I was doing, I wasn't snooping or anything. If you want me to unlink them I can, it's just my friends and I all do it and I thought it would be easier for you instead of having to always ask me when I was working," she trails off and I feel bad for making her think my sour mood was because of her.

"No, baby, no I'm not upset at all. Well, not about that at least. I just, I'm not ready to say goodbye yet. We had these two perfect days together and, I don't know, I'm not ready to miss you again."

She smiles softly before leaning in and kissing me sweetly on the lips.

"I have some errands to run today, nothing exciting but I'd love it if you went with me, then maybe I can cook us some dinner tonight? I'm not ready to say goodbye either, not ready for this perfect weekend to end just yet."

And that's why instead of playing videos and looking over work emails like I normally do on a Sunday, I find myself at the grocery store, pushing the cart around as Josephine fills it to the brim with fresh fruits and vegetables, snacks, various meats and cheeses, and an assortment of desserts. She insists I throw in some things that I like so that when I come over I have snack food I want at her place and I realize how much I want my life spread into hers. My favorite foods in her kitchen, clothes in her drawers, body wash in her shower. Everything, everywhere. And then I want her to do the same for me. I want her to have space in my closet for her clothes, her favorite chocolates in my pantry, makeup littered on my bathroom sink. Everything. Everywhere. Because that's the only way I know how to do this thing with Josephine. All in. All fucking in.

"We'll have to do this again next weekend but for my apartment. Or you can send me a list of stuff you like for when I go grocery shopping next. Whichever you'd prefer." I tell her as we're unloading her groceries into her kitchen, making a mental note that I need to step up my game in this department.

"I'd love to." She says with a sweet smile, "okay, last thing I need to do before I start dinner is go the bookstore."

"Bookstore? Who goes to the bookstore anymore, where even is there a bookstore around here?"

She doesn't answer me, just smiles and grabs my hand, "don't worry about it Hero, I'll drive us."

We pull into a small parking lot behind a shop I would've never noticed before. It's small, making me think it's been here much longer than many of the other buildings that surround it. Stepping inside is like going into a time capsule. There's a small register at the front and books fill every other space of the small shop. A small coffee pot and a stack of cups sit next to the register, no fancy espresso machine or huge café taking up half the place. Just a little coffee pot that's probably been here since the doors opened and a small table with two chairs in the corner.

"John! Aida!" Josephine calls out, running her hands across the leather bound books as she makes her way further into the shop. I follow behind her, looking around at all the different titles, some in different languages, some of classics I was supposed to read in high school. I almost don't notice the elderly couple ambling over to us until I hear them trying to whisper to each other.

"Oh he's much cuter than that Dylan. Don't you think John! And tall! My goodness I think he's taller than you!" the woman I assume is Aida says and I hear Josephine's quiet laughter next to me.

"Aida you're screaming, for God's sake. I don't give a damn if he's seven feet tall, I'll still kick his ass if he messes with our Josephine." John says gruffly and it's my turn to quietly laugh.

"Hero, I'd like you to meet John and Aida. I used to come here in college to study and buy books I actually wanted to read. They haven't been able to shake me since. Guys, this is Hero," she says, looking up at me with bright eyes, "my boyfriend."