We Don't Have to Feel Alone

Chapter 12

The next morning.

"You slept with him?!"

"No!"

"You just said - "

"We fell asleep together; we didn't have sex!"

"Oh."

Sariah was currently on the phone with Jason, gossiping to him about the night before.

"So, what'd you guys do then?" He asks.

Sariah smiles, "Talked all night," She gushes.

"You two are so disgusting. It's adorable. What did you talk about? Like, what are you gonna do?"

"Well, we're not gonna say anything to anyone for now - and by that I mean, I'm telling my friends and he will very likely tell his friends, but we're still gonna keep it on the down low. Overall, Nova's well being is what matters most, so we're gonna try to act normal around her just because we don't want to get her hopes up about anything and then have it not work out."

"But does that mean you and Chris are a thing now?"

"We're not really labeling it right now, but...yeah." Sariah grins ear to ear.

"Oh my god! That's awesome!" Jason exclaims, "So, where is Chris now?"

"Picking up Nova. Actually, I think he just pulled in. I'll talk to you later!"

They hang up, then Sariah takes a deep breath as she hears the front door open downstairs.

Sariah had woken up in Chris's bed alone, not remembering having fallen asleep. Her cochlear was on the nightstand, so she assumed Chris took it off for her. He had texted her saying that he was grabbing Nova and would be back shortly, so Sariah saw it as an opportunity to quickly gossip to her best friend about how the night had gone.

"Hi, Sariah!" Nova exclaims.

Sariah smiles, "Hey, you! Did you have fun?"

"Yes! I got a new Barbie and it's not even Christmas yet!"

"Oh my goodness, that's so cool!"

"I know!" Nova practically bounces with excitement, "I'm gonna go introduce her to my other Barbies!"

With that, Nova dashes up the stairs, leaving both Chris and Sariah laughing.

"Wow, I thought you'd be the one to spoil her," Sariah comments.

"You've seen her bedroom, right?" Chris jokes, "There's a reason I don't take her to Walmart anymore. She asks to go to the toy isle 'just to look', and then you look in those little green eyes and suddenly have the urge to buy her everything she points to."

"She's never done that with me."

"Because she knows I'm the weakest of the two of us."

Sariah giggles, then walks over to Chris. She glances over her shoulder up the stairs and Chris does the same, as if to ensure that Nova was, in fact, in her room. They look to each other again, then Sariah stands on her tiptoes and the two of them kiss chastely a moment.

"Good morning," Sariah whispers, sensually.

"Morning," Chris repeats, "How'd you sleep?"

"Great. You?"

"Perfect."

They're about to kiss again when they hear Nova upstairs. Sariah takes a step away from Chris as Nova appears before coming down the stairs.

"Hey, I have an idea! We should watch 'Frozen'!"

Chris facepalms, "So help me, if I have to hear that fucking snow man song again..."