When Things Come Back

Chapter 11 ❛Hold Your Breath Before You Go❜

Wednesday, 6:14 AM

Waking up was always the worst part of the day. The sky was too dark, the air was too cold and it all seemed to seep into your very soul.

But not today. Today, Fleur found herself waking up cradled in the warmth of Everett's arms. Her head rested gently above his heart, and as she stirred, she realized that the sky outside was painted with the delicate colours of dawn, not darkness.

The sun stretched its fingers across the horizon, casting a soft, golden glow that slowly melted away the cold. Fleur felt an unfamiliar sense of wholeness wash over her.

Maybe it was selfish, but just for that moment, Fleur let herself forget who she really was. That she was a Williams' and Williams' didn't mess up and end up stuck in another country with someone they barely knew. She let her mind run wild at the thought of being someone else, someone who was happy and didn't have to spend their whole life pleasing others.

When Mrs. Williams' told her daughter to join the student union, she did. When she told her that pinks washed her out and blues made her eyes pop, she listened. All Fleur ever did was listen.

But here, in Everett's embrace, she was free for once in her barley lived life. She wasn't the Fleur Williams her family expected; she was simply herself, captivated by a guy she barely knew but couldn't bear to part with.

Not that she would ever tell him that.

The blonde let her mind run wild at the idea of being free. She traced Everett's tattoo's like they were some sort of map out of this life, like if she did it enough she would never have to leave this park in Idaho.

Fleur was interrupted when Everett's voice, thick with sleep, broke the silence. "Did your parents ever tell you stories about the sunrise? About each color being a reason the sun loved the moon?"

Fleur chuckled softly. "My dad was never around for sunrises, and my mom was too busy with hot yoga to share morning fairy tales." The idea of loving, doting Williams parents seemed like a distant dream.

The story her dad had once told her about the moon and the sun was a rarity in her life.

Somehow for Everett, waking up next to Fleur in the truck bed in the middle of nowhere Idaho made his heartbeat even faster then it had in New Mexico.

Maybe it was because the blonde in his arms looked like a true angle under the morning light, or the way that this time he actually woke up with her. Not like at the Sleepy Bear where he woke up to an empty bed and the feel of her still in his arms. Right now she was here.

There were only a handful of moments that Everett wanted to live in, and this one was at the top of his list.

Fleur didn't stop trailing her fingers up and down his arm even after he was awake, she liked the way his skin felt against hers. And Everett, of course, had no complaints, he was close enough to be completely engulfed by the smell of her expensive perfume and fabric softener that clung to every inch of her.

Or maybe, just maybe it was the way each of them made the other feel at home even when they were thousands of kilometres away from it.

"How did you sleep?" Fleur whispered, her voice softer than it had been a few seconds ago.

"I half-expected to wake up surrounded by bed bugs. Mikey used to tease me about that when we were kids." Telling her everything just seemed so easy. Even the stupid stuff like this that didn't really matter.

The sun was growing brighter , the fire was burning hotter.

"I always wished for an older sibling," Fleur confessed. "Someone to tell me stories and play with when my parents were too busy. The closest I had was Charlie, but even she was too occupied most of the time."