45" ▪︎ a.i.

33"

"What did you and Luke talk about?", he whispered, lying next to me, close as can be, desperate to feel my skin on his, just as desperate as I was. 

"Your reaction when I didn't reply.", I whispered back, hoping he wouldn't make me repeat Luke's words. It still hurt to know that I had been the reason for all of this. 

"Oh...he told you, didn't he?", he asked quietly, and I turned my head so I could look at him. 

"You were really scared I would break up?", I questioned, barely above a whisper. He closed his eyes and nodded, maybe reliving the moment, maybe not wanting me to see him this vulnerable. I ran my hand through his hair, the gesture always being soothing for him.

"I would never. I'm gonna get angry, I'm gonna ignore you, and I'm sorry when I do, but I wouldn't break up, not like this, not ever. Trust me, I haven't been happier in my life than I am with you every second of the day.", I explained quietly, hoping to make clear how important he is to me. He opened his eyes, searching across my face for any sign that would make what I said less believable. When he pushed himself up, so he was hovering above me, I knew he didn't find any. 

"I love you Haze. I really do.", he whispered, adding the last part more to himself. I always expected myself to be scared when he'd say those words, but here in this moment all I knew was I felt the exact same and maybe I've done for a while. 

"I love you too Ash.", I replied and the smile that took over his face was something I would be aiming for as long as he let me. He closed the gap between us, kissing me, the kiss getting more intense each second, but I didn't care. All I cared about was having him here with me, no matter what.

When I woke up the next morning, our legs were still tangled together, reminding me of last night, and I couldn't help but smile to myself. It was perfect, and there was no other way to put it. I looked down to my side, and saw him still asleep, lying flat on his stomach, one hand beneath the pillow, one hand close to my body, making me wonder if it had been there all night. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand, taking a picture, that would remind me of all of this. He stirred in his sleep, and I quickly put the phone away and snuggled back up to him, relishing in these short moments together until I had to get up to go to work. 

"Morning.", he said, his eyes wanting to close again and his voice still hoarse, but a smile taking over his whole face, having the same reaction I had when I woke up a while ago. 

"Morning.", I replied, cuddling even closer, trying to avoid having to get up. 

"What time is it?", he asked, and I turned around, grabbing my phone to look at the time. 

"Shit, too late to cuddle. I'm sorry." I kissed him quickly, barely touching his lips with mine, before I hurried out of the bedroom, pulling down his shirt, because even though it was long, it definitely wasn't long enough. I got ready, packing my bag, while waiting for the coffee. When it was done, I grabbed the second mug I made, making my way upstairs again, to see he was already falling back asleep. I smiled at the sight, set his coffee cup down on the nightstand and kissed his forehead, before saying my goodbyes. He replied quietly but I knew he would sleep for another hour and the coffee would be cold when he woke up again. I made my way towards the back, car keys in my hands. You see, I usually couldn't care less about the amount of money he had, but having two cars does come in handy, especially when he trusted me enough to use one of it instead of taking the bus in the morning. A small part of me wondered if it wasn't mostly because he wanted to sleep in and would've felt the need to drive me to the store otherwise.

I arrived at the store and saw my uncle already unpacking some new vinyls. I greeted him and walked to the back of the store to lay down my bag. 

"Hazel, I missed you yesterday. That Ashton guy called in, told me you needed the sleep, are you alright? No problems with your mother again, right?", my uncle asked, having followed me to the back. I froze at the mention of my mother but tried to play it off.