𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 (𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙱𝚡𝙱)

Track 28 | 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀

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Jesus Christ, my back hurts like hell.

The faint, whizzing ambiance of the air machine cued me awake.

My eyelids cracked open and it felt as though there were bits of dust impairing my sight. Blinking a few times to adjust my vision, my eyes rolled back into place and focused on the ceiling above me. It wasn't the same ceiling I had been waking up to daily for the past eighteen years of my life.

The moment I returned to my senses, I instantly felt the urge to inhale oxygen. My throat was dry and my lungs felt heavy and suffocated. Sucking in air through my lips, making my chest rise and fall slowly, I worked up the strength to move my head.

My neck, just like my back, was sore as fuck. I must've slept in a strange way.

As my eyes rotated around the ceiling, I noticed the golden morning glow coming from behind the blinds of the draped windows.

The more I turned my head, the more of the room I got to see, recognizing that it was Arizona's. I had completely forgotten I had spent the night. Sleep had somehow taken my memory hostage.

Wait.

Instantly, I jerked my head to the right, meeting face-to-face with Ari's back.

Ari was fast asleep, resting on his side, facing away from me. I carefully scooched back a few inches in the bed, my back pressing up against a group of messily-stacked pillows. The heavy, wrinkled blanket, wrapped loosely around the two of us, restrained me from moving any further without disruption. I didn't want to wake him accidentally, one wrong move could've done the trick, so I just lied still.

I felt so awkward there, watching him sleep. I didn't exactly know how to assess the situation.

My eyes were glued to the back of Ari's head, staring at the beautifully disordered pattern of the gray, brown, and white textures of his scruffy fur. My eyes began to wander downward, moving from his neck to the back of his black pajama t-shirt, and eventually to the short sleeve of his left arm. 

Just peeking out from under his sleeve was a bright red scar, hiding on the backside of his arm.

Before my mind could process any sort of theories, Ari shifted in his position a tiny bit, scaring the hell out of me. My nerves were flaring. I didn't know what to do, what not to do, etcetera, etcetera. I've never been in this type of situation before.

This was my first time being romantically involved with anyone, ever.

I thought back to last night and... the kiss.

God, that kiss...

It was one of the nicest things I've ever experienced...

Last night was a dream. Being able to rest peacefully by his side allowed me to feel safe and protected. I don't think I've ever slept this well in ages.

But... what happens now? What does this mean for me and Ari?

Catching me off guard, my ears picked up on the sound of Ari gently humming. My eyes widened. I couldn't tell if I was just hearing things or if Ari was somehow humming in his sleep.

But, by the time the humming developed into actual words, I concluded that I wasn't crazy. 

Ari, on the softest level of volume, was mumbling the lyrics to some song. I listened in as his voice went up and down, in tune with some sort of melody. He somehow hit every note perfectly and sounded really good, even with the inaudible murmurs.