Can You Hear the Ocean?

Chapter 47

Leila woke in the morning to the sound of chirping birds. Slowly, she opened her eyes and squinted. Shards of sunlight were filtering in from her bedroom curtain and onto her face. Leila lifted an arm up and covered her eyes, trying to will herself to wake up. Beside her, another body stirred.

Leila stiffened, then glanced down beside her. Mia was curled at her side, her hand clasped onto the fabric of Leila's pajama shirt. She was sleeping so peacefully, Leila almost didn't want to wake her.

Is this real? Leila thought. It was still hard to believe. Only the day before, she'd convinced herself she'd be moving to Connecticut and leaving Mia behind. 

Leila yawned, slowly remembering the events of the night prior. She and Mia had talked for a while, kissing in the moments of silence. When it came time for bed, Mia hadn't wanted to leave Leila's side, and they'd ended up sleeping in Leila's bed together.

Leila turned her body slowly and glanced at Mia's sleeping face. For so long she had dreamt of waking up beside Mia. She couldn't believe it was now her reality. Slowly, Leila reached out to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind Mia's ear. She smiled and leaned down to kiss Mia's cheek.

Mia made a mumble and stirred. Her hazel eyes opened slowly, and her gaze immediately fell on Leila.

"Good morning," Leila whispered.

Mia groaned and moved closer to Leila, wrapping her arms around her body. "Don't move. It's freezing," Mia said.

"I can go turn the heater up," Leila suggested.

"No. Stay here," Mia murmured, burying her head into Leila's side.

Leila sighed and laid back down in bed. She held Mia close to her body, savoring her warmth, and planted gentle kisses into Mia's hair. She remembered the day Mia had asked her to cut her hair. Leila had thought of the way Mia's hair felt between her fingers for days. Now, she stroked Mia's hair endlessly and breathed in scents of lemon as she kissed the soft threads of hair.

"Did you fall back asleep?" Leila asked when Mia reverted back to silence.

Mia grumbled in response.

"You really aren't a morning person," Leila realized. She stroked a hand along Mia's back, listening to her breathe deeply. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Fuji will be demanding food at some point," she said. The cat was already awake at the end of her bed, staring at her. Leila knew it was only a matter of minutes before he began to walk all over their bodies and loudly ask for his breakfast.

Mia hugged Leila tighter. "You nearly left me yesterday, may I remind you. I'm not letting you go."

"But what about when I need to use the bathroom?" Leila asked.

"Okay. I guess that's the one occasion," Mia answered.

Leila chuckled. "You're not working today, are you?" she asked.

"No," Mia said. "Neither are you?"

"No. I took today off since I was supposed to be flying back to Maine. Let's spend the day together," Leila suggested.

A smile spread across Mia's face. Leila had never seen Mia smile as much as she had in the last twenty-four hours. From this point forward, Leila vowed to try to protect that smile as best she could.

"Are you hungry?" Leila asked. "I could make us breakfast."

"Let me help," Mia offered.

"Okay," Leila agreed. "But first, you need to let go of me."

Mia pouted and, once again, held Leila closer to her. Leila suddenly felt four paws on top of her body and glanced up to see Fuji walking toward her. He let out a meow and hit his paw against Leila's shoulder.