The One Where The Lines Get Kinda Blurry

The One With New York, New York

David eased his arm slowly from beneath her body, not wanting to awaken her since it had taken a long time for her to fall asleep, her mind obviously still on overdrive from their day. He looked over at the clock. 3.33am. He was sure if she was awake she would tell him that number meant something, it was some sort of symbolism that she would eagerly spend the next half hour teaching him all about. But for once he was happy she wasn't awake and he could just lay and watch her breathing calmly and peacefully. God, he loved this woman. He loved her with every fibre of his being. But it was becoming increasingly obvious to him just how badly she had been affected by the trauma and drama surrounding her past relationships, and he absolutely included himself and their long and secret love affair in that category. He couldn't help but feel a huge amount of guilt resting on his own shoulders, as well as the heavy weight of responsibility for taking care of her whilst her emotional health was taking a battering. He was pretty sure that he had the power to make or break her right now, and he wanted to make absolutely sure that he lifted her up as high as possible so that breaking was off the menu forever.

He awoke to the distant sound of chattering and music. He sat up and looked over at the clock. 10.02am. Much later than he'd wanted to wake up but then it had been extremely late when he'd finally settled off to sleep. He rubbed at his eyes then ran his palms over the salt and pepper stubble that was thickly coating his cheeks. He paid a visit to the bathroom to pee and freshen up, before pulling on a clean pair of boxers and a freshly laundered navy T-shirt. As he reached the top of the stairs he could hear the distant strains of Aerosmith's 'Don't Wanna Miss A Thing' coming from down below. He made his way down the two flights of stairs and crept into the large open plan living area where he was greeted by a scene which brought an instant beaming smile to his face. Jen was sat on a stool in the kitchen. She had a steaming cup of coffee beside her, she was reading the latest copy of his Good Food & Wine magazine, and she was singing away to the music which was coming from her phone. She looked like she hadn't a care in the world and like she absolutely belonged here in his space.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes" he said as he made his way across the room to join her. "Good morning you" he added as he reached where she was sitting and was greeted by her warmest, most heartfelt smile.

"Hey you" she said, turning her face up to greet him and instantly being met with a pair of lips pressing lightly against her own. "I hope I didn't wake you with the radio?"

"No of course not. It's a lovely sound to wake up to anyway. How are you feeling this morning? You sound happy."

"I feel happy" she smiled, "but waking up beside you always makes me feel happy."

"Good" he said, glancing down at her phone which wasn't even linked to the wifi yet. "We need to get you properly connected and set up here don't we? That can go on the list of jobs for today, show you around properly and get you sorted so you're part of the household and not just a guest, since you are far more than that and you'll hopefully be a regular visitor?"

"I definitely want to be a regular visitor" she grinned at him, watching as he poured himself a coffee and leaned against the counter beside her.

"Good, that makes me happy too" he smiled, taking a sip of his drink. "So, I was awake for a while in the night thinking... how much do you trust me?"

"You know I trust you implicitly" she answered without hesitation, "why?"

"Because I have a plan for today and I'd like you to just go with it, okay?"

"Okay.... now I'm intrigued" she grinned, "and strangely, not at all scared because that's how much I have faith in you."

"Excellent. Well, my plan involves food so I suggest we skip breakfast since it's mid morning anyway and, when we've had our coffees, how about I finish off the house tour then we can both take a quick shower and get ready."