Falling in love during a strange quarantine

15. Same foundation of trust and honesty

Chapter 15: Same foundation of trust and honesty

It was 5 am and Scarlett laid awake. Chris was asleep next to her, snoring softly with his arm over his head. A smile had crept up on her lips when she saw him sleep like that. He looked so peaceful and cute. It was nice to seem him rest so comfortably.

Her, on the other side, couldn't say the same. She couldn't seem to sleep. Her thoughts and anxiety kept her awake. She was having an affair and despite how wrong it was she didn't regret it. She wanted to but she couldn't. No matter how much she loved Colin, there always was something between her and Chris that she had always managed to ignore until this quarantine. 

Being this close to him brought up feelings she didn't even know she had. She felt so conflicted, it was like a tennis match inside her heart with the ball going back and forth between Chris and Colin. Both were sweet and had completely different personalities. And just the thought of losing either one of them was painful. 

Then, you have to throw in the fact that almost every aspect of their lives was for the public to feed on. If news of her affair with Chris or that she was leaving Colin for her long-time friend got out her career would take a hit. She would loose great opportunities and if the scandal got way out of hand, Disney could fire her and she wouldn't get to play as Natasha anymore. She rolled her eyes at the fact that if all of this got out, out of her, Chris and Colin, she would be the one to be impacted the most. Well, she was the one in the wrong but Chris also was. 

She sighed and turned around to watch Chris. She knew she could wake him up if she wanted to but he looked so comfortable she didn't want to. She raised up and kissed the top of his head before getting out of bed. She grabbed her phone and picked up the hoodie Chris wore before going to bed. She slipped into it and walked to the kitchen where she checked the cupboards to see what was left. She grabbed a pack of M&Ms and headed for the couch.

Aimlessly scrolling through her instagram feed, she stumbled across a random quote post of someone she wasn't following. The quote read: 

Two people don't fall in love because they sleep

into the same bed but because they share the same

dreams, and the same foundation of honesty and trust.

She breezed through it then scrolled again. The next post made her roll her eyes; it was a picture of Chris and a picture of Colin edited together meant to draw a comparison between the two men. "Fucking algorithm." She muttered under her breath. She was ready to scroll past the post when a little voice inside her head made her pause. What was that quote again?

She scrolled back up and reread the quote, more carefully this time. A second roll of the eyes appeared on her face. Her finger froze over her screen, she couldn't seem to move it, she couldn't seem to swipe up. Something was preventing her from doing so, but she didn't know what. She read the quote a third time. Then, a fourth. She was like in a trance, unable to think about anything else but that quote.

What brought her out of her reverie was the sound of Chris ruffling in the bed. She turned her head to look at him and saw that he was still asleep and that he only got more comfortable. She sighed, again, and wished she could go back to sleep but she could feel that her body was up for the day.

After a moment, Scarlett got bored with her phone and set it aside. It was still too early to prepare breakfast so she grabbed a piece of paper and began drawing. 

Over two hours, four drawings and one started book later, Scarlett started making breakfast. She broke the eggs, whisked them and added them to the rest of the batter. Then, down on the frying pan the batter went. She left them for a little while before flipping them onto the other side. She repeated the action until there was no more batter.

"Pancakes kinda day, huh?" A freshly awoken Chris said as he came up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Scarlett removed the last pancake from the frying pan and leaned her body against his. "They smell delicious." He leaned down his head, grazing his lips against her earlobe. "And so do you."

A smile beamed up on Scarlett's face and a chuckle escaped her lips. "Wanna have a taste?"

"You or the pancakes?" He turned her around, a suggestive look playing in his eyes. "Cause I could do with." 

Scarlett raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you sure about that?" She chuckled as he eagerly nodded. "Let's start with the pancakes first, huh."

***

"Oh, I'm so bored." Scarlett complained, letting her body fall down on the couch with her arms and her legs stretched out. It was only 3 in the afternoon and time seemed to be the slowest it ever was. Chris was chilling on his phone while Scarlett had put back the book she had began reading earlier today. "If I don't go crazy before the end of the year then that'll be a wonder. All this year has been lockdown on lockdown. Now we're in this strange quarantine and there's not much to do."

"Yeah, that's true." He agreed and looked up from his phone to peer at her. "But, hey, you know what? If worse comes to worse, we'll be crazy together." 

She smiled and slid her head on the side. "That seems like a plan to me. But let's hope it doesn't come to that." She looked up at the ceiling with a sigh, waiting for the inspiration of something to do. "Heh, I'll take a shower." She turned to kiss Chris on the cheek and got up to the couch. Before going to the bathroom, she grabbed fresh clothes and closed the door.

"Let's begin Operation Entertain Scarlett." Chris muttered under his breathe and raised from the couch.

***

Scarlett got dressed in an oversized sweatshirt and some sweatpants once she was done showering. She grabbed the clothes she had worn the day before and exited the bathroom. As she walked out, her eyes fell on something that wasn't there before. She stopped dead in her tracks as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Chris?" She called out and set her old clothes on one of the kitchen chairs. "What is this?" She asked with a chuckle.

Chris stuck out his head from the blanket fort he had built and gave her big smile. "Some new horizons, love. Come on, get in." He held out his hand for her to take. 

Scarlett let out a chuckle again and joined him in the fort. She sat on one of the cushions from the couch he had laid out for them. 

"Welcome to your fort, princess." He grabbed her hand and gesture to the rest of the little room with his other one. "I know technically a fort is for troops but 'blanket castle' doesn't sound good." He quickly told her before moving on. 

"We have a few options at hand, as you can see. We have some books over there, the laptop is up and running for a movie or a tv show or even some youtube videos. I don't know what you feel like watching." Scarlett chuckled again. "All of those options come with snacks and drinks quickly prepared by yours truly." 

"Why, thank you, my prince." She bowed her head with a chuckle.

"Actually, since we're in a fort, I'm a soldier." He wrapped his arms around her. "Here to protect you."

Scarlett burst out laughing, throwing her head backwards in a very much Chris kinda way. "So, now I'm the hopeless damsel?" She fained being offended. "If I made it on my own to the fort then I must not be so helpless, Sir." 

"Oh, I'm sorry, Your Highness." He bowed his head. "Your Brave Highness."

They laughed wholeheartedly together and cuddled against the other. "Much better, soldier." 

***

Short Chapter Sunday, eheheh.

So Operation Post On Saturday terribly went south. I'm sorry. I just started a new college year (my second year) and I moved into a new place. They've changed all of our classes, sort of mixed them together and such, it's so confusing.

Also, I realized that chapters 7 through 11 is actually just one day. I thought I was further than that in the story. I'm so ready for the next steps but them being in quarantine (even though that's like the whole plot) is possibly playing with my writer's block since there's not so much to do in such a little apartment none of them live in. So hopefully after the last days of quarantine are done, the story will kick up a notch. I already have so many ideas for that post-quarantine bliss. 

Anyway, I hope you're all doing okay. 

Lots of love,
Laza