SHATTERED

seventy-seven

saylor

the next morning, i woke up to the sun shining through the windows. i looked over at them as i squinted. i could see that the blinds and curtains were open.

to be fair... closing them was the last thing on mine and alex's minds when we got back to the hotel room last night.

i looked away from the window, and i glanced down to see alex. they were fast asleep with their head buried into my chest and their arms around my waist. looking at them made me quickly realize that we were both now clothed. i peeked under the covers to see that we both had on just underwear and a t-shirt.

when did that happen?

they really knocked me out last night.

regardless, it's really cute that they thought to at least put some clothes on me. even now, i'm kinda cold, so i might've caught a cold if they didn't dress me.

i couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips as i looked at them. i lifted a hand, and i started to gently comb it through their hair. as i did, they continued to sleep peacefully.

i'm convinced that alex truly is a loving and kind person, but due to something that happened in their past, they put up their walls and this big tough guy act.

i sighed as i thought about it. i wish they would open up to me about it, even in the slightest, or at the very least that i could do something, anything, to help them heal from whatever trauma they went through.

as i ran my hand through alex's hair, i noticed that they started to stir a bit. i stopped, and i stared at them for a moment as i waited for them to relax again.

instead, they hugged me tighter and seemingly buried their face further into my chest. "why did you stop?" they rasped lowly in their morning voice.

god, i love their morning voice.

"i didn't mean to wake you," i responded softly. "you should go back to sleep, baby."

"keep doing what you were doing, and i just might," they gave a small, low laugh. "honestly though, i don't think i could. i think i got enough sleep."

i hummed, and i started to run my hand through their hair again. after a few moments of silence, i called attention to our clothes.

"oh, uh, yeah," they mumbled shyly. "it was pretty cold last night, so... you know, putting a shirt on somebody who is asleep is a lot harder than it sounds. i'm surprised you didn't wake up."

"yeah, you put me to sleep last night," i joked with a laugh.

they moved their face from my chest to look at me with a smirk. they then scanned my eyes. "are you feeling okay though? do you need anything?"

"i'm okay. thank you," i murmured as i leaned forward to kiss their forehead.

their eyes widened, and their cheeks quickly started to flush. they buried their face back in my chest, which made me smile.

they're so cute.

we laid in bed for a bit longer until alex made their way out of my room to go do their morning routine in their bathroom. while they did so, i grabbed a fresh set of clothes for the day and headed to my bathroom to shower and do my own morning routine.

by the time that i was out of the bathroom, jessie and miguel were up and had went out to get everybody some breakfast. i wasn't surprised to see that alex was already out of the bathroom as well and was eating their food.