The Strongest | ɢᴏᴊᴏ ꜱᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ

Chapter 41

I wake up lying on my side, and even with my eyes closed, I can feel the sunlight blinding me as it shines on my face, warming me. Something else warming me is the feeling of Gojo's chest against my back, his arm wrapped around me, keeping me safe. I can feel his breath against my cheek and smile. I don't even want to move because I would hate myself if I woke him up.

Unfortunately, he does that all on his own. I've been lying still for about ten minutes, watching the minutes tick away on my phone screen, before I can feel him taking a deep breath, and he makes a sleepy noise that destroys every cell of my being. "Hey," he mumbles, still half-asleep. When he realizes where he is and what we're doing, he rolls so far away that he almost falls off the bed. "Hey! I'm sorry."

I laugh. He's seen me naked, had sex with me, kissed me, and told me all of his secrets, but this is what embarrasses him? Isn't he just adorable? "You really don't have to go so far away."

His panicked expression softens into a relaxed smile, which quickly gives way to a dirty smirk as he slides back to me. "Your wish is my command," he says, making me roll my eyes. "What time is it?"

"Half past nine."

"Time for breakfast, then."

I nod. Breakfast, yes. We're at home. At school. Coworkers, yes. Questions, yes. Questions can not be avoided if anyone sees us leaving the same room. Questions can't even be avoided either way, but I'd rather not push it. I want to keep this ours for a little longer, just like last weekend. That was ours, and this is ours, too. Gojo is on the same page.

"But let's leave not just yet," he says, reaching out for me, and pulls me closer to him.

It makes me laugh, his clingy behavior. Who knew Gojo Satoru could be cute like this? I certainly didn't. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the annoying idiot to come back and say something stupid. But really, would I love him if he weren't so stupid? No, not love. Like. I mean like. This is -

"Hey, I was thinking," the man next to me interrupts my thoughts, thank God. "I want to keep this between us too, for now. But maybe, if you're okay with that, we could keep it... for not so long?"

Surprised, I grin. "Are you saying you want to go public with me?"

He narrows his eyes. Oh, those eyes. "I'm saying I want everyone to know I'm your -" He stops himself.

My eyes widen, and I laugh at the clear panic on his face. "My what?" I ask, teasing him. Gojo is about to slide away from me again, but I won't let him. "My what?" I laugh, poking him in the side.

In such a quick movement that I barely register what just happened, he holds my hands still to stop me from poking him, slides out from under me, and with his leg, he flips my legs over so I'm lying with my back to the mattress and he's on his side next to me. I'm breathing hard now, filled with excitement. He's good at this. The eyes don't help. The eyes, those eyes, shit, those eyes.

There's a smirk on his lips that's somewhere between self-satisfied and irritated. He's holding my wrists in one hand, but he's not hurting me. He's holding me just enough that I can get free from his grip if I wanted to. Which I don't.

"What do you want to hear?" he asks tauntingly.

I stick my chin up. Just because I'm physically underneath him doesn't mean that I'll let him intimidate me. "The truth," I answer.

His grip on my wrists loosens just a little in surprise at my response, and his face falls the tiniest bit before a huge grin is plastered across it. It's the kind of grin that makes me roll my eyes. "I'm saying I want everyone to know I'm your boyfriend and you're my girlfriend, and no one will ever have a chance."

"Speak for yourself," I joke. When he scrunches his nose, I laugh and lift my head to kiss him on the nose.

Well, that about does it. The laughter dies away, replaced by butterflies. I didn't even realize how much I wanted him to undress me and take me until this very moment. But now I can feel this burning need inside of me, a need for him that can't be satisfied with kisses or holding hands. I need him, all of him, everything of him. And I want to see him this time. I want to -

"We should get some breakfast before everything's gone," Gojo says and lets go of me. I think he can see the look on my face; there's no way he couldn't.

So I nod. If he knows what I'm thinking and still says that we should go, I can't argue. "Should I check if anyone is outside?"

He nods, too, and goes to get up. I'm okay, I remind myself. I'm okay. When I'm heading for the door, I can see him picking up his blindfold. "No, wait," I say, stopping him. He looks up at me, his eyes wide with surprise. "Wait." The word leaves my lips in a whisper as I cross the room to get to him.

Gojo lets his hand fall, the white fabric hanging by his side, and I step closer to him. Softly, carefully, as if he might break at my touch, I put my fingertips to his cheeks and look up at him, into his eyes. I don't want him to hide them away again, but I know he has to. He told me last night that leaving his eyes exposed all the time is draining and exhausting, even more than usual. So even though I want to see them, I still want him to conceal his eyes. But just for another moment. Just a few more seconds.

He smiles down at me softly, and he's almost laughing at me. "You can see them anytime you like," he tells me in a low voice.

My skin tingles. I let my fingers run through his hair, this soft, beautiful, white hair, and his eyes fall shut. Gojo leans his head back into my touch, takes a deep breath, and opens his eyes again. I want to cry. I think I'm crying, I don't even know. I'm just looking at him, and it hurts how beautiful he is, how open and vulnerable and true and mine.

No matter how long I want to stand with him like this, no matter how much I hate letting him go, we have to separate and go back to our lives. Back to reality. I open my door a little, stick my head out, and immediately pull it back in.

"Shoko," I tell him, but when I turn around, Gojo already has his blindfold wrapped around his head, and it takes me a second to readjust. "She's on her way here."

Not five seconds later, there's a knock on my door. "(Y/n)?" Shoko's voice comes from the other side. "You're not still sleeping, are you?"

My eyes widen. What now? But Gojo looks perfectly relaxed. "Shout at me," he whispers.

"What?"

"Shout at me," he repeats as if that would make more clear why he's saying this. "She won't leave until you open the door, and if she sees me here, she'll know what's going on. But not if we're fighting. So shout at me."

"For what? About what?"

He grins. "You'll find something."

So I think. It takes me only a few seconds to come up with something, to be honest. "And I told you to stop stealing the towels when I'm taking a shower! It's weird that you're even coming into the bathroom!"

Gojo's grin widens. Sure, now it's not weird anymore, but until a week ago, I could never be sure that he didn't see me behind the shower curtain.

"I told you that the last thing I would want to see is you naked!" he shouts back, still grinning.

"That's a lie," I mouth, and he nods. "Well, right back at you!"

Another knock disturbs our fabulous acting, and I rip open the door to find a disappointed Shoko. "You two have issues," she says. "Really. It's not even ten yet. What are you already fighting about?"

Without looking at Gojo, I roll my eyes and pull her out of the room and down the hallway. "He drives me crazy sometimes," I grunt, which is true, but not in the way I would usually mean.

She sighs. "You both drive each other crazy, and especially me."

Without her noticing, I smile sympathetically. Oh, I'm so sorry about this. Shoko has had a hard enough time, and now I know just how hard. She doesn't need to be bothered with Gojo's and my ridiculousness, too. Maybe we shouldn't act in front of her. Maybe we should just tell her the truth. I make a mental note to ask Gojo about that... when? Well, whenever it is that we get another moment alone together.

But first, there's breakfast to be had and work to be done.