Live in Color

twenty nine - crimson

That has me wide awake.

I prop myself up on my elbows, making Jericho tiredly look up at me. Jude takes the opportunity of us being separated to crawl in between us. I ignore him and look at Jericho, but I don't see a bit of dishonesty in his face. "Really?" I whisper.

Jericho nods, "Yeah, really."

I feel tears prick in my eyes. "For a while, I never thought I'd hear my soulmate tell me that," I say as I lean down to hug him.

"I never thought I'd say that to anyone ever again," Jericho admits in a voice that thankfully holds as much vulnerability as mine. "I'm happy I was wrong."

I sigh in his embrace. "You've sent me on one hell of an emotional rollercoaster, Jericho," I murmur. "But I love you too."

Jericho relaxes in my grip, like a weight has been lifted off of him with my words. He hugs me back, and laying like that, we're both quick to drift off to sleep.

x

I wake up to Jericho gone.

My first instinct is to panic. Can you blame me? Jericho hasn't exactly had a good track record of staying put and not giving me a heart attack. Jude is gone, too, I notice. I glance at the clock, noting that it's already ten in the morning. I guess my parents didn't bother waking me up for school, which I'm pretty grateful for. Most of my classes are just study time, anyway, and I have to make up for what I was planning on reviewing last night.

I get up and put my fuzzy slippers back on, not bothering to be quiet- my parents should both be at work by now. I go downstairs to the kitchen but Jericho isn't there. He's not in the living room either. I frown, seeing his shoes still by the doorway. I doubt he's in the basement considering I never showed it to him before. Frowning, I make my way back upstairs when I hear a soft bark coming from my room- Jude.

I peek my head in, a lot like I did last night, to see Jericho sitting on my bed, flipping through the color book, with Jude trying to catch his attention. "How long have you been up?" I ask him, making him a jump a bit as his head shoots up before he realizes it's just me, making the tension slip away from his shoulders.

"Since seven," Jericho says. I sigh, upset that he still wasn't able to get much sleep, but deciding that it's still better than nothing. I can't just expect him to suddenly be able to sleep through the night just because he was with me.

Jericho puts the book on my nightstand, jumping off the bed and walking over to me. I'm already smiling by the time he approaches, leaning up to kiss him quickly and then embracing him. "Were you awake by the time my mom left?"

Jericho nods, "She was a little confused no how we ended up switching rooms but didn't really say much."

I laugh before pulling away, leaning up one last time to kiss him quickly before grabbing his hand and dragging him out into the hall. Jude quickly jumps up and follows us. Right before we're about to go down the stairs, Jericho stops me. "Hey, Natalie?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

I roll my eyes, grinning like a fool. "I love you too, Jer."

Jericho groans, "Don't call me that."

"Noel called you that!"

"And I don't like Noel anymore," he points out.

I just roll my eyes at him and let go of his hand to skip down the stairs on my own. Jericho waits a bit at first- I hear him saying something to Jude, which makes me snort- before he follows me down the stairs. "Do you want breakfast?" I ask him.