Traces Of Magic

~Chapter 23~

My eyes flutter open. Sunlight floods my room. I yawn and roll over. To my surprise, there is also a yawning Grayson beside me. "Good morning beautiful." He runs his hand through my hair sleepily. My cheeks turn red as I get out of bed and stretch. Grayson continues to lay there and stare at me. "Do you remember anything about last night Mandy?" I look over at him. His eyes stare intently at me, expecting an answer.

"The last thing I remember is sobbing into your chest." He nods his head before yawning again. His silence starts to make me feel unsure and insecure about myself. "Grayson, did we..." He cuts me off. "No. No way Mandy. I respect you." I let out a deep breath. "Okay. Good." He gets up and pulls his pants on. "So we didn't..." He sighs. "Mandy, I slept with you as a friend. Nothing more." I bite my lip and look down. He comes over and wraps his arm around me.

"Listen, that's something that real lovers do, and right now, you're not sure who you're real lover is. You're guessing and re-guessing, choosing and re-choosing, and it's a lot of pressure to handle. I just want you to know that whoever you pick, I respect your decision and will always be here for you as a friend." His cheeks turn red as he leans down and kisses my cheek. I can't help but smile at his words. "Thank you Grayson. For being here for me." He smiles too. "No problem. That's what friends are for, right?" I nod my head.

He grabs my hand and pulls me to the door. "Come on. I'll make you some breakfast." I pull my hand out of his. "Grayson! I'm not dressed! I'm still in my underwear!" He looks over at me as I cross my arms. "Oh. Okay." He steps out into the hall and lets me close the door. I grab my shirt off of the ground as his voice comes through the door. "You do realize that we're the only ones here, right Mandy?"

I walk over and open the door just a crack. Grayson rests against the wall. "What do you mean?" He looks up from the ground. "Your parents are out of town with work for a few weeks, and Adam is over at his friend's house." I open the door a bit more. "Really? So you mean we are the only two here?" He nods his head. I toss my shirt on to my bed before leaving my room. Grayson heads for the kitchen before I leave my room.

When I arrive, his face is in the fridge. "So, what do you want for breakfast?" He looks back at me as I sit down at the table and yawn. I smile at him. "Surprise me." He smiles back before returning to the fridge. He sets milk down on the counter before going over and setting the egg carton down besides the stove. He comes over and wraps his arms around me before whispering into my ear. "Remember: no peeking. You want it to be a surprise." He lets go of me. "By the way, where do you keep the bowls?"

I giggle. "They're  in the cupboards above the sink." He kisses my cheek before returning to making breakfast. He sets a bowl down beside the milk. I hear him grab a whisk and mix together some stuff in the bowl. "You guys still own a bread box, yet alone use it?" I smile. "It was my dad's great grandmother's bread box. He insisted that we use it." "Oh."

The kitchen is quiet for a bit after that until I hear sizzling coming from the stove. A cinnamon scent tickles my nose. "Mmm! What is that great smell?" Grayson chuckles. "That's the smell of the surprise, which I'm surprised I didn't burn." I laugh at his joke. Soon, he sets a plate down in front of me. "Okay Mandy. You can look now." He wraps his arm around me as he sits beside me. I look up to see a giant stack of French toast in front of me. "Wow! And you made all of this Grayson?" He nods his head shyly as he runs the back of his head. "Just for you." His cheeks turn pink as I kiss him. "Thanks Grayson." He smiles before looking away. "No problem."

Together, we have a breakfast of French toast. Afterwards, I make us each a cup of coffee as he cleans up. "That was really good Grayson. Where did you learn how to do that?" He stops for a moment. The water runs over his hands. "I, uh, I kinda taught myself." I look over at him. He is completely still. I notice that his eyes look like they're trying not to spill any tears. "Oh. Cool." I drop the subject and he returns back to normal.

When he's finished, he comes over and takes his cup of coffee from me. I follow him into the living room. He looks back at me. "So, what do you want to do?" I close my eyes and take a moment to think. "Can we just cuddle?" He nods his head as he sits down on the couch. I proceed to curl up in his lap. I rest my head against his chest as I sip from my coffee cup. He takes a sip with one hand while the other one runs through my hair.

Memories flash in my head of when we used to do this when we were together. A single tear drops from my face and into my coffee. I blink furiously to prevent any more from falling. I reach up and wipe away the trail it left on my face. Grayson notices. "Are you okay Mandy?" I nod my head. "Yeah. I'm fine Grayson." I sniffle. "I just really miss doing this with you." He nods his head as he continues to run his hand through my hair. "Yeah. Me too..."