Game Theory × NH

073 | tantalum

× Horan

The smell of bacon woke me up. I rubbed my eyes to remove the sleep the best I could, still feeling utterly groggy and a little dazed from the slumber. I couldn't remember the last time I slept that good.

From beside me, Lynn shifted in her sleep so she was lying on her side. The smell of peppermint filled the air around me. I reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face cautiously.

Last night was rough for Lynn. Actually, scratch that. Pretty much all of yesterday was rough for her. It was frightening to see her breakdown the way she did since I always see her in a state of calm and collected. She was put through a lot in those twelve or so hours, first having that fright with the firetruck driving down her street, and then visiting her old neighborhood only to receive something from that fretful night.

It had been hard to watch her crumble and not be able to help. I was never good at comforting, but I liked to think it did some good just by being there with her.

Looking at her now made me believe that everything that had happened didn't even happen at all. She looked so peaceful sleeping beside me, like nothing was wrong. Like her mother didn't leave her a message with her dying breath.

I reached out and put my arm around her gently so not to disturb her. The smell of peppermint grew stronger as I nuzzled my head into the back of her neck. It was a smell I could get used to.

It was nice to just hold someone without wanting sex out of it. Okay, that was a lie. Sex was great. Well, it was great when you do it with the right person, even if that person is yourself, but Lynn was the first girl besides Alina that I just simply wanted against my chest and held in my embrace.

I couldn't do anything else but watch her in awe. It was fucking terrifying, but wrapping myself up with Lynn felt nothing short of home. A tornado could rip the roof right off any moment, but I didn't think there was anything that could stop me from being with her until she said otherwise.

Lynn turned her head and looked at me with sleepy eyes. "Hey."

"Did I wake you?"

She blinked a couple of times before shaking her head. She wasn't wearing any makeup and I personally preferred her that way, but I was never going to tell her that. It took her away from the other girls I slept with who always had concealer and blush and glittery eyeshadow, and that was all fine and good for them, but it was just another reminder that Lynn wasn't one of them.

She would never be just a girl I would fuck, and I think I was finally understanding that.

"I never intended to fall asleep here," I admitted.

Lynn closed her eyes and hummed a response that could have either been a "whatever" or "I didn't mind" and I was willing to take either of those answers.

Running my hand up her side, I pulled her hair away from her face and kissed the skin on her neck. From the touch, she turned so she was on her back, looking at me with heavy eyes. One of her arms lay across her stomach and I watched it move up and down with her breathing. The soft freckles along her cheeks reminded me of stars and her caramel hair lay amid the pillow like a classical painting.

I felt her fingers trace delicately along the stubble on my jaw, her toes creep between my calves to find warmth, tickling the hair on my legs in the process. I was tangled with her so intricately that it was hard to tell where I ended and where she began.