Pocket Full of Posies

Chapter Thirty-Six

I woke up snuggled tightly against Landon with his arms draped over me. It was kind of funny, actually. We weren't even together and we'd slept in the same bed twice now. Even though I'd done far more with Isaac, somehow this felt more intimate. It hit me that even when he was a decent boyfriend, even Isaac wouldn't have blown off classes and flown down just to be with me when I hadn't even asked. The realization had me grinning ear to ear and burrowing deeper into Landon's warmth.

He grunted tiredly in response and mumbled something incoherently.

"What?" I asked, snickering slightly.

"Tiiiiime," he groaned.

Lifting my head, I looked across his chest to the clock on my nightstand. "Huh. It's almost twelve. I've already missed two classes for today..."

He wordlessly held up three fingers in his response.

I wrinkled my nose. "That's disgusting."

His solemn nod was his only answer.

It was so surreal to have him here. Over the few weeks apart, it felt like we'd grown so much closer. In some ways it was a little bit awkward, wondering how to act, but then once I actually talked it was so...natural; right.

"I missed you," I blurted out.

Landon smiled so wide it damn near reached his ears. "I missed you, too."

"Are you gonna get in trouble with your classes?"

"I told you, that doesn't matter right now."

I shrugged delicately. "Yeah, well...I'd feel guilty if you missed something important. You'd tell me if you did...right?"

Sighing, he stirred to sit up straight. His wrinkly blue shirt almost matched his eyes. "No, I definitely wouldn't. But I didn't, anyway."

I had a sneaking suspicion he was lying, but I decided not to push my luck. In any case, I was selfishly glad he had skipped everything to be there for me. "Last night, coming here...it meant the world to me, you know."

His smile turned a little sad. Tentatively, he reached over to brush my hair behind my ear. "There was no way I couldn't come. After I listened to your voicemail...it freaked me out. You sounded really off. I was so worried."

"I didn't mean to worry you," I apologized, biting my lip.

"I'm glad you called me."

I smiled. Something was shifting. Between us, yes, but it was more than that. My heart was changing. It had been over the last few weeks, but that had been small chiseling. Now, it felt like a huge chunk of wall had just broken down around it. It felt like a hunk of wall that had been built before my engagement was even called off. I was having feelings I hadn't had in years, maybe ever...and I couldn't explain what they were, exactly. But I liked them.

"Me, too."

It was then that one, or both, of our stomachs made a huge complaint against us. With a laugh, we decided to reconvene at breakfast. This worked out great, because 1) I had to pee super bad, 2) my morning breath was a thing of nightmares, and 3)...I was afraid if we hadn't been interrupted, I would say something, or do something, I might regret later. Yes, my feelings were very much real. But I had to go through them one at a time. There was no way I was going to rush into this and potentially hurt this wonderful man. I had to be all ready, not just somewhat.

After changing and washing up-my hair was sticking up at odd ends, to my horror-I skipped down the stairs like a kid at Christmas. Except it wasn't presents under the tree I was eager to see.