Us.

Chapter 18: Paparazzi

Claire's P.O.V (The next day)

I take a deep breath through my nose and slowly open my eyes. My back is supported by Braden's arm, which continues and his hand rests on my waist. His other hand also rests on my waist, my right hand is under my left cheek and my left hand rests my Braden's waist. I look up and his eyes are closed. I notice that it's dark, and I look over at his clock that's in front of me. It's 3 am, wait-Braden and I fell asleep almost immediately after we kissed, that also happened to be very early. I nuzzle my head back into Braden's chest, close my eyes, and a smile creeps across my face.

Braden will be okay, he is okay. I will be at school today, and clear up that it's not Braden's fault. My head is filled with thoughts of-

Braden's hands re position on my body. He sits up, and supports my upper back, and slips his other arm under my knees. He stands up and sets me back down gently, my head on the pillow. He pulls the blanket and places it on my shoulders, he kisses my head and then I don't feel him near me, because my back is to him. I then see a light turn on and then it goes away. A few minutes later the toilet flushes and door opens again and the light turns off. He walks back over and I turn over so I can see him. He is kneeling down beside me and smiling.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey. Did I wake you up?" he asks.

"No, I was up." I say.

"Are sure you can go to school today?" he asks, placing a hand on mine.

"I am 100 percent sure." I say, sitting up. I realize I didn't do it slowly and I momentarily freak out.

"Hey woah, are you okay?" he asks while standing up quickly and holding my hand.

"I just wasn't careful." I say.

"Are you okay though?" he asks.

"I'm okay." I say.

"Good. Can I ask you something?" he asks.

"Sure." I say.

"I've put a lot of thought into this. And my birthday is in a couple weeks, and I was wondering if you, maybe, uh, would, uh, um, uh, want to, uh, you know what, never mind." He says, then he drops his head.

"Whatever it is, I would love to." I say while smiling.

"Never mind, it's stupid." He says while shaking his head.

"I bet it's not. Tell me." I say.

"Nah, it's okay." He says. I decide not to push it, but I wonder what he wanted to do.

***7 am***

Braden and I fell back asleep a few hours ago, but I woke up a few minutes ago. We need to get ready for school, so I look up and Braden's eyes are still closed.

"Braden, wake up. We gotta get ready for school." I say. He takes a deep breath and moans.

"5 more minutes." He says.

"No, get up." I say as I sit up.

"Please." He moans, with his eyes still closed. I laugh to myself and lean over and kiss him. He kisses back and I pull back and see his eyes closed still.

"I'm going home." I say. His eyes snap open and he sits up almost immediately.

"I'm up." He says.

"I am going though, I'll see you at school." I say as I stand up.

"No!" he whines as he follows me. I'm at his door when he puts his hand on it, stopping me from opening it.