SomeWhere On... (BXB)

...Monroe Avenue, USA - January

Murph's waiting for me outside, bundled up in a puffy grey jacket, a stupid hat, and a scarf that makes him look like he has no neck. He's in sneakers and jeans that're sinking in the two feet of snow that separate the street from the front door. The tip of his nose and cheeks are tinted pink and his hands are buried in his pockets.

I open the door as the taxi skids to a stop. I've packed light because Murph told me the snowstorm was coming, so I didn't want to be dragging anything through the snow. I'm also freezing my ass off.

"Hi!" Murph shouts. It's actually okay because I can't hear him over the wind.

"I'm freezing!" I chatter back. It's -11 Centigrade. I'm dying.

"Go inside!" He pushes past me and goes over to the cab.

I wait by the front door and watch him trip over the snow. When he gets to the door, he stomps his feet outside and steps in. He pats his hands on his legs and looks at me. "Welcome to Connecticut!" he announces, closing the door with his foot. His glasses fog up when the door closes.

My teeth are chattering and I'm jet lagged. "Congrats," I spit.

Murph frowns. "Go upstairs."

I look into the living room and see his aunt and little sister. His aunt's looking at me. His sister's got headphones on. "I'm hungry."

"Go upstairs." He leans forward. "My aunt is right there and I will swear in front of her, I swear to God."

I smile. I'm the reason he swears now.

Go me.

"Now."

I whine, but he's unfazed. He takes my bag and leads me up the stairs.

My arm feels tingly, and it forces me to open my eyes.

Murph's asleep on my arm, pools of drool on his pillow only making my moving my arm back impossible. Because I have zero interest in starting the day with his drool on me.

I roll over, arm still in place. His room is cluttered with shit from who knows where, but at least it's kind of organized. Except for his desk. His desk is stacked with books and letters and fucking cans of soup. I've only really seen his room in our calls, and being in it feels makes it feel real.

I smirk and sit up, pulling my arm out from under him inch by inch.

There's no light outside. The wind's stopped blowing, and the world feels like one of those winter paintings from a hundred years ago - these big houses along tree lined streets covered in snow.

And then Murph rolls over, switching his drool puddle.

Oh my God, it's a constant stream of it.

But his bed head is all over the place. Murph's nose is a little pink from the cold. His breath is worse than London's sewers, and his eyes are open only a sliver. Murph looks weird without his glasses. Like, he looks younger. And he's bundled up under the sheet and duvet that he looks almost part of it.

He looks cuddly.

I slip back under the covers and pull him into my chest. Drool be damned, I'm cuddling this fuckwit.

But then he wakes up. "Whaaat?" he moans, rubbing his eyes.

I keep forgetting how fucking cute he is without his glasses.

I snicker. "Mornin'."

He turns his head and looks back at me. "It's after four, your ass." He rolls back to his side and slams his head into the pillow, sinking into it. Then he turns the pillow over and slams himself back down again. "G'night."

I snuggle up to him. "I'm up now. Wake up."

"No. It's nighttime. You're still jet lagged." He groans and curls into a ball of Murph and sheets. "Wake up at a reasonable time and then talk to me."

"But I came all this waaaay," I whine and cozy up next to him.

Murph begins squirming as my arms snake around his torso. "N-no, Tommy," he giggles. This only encourages me because I never knew he was this ticklish. "Tommy," he chokes, trying hard not to laugh. His hands wrap around my wrists and he steadies his breath. "No. Stop. I don't want to wake up anyone."

"Hi." I grin.

He goes red. Murph smiles and whispers, "Oh my God, you're here." He presses his forehead against mine. "Holy shit, you're actually here." He looks at me, and his blue eyes turn this amazing blue silver. It's so cool.

"You know how much I love it when you swear."

He snorts. "That was your fault."

"I know."

Murph moves his hands to mine and attempts to take them off him. It doesn't happen. "Remind me later to force you to stay awake until ten tonight. No more waking up early for you."

"What if I woke up early, for you?"

Somehow, Murph doesn't get redder. He just looks unamused. "See, your flirting doesn't work on me anymore. Maybe when we first met at the Bugle - "

"Bulge. And I was flirting with you."

He purses his lips. "Well, you didn't do a very good job, then."

"Like flirting with bricks." I'm proud of that for some reason. "How do you not remember the name of the bar we met in?"

Murph shrugs. "I mean...I did just wake up." He glares and then yawns. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

I snuggle closer to him. "No."

"Tommy, I have work tonight."

I groan and roll on my back. "Fiiiiine."

He sighs and rolls towards me. "You don't get to complain about anything today, got it? That's my job."

Smirking, I pull him close. "I can live with that."

Murph exhales and his breath is hot on my chest. He groans and slinks his arms around my waist. "Why're you so cuddly?"

"Mmmleh," is my response.

He falls back to sleep quarter of an hour later sprawled out on the bed. He open-mouth snores like nobody's business.

And I've never been more happy to have him close to me.