His eyes turn to me. The hazel is practically mocking, and even though I don't react, there's no way he doesn't notice the way my face warms when he stares at me a beat too long.
Jo would kill me. It's enough to get it from Amy, but me too? God.
_...
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I wake up with my face buried in Laurie's shoulder.
I force my skiddish, prudish nature to shut up for a moment, silencing the instinct to leap away from the boy pressed against me. His white shirt, unbuttoned several times down, is wrinkled from sleep and soft against me. It's open enough for my cheek to be pressed up against Laurie's bare chest, and one of his arms is tucked under my head as a pillow while the other arm is strewn over my waist, holding me against him.
I feel absolutely giddy. I don't dare move.
"MARMEE!" Jo shrieks from down the hall.
I jolt fully awake, sitting up, and almost knock my head against the wall in the process. Laurie lolls awake beside me, and if he's surprised by our proximity he hides it.
"What's wrong, Lil'?" He grumbles, voice hoarse with sleep, and I almost forget the panic rising up my throat when I hear the gravelly sound of his morning voice.
"I—" I blink rapidly. "Jo is upset. It could be Beth. I need to—to—"
"I'll be right there," Laurie murmurs, waking up faster, and he squeezes my hand once warmly before allowing me to vault myself off the bed.
Meg is no where to be seen, and I have to assume Jo slept in Beth's room because the bed is made. Meg is an early riser, Jo sleeps late, and Jo would never make the bed.
"Jo," I call, opening the bedroom door with one hand and tugging long socks up one leg at a time with the other.
Laurie is behind me in half a second, and when I turn to look at him he's holding a jumper.
"Arms up," he tells me softly, and I glance down at my small nightgown before complying. The sweater is soft and big on me, and it takes a beat for me to realize it's his.
I want to live in this sweater for the rest of my life.
"Lillian, come down!" Jo shouts back, and the note of joy in her voice makes me dizzy.
