To Zion

26

I eventually fell asleep again, after making sure my foster parents knew where I was, and when I woke up, Miller was sitting up in bed, arms wrapped around their knees.

"Hey, something wrong?" I asked, and Miller looked back at me quickly.

"No. Just waiting for you to wake up." They smiled at me, and I felt a rush of warmth to my heart. They were so beautiful.

"Pronouns?"

"That's what I was just sitting here thinking about." They admitted, smiling over their shoulder at me. "I think it's he/him, but I'll tell you if it changes."

"Okay." I smiled reassuringly at him.

"You hungry? Because I'm starving, but I didn't want to leave until you were up."

"I'm super hungry."

Miller moved to get out of the bed, but I caught his wrist gently.

"Thank you for waiting for me. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here when I woke up."

"Of course." Miller whispered, his eyes never leaving mine. I was finding it very hard to look away.

"Is this really happening? You like me still?" I asked, and Miller his hands through mine.

"Yes, it's really happening. Yes, I still like you, and yes, I wish we could kiss right now, but I need to go find you a toothbrush first." He pushed my hand away gently, and I fell back onto the bed, laughing.

It was only a minute or two before he came rushing back into his room, clutching a toothbrush still in its packaging. I can't remember the last time I was this excited to brush my teeth. Miller led me to the bathroom, jumping onto the counter so I could have room to stand in front of the sink.

"Sorry that it's such a mess, but Cooper and I share this bathroom."

I'd hardly noticed the mess. Granted, I'd been in this bathroom plenty of times before, and probably left it a mess one or two times as well. I just smiled at him, not trusting my words to make any sense around the toothbrush in my mouth.

"Oh, you probably need to shower." He looked like he was about to get off the counter, so I moved to stand in front of him, setting my toothbrush on the counter.

"I can do that as soon as I go home. I need to leave soon, and I'd like to spend the time I have here with you."

Miller's smile became so big that his face practically split in two. He grabbed my elbows, effectively pulling me closer to stand between his legs, then moved his arms up to wrap around my neck. I let my arms wrap around his waist, as I leaned up to kiss him. His hands moved from my neck to either side of my face, and I could have sworn he left a trail of goosebumps wherever his fingers touched.

I looked at him in confusion when he pulled away, making a face.

"What?" I asked, a little breathlessly, and Miller shook his head slightly.

"I'm almost positive I just got some toothpaste in my mouth that wasn't there before." He looked pointedly at me, and I felt heat rushing to my cheeks. This was definitely not how kissing was supposed to go. What if I just ruined everything. What if Miller didn't want to—

"Aww, Zion." Miller practically cooed, kissing my now red cheek. Damn my pale skin that came along with my red hair.

"Stop it." I whined.

"Stop what?" Miller asked innocently, fingers playing with the hair at the base of my neck, his  lips hovering over my cheek he had just kissed.

"Stop treating me like I'm the cute one."

Miller laughed, pulling away from me for a second, letting his hands drop to much shoulders.

"But you are cute."

"No, I'm not!" I replied indignantly. "You are."

"Aww, thank you. But, seriously," He put his hands on either side of my face, angling it so that I could see myself in the mirror. "look at this face. Adorable."

I struggled to pull my face out of his hands, which Miller only laughed at, finally letting me go. My face felt warm even to me. He must have felt it in his hands, and that thought had me blushing even more.

"You're the cute one." I repeated firmly, letting me hands fall to his hips, as I pulled him closer to me.

"Woah, okay, okay. I'll be the cute one." Now he was the one to look a little flustered, and I smiled at that, capturing his lips again in a kiss that wasn't as gentle as before. I tasted the mint from the toothpaste in both of our mouths, and I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Miller having gotten some in his mouth. I effectively killed the mode with my laugh, but I don't think either of us cared.

As soon as we pulled apart, Miller wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a hug I hadn't been expecting, but found myself melting into immediately. I tucked my head into his neck, running my hands along his back slowly, listening to the drum of his heartbeat.

We stayed there for a little while, neither of us saying anything, just enjoying the warmth and feel of each other. The thought of my panic attack yesterday caused me to grip him tighter. I wanted to be embarrassed about crying and breaking down in front of him, but I knew he wouldn't let me be. So, I held him tighter, breathing in his smell, letting it wash over me, and letting his arms around me fight away any worries that wanted to attack my mind.

"We should probably go eat soon." Miller reminded me, and I pulled my head away from his chest reluctantly, keeping my arms around him.

"Zion, what's wrong?" He breathed out, bringing his thumbs up to wipe away the two tears that had managed to slip past my eyes.

"I'm just...kind of emotional after...yesterday." I explained, squeezing my eyes shut to keep any more tears from falling.

Miller was quiet for a second, then I felt his lips placed the gentlest of kisses on my right eyelid. He kissed my left eyelid, breath fanning across my face gently, his hands holding my head close to him.

"You can talk to me about it whenever you want. Or you don't ever have to. Just know that I'm here."

I nodded slightly, not trusting my voice to answer him. I kept my eyes closed, felt him hug my head against his chest, but still couldn't find the words to say to him.

"Your hair is so soft." He murmured, planting kisses on the top of my head.

"Be careful. I need to wash it." I laughed against his chest, feeling the vibrations of his own laugh as he still held me.

"And I need to eat. Any second now, you are going to hear my stomach growl, and that, is not romantic."

I stepped back, letting Miller hop down from the counter. I grabbed his hand instantly, neither us able to fight back our smiles.

"Cooper and Laurie were eating breakfast when I went out there. Laurie looks..."

"Like crap? I need to talk to him. He can't stay with his dad." I felt a shudder pass through me at the thought of him going back home. Back to an abusive father...

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. We are all here for Laurie. You really think Cooper, of his mom for that matter, would let anything like that happen to him again? He's going to be okay, and so are you."

I smiled down at Miller, finding myself lost in the sincereity of his eyes. And then his stomach rumbled, and his eyes almost crinkled shut when he laughed.

"See! I told you. Come on, I'm starving." He tugged are my hand, leading is out of his room.

A/N: sorry this took so long guys!
Hopefully that doesn't happen again.
Also, this book is only a few chapters away from the end. Just so you know.
Thanks for reading! ❤️