| SAVAGES | Detroit: Become Human

Chapter 15: She

"Just as if the sun suddenly disappeared from our sky, I knew that without her... I was nothing."

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As sunlight crept through the cracks in the curtains and pried at my sleeping eyes, I couldn't help but grunt like a fussing baby. I wasn't a morning person, but unfortunately the person laying next to me was. I heard her soft chuckles as I threw the blankets over my eyes and curled up underneath its warmth. Feeling a delicate pair of arms wrap around me from behind me, I couldn't help but grin like an idiot and shift to snuggle into the safe haven.

"Good morning, birthday girl," she whispered into my ear as she placed a soft kiss on my cheek. But the warmth quickly faded away as she got up from the bed.

"Get... your ass back over here," I mumbled sleepily as I listened to her walk around to my side of the bed. She laughed at me again as I began to wiggle dramatically underneath the sheets. I heard her come closer to the bed, and for a moment I thought that I had won. But the feeling of the cold air of our bedroom quickly nipping at my body as the blankets were torn off of me made me realize that I had in fact lost. Trying to cover my legs with the enormous shirt I used as pajamas, I looked up at her only to freeze once again.

"Now will you get up?" Holding up a plate of something in one hand, she looked at me and smirked in satisfaction. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail, but still messy from bed. She stood there still in the flannel and shorts she had gone to bed in, radiating warmth and confidence as always. But the room turned cold as she walked out of our bedroom, calling to me as she made her way to the kitchen.

It was only a matter of seconds before I bolted up and rushed to the kitchen just as she put the plate down on the kitchen table. I left out a battle cry as I went up to her and wrapped my arms around her torso, lifting her body into the air as she let out a surprised shriek. "What did I ever do to deserve a girlfriend like you," I smiled at her as I put her down, my arms still wrapped around her.

We ate in comfortable silence after that. She had made her pancakes, which were undoubtedly my favorite food in the whole world. We had just moved into this apartment a few weeks ago, that was the plan even before I got deployed. After college she had moved out of her parents house while I had to ship out to boot camp to train as a Marine. It wasn't supposed to be for long, I was just supposed to be in the reserves as a way to pay for college. But it turns out getting caught in a war would keep me away from home for a while.

"I got you something," she announced, breaking me away from my thoughts. I looked up to her as she sat up and disappeared into the living room. I began to hear shuffling as she talked to me from the other room. "I know we had been talking about it for a while, but I figured that there was no better occasion than today."

All of a sudden, the biggest mass of grey and white fur skidded into the kitchen and greeted me with a million licks. My eyes automatically shot up to her as she stood in the doorway looking at the husky. "I know we went to volunteer at that shelter a few weeks back... and that may or may not have been a cover," she beamed at me as she came in and sat on the kitchen floor, trying to handle the big energetic ball of fluff.

My mind automatically shifted to the shelter we volunteered at occasionally. We had a few friends from college that worked there and thought it'd be a good idea to check it out. But now I see there was more to it than just 'checking it out'. I remember playing with this guy a lot, his name was Koda and he was a rescue from somewhere upstate. He wasn't a puppy for sure, Koda was about seven but probably had enough energy to power the whole of Detroit for an hour.

Getting off my chair and joining her on the floor, we began to play with Koda and talked about all the stuff we would have to go and buy for him.

Looking up to her for a second, I smiled as she scratched Koda's belly. I realized then that there would never be someone as important to me as her. She was everything, and I realized that years ago. Just as if the sun suddenly disappeared from our sky, I knew that without her... I was nothing.

"Hey," I called to her quietly as I continued to smile. She looked up to me, concerned that I would say that we couldn't keep Koda. But her gaze softened as our eyes met. Her eyes, the shade of pure cocoa but sweeter than caramel, never failed to make my heart melt.

"I love you. Thank you, Lena."