Boy Next Door

Exquisite

Camila blinked her eyes open and smiled at the realization that she was still wrapped up in her boyfriend's arms. Her head was tucked under his chin as he held her tight against his chest. She typically wasn't one to lounge around in bed after waking up, but at that moment she didn't want to get out of bed—she wanted to stay right there in his embrace. She snuggled further into him and placed a quick kiss to his bare skin as she enjoyed the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest as he slept. She closed her eyes and continued to savor the moment they were in, only opening them when she felt Shawn stir beneath her and let out a large yawn.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," she giggled as his yawn continued.

"Hey," he finally said. "You look exquisite this morning."

"Well I feel like that might be a tad bit of an exaggeration, but thanks."

"I'm not exaggerating!" he insisted. "I never exaggerate."

"That itself sounds like an exaggeration." Shawn playfully rolled his eyes and kissed the tip of her nose. "I like waking up next to you," Camila admitted.

"I like it too. I mean, I like waking up next to you. I always wake up next to myself..."

"You're a dork," Camila giggled.

"A dork who is hungry. Wanna stay for breakfast? I make some delicious pancakes." Camila nodded before reaching her lips up and kissing him on the cheek before they both lazily got out of bed. Shawn stood in the kitchen in nothing but his gray sweatpants mixing up the pancake batter as Camila enjoyed the view.

"Do you have plans today?" Shawn asked.

"Just some stuff for the book that I need to work on, but nothing other than that."

"I'm performing at the café today if you'd like to tag along. It's not as fun to perform without my groupie there."

"Well then how could I say no?" Camila laughed. "I'll be there."

"Good. I have a couple songs that I've written over the past few months that I think you'll like," he said with a mischievous grin. Camila smiled and stood up on her toes to kiss his cheek.

"I can't wait to hear them." Just as her lips disconnected from his face, he expertly shook the frying pan in his hand—flipping the pancake perfectly. "I'm not going to lie, that was beyond impressive," Camila said. Shawn placed the finished pancake on the plate and poured some more of the batter into the pan.

"Here, you can try flipping this one." As soon as the first side of the pancake was cooked to perfection, Shawn loosened it from the pan before handing the skillet over to his girlfriend. "You've gotta commit to it though, okay? You've got to flip it like you mean it or else it won't work." Camila nodded and took a deep breath, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth in concentration as she shook the pan in front of her and flipped the pancake up into the air, landing it perfectly in the center of the pan.

"I did it!" she said excitedly. "Wow, it's actually a lot easier than I thought it would be."

"You nailed it," Shawn chuckled. Once they had finished cooking their breakfast, they sat out on Shawn's balcony together as they devoured their pancakes and talked about a variety of random topics ranging from brands of maple syrup to nostalgic cartoons from their childhood. After they had finished their food, Camila reluctantly made her way back to her apartment to get ready. She couldn't help but laugh at her own appearance when she stepped into her bathroom. Her hair was a disheveled mess, Shawn's clothes looked ridiculously large on her and remnants of mascara had smudged under her eyes. Initially she felt embarrassed that she had spent the entire morning with her boyfriend while looking like this, but then his words from while they were laying in bed replayed in her mind.