Taylor

Chapter Twenty-six

Fynn was still asleep in my arms when I awoke. I tried to move my arm out from underneath him without waking him up, but I failed and startled him awake. He looked at me and smiled awkwardly as he tried to move off my arm so I could get up, but when he sat up all I wanted to do was pull him down into a kiss—which is exactly what I did.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't seem to help myself," I said teasingly.

He grinned. "You can not be able to help yourself as much as you want," he repeated my own words back to me.

"Oh?" I pulled him into another kiss.

"Oh, shit. Sorry!" A voice came from the door.

Fynn ripped away from me and looked at his stunned roommate.

"I'm sorry," he said again as he backed out of the room and shut the door.

I stared at the door, then at Fynn, waiting for him to freak out. But instead, he burst into laughter and looked at me.

"How awkward!" He laughed and bent down to kiss me again.

I wrapped my arm around his back and held him against me, deepening the kiss. The sensation caused tingles to spread throughout my stomach and when he pulled his lips away, I let go and tried my best to control my breathing. But the way I was feeling I hadn't felt in a long, long time.

"D-Do you want breakfast?" He half-whispered. He got off of me quickly and adjusted his shirt.

"Yeah, sure, we can do that." I smiled and sat up.

We walked a couple of blocks away to a small diner that Fynn said was his favorite place to get food. He didn't even have to order his food, the waitress seemed to know exactly what he wanted.

"Are you going home today?" He asked me.

It was Saturday morning and there was no real reason to go back home yet when I could spend it getting to know him better. "Well, I don't really have any reason to go back home if you want to hang out today. I'll just get a hotel nearby tonight, that way we have all day."

"That would be great." He smiled shyly and it was absolutely adorable. He was hard to figure out. Sometimes he seemed brave and forward, other times he seemed shy and reserved.

"What's there to do around here?"

"Museums, movies, there's a theme park, but it might be a bit chilly for that. Hm." He tapped his chin in thought. "Honestly, I'd be okay with unexciting. We could swing by the dorms and I could get my PlayStation to play games or watch a movie. Eat popcorn. Order take out."

I smiled, instantly liking his idea. "Sounds perfect."

And that's what we did for the rest of the day. Played games, watched movies, ate, and got to know one another. To me, it was the best way to spend our time together. That's also how Barlow and I used to waste time when we were deployed. The idea made my mood shift slightly, but enough for Fynn to somehow notice.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just... thinking about my friend."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Or maybe I should. The therapist had told me to embrace the things that had happened, not run away from them. Not talking about it was a form of avoidance, which was running away. "When I was deployed, I had a really good friend. But... he died."

"How did he die?"

"I... I killed him."

My eyes flicked over to Fynn's now wide ones. Afraid of him storming out of there scared of a murderer, I immediately added, "It was an accident. I thought... I thought he was one of the men who attacked the convoy. He just... popped out from behind the upside-down car. My adrenaline was high, I was scared to death. I didn't know where he came from. He had gotten in a different vehicle than me. He was supposed to stick with his group, take care of his group. Not... not come to me. And I shot him. Right in the chest. And he died." I swallowed down the lump in my throat and looked back at the TV. I didn't want Fynn to see me cry, that was awkward and embarrassing. Not wanting to talk about it anymore, I cleared my throat. "Do you think your roommate will give you any trouble?"