Marshmallows by Louise Willingham

Marshmallows by Louise Willingham

Author:Louise Willingham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lost Boys Press
Published: 2022-07-15T07:00:00+00:00


Wednesday, 8th of January

When the sun is up

Ten

Dan’s alarm goes off. I guess I’ve been sleeping fairly lightly, because my eyes snap open and I’m wide awake.

Early dawn light is pushing around the edge of the curtains and highlighting Dan’s sleeping face in a cool orange. For a moment I just gaze at him, stomach in a familiarly tight knot, but his alarm is still going.

“Dan,” I whisper. “Daniel?”

Nothing. He’s sleeping peacefully and it feels like a sin to wake him—especially after how upset he was last night.

“Hon, your alarm’s ringing.” I glide my thumb across his cheekbone and he shivers. “Hey there. Morning.”

Dan squints at me, groggy and tired, and kisses the inside of my wrist. I never get to see him like this—he’s always awake before me—so I savour it. His eyes close again and, for a moment, I think he’s going back to sleep.

“Доброе утро,” he whispers. “Are you okay?”

He’s barely conscious. This is golden. If it weren’t for the annoying buzzing of his alarm, I’d let us stay like this for another hour or so.

“I’m okay.” I chuckle. “Your alarm is going off, Dan.”

He blinks at me and lifts his head an inch from the pillow. His cheeks pinch pink and he sits up, twisting sharply to turn off the alarm.

My chuckle dies in my throat. He clearly just didn’t hear it, and I wonder how many of those times I thought he was ignoring me were him actually just…not hearing.

I’m not going to say anything. This feels like another one of Dan’s I’ll tell you soon secrets.

“You’re so cute when you sleep,” I say instead, catching his hand before he can get out of bed. “Wait a minute.”

Dan looks at me. He’s trying to not look embarrassed, but his cheeks are still brighter than usual.

“I just…” I shuffle closer to him. “I love you, Dan.”

He loops his arm around me and tugs me into his chest. Perfect. He’s lovely and warm from sleeping, and there’s something beautiful about the way he smells this early in the day.

“I love you too,” he murmurs. “Are you okay? You were awake.”

I shrug and close my eyes, making the most of this moment. I’m doing a good job of not thinking about the fact I have an exam this afternoon. “Yeah. I just woke up with your alarm—don’t worry.”

He kisses my hair. My eyelids flutter and I hold my breath as a shiver of electricity runs through me, down my spine from my head right to my feet.

I think Dan feels it too. Maybe it’s tension from last night, or the leftover warmth from when we shared that chocolate coin, but the way we’re clinging to each other feels heavy with something. Physically putting space between us is going to be a challenge.

He doesn’t push me away so he can get coffee, like I thought he would. Instead, he turns towards me and holds me closer.

This is… This is heaven. This is perfect. Every morning could be like this and I would never have any complaints.



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