𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 & 𝗔𝗟𝗪𝗔𝗬𝗦, 𝐦. 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨

²⁸

the rain was beautiful. the slow trickling created a beautiful audio that was calming to say the least. the pattering against the windows and the build up of water and everything in between was truly fascinating. it truly was beautiful.

hope glanced at the window inside her bedroom and watched as the droplets of water raced down the surface at different, unexpected rates. she closed her eyes a little and let the soft drumming of the raindrops fill her ears. her body leaned further into matt as he subconsciously played with the rings on her fingers. he was currently looking over her annotations on one of the books on her bookshelf. he was only really looking at the ones marked with a pink bookmark as he knew that colour represented the romantic scenes. he smiled at her little comments on the side and the small doodling of hearts around the words or moments the characters shared with one another.

he turned the page again before he quickly glanced at hope, who appeared to be falling asleep. he smiled at her sleepy state and lifted the blanket a little more so that more of her body was covered as she slept. her hand was still laced with his as he slowly shut the book and placed it back in its rightful position on the shelf. he looked to the bedside table that contained the pink pen she had been writing in earlier that day and he picked it up carefully. he pulled off the cap and smoothly placed the tip on hope's palm. when he confirmed she was still sleeping, he began drawing hearts and stars on her palms like the ones she drew in her book. he drew a mini 'm' in the crevice of her wrist before he closed the pen and put it on the desk again.

he pulled out his phone from his pocket and connected his airpods to ensure he wouldn't interrupt his girlfriend's sleep. he scrolled through tiktok for about an hour and even took a few snaps of hope sleeping purely because of how happy she looked before she woke up with a small yawn. her hair was sticking up from the sides yet matt thought she looked adorable. she yawned again before turning to face matt who had just put his airpods in their case.

"sorry i fell asleep, i didn't get much sleep last night," hope apologised as she sat up in her bed.

matt shook his head, "stop saying sorry idiot. why couldn't you sleep?"

"it was just one of them nights," hope reassured as she stretched her arms out with a little crack.

he nodded his head at her words and slung his arm over her shoulder, pulling her into his side. he brushed the hair out of her face and stuck the loose strands behind her ears, even though he knew she'd fix the ponytail soon. she smiled up at him and he gently kissed her forehead before lifting her hand in front of her face.

the doodles were slightly faded but it was still incredibly easy to make out the shapes and hope found herself smiling incredibly hard. her eyes traced over the intricately drawn lines and the variety of shapes her boyfriend had drawn. she mindlessly began outlining the symbols with the tip of her finger and matt found it mesmerising. the way she would fully devote herself to even the smallest of things made him feel bubbly inside and he could stare at her for hours, even when she wasn't doing anything interesting.

he watched as her hands shifted to adjust her ponytail and how she picked her phone up from his lap before quickly unlocking it. she rested her head back on matt's shoulder and he watched her phone screen as they sat and watched tiktoks together for a little while, comfortable and content. matt pecked hope's forehead and she looked up so that brown was staring into blue. she gave him a soft smile and matt leaned down ever so slightly to lightly kiss her lips. it was extremely short and sweet but it still sent hope's stomach soaring into another world.

"did you know baby rabbits are called kits?" hope asked as she adjusted her body so she was more comfortable.

matt shook his head before he laughed, "i didn't know that, no."