Up in the Air

Chapter 24

Dedicate to EshaChadha for her awesome reasons as to why Julian and Sara should be together.

Listen to Alone Together by Fall Out Boy in the sidebar.  FOB is awesome.  

Chapter 24

"My brain is literally going to crack," Daniel groaned.

I looked up from my AP History book in time to see him rub his eyes tiredly. "That's misuse of the word 'literally'," I smiled.

"I don't care," he huffed, dragging himself across the floor of the den that was covered by books and papers until he was next to me. "Can we please stop studying and enjoy the day outside? We studied the entire morning, Sara, and on a Saturday, might I add. And I cannot stress this enough – it is a beautiful day outside."

He gestured his head towards the window which, with the curtains pulled aside, offered a magnificent view of a pale blue sky.

We were in that autumn sweet spot where everything was the right amount of cool and warm and leaves were bright crimson and gold. It was nearly the end of October and there weren't much of days like this left.

I'd already made up my mind to put off studying for today the minute he brought up the day outside.

Still, Daniel could use with a bit of teasing.

"Our exams though," I pouted. "They're not too far away."

"Sara, they are two weeks away.," he reminded me. "They are, in actuality, too far away for us to be wasting a day studying for them. I'm positive your record as the student with the highest GPA in the school – and possibly the state – will stay in tact if we played hookie just this once."

I smiled and sat up. Daniel was too tense for his own good sometimes. I motioned for him to come closer and when his head was resting on my lap, I ran my fingers soothingly through his hair. It helped. Soon, his eyes fluttered closed.

"I didn't know you had the word 'hookie' in that vocabulary of yours," I said when I felt his body relax.

"Hmm." One blue eye cracked open as he smiled up adorably at me. "Maybe we should just stay in," he mumbled sleepily. "I can think of a better way to spend the day in the confines of your house that do not involve schoolwork."

I froze.

Daniel's head nearly crashed into my chin when he quickly sat up, looking mortified. "I was talking about a nap, Sara. Just a nap."

"O-of course you were," I stammered. I hastily tried to turn my look of shock into one of reassurance.

"I didn't mean –"

"Daniel, it's fine," I smiled. "A nap does sound nice right now."

He nodded. "It does, doesn't it? I can't remember the last time I'd simply been lazy and lounged around the entire day. If it wasn't school work, my parents would drag me off to some hospital function. I don't mind going to them but it does get quite taxing."

Daniel was pouting – in such a charming way, if I do say so myself – the entire time he was talking.

I smiled at my mental image of a young Daniel – dark-haired, blue-eyed and heartbreakingly adorable.

I moved to sit down on the couch and patted the space next to me. "Come on, we'll take a thirty minute nap," I smiled. "We dodeserve a break after talking about organic compounds and calculus the entire morning."