What If

Epilogue 1: The days that followed

The first thing he heard was a voice. A voice calling his name and pulling him from the depths of his sleep. 

"Simón."

Simón scrunched up his face, trying to ignore the voice and hold on to his slumber.

"Simón, wake up," the voice insisted, and he let out a little groan.

"Five more minutes..." He muttered, holding his pillow tighter and drowning his face in it. It smelled nice. Actually, everything felt so nice that he didn't want to leave bed ever again.

But the voice didn't recede.

"I already gave you like 2 hours. And no matter how adorable you look right now, you need to go to work."

...? Adorable? Since when did the guys call him adorable?

His attention reawakened and finished waking him up. Simón opened his eyes slowly and found that the pillow he had been hugging wasn't a pillow at all. Blond hair, bright as the sun filled his vision, and it only took lifting his gaze a bit to find the world's most beautiful blue eyes looking at him fondly. The skin between his arms and under his cheek felt warm, soft. 

For a second he thought he was holding an angel. But no, it was even better than that— He was holding Ámbar.

She gave him a tender smile. "Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Am I dreaming?" He asked mesmerized. "Are you a vision?"

Ámbar laughed, both at his question and at how raspy his voice sounded. "More like a nightmare, I'm sure. My makeup must be all over the place and my hair feels like a bird's nest."

Simón shook his head. "You look breathtaking, bonita."

Ámbar's eyes shone. "I had missed that."

"What?"

"That nickname," she said softly. "You. The way you look at me... Everything really."

He grabbed one of her hands and kissed its back. "Me too. I still can't believe this is happening. That you're here, with me..." He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Last night... It all seems like a dream."

He kept caressing the side of her face with his knuckles and Ámbar enjoyed the feeling in silence, watching him and burning the image of that moment in her mind. He wasn't the only one who needed a reminder that this was real. 

After a while, she took the courage to voice what she'd been wondering.

"Was it how you imagined it?" She asked, both curious and nervous of his answer. "Last night, I mean."

Simón considered it for a moment before answering.

"No. Yes. I mean, no and yes."

She frowned. "I don't follow."

"Well, I... I had thought about it, but..." How could he explain it? "It's like with our first kiss. The real thing exceeded all of my expectations. So, no, it wasn't like what I had imagined, but because there was no way I could've ever imagined it like that, you get what I mean?"

Her eyes searched his face, still a little unsure. "So, you liked it?"

Simón snorted. "Of course I liked it!" He said with amusement, like incredulous that she even asked that. Ámbar filled with relief. Since she had no idea what she was doing, she had feared she hadn't done enough. This took a weight off her shoulders. 

But just as she relaxed, Simón's face drowned in dread. "... Why? You didn't like it? Did I hurt you? Oh god, I hurt you, didn't I? And here I am talking about how great it was for me when you didn't have a good time, I'm such a—"