The Other Side Of The Lens

39. Safe

"I love you Mateo."

"I love you Veronica," he mumbles softly.

My eyes close after he responds to me. Without fighting sleep, I let it take over me.

~

My phone vibrates on the nightstand and wakes me up. I open my eyes slowly and take a deep breath. Mateo is still in my arms, sound asleep so I try to grab my phone with the least amount of movements. I pick up the phone and read the message.

Mom: You guys can start getting ready now. We'll leave in an hour.

I sent her a quick 'ok' and set the phone back down. As if my eyes were trained already, I looked back down at the boy in my arms. I've noticed that whenever he sleeps, his eyebrows furrow a bit. I'm not sure whether it's because he's dreaming, or if it's just natural. His cheeks are a little pink and his lashes cast a shadow on his cheeks. He looks peaceful.

After a few minutes of looking at my love, I carefully remove his arms from around my waist and stand up from the bed. I take longer to get ready so he should sleep a little more. He was tired.

Grabbing all my stuff quietly, I walk into the bathroom and set my things down. It's the same basic routine I do everyday. Hair and makeup and that's it.

After taking twenty minutes on my hair, I start on my eyebrows. I take out my eyebrow pencil and start to fill them in. As I finish filling in my right brow, a sleepy Mateo walks into the bathroom.

"Good morning," I smile and look at him through the mirror. He runs a hand through his hair and sends me a sleepy smile.

"Good morning," He yawns and stretches his arms up. His shirt rises a bit and I'm able to see his lower stomach. My eyes stay trained at his toned stomach and I look away until his shirt moves back down. I looked up at him through the mirror once again and saw a smirk on his face.

"Mmm stop sneaking glances Veronica," He wraps his arms around my waist from behind and my cheeks heat up.

"Did you sleep good?" I ask hoping he changes the subject. He nods his head and kisses my cheek. "Oh we're leaving in like," I looked around for my phone but remembered I left it on the nightstand. "I'm guessing like forty minutes."

"Okay I'll get changed," he walks out of the bathroom and I continue doing my makeup. A few minutes later, he comes back wearing a dark grey long sleeve, blue jeans, and his usual Nikes. Handsome as ever.

"I told you V," he walks up to me and turns me around to look at him. He places his hands on my hips and pushes me back until my lower back hits the sink. "Stop sneaking glances."

I lick my lips and look up at him. His eyes are darker than usual. He leans down and kisses my neck. My thoughts start to go all over the place and I say the first thing that comes to mind.  "Umm I'm already done getting ready," I push his chest and he releases me. "We should meet up with the others." I scratch the back of my neck and look down at my socks.

He looks at me with soft eyes and is about to say something, but I walk out of the bathroom before he does. God I don't know why I got so nervous. We've made out before, and have done a bit more which should be normal. But why did I get nervous?

"Take a jacket, it's cold," I say as I hear him walk out of the bathroom. He mutters a quick 'okay' and grabs a jacket. I slip on my Nikes and grab my jacket just as he did. "Ready?" I look up at him and he nods.

I walk to the door and feel his presence behind me. Jesus Christ I don't understand why I'm nervous all of a sudden. My hands shake a bit but I manage to open the door quickly. We both walk out to the hallway and see everyone else walking out of their rooms.