When I Sleep | ✓

[seven] dusting off faded promises

woahh, tuesday update instead of sunday haha. song to the side is "i won't give up" by jason mraz! ignore weird mistakes and typos, enjoy the chapter xx

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11:35 am

While I may have been wrapped up in Archie's arms last night, waking up to his complete absence had me thinking that I had dreamt the whole thing. At the brink of awake and asleep, it was possible that I had been more asleep than I realized. Possibly more wishful thinking and lovely dreams than anything. It was an exhausting flight, after all. But the only shred of hope I had of actually having been in his arms last night was opening my eyes to a very familiar setting. I was back in my brother's guest bedroom, in my reality of a life, and smack in the realization that today would be the day where Archie and I finally broke the ice about where to go next.

Groaning, I shoved my face into the pillow laying next to me. Now that I think about it, maybe I wasn't ready to talk to Archie yet. I loved him too much to take the blow of leaving him, if that's what it came down to be. But I knew that I couldn't prolong this any longer. So despite the nerves making my stomach feel at its absolute worst, I forced myself out of bed and headed down to the kitchen.

"Auntie!" came the instant excited cry of my darling little niece. A grin settled on my lips as the bundle of sweetness slipped off her chair at the dining table and came jumping into my arms.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead and hugged her tightly. "Hey, Caroline."

She beamed brightly at me. "I'm so glad you're finally back. Mommy and Daddy are still sleeping, so Uncle Archie and I are making breakfast for everyone. He said you wouldn't be awake for a while, though."

Realizing that another pair of eyes were staring at me intensely from the other side of the kitchen, I glanced up to meet Archie's gaze . . .

Then broke into giggles as I saw the colorful, fruit patterned apron tied around his waist. With the time I get to see Archie, it actually was a foreign sight for me to see him in anything other than his work clothes, looking crisp and professional in dress shirts and a tie. He was incredibly handsome going to work, but something about seeing him in such casual clothes hit me with a sense of how it used to be. While aprons definitely weren't a common thing for him to be wearing back then, a smile like that was a definite feature.

His smile came almost effortlessly, a huge contrast to his usual flat expression. It made my heart constrict tightly with hope.

I placed Caroline on the counter and didn't bother to conceal my amusement as I assessed him. I bit my lip. "So it's come to apron wearing, now has it?"

A hint of his old self shone as he stepped behind the counter to reveal himself in all his fruity glory and cheekily replied, "There's a point in a man's life where he must wear an apron for his wife's amusement. Is it working?"

I smiled. "Very."

He returned that smile, softly. "Good."

11:59 am

"This is so weird," Luca muttered to me after we were filled with Archie's delicious breakfast. The man cooks for himself every morning before work, and it's not just some bowl of cereal with milk. It's not shocking that everyone was impressed with what he laid on the table.

"What's weird?" I asked him.

He gestured to backyard where Caroline stood drawing pictures on the brick walls with some chalk. She had Archie's full attention as she babbled endlessly about whatever she wanted to get off her chest.