Everything Is Blue

Chapter 27

Caught somewhere in the line between wakefulness and sleep, Kimbra felt an arm around her waist.

Mentally, she frowned. She was in her bed, right? She had always slept alone. There shouldn't be an arm around her waist.

Oh no, you probably went to Frollie's and drank far too much and brought some random guy back home and—

Kimbra stopped herself. She didn't go to the bar last night. She stayed home. Her mind was still partly asleep, so it took an idea and ran too far with it.

You're ridiculous. Ridiculous.

Soft breathing that was not her own enveloped the surrounding air.

Kimbra opened her eyes to a darkened version of her room. Moonlight spilled through it from the window and into darkness. It cast unrecognizable shadows along the walls. The rain had tapered off to a light drizzle, pattering against the roof of the apartment complex.

Her eyes finally drifted over to the figure to her right. The figure whose arm draped over her waist. The dark hair and long ears were immediately recognizable.

Oh right, Bud. Bud Flud. Her boyfriend. The sleazy businessman who sold overpriced water and smelled of tacky cologne. He had stayed the night due to the rain. Well, more like she pestered him into staying because she was horribly afraid of him catching a cold.

If he had, she would have never heard the end of it.

She snuggled closer against him. She felt safe there.

The events of the summer now felt silly. Her insistence on having him thrown off the project. All the bickering and arguing they had done. At times, she felt guilty for tormenting him. Other times she'd remembered he had been just as bad and forgave herself.

Kimbra pressed herself closer to him. "I love you," she whispered, hoping not to wake him (yet also hoping he could hear her).

When Bud said nothing, it reassured her that he was sound asleep. His eyes were shut, but he turned over to face her, and hold her.

And a soft smile formed on his face.

***

Now, Bud didn't think Kimbra was the type of person to snore. Yet, here she was, filling the room with her soft snoring. He didn't want to wake her, in spite of how obnoxious (not that he would ever tell her) he found it to be.

The light of the morning sun peeked through the bedroom window, covering the two in a warm hue. He didn't make a sound. Didn't want to wake her, not yet. For a bit, he wanted to watch her chest rise and fall softly in sync with her breathing. She looked peaceful. Her features soft, instead of the usual stern expression she held most days.

He liked how she fit perfectly against his side. His larger frame overshadowed her smaller one.

If you asked him five years ago, he'd say that his lifestyle didn't involve this. Bud usually woke early, to grab a coffee before work or finish paperwork on his days off. He liked to stay busy. It kept him from overthinking.

This moment, right now, he didn't want to get out of bed for once. Partly because of the woman in his arms. Bud knew he couldn't stay, he had things to do. A business to run. Things to wrap up before the holidays. He should go. And yet, he did not move from her side.

Bud blinked for a second to rid himself of any lingering sleep.

Kimbra continued to softly snore, a bit of drool dripped from her mouth and onto the pillow. He found it oddly enchanting. In a weird sort of way.