𝙇𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝘼𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝘽𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙚!

THIRTY SEVEN - Reflection, Aftermath

The light hit David's eyes as they opened the next morning, he looked around for a moment before lying still, noticing Mari's arms snaked around him. They had a tight grip on him, he knew he wouldn't be able to move without waking her up.

She looked peaceful, despite her smudged lipstick and messy hair. He couldn't help but stare, though slowly the night before came to mind. He slowly began to remember everything that happened, how he'd ended up where he was.

Suddenly, Mari began to wake up. He felt her moving, her arms tensing up when she realized where she was.

"David?"

She didn't move them much, just enough to be more comfortable, "Are you awake?"

"Yeah."

Even if he hadn't already been awake, she would've woken him up herself. She wanted to talk to him.

She let go of him and he turned to face her, their faces inches away from each other as they both laid down on their sides.

Mari's mouth opened to speak, but no words came out. She was speechless, she figured it was just nerves.

She finally sighed before speaking up, "We need to talk." she said, quiet.

He nodded, "I know."

Mari pursed her lips, her eyes still locked on David's, but he interrupted before she could say anything.

"Did you mean it?" He asked, her eyebrows furrowing after a short moment.

"...Mean what?"

"The kiss."

She hesitated, nervous, "Yes." she then answered, her tone making it seem it was obvious.

David hummed, flustered, "You didn't let me say anything before you did it, it caught me off guard." he chuckled, watching her face turn red.

"I figured I should just take the chance." She chuckled.

His smile faded after a second of silence passed, "We shouldn't do this." he said, her eyebrows furrowing.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

David didn't know where to begin. There were so many issues he could've caused by doing what he did the night before, but deep down, he didn't regret it as much as he knew he should have.

"I live in the city, you live--" He said, stating the obvious, though she cut him off before he could continue the list of reasons.

"I want to spend time with you now, I don't want to think about pursuing something long-term." She told him, pausing to think of a better way to phrase it.

"...I think I just want to see where this takes us." She finally sighed, a glint in his eyes as she spoke.

The look on her face was hopeful, slightly pleading in a way

His lips parted, though they slowly began to turn up, "Okay." he replied, somewhat satisfied.

"Can we go back to sleep?" She asked, watching him nod.

"Yeah."

The two laid in silence next to each other, both turning back on their sides trying to go back to sleep, but neither could until Mari suddenly broke the silence, turning back to face him.

"...When did you realize you liked me?...What did I do?"

He arched an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You're out of my league." She replied simply, watching him chuckle and shake his head in protest.

"Get real! You got recognition in Abbey Road for being on a magazine, people thought you were so gorgeous that--"