Hello, Again

Chapter 9

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Something in the things she shows me

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Author's Note – This chapter's dedicated to the two guest reviews I woke upto one fine summer morning, that gave me all the motivation I need for writing this chapter – you know who you are! It's the greatest boost ever to hear back from you lovelies – makes me all warm and fuzzy inside! Anyhow, I hope you like this chapter just as much :)

When Amelia Barnett woke up on a warm morning on June 21st 2009, she was acutely aware of two things:

One, she wasn't wearing her usual tank top – boxer shorts combo.

Two, she wasn't alone in her bed.

It took her three full seconds to completely understand her present situation

Her heart thudding in her chest, she let herself take stock of her surroundings. One of her legs had fallen asleep, her left arm squished under her side, and her head was resting upon something that was definitely not her pillow.

Such were the consequences of waking up next to Jason Finch.

Amelia gulped, suddenly conscious of her body and his and how she couldn't quite tell where he ended and she began, and there was far too much skin visible for her liking and she could – oh dear lord – see her shorts hanging off her dresser on the far side of the room and his fingers clutched at her waist and her leg was trapped between his and in the name of god, woman, calm down!

She forced herself to take in three deep breaths, struggling to take inventory of the situation. The first thing she registered was the faint whiff of cologne – it smelled so heady – coming off him and the tenderness of his features as he slept unperturbed by her frantic thoughts. The usual cocky smile had vanished off his face, replaced instead by a set of down-turned lips that looked strangely appealing, and Amelia felt herself calm down (just a little bit) as she felt him breathing deeply beside her.

So she'd woken up next to him – it wasn't quite that big of a deal, was it?

She closed her eyes and willed herself to fall asleep again – it wasn't quite yet six and she was sore, and it was strangely comfortable in his arms, and Amelia wasn't quite sure if she was upto to the task of pondering over what it meant to have slept with someone for the first time.

...

Amelia hated waking up alone.

She lay in bed for some time, looking up at the ceiling, forcing herself to breathe deeper. Her head ached anda her limbs were weary, and there was a dull knocking sound emanating from the living room that bet against her skull like a hammer. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to summon her last ounce of energy, praying for just enough to get her out of bed.

Amelia stretched her arms above her head and gripped the bed post. Pulling herself out of bed, she felt her migraine come back with full force, stars bursting before her eyes as the whole room spun.

The knocking continued.

It took her a few seconds to register (with the aid of her cellphone) that it was half past ten, and that the day was 18th April, 2011, and that an hour and a half hour of sleep after 28 hours of wakefulness was tremendously insufficient. She switched off the screen of her phone, tossed it across the bed, and pushed her feet into her worn purple bunny slippers, grimacing as the arches of her feet started aching the moment she stood up.

Her head throbbed in time with the noise from the living room

Having determined her objective of the hour, she decided to investigate the source of the knocking sound, and shuffled into the living room, squinting at the window thrown wide open in the spacious room, and encountered Abby in denim shorts and a tube top hammering at a convoluted piece of wood.