Ice Cold

31

Landon Reilly

I woke up Monday morning with Wren's back to my chest, my arms around him. It was such a strange position to be in, really. I had never known this kind of affection, never sought after it. But somehow, without me realizing it, it became so easy with Wren. Despite how hard it was to get here, to be in this place with him, with my own resistance of him and with his own walls that he rarely let me see through.

I couldn't pinpoint the exact moment that our relationship became this, or when the way I felt about him changed. It seemed to just happen. One day I wanted to wring his neck and the next I wanted to kiss it.

This whole thing was new territory for me, and part of me knew that it couldn't last, that there would be a day this ended whether I was ready for it or not. I tried to push that to the back of my mind. I was always making myself miserable, I didn't want to be miserable about this.

After a few moments of being awake, I turned over to check the time, Wren turning over with me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

When I saw the time, I pulled myself from Wren's grasp and got out of bed, scrambling to get ready. It was eight o'clock. I barely had time to go back to my dorm and get to class for the exam I had.

I opened up Wren's closet, pulling out a brown crewneck sweatshirt with BROWN written across the chest in white letters. I threw the sweatshirt on and debated taking a pair of pants to change into.

"What are you doing?" Wren grumbled, his voice low and gravely from sleep. He sat up in bed, squinting at me.

"I have to get to class," I said.

I closed his closet and walked over to him, kissing him lightly before turning to rush out of the room.

He was up and following me, throwing on my hockey sweatshirt, before I could even get out of the room.

"I'll drive you," he said with a yawn.

The two of us went down to Wren's car, letting it warm up for a few minutes before he started driving toward my campus. Wren stopped at a drive through about half way there.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"You didn't eat breakfast," he said, pulling up to the speaker before I could say anything else. He ordered a breakfast sandwich and a caramel latte.

"I thought I told you I don't need you buying my shit."

Wren just shrugged, ignoring me before getting up to the window and paying for breakfast. He handed me the bag with the sandwich in it and placed the latte in the cup holder.

Wren didn't seem to be much of a talker after having been abruptly woken up. His eyes were still full of sleep, his face a little pale.

When he pulled up to my dorm building, I hesitated for a moment before leaning over the center console to give him a brief kiss. It felt so strange to do, but at the same time felt like it was as easy as breathing, like it was what I was supposed to do. I glanced around the area, seeing that there was no one around to witness it.

"I'll see you later," I told him, opening the door to get out of the car.

Wren just nodded, rubbing his tired eyes.

I grabbed the sandwich and latte then closed the door behind me and made my way to the dorm. Kyle was already gone when I got there, probably at his own morning class.

I ate the breakfast and drank the latte before going to the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready. After gathering my things, I went to class. I had forgotten about wearing Wren's sweatshirt until I got to class and Jess was looking at me with a confused expression, pointing at my chest as I sat down.