Every Little Thing

Chapter Thirty-Seven

            Autumn turned into winter and our love grew stronger with everyday. Eric always found a new way to make me smile or feel connected to him every chance that he got; from learning Braille with me to reading for me. He even bought a piñata and complained all the way through that he was the only one who had to wear a blindfold. He’s started to take his course online so that he can stay at home with me; I’ve made it my job to distract him every chance I got.

            I feel myself waking up to the familiar silence of our room and I try to open my eyes like I do every other morning. I wake up completely when I can see light and dark colors mixing together in front of me. I hold my hand up and I can see the color of my skin and the outline of my fingers. I look around the room and see extremely fuzzy outlines of everything, most colors blending into one. I look beside me to see the love of my life curled up into my body. I can see his dark hair sprawled out on the pillow and the pinkness of his lips… Holy shit. I can see his lips. A smile erupts onto my face when the realization hits me; from this day on, it will only get better. 

            I lie back down and face him so that I’m looking right at his face. I can’t even see the outline of his nose, but I can see him; I can see that he’s there and that’s all that matters. 

            The more I think about this new found power, the more ideas I get. I decide that I won’t tell Eric until tonight when he’s reading to me or something. I’ll tell him that his shoelace is undone or something along those lines. I know that he’ll be so happy and I can’t wait to actually see his smile; but for the rest of the day I’ll keep my eyes shut to save them for the minute I want to look into his eyes and tell him that I love him. 

            He starts to stir and I get one last look at him before I shut my eyes. 

            “You awake, baby?" he husks into my ear in his morning voice. I pull the collar of his baggy shirt towards me so that he moves closer to me. “I guess you are," he chuckles out before he starts to kiss my neck. I run my hands under his shirt and up his back, tracing heart shaped patterns along his spine as he slowly peppers my neck with kisses. He moves up so that he’s kissing my cheeks, my nose, my eye lids, my chin, my forehead; he finally hovers his lips over mine.“So, do you come here often?" he whispers, and I burst out in laughter. 

            “You’re such a loser," I say before I pull him in to kiss me. Our lips fit perfectly, like your favorite sweater on a cold day, and I can’t help but let out a content sigh. Before the kiss can turn into anything else, he kisses me once on the lips and rolls out of bed. 

            “I want food," he says. 

            “Why do you always put food before me" I grumble. He leans over me and brushes his nose with mine. 

            “You’re yummier, baby; don’t worry," he whispers before pecking my lips one last time and getting off of me. I hear him pull his drawers open and pull something out. 

            “Do you want one of your jumpers?" he asks as he comes over to my side of the bed to help me out. 

            “No, I’m fine in this for breakfast," I say, running my hands down the t shirt that goes to the middle of my thigh. 

            “Good, because you’re the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in that shirt, princess," he says before he takes both of my hands and puts them on his shoulders, telling me that he’s going to give me a piggy back ride. I jump on his back and he grabs my thighs. 

            “To the kitchen, my trusted steed!" I yell, he lets out an echoing laugh. 

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As the day progresses, I notice that Eric starts to act really strange; nervous almost. I try to continue on, but by dinner he won’t even touch me. I’ve gone the whole day without opening my eyes (which I’m extremely proud of), but I can’t tell him until later on. He keeps stumbling over his words and I can hear him sneaking around behind me a lot. I get really concerned when we’re on the couch. He’s watching TV while I’m playing with his hair, but his whole body is stiff.

            “Eric, are you okay?" I finally get the courage to ask him. I feel his breathing hitch before he clears his throat to speak. 

            “Yeah. I’m, uh, just tired," he says in a low voice. I trail my hand up to his neck and move myself so that I’m facing him. 

            “I know that’s not it because you fell asleep on me last night when I was telling you how much I love the zoo," I say, and I feel him shift uncomfortably under me. He lightly pushes me off of him and I hear him getting off of the couch to sit on the floor. 

            “Eric, where’d you go?" I ask in a hurt voice because he wouldn’t sit beside me. 

            “I just... I want to sit here," he mumbles. I know I need to be sneaky about trying to get it out of him. 

            “Can we play 20 questions?" I ask before I hear him clear his throat. 

            “Why?" he replies quietly. I almost open my eyes just to read his face. 

            “Eric, please, baby? I want to help," I say. I hear him mumble an “okay" before I start. “What’s making you so down?" I ask. He sighs. 

            “I’m just tired," he answers. “What’s your favorite smell?" he asks. I actually have to stop and think about that one.

            “Either you cooking breakfast, or you just out of the shower," I say with a smile hope he’s smiling too. “What do you what for Christmas?" I ask, hearing him shift again. I try to ignore it, but I’m losing patience. “Uh, I don’t know," he says, half-heartedly.  

            I sigh and wait for him to ask me a question, but I never got one. When he’s normally distant with me, it only lasts for an hour before we’re all over each other again, but this has been going on the whole day and I’m fed up. 

            “Eric, ask me a question!" I whine, but I don’t hear a response. That’s it, I think. He’s in for one hell of a surprise. 

            I open my eyes slowly and let them adjust to the lighting of the room. I look to both sides of me and I almost squeal when I notice it’s improved so much since this morning. I then look down to find him, but I wouldn’t ever have expected what I saw. He was on the ground with a ring in his hand and an adorable expression on his face.

            “Will you marry me?"