Lauren's POV
I wake up and look around. Josh is laying on his stomach stretched out beside me. I'm laying sideways on the bed, mine and Josh's legs entangled. I unwrap myself from around him. The alarm clock says 7:30. I roll my eyes at myself. I always get up early. I walk to the bathroom and go through the drawers looking for an unused tooth brush. I find one and open it from the package. I brush my teeth and run a comb through my hair. I wash my face too. I walk out of the bathroom and look around. I doubt Josh will get up any time soon, so I take Catching Fire from his bookshelf.
I walk downstairs and smell coffee. I enter the kitchen and Michelle is in there reading a newspaper with a cup of coffee. I eye her cup and she glances at me.
"Help yourself." She says and points to the coffee maker on the counter. "There's creamer in the fridge."
I set my book down and grab a coffee mug. I fill it up and look for creamer. I see hazelnut creamer in the fridge. My favorite.
When I have my coffee I walk back over to the table.
"Thank you." I say. Michelle looks at me confused. "For telling me..about Josh." I clarify.
She sets down her newspaper. "Honey I didn't tell you anything. I just incouraged you to be curious. Things have been hard on him lately. Between work, family, and friends he needed someone to just be happy to see him. It seems like lately everyone just wants something from him. And you, well you just want to be around him and he needs that. We want to be around him too, don't get me wrong. He just needs someone, that loves him in more ways then family."
"I do. Love him I mean. I didn't realize it, but it's becoming more clear to me." I say.
"Make it as clear as you can to him." She says.
"I hope I'm worthy of him. I'm not perfect."
"No one is. That's what love is though, Lauren. It's accepting someone in your life with their impurities. Don't be perfect. Be real. That's what he needs. He's had enough fantasy. You nor I know what it's like to play someone else that is in love and are having all their dreams come true then have to clock back into the real world where everything is falling apart. You need to he his support system, his friend, and most of all, you need to be the person that wants him more than anything in the world and let him know."
"I do. Want him I mean...I just don't know why he wants me."
"Don't act like you don't know" she says.
"I'm not acting."
"if he tells you don't question it." She says. Then she goes back to her newspaper.
I walk to the back porch and sit on the porch swing. I wrap myself in a quilt I found in the hall closet. I lose myself in the book.
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Josh's POV
I wake up and grab the sheets trying to find Lauren. She's not there. I set up and look around. I see my Catching Fire book isn't there. I smile. She must be reading. I think about last night and all that she told me. About her past and how she needs me as much as I need her. She opened up to me. She trusts me. And I let her in. I let her come to my home. I let her sleep in my bed. I trust her. I go to the bathroom and see an extra tooth brush in the cabinet. I cover my face with my hands and smile into them. She's mine.
I get dressed in jeans and a plain white v-neck t-shirt. I walk downstairs. I see my mom at the stove. I hug her and see that she's making waffles. I grab a coffee mug and fill it up with coffee. I don't add creamer or sugar.
