Every Reason I loved her

Chapter 16

          Lana and Shaina already have their faces covered in grainy blue clay and are ready to smear it on Alex and me. Lana laughs, her bestie playlist going in the background as she scrubs the clay onto my face.

"Your skin is going to look so good after this." Lana dances as she smears, Shaina bumps her hip into Lana's.

"I'm sure it will." I let my head fall all the way back, Lana rotates around for a better angle.

"I mean it, your skin is going to be glowing." Lana's got a giant smile stretched across her face.

"Is it going to feel like velvet like yours?" I ask her.

"Her skin does feel like velvet, doesn't it?" Shaina gushes.

"Let me feel." Alex leans past Shaina and rubs Lana's cheek. She stands a little straighter, a bit more proudly.

"Awe man..." Alex rubs his hand all over her face "your skin is soft" he laughs and then touches Shaina's face.

"How come your skin isn't this soft?" Alex asks Shaina. Shaina cocks her brow at him.

"Babe..." Alex nervously laughs "I didn't mean you don't have soft skin."

"uh hu..." Shaina keeps staring at him.

"I just meant... Lana's skin is really soft." Alex doesn't do himself any favors in these kinds of situations.

"You want to keep going?" Shaina asks him.

"You know what." Alex holds his hands up "I'm going to shut up now and just admire your beauty in silence."

"Good answer." Shaina leans past him and rinses her hands in the sink. She pecks him with a kiss "but I'll give you this one, Lana's skin is amazingly soft."

"Thank you." Lana rinses her hands up "now let's go get the snacks and play the movie."

"Yes!" Alex hops up first "movie time." Alex is the first one out, I follow him and Lana and Shaina link arms and trail out behind us.

Lana gets her favorite set of snack dishes out; various bowls she got from flea markets and thrift stores. She spent a lot of time figuring out the right balance of mismatched dishware. I loved watching her lay out all the pieces, she spent months collecting and finally figuring out the sets and the variations. Matching the colors and the patterns, getting frustrated when she couldn't figure out which ones looked best together, which ones fit. She played her music and she laid on the ground staring at them, leaving them out when she went to work and coming home to get back to figuring it out.

She's proud of it as she sets them out on the coffee table, filled with various snacks. Her eyes lingering on the dishes, her hands nudging the dishes into the exact place she wants them in.

"There, that's good." Shaina finally pushes Lana's hands away and nudges her onto the couch. "Now sit." Shaina drops back beside Alex, I plop down beside Lana and slide my arm around her waist. Shaina nestles into Alex side while Alex wraps his arms around her shoulder's and pulls her against his side.

Lana and Shaina have tears in their eyes by the end, even Alex, shamelessly, sheds a few tears as he holds Shaina. I might have cried too if I was actually watching the movie.

"What's next?" I ask.

"The Vow." Shaina plays the next movie from her google account and everyone settles back. The mask had hardened on our faces long ago but no one is keeping time on it. I watch Lana's face morph into sadness and fear to happiness and confusion. She's seen this movie a hundred times and she still goes through the same emotion every time she watches it. I really like watching her emotions, they're so expressive. She reminds me of that kids' movie she likes. The emoji movie, she's like that one emoji that has all the expressions. Lana likes everyone.

She hums along to the music of the movie and nestles into my side, I love her here, in my arms, relying on me. she's so strong when it comes to life, she never gets down about things. I never get the chance to just be there for her, not like this. She doesn't need me like I need her. she's this bright ray of sunshine warming up everyone else's day, and brightening up our lives. I pull her against me and kiss the top of her head. she burrows her head into my shoulder as if she could get any closer.

Movies pass, hours watched. I hold onto Lana long after she's fallen asleep, long after the last movie ends but I don't want to move and wake her. Shaina and Alex migrated to the floor at some point, Shaina has her back propped against the couch and Alex's head in her lap as she strokes his hair. Her head leaning against the decorative couch pillow Lana spent another few months tracking down.

"They're so strong." Shaina's voice pierces through the silence, Lana doesn't react.

"Yeah." I trail my fingers up and down her arm the way she loves "they are."

"We really lucked out." Shaina yawns, her hands still going back and forth, combing Alex's hair into a puffy mess.

"Yeah." I agree "we did." I look down at Lana, she's everything, she's just everything.

"I love our weirdos." Shaina peels one eye open to look at me.

"I love our weirdos too." I lean diagonally back into the corner of the couch. Lana shifts with me but she's not awake, it's just reflex.

"I love the neurotic one too." I add closing my eyes.

"I love you too." Shaina whispers back "awkward one." I can hear the smirk in her voice. I might have argued with her any other night. Tonight, is quiet and peaceful and it's about Lana.

"Goodnight." I say it to all of them but not even Shaina responds, she must be sleeping.