Expectations

Chapter Five

The room was quiet, only the noises of the traffic filling it with muffled sounds. The last rays of sunshine of the day were shining in through the windows, creating long shadows from the furniture.

Taylor was absentmindedly running her fingers up and down Karlie's arm, who seemed to be almost asleep. The warmth between their bodies under the blankets and the softness of Karlie's skin was addicting to her, and she tried to commit the moment to memory as best as she could. Karlie let out a soft sigh and tried to cuddle even closer.

After a while, Taylor couldn't ignore her empty stomach any longer.

"Karlie" she whispered.

"Hmmm."

"Let's get up and make dinner."

"Uggghh."

"I'm really hungry."

"Hmmm."

"I'm serious."

Karlie hummed in response once more, then grabbed Taylor's waist to keep her from getting up.

"Babe ... we can do this again after dinner" she laughed, trying to reason with her sleepy girlfriend.

"This?" Karlie asked teasingly and looked up at Taylor, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Oh, so you were listening, I thought you were asleep" Taylor grinned but didn't elaborate.

"I'm gonna borrow one of your sweaters" she announced and got up.

The cold air gave her goosebumps, and she quickly made her way to the small bag she had brought to put on new underwear, then went to Karlie's closet to grab a sweater.

Looking at her girlfriend's wardrobe and all the familiar pieces of clothing, she let herself get lost in her thoughts for a moment. It was good to be back in New York. She rummaged through a pile of clothes at the bottom.

"The Genius sweater will do" she proudly announced when she found it, causing Karlie to groan again.

"I can't believe you didn't bring your own sweater" Karlie said drily and sat up in bed, keeping the blankets around her body.

"I did, but I like yours better" Taylor replied and stuck out her tongue at Karlie.

She wanted to add something, but seeing Karlie sitting there like that she needed all her self-control to not join her again right away and skip dinner. She quickly turned around again and went into the kitchen.

The kitchen was colder than the bedroom, and she let out a deep breath.

"Can't we just get take-out?" she heard Karlie ask from the next room. It sounded like she had finally gotten up as well.

"No? I brought groceries, remember?" Taylor asked confused.

It was unlike Karlie to suggest take-out. Usually she was the one who always made sure to eat healthy and home-made meals. Taylor's glance fell on the trash can. An empty pizza box as well as a Chinese take-out box were sticking out. She raised an eyebrow. This was definitely unlike Karlie.

She carefully glanced back into the room towards Karlie, who was getting dressed. It dawned on her that the taller girl had been acting unlike herself for a while. She simply had been too busy to notice. It wasn't about their relationship. Taylor knew that. Karlie was the sunshine she knew and loved. Taylor realized what was different about Karlie was her attitude towards everything else in her life. As if she didn't know what to do with herself.