Seeing You

Worth Remembering

I woke up, warm and comfortable. I blinked, trying to figure out where I was. I felt my head rise and fall in a steady motion and my eyes widened. I was in Gabe's bed and my head was on his chest. I kept still, trying to gauge whether he was awake or not. Gabe was lying on his back and his arm was wrapped around me drawing me in close to him. I was curled up against him, my hand resting on his stomach. His breathing was slow and gentle. One of my legs was resting over his. 

I lay still, trying to figure out how I was going to move without waking him. I guess I could try and move quickly, sort of a whipping the tablecloth off the table without disturbing the plate type move but I didn't quite know how to do that. Was I the tablecloth? Was Gabe? I felt a burst of nervous laughter build in my chest. 

Gabe stirred, his arm tightened and pulled me closer. He moved and sleepily dropped a kiss onto the top of my head then I felt him stop. He ran his hand up and down my arm gently, I shivered slightly. 

"Petra?" he whispered. 

I bit my bottom lip, "Yeah?"

"Are you ok?"

I closed my eyes in embarrassment, "Yeah."

I moved my leg and drew my hand away his stomach to my side. I shifted and tried to wiggle away from him. He kept a grip on my arm. 

"You don't..you don't have to move," He said softly. 

"I think I should," I replied and his grip loosened. I wriggled away and lay my head back onto my pillow. Gabe turned on his side and watched me. The air felt very warm and tense. 

"How did you sleep?" He asked.

"Honestly? It's the best night sleep I've had," I answered. 

Gabe grinned and my stomach flipped, "Me too."

He reached out and touched my cheek, "It's really nice having you here."

I blinked, don't do anything silly here, Pete. I smiled and sat up, grimacing as the cool air hit my arms and shoulders. I leaned down, picked up Dad's jumper and pulled it on. 

"I think I should go home," I said, sliding out of bed. I walked to the door and stood there awkwardly, come on Pete, don't do anything silly. Walk out the door. 

Gabe was leaning one elbow, dark hair mussed up, eyes bleary. He looked like a different version of Gabe, one that I hadn't seen before and that I really, really wanted to find out more about. 

I opened the door and closed it behind me, walking into the room of cushion destruction.I eyed them skeptically. I was never going to be able to put them all back the way they had been originally. I threw them haphazardly on the bed, still cursing the sheer volume of them. I pulled on my jeans and grabbed my bag. The large windows showed me that most of the snow had melted leaving a fine layer over Gabe's garden. My phone was low on battery but it had time to tell me it had just passed 10.30 before it gave a final chirp then died. 10.30? I've never slept that late. Quickly,  I walked back down the hall, grabbing my coat and boots then I stopped. 

There was a noise coming from the kitchen. 

Don't do anything silly, Pete. 

I urged myself to walk out the front door, I heard Gabe's door open and close then his soft footsteps moving towards me. 

He was still in his shorts, still no t-shirt, I tore my eyes away from his chest and firm stomach. He opened his mouth to speak and I gently placed a finger on his lips to silence him. Gabe's eyes widened. 

"There's someone in your kitchen," I hissed. 

He frowned, reaching up to move my hand away from his mouth. Gabe walked slowly to the kitchen, me following him like a shadow.