Something was happening.
Something was changing.
I was chilling, walking home after uni when I got a call... Eleanor wanted to hang out. Casually, no sex involved, she wanted to hang out.
Although, I was slightly disappointed when I arrived at the destination and realised that her plans for hanging out weren't really what I thought.
The guys were there. All of them.
I wasn't disappointed or anything...
We spent the afternoon at the local arcade and when we got hungry, we left for the local bar. Freddie and Eleanor teamed up when we got to the bar, they wanted to play pool. Billy and Mark played against them. Gio was texting, too distracted to focus on the pool game.
Lexi and I were the only slow eaters. I watched as Lexi ate all of her fries and left the burger for last.
"Do you think Billy's flirting with Eleanor?" Lexi asked, looking over at Billy who was chatting with Eleanor about something pool related, I guess that's why he was pointing at the table.
A cold current went through me. Something that felt like guilt. "Do you—" I cleared my throat. "Do you think he likes her? Like for real, for real?"
"With Billy you never know." Lexi shrugged. She grabbed the bottle of ketchup and poured some on top of the mayo.
I watched Eleanor and Billy. They had grown closer just like Eleanor and the rest of the group but while Mark and Joe kept it friendly, Billy seemed to want a little more. The thing was... with Billy, like Lexi said, you never really know. He liked girls for a week or two and then he'd move onto the next one.
Watching Eleanor and Billy made things very clear to me. Yes, it did bother me because it was suddenly very clear how easy it would be for Eleanor to just decide she was bored of me, and she could go have something serious with Billy. I mean, I'm not blind, he's a good-looking guy and well— Eleanor's gorgeous. They'd make a cute couple and Eleanor wasn't even like... into girls or something.
And if I thought about it, the problem wasn't whether or not Eleanor liked girls or whatever... the problem was that relationships, regardless of your sexual orientation, were fragile. One day you want something, the next you don't.
And then there was this... casual thing. We were, what, friends with benefits? I've never had that type of friend before and it was confusing.
I mean, if she was flirting, did that mean I could do it too? Would it bother her if I did? Would we argue if I did the same as she did? I mean, where is the crossing line? Flirting okay, touching and kissing a big no, right? And what's the difference between an open relationship and friends with benefits? I guess in order to be in an open relationship, you'd have to be in a relationship first and... I'm not in one, so...
I was staring at nothing, thinking about Eleanor and Billy when her laugh brought me back from my thoughts. Something had happened, Freddie and Eleanor were both laughing at Mark and Billy, Joe was no longer around.
Worst bit was that Billy was one of my best friends and if he liked Eleanor for real, then what do I do then? Would he be mad or would he be cool about it? And what would he even be mad about? Ididn't know what I had with Eleanor...
A light touch on my shoulder brought me back to reality. "What?"
"I'm talking to you, dumbass." Lexi rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her burger. "You're an absolute joke, you know that? What's gotten into you lately?"
"Alexandra, suck a toe, yeah?" I glare at Lexi, ignoring her mocking smile while she ate.
"Freddie, Gio, Joe and I made a bet." She said. I turned to her with a frown.
"What's this? Do you guys run with bets or what?" Noticing my mocking tone, she turned to me with an unbothered expression.
"Who do you think Gio's been texting?" She wiggled her eyebrows, changing the subject. "Joe says he saw him with Nick but Freddie says no way. I say it's the boy he was with at the start of the term, what was his name?"
"The blonde one?" She nodded. Lexi pushed her plate away from her, she hadn't even eaten half of her burger. "His name was— Josh? Or something but he was with him for like a week. Eat your burger, Alexandra."
"So, he really hasn't said anything to you either? I thought out of all of us he'd tell you."
"Nah, not me, Freddie." I shook my head, squinting my eyes as I looked for Freddie. She was whispering something to Eleanor, pointing at a ball. "He'd tell Freddie because she's the only one of us who can keep a secret. The boy gossip more than we do so he wouldn't tell them."
"Fucking Freddie." Lexi and I said at the same time. We were loud enough that Freddie looked over at us, glaring.
"I heard that."
"You were meant to." Lexie shrugged, taking her beer and drinking what was left of it.
Suddenly, Lexi turned towards me, moving her chair and everything. I frowned, watching her place her hand over my leg.
"Um— you okay?" I asked, looking around us, feeling a little awkward because of the way she was moving closer to me.
"See how I told you we had a bet?" She said, licking her lips. I nodded. "Well, Joe came up with this plan and it sort of makes sense, so I'm sorry, okay?"
She's smirking at me and I'm confused, very, very confused.
However, I was even more flipping confused when Lexi leaned in and— I can't believe my own eyes— kissesme. It was so out of the blue, I didn't even know how to react to it.
I heard a whistle and Joe's voice shouting Get it, girl!I pulled away quickly and looked at Lexi, she had a smirk on her face and I probably had a funny look on mine.
"Lex, what the hell?" I didn't know how to react to this. "I— that was kind of— unnecessary? I think? Do we need to talk about this?"
"Don't worry, you're not my type. It's a long story, we'll fill you in when we see who wins the bet," Lexi grinned at me and walked over to Joe.
I don't know what just happened but something washappening and I was out of the loop.
I turned to look at the guys, they were all looking at us, even Eleanor who was lost in thought. She wasn't looking at me or at Lexi, she was looking at nothing with a little frown, biting her bottom lip like she was trying really hard to think. When our eyes met, I'm not sure what happened, I'm not sure if Eleanor was mad or not, I have no idea what it meant but she just smirked at me, winked, and carried on with her pool game...
What the hell?
⚢
As I said before, things between Eleanor and I were changing.
I don't know how, but one night changed the whole course of our relationship. Or whatever, we had. After Lexi kissed me, she was acting a little weird but she didn't seem to want to talk about it but she kept showing up to my house, practically undressing me with her eyes.
Eleanor was also starting to stay over at mine. Sex wasn't as casual anymore, she stayed and slept over. I think that makes a difference, but I'm not entirely sure.
Eleanor was lying on my bed, her bare back to me as she used my drawing pad. She went through my drawings and was very critical about them, so I told her to draw something so I can be critical about her work too. She had her tongue out and pointing upwards and her legs were swinging back and forth.
It's kinda cute how she looked when she was concentrated.
"Stop looking at me." She said, biting her lower lip as she tilted her head, admiring her work on the drawing pad.
"I'm thinking," I rolled my eyes, lying on my back and staring at the ceiling instead of her. "I want to watch a movie, trying to think of all the movies that are out right now."
"Do you think we should ask the guys if they want to watch a movie with us?" She asked without detaching her gaze from the drawing pad.
"Who says I wanna watch a movie with you?" I joked, looking at her just in time to see her rolling her eyes.
"Well?" Eleanor asked, turning to me.
I swallowed hard when our eyes met. "Well, what?"
She sighed and dropped the pen. "Do you want to watch a movie with me?"
"Is this how you're ask me on a date?" I mocked her. Eleanor rolled her eyes harder the second time. "Aw, okay, this will be our first date but you gotta work for it cause I'm hard to get."
"Kohen, I don't know what you'd classify as hard to get but we had sex ages ago in the backseat of my car... and let's just not count the other times."
"Woah, okay... but hey, you can't deny it is pretty good sex."
"I mean— It could be better." She turned back to the drawing pad.
"It's okay, Eleanor, you don't have to lie."
"Kohen, shut up and get ready, we can pick a movie when we get there."
"Is this how you ask people on dates? No wonder you're single..."
She let out a heavy sigh. "Kohen..."
"You want to go on a date with me, don't you?" I smirk when I see her blushing.
"Shut up."
"Aw, are you blushing?" I quickly sat up in my bed and tried to poke her but she slapped my hand away.
"Fine, don't get ready, I'll go watch a movie alone." She sighed, getting up from my bed, butt naked, without hesitation and I'm once again, blown away by how hot she actually is.
Once we were ready to go, Eleanor drove us to the cinema. We decided against calling the guys because it'd be too many people and we didn't know which movie to pick and the more people there are, the longer you take to pick and it was also kinda cold and we didn't really want to do anything after the cinema and I wasn't, like, glad or anything but it was nice, I guess... hanging out with just her.
To pick a movie, we did paper, rock or scissors and the winner picked. She picked some romantic movie that wasn't as boring as I thought it would be.
Eleanor was so into romance and that was hilarious to me. She was the one who spat the word love with disgust and pretty much laughed at me for being in love, and there she was, with a cute smile on her lips and those shiny eyes when the ending was close and the guy did some big thing to get the girl back. It was cute how she'd curled her eyebrows and she would pout when she didn't know I was looking.
During some moments, I knew she knew I was looking at her, I could see her eyes darting towards me from time to time and the slight red in her cheeks told me she definitely knew. With a smirk I looked away but sometimes, when I did that, I could feelher stare on me.
"Stop looking at me Eleanor." I whispered throwing some popcorn in my mouth.
She quickly looked away, "I'm not looking at you."
"So, it has happened, right? You like me, don't you?" I pointed at her with a cheeky smile, she pushed my finger away, not answering me as she turned back to the movie.
When we came out of the movies, Eleanor was tapping her phone harshly, complaining about its shitty battery.
"I didn't know you were a rom-com fan." Once we got to her car, I rested my body on the side of it, waiting for Eleanor to finish her cigarette.
She began walking on the edge of the sidewalk. "I love romcoms."
"But I thought— I thought you weren't a big fan of love?"
Eleanor stopped walking, she faced me with a frown. "Okay, I guess it makes sense that you think that and I guess, I'm not? It's not that I don't believe in love or whatever because, of course, I do... it's more like— life is complicated, it complicates things and love isn't the only thing you need in order to make a relationship work, in real life, relationships aren't simple, people and situations aren't simple.
"In movies, though," She smiled, burying her hands deep inside a hoodie she took from my closet. "In movies things are easier. Everything sort of works out the way it's supposed to at the end and everything makes sense. It's nice."
I kicked a little rock, focusing on that instead of looking at Eleanor. "Weren't things easy with Matt?"
She thought about it for a second, her shoes came into view as she rested her body against the car parked next to hers. "With Matt— I don't think there's a fair answer to that question because saying that he made things harder at times for me, would be disregarding all the support he gave me but there were times when having him around made some things so much harder. I guess that's also one of the reasons why we broke up, not only because our feelings weren't the same but also because we wanted to save whatever that was left of our friendship."
Talking about Matt, made me think of a little subject that Eleanor and I had never even tried to bring up.
"So..." I cleared my throat, "Boys, huh?"
I heard her laugh in her voice. "Boys, yes."
"You like them." I nodded to myself, cringing at how stupid I sounded.
Eleanor snorted. "Yes, I like them."
I turned around to face her car. Looking at my reflection in the window. "That's cool." I said. "Personally, I don't fancy them much. They're cool and all but— not my cup of tea, you know?"
Eleanor was trying really hard not to laugh as she walked around her car, "Not your cup of tea?"
"Yeah, I'm, you know, gay... lesbian..." I dragged the word, scratching my forehead just so I had something to do with my hands.
"Kohen, get in, please." She laughed, opening the door of her car and disappearing from my sight.
I took deep breath in and shook my head, hitting my head against the car. Why was I so stupid? That was so awkward...
I get inside the car and I put on my seatbelt. I stare straight ahead, tapping my fingers on my knees as Eleanor began to drive away.
⚢
We, the whole group, were at a concert. It was a last-minute thing. It was at a bar that had a lot of stickers in its walls and it smelled like beer, cigarettes and sweat, a smell that reminded me of Eleanor. Minus the sweat of course, Eleanor would totally kill me if I ever said that to her.
Joe and Mark, though, were supposed to come but since they lived the furthest, they couldn't make it in time, although we were still waiting for them to come. Billy invited Eleanor before I had the chance to and for some reason, the girls and Joe were really interested in how I felt about that.
The group we were seeing weren't actually famous or anything. Well, I guess that was depending on who you asked because to Lexie they were pretty famous, to the rest of us? Not so much. Going to the concert was all Lexi's doing, we both spoke Spanish but this group? No, thanks.
"Lexi, what the hell?" Gio laughed, Lexi seemed so happy, singing along and jumping with the rest of the people.
"Sometimes, my dear, you don't need to understand the lyrics but rather feel it." Lexi shouted with a huge smile as she carried on singing.
"I'm pretty sure J. Balvin said that." I frowned, looking around the place.
"I might as well get drunk since I don't understand shit." Freddie shrugged and Eleanor followed after her.
Within seconds, Gio was having his second shot, Eleanor as well and Freddie was handing me a bottle beer.
"I'm the designated driver, you donut." I shouted, Freddie glared at me. "I'm not drinking."
"I know that, you donut." She shouted back, copying my tone. She pointed at the crowd, more specifically, at Lexi. "Take it to her."
"The fuck, why don't you do it?" I stared over at Eleanor and Billy for a second, he has saying something to her but she was looking around, nodding at the rhythm of the song.
"Dude, just trust me." She pushed the beer onto my hand and turned around before I could give it back to her.
I found Lexi singing offkey, I gave her the beer and with a smile, she leaned in and kissed my cheek.
I was a little bit taller than Lexi, for girls at 5'5'' we were the shortest of our group. She took my hand and put it around her shoulder, she looked at me as she sang and winked. I felt a little uncomfortable, one because this was Lexi and the whole kiss thing was still hanging somewhere around us even if she didn't want to tell me why she did it, second, I was awkwardly standing still in the middle of a bouncing crowd.
"Lex, not to be a party pooper but... do we have to talk about the kiss?" I leaned in to make sure she heard me.
She laughed out loud, it almost made me feel self-conscious. "Relax, Ty, I promise you, I don't like you."
"Okay..." I frowned. Turning to the singers, the main guy was very skinny and was shirtless, sweat running down his chest. "It was just— unexpected."
"Like Eleanor's reaction when she saw?" The smirk and the way she looked at me, told me that she knew. "Aha, so I won the bet."
"Are you serious?"
"Freddie and I bet there's something going on, Freddie and Joe said no because Eleanor's straight." She shrugged, laughing at nothing. "The sexual tension between the two of you sometimes is maddening. Gio and I felt it. In our bones."
"That's not true." I shook my head. Moving away from the crowd so people would stop pushing me.
Lexi shook her head at me and gave me an all-knowing look. "Come on, Ty, it's me, okay? I think Eleanor's actually kinda cool and whatever you guys have, I won't say anything but you should've seen the way she looked at me after we kissed. It confirmed it."
"I want a part." I shouted, leaning in when she frowned at me, confused. "Whatever you guys get from the bet, I want a part of it."
Lexi laughed when I walked away and headed back to the bar. I stood next to Gio, watching him watch everybody.
"Gio, get Freddie and Billy away from Eleanor." I shouted when I move closer to him. He frowns, looking at me funny. "Lexi told me about the bet, you owe me."
Gio smiled, drinking from his beer and made sure to get Freddie and Billy out of the picture and once Eleanor was alone, I grabbed her by her hand.
"What are you doing?" I shrugged and dragged her to the furthest place in that bar as I could manage from my friends.
I turned her around to face me and I kissed her. I had been dying to do so ever since we got here. She had been smoking but I didn't really care about that anymore, she also tasted like beer. Reminded me of our first kiss, and the second... and the third...
I pulled away, placing my forehead against hers. She cupped my face with her cold hands, making me shiver. Eleanor laughed and kissed me again. When we had enough of kissing, she turned around to look at the band, I wrapped my arms around her and placed my chin on her shoulder, tracing kisses up her neck.
"What're they saying?"
I take a moment to listen, I didn't like this group but this song was alright. When I heard enough, I turned to her. "It's a bit sad? It's like— he's like saying they were friends with benefits and— I swear I'm not making this up— one day he got scared of the feelings of it all so he leaves, leaving a note for her. And then. he comes back? And— he says that she shows him you can love what you can't see? I'm confused? He says, though, that he's trying to erase all he did to hurt her."
"What the fuck." She laughed, I laughed with her.
"I'm sorry, I'm not very good at translating."
"You know what, Tyler? You're not so annoying after all." She was looking up at me with a smile and that look in her eyes made the whole world stop.
"Aw, you're finally coming to terms with it!" I laughed and pecked her cheek, "You like me! Now all you have to do is admit that you have bisexual tendencies and I came along and rocked your world!"
She laughed, it was one of those laughs that you rarely get from Eleanor. It was the best sound ever. "I just said you weren't so annoying after all, that's all I said!"
"Well okay..." I sighed giving in, "Maybe you're not so bad either..."
"Admit it, Tyler, you like me." She mocked me using the same tone I had used just a second ago, she poked my cheek and held both of my hands with hers.
We looked like a couple. And I didn't mind at all. I actually liked it.
"Okay, well maybe I do like you, like a tiny little bit." I admitted, looking away from her because I felt my cheeks warming up.
"What?" She turned around to face me, she had a smug look on her face, I wanted to take my words back. "Tyler, did you just say you like me?"
"I said a tiny little bit," I repeated. She giggled and kissed me again. Ah, I really liked it when she was the one to kiss me. It was different, it was better.
I knew people were looking, girls and boys were looking at her but she was looking at me. She was kissing me and she was holding onto me. She didn't seem to care for anyone else but me and I felt as if my heart was ready to burst out of my chest.
⚢
Eleanor seemed happy. I hadn't seen her this happy in... forever.
Last time I ever saw her happy, really happy was over Christmas, four years ago, her mother was okay, she had been told she had cancer just a year earlier but she was okay... They had to stay at our place because the heater at their house wasn't working and that winter was the worst, it had snowed all night and all day so we were all locked in drinking hot drinks and just watching Christmas movies.
Eleanor loves Christmas and so did our mums so they bonded over that. I remember that one time, Mum put Eleanor in charge of decorating and I had to help her while our mums cooked; my dad was on call that day.
I remember Eleanor was so bossy, telling me to do this and that, I made a mess with the Christmas lights, I ended up with them all tied up around me, it was her who untied me and she did so with so much patience, I didn't recognise her. Even then, when she should've been really mad at me, she was just happy. She didn't mock me, she carefully helped me out of the Christmas lights.
Thinking back at it, I remember looking closely at her, paying attention at how carefully her hands moved so she wouldn't break one single light or hurt me with the cables. I remember her being so close to me, I remember she smelled of cinnamon and hot chocolate in her, I remember just how warm her hands were. Back then, I was surprised by the tenderness in her that day but now? That's the Eleanor I know, the soft and caring one, I can't see any other Eleanor now.
"What are you thinking about?" Eleanor asked me with a joyful tone, we were on our way back home, I had dropped everybody home after the concert and Eleanor was coming back to mine.
"Christmas. Four years ago, when you, your mum and Jesse had to stay over at mine." I smiled at the memory.
"Oh, that was the best Christmas ever!" She seemed to remember, smiling she grabbed my hand in hers and turned to look at me with a sleepy smile. She had a fair amount of shots. "You were so clumsy! I remember you spilled your drink all over you and the whole day you smelled like chocolate."
"I was so happy we weren't going away to London," She sighed. "The whole reason we had to stay at yours was because my mum had the heater people come repair it that exact month because we were supposed to go to London to expend Christmas with David; he didn't want to come over, even when he knew my mum was sick. Our flights were cancelled because of the snow and the heater guys said they couldn't come sooner. So, your parents offered to let us stay and— to be honest, I had so much fun, it was like we were back to being kids, I was trying to get along with you and you... well, you were being you..."
"Wait, what?" I laughed as I parked the car, we were at my building near the south campus, Claire was probably sleeping so we made our way up the building and inside the flat quietly.
"So, wait, going back to it, you're telling me you tried to get along with me?" I laughed once again as we changed into our pyjamas.
"Yes, I did, when we were kids," She giggled.
"Excuse me, Eleanor, but you never tried to get along with me, you were mean." I laughed at her face as she made her way to my bed with just an oversize t-shirt that covered a little over her thighs.
"No, I wasn't Tyler, I was always so nice," She said hugging me and pulling me to her, "I was always trying to make you talk to me, to get your attention but you were always sooooooo busy and sooooo cool... ah, Tyler Kohen with her skateboard and her bike— running to where danger awaits..."
"What? Eleanor, that's not true," She was such a liar! That was not how things went.
"Yes, it is!" She sang, poking my nose.
"The first time I met you, you threw my toys away because you didn't want no new friends." I reminded her.
"Well, I didn't want to leave my house or my school or my friends back in London and you come with your big caramel eyes and that cute Tyler Kohen smile... Obviously, I was a little brat and I didn't want new friends, I wanted my old friends. But after that week, I was trying hard to get your attention, Tyler."
That cute Tyler Kohen smile. For some reason, that made my skin feel like it was melting. Eleanor was so cute when she was drunk.
"It always seemed like you didn't like me." I said, she turned to look at me with a confused frown, as if I had said something that wasn't obvious... she basically insulted me every chance she got...
"I acted like I didn't like you because you didn't like me," She answered, now it was my turn to look at her confused.
"That's bullshit, you were always doing the most, Eleanor... you were rude."
"No, I never, Kohen." She shook her head, she tugged herself a little closer to me, she began to trace circles in the palm of my hand. "I wanted to be your friend but you never really seemed interested, you know?"
"Please, elaborate because I smell bullshit." I tried to sit up so I could have a good look at her. For some reason Eleanor always looked so beautiful at night, with no make-up on, with her hair in a messy bed bun and of course, in my bed. But as she spoke, she didn't look at me once and I was disappointed she didn't.
"Tyler, I basically ran after you every single time my mum would take us to your house, I used to beg her so we'd visit more often." She laughed at herself, I felt my cheeks warming up a little. "I was the new girl in town and every other kid already had their little group of friends and I was never really accepted into them. I always tried to be your friend but it seemed like you never really liked me."
"Um, Eleanor, you tried to drown me whenever we went to the pool!"
"No, Kohen," She shook her head. "I tried— in my mind I was trying to impress you because you would go off and swim and I couldn't so I thought, maybe if I try to swim like her, then we'll have something in common and that could start a friendship, but I'd get nervous and I couldn't do it, so you came and tried to help me but Tyler, if a person is drowning they aren't thinking straight, I never meant to drown you, I was just trying to breathe..."
"What about that time in high school when your friend hid my clothes," I was a little ashamed about that one.
"I had nothing to do with that, Tyler, I swear, I didn't even know what they were doing. You can't possibly blame me for what some girl I used to hang around with did, let me remind you, that girl wasn't even my friend and when I found out, I gave her shit for it. Why do you think nobody else messed with you when I was around? Besides, I cared too little about high school stuff, mostly because I had to take care of my mum."
"Are you serious?" I asked her, she nodded, giggling. Woah... this was changing my whole high school memories... "What about that time you mocked my clothing in front of all your friends and Kelly."
"Kohen, you came to school looking like a homeless boy!" She laughed harder this time, probably remembering. "And all I said was 'looking good, Kohen.' that's hardly me mocking you..."
"But you stopped talking to me in high school, though, didn't you want to be my friend then?" I asked a little shy. I didn't know she felt this way.
"I don't know, you always ignored me or rejected me when we were kids and I had no friends so when high school started, mind you that this was the only high school in town so all the other kids hadto come to this place, I met new people, people who thought I was cool and little by little I became the popular girl... I thought that maybe now it was my time to reject you. Only you never really cared for popularity. And when I wanted to talk to you, it seemed like you didn't care about me either.
"Do you remember the first time you got drunk? The first time you went to a party?" She asked me, of course I remembered, Kelly dragged me to it.
"Of course, I do." I smiled like an idiot, she smiled too but hers was a little different from mine, it was like she wasn't really feeling it.
"Do you remember what happened?"
"Bits and that... I drank too much, too quickly. I blacked out. But I remember Kelly helping me."
"What if I tell you that it wasn't Kelly?" She said, I turned to look at her, what did she mean? "Kelly left the party early, something about her mother not wanting her at a party and you stayed because you were having too much fun. Or that was what you told me. I knew you were at the party, I mean, you never go to parties and here you were at my party... So, I kind of kept an eye on you, you were drinking way too much for a first timer. You gain a lot of confidence when you drink, you know that?"
"Wait but— but then how— I mean I don't remember much of it but I do remember Kelly took me to a room when the party ended."
"Do you remember it, or you assume it was Kelly?" She asked, of course that's a big difference because yes, I didn't remember it, I assumed it was Kelly.
"Ahhhh," I nodded like an idiot. She nodded back and imitated my 'ahhh' with a knowing smile.
"It was me. The party was nowhere near its end and you were out of it, I couldn't find Gio so I took you to my room. There you started to go on about Kelly and how good it was to kiss Kelly and how Kelly had a really soft hair? I don't know. I put you to bed, left a bucket in case you needed it and a bottle of water. But before I could leave, you grabbed my hand and made me stay, I left around 3am when I had to kick everyone out."
"No way, why didn't you say anything?" I was a little embarrassed right now, I had no idea I had said those things to her...
"I don't know, next morning when I woke up, you weren't in the house and at school you didn't seem to remember so I never said anything, there was no point." She smiled once again and her hair fell on her face. Before she could push it back, I did it for her. She looked so cute, so beautiful there, with my t-shirt and with that smile on her face that I couldn't help it, I kissed her in the cheek and she smiled at me, a tired smile.
"Thank you, Eleanor," I told her, she yawned and nodded.
"No problem, Tyler." She smiled, "See, I told you I was nice to you, you just never noticed."
She yawned again and closed her eyes as she laid her head on my chest, I cuddled her close to me. I wanted to tell her something about how I've felt lately and I opened my mouth, and I closed it again until I found the right words.
"Eleanor," I swallowed hard, "You are the most wonderful woman I've ever met. I know this is a bit random but... I admire you. You're so strong and so— god, Eleanor, you don't know what you do to me."
I waited for her to reply but the only sound that came out of her mouth was a little snore.