Wednesday, September 12, 2018
I rise to consciousness out of the lull of sleep to have my senses discover that a hand is on my shoulder.
"Kai," is spoken softly into the air.
Daniel.
My mind races as I become more fully awake, wondering if I should open my eyes.
Then, slowly, hesitantly, gently fingertips brush along my shoulder to my neck and from there... cup behind my ear and hold my cheek.
I wonder if he can feel the pounding of my heart through the skin beneath his hand.
Silence stretches out tight like a rubber band. I struggle to breath normally.
"How do I tell you?" he whispers, so, so quietly. If I didn't know him - which I do - I wouldn't have caught the wistful tone of his voice.
Tell me... what?
He pulls away from me and lets out an audible breath.
I pray with every will in my body that my cheeks will not flush, knowing that he's probably looking at me-
"Shorty," he begins to sing. He settles on repeating that over and over again until I groan aloud and squint an eye open in his direction.
He chuckles as I notice that he's on his knees, half leaning against my mattress.
"Hey," he says.
I close my eyes against the light coming in through the window.
"Hey," I mumble back.
"After all of those early mornings for JTB, I think your body's still trying to catch up on sleep," he says with obvious amusement.
"What time is it?" I ask as my lips pull into a small smile.
"Eleven," he answers.
"Why did you wake me up, then?" I say, stretching my arms above my head.
"I have to show you something."
I finally open my eyes to see him grinning at me.
Goodness, there I go, falling harder.
I sit up lazily and throw a look at him that conveys that his reasoning behind this better be good. I expect him to start explaining right away, but he just stares at me with that grin continuously tugging at the edges of his mouth.
"What?" I say incredulously. He laughs, never taking his eyes off of me.
"It's just... most girls would be rushing to fix their hair or change or something right when they wake up, especially in front of a guy."
I send him a goofy look and shrug carelessly.
"Eh," I say, throwing my hands up in the air. "I know you don't judge me, so why would I care how I look in the morning?"
"That's really cool of you, shorty. Very admirable."
He pulls his phone out of his pocket as a distraction once he realizes what he could've just implied.
Admirable?
"So, how many followers did you have on Instagram yesterday?" he asks casually, glancing up at me.
"Uh... a little over a hundred, I think," I say, eyebrows furrowing together in confusion. "Why-"
Daniel hands his phone to me and my mouth drops open.
Three. Hundred. Thousand. Followers.
I start to shake my head rapidly as I stare at the screen, waiting for the glitch that must exist to correct itself. Daniel finds great joy in my beyond-shocked reaction and can't stop laughing as I move my mouth, though no words coming out.
It takes several minutes of stuttering to even get to the point where I can scroll down to view my profile. I've never been one to post often, but the few that I do have up are shots of Portland from my photography days.
I smile when I see the one of Blaire and I that was captured mid-laugh in front of the wall of an old building in the outskirts of my the city I grew up in.
I miss her. I miss those days.
"Now," Daniel says, sitting next to me and pointing with his finger, "check the comments."
For the next two hours, I sit with him in my room, reading aloud the support and encouragement that everyone is leaving behind.
"How are you so pretty?!"
"I already love you and the song hasn't even been released yet lol"
"Is that you best friend?"
"Can we PLEASE focus on how Daniel talks about her?! So cuteeeee"
"You are goals"
"She sings, writes, AND does photography??!!?! Howwww"
"Are you and Daniel dating?!"
"Can't wait for the single to come out tonight!"
Let's just say that I'm smile like an idiot for the rest of the day.
***
At eleven-thirty, I find myself standing in the kitchen, looking through the already endless posts about Why Don't We + Kai Merta all over Twitter.
I sense someone behind me and then feel them rest their chin on my shoulder, looking at the screen of my phone.
"I knew they would love you," Daniel says happily.
I smile and reach back to gently pat him on the side of the head.
"You're too sweet for this world, Daniel," I say, still looking at my phone.
"Nah, that's you, shorty," he says while he walks out of the kitchen.
I feel my face warm as I think over the compliments we just exchanged.
And then what he said this morning....
After I've composed myself and forced the incident out of my mind, I move into the living room and sit on the couch where I wring my hands and bounce my feet on the ground, anxiously waiting for midnight to roll around.
When it does, it feels like a New Years party, mostly because the boys and I shout the seconds down until twelve and then jump around and scream when it hits.
All I can do is smile, pass out tight hugs, and thank God relentlessly for how good he is.
Our single has been released.
About three minutes after midnight, the notifications start pouring in, and after that, they don't stop.