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Birds chirp outside the window, and the curtain sways gently with the calm, cool wind. A reminder of summer coming to an end and autumn slowly peeking out of the horizon.
Hands caress your side as puffs of breath fan over your neck. Fingers dig into wild bed hair, caressing his scalp and enticing soft sighs to puff out from pink lips and onto your neck. They press gentle kisses against your naked skin and a tingle drags itself up and down your spine. It’s enough for your eyes to flutter open.
Eyes roam the somewhat clean room as they adjust to the morning’s bright rays. Strings of light pour into the bedroom, casting a warm glow that lights up his cheeks with faint light—and fuck how you’ve missed this view. With your index finger you trace the shape of his nose, running the pad of your finger over the small bump on the bridge of his nose. You follow the curve of his right brow to the corner of his eye and tap gently before dragging it over the edges of dark lashes. God . How can one man be so beautiful? He doesn’t even have to try. Even in his sleep Chris looks more beautiful than the golden glow of sunrise.
His muscles twitch; his grip tightening around your waist and continuing to trace circle patterns against your warm skin as he nuzzles his nose into the crook of your neck, inhaling softly.
“Morning.” His voice is groggy and so goddamn cute.
“Morning.” Your voice is just as sleep riddled.
“You’re up early,” he mumbles, lips brushing against your skin with every word. “I honestly thought I’d wake up before you.”
You hum, rolling onto your side to wrap your arms around his neck and hook your right leg over his hip to pull him impossibly closer. “Might be the jet lag.”
“Thought I tired you out enough last night to help you out with that,” he murmurs teasingly, his fingers ghosting over your back and smoothing down your thigh, and briefly, just briefly grazing against your inner thighs. But it’s enough to have you groaning into his hair with a messy chuckle as his hands wrap under your knee and hooks your leg higher onto his waist.
There’s a woodsy, almost cinnamon smell to him that just lingers to every part of him—his hair, his clothes, his pillow, your sheets, everything . It’s how you know you’re really finally home. “ Mhmm . You did,” you admit cheekily. “But apparently even all your lovin’ can’t beat jet lag.”
God . Even his raspy, sleepy laugh is precious. He inhales loudly and exhales slowly, and he readjusts his hold on you. “Mrs. Johnson passed away the other day.”
Your heart drops and you pull away from Chris. “What? How?”
Pristine blue eyes gaze back at you. There isn’t a hint of sadness in his face, just… content. If your eyebrows furrow, it’s involuntarily. “Her son told me she was just waiting.”
“Waiting?”
“ Mhmm , to tie up loose ends.” Warmth leaves your knee to settle on your cheek instead, cupping it as he runs his thumb from the corner of your lips to the apple of your cheeks. “Apparently she knew she would pass on soon. Didn’t want to leave her family unprepared.”
You lean into his touch, his calmness seeping into your bones. “That’s such a shame. She and Mr. Johnson had so much planned for this upcoming Spring.” You remember the cute old lady with the sweetest smile offering you cookies she baked that morning as she told you all about the plans she and her husband had to fix up her garden; they were even thinking of having a treehouse built in the backyard for all their grandchildren. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for that.”
He smiles, thumb grazing your cheek bone. “It had me thinking.”
With a teasing smile, you turn your head slightly into his palm and kiss it. “Uh-oh, that sounds like trouble.”
He barks in laughter, head thrown back. His hand almost leaves its place on your cheek but you grasp onto his wrist to keep it in place. You keep pressing tiny kisses to his palm as he settles down. “I promise it’s not.” You hum and quirk your eyebrow as if asking if he’s sure. He chuckles. “Seriously. I’m serious!”
“Okay, fine,” you pretend to relent. “What exactly were you thinking?”
His facial features soften, blue eyes zeroing in on you as the hand under your body and resting on your lower back gently pulls you closer to close the gap you had created earlier. His eyes are brimming with love and joy, the greens and hazel specks in them shining brighter than the blue ever has. Your skin tingles and your heart slowly begins to pick up. You’ve never caught Chris looking at you like this. People, his family especially, have always pointed it out, told you that he looks at you a certain way when you’re not looking, but you’ve never seen it so directly. It’s enough to steal your breath away.
Silence blankets over you, the world stilling as you wait for him to answer, his eyes still so beautiful and full of so much love that you feel beginning to pour into you. It starts from your toes and travels to the top of your head, and it’s not overwhelming, it’s just warm, sweet —an indescribable feeling that can only be given to you by him. Because there’s no one else. Only him. And there will never be anyone else but him. Of that you’re sure.
The corners of his lips tilt upward, his eyes mooning into crescents as he presses his forehead to yours, his breath fanning over your lips. “That I want to grow old with you,” he whispers into the small space between you.
Your breath hitches. “Chris…”
His lips graze against your forehead and your eyes flutter close. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He kisses you between your eyebrows. “Because I know that I can’t spend another minute without you by my side.” He kisses your nose and a prickling in your throat and nose start. “Since the moment you strutted into the studio with that bright smile of yours and shining eyes, I knew. I just knew that I’d fall in love with you.” His breath hovers over your lips as you wait for him to kiss your lips, but it never comes. Opening your eyes, you’re met with misty eyes and frosty eyelashes and you feel your own eyes fill with tears.
“This isn’t how I had planned to ask you, but… Baby,” he says through a breath, “will you marry me?”
Your laughter is wet and it bubbles out of your chest as tears trail down your cheek. “Yes!”
“Yes?” He repeats in disbelief, as if he couldn’t believe you would have ever said yes. But of course you would! My god , of course you would say yes! You would say yes a million times if it meant being able to spend the rest of your life with this gorgeous man.
“Yes, you meatball!” You nuzzle your nose against his. “I’ll marry you!”
He smashes his lips against yours without warning. Saltiness spreads on your tongue as his tongue clashes against yours messily, and fingers dig into your hair and press against your lower back. It’s dizzying, relentless, but god how you love him.
The birds chirp in harmony and the curtains sway with the cool wind. Strings of golden light pour into the room and it lights up his skin so beautifully as his body meets yours, filling you up with all of his love that you return with your own.