Warm Mornings

It took a while of nagging at his body but after a few minutes Bryan was finally able to open his eyes. There had been this hot stinging pain against his leg the whole time and it was unmistakably the bright sun which shone into their bedroom every single morning. Opening his eyes, he glanced at the clock that read 7:30am, then he tried to remember the day of the week. Monday.

He groaned with discomfort, sitting up on his side and supporting himself on his elbow and taking a look at the beautiful girl beside him. Despite his movement she still didn't stir. He brushed her dark brown hair back, watching the pale, pink-tinted features for any sign of stirring. None. He sighed; he was almost desperate to get back to sleep.

He put a hand on her side instead and shook her gently, "Hey, do you have work today?" he asked, having forgotten to ask before the two had gone on a drinking binge and stayed up all night.

"No, morning off." A grumbled reply came accompanied by a groan of discomfort. "I knew we were going to regret it." She sighed, turning over onto her other side so as to curl up to him.

"What? We?" He asked skeptically. "No way, I'm fine after a night of drinking. It's you who has to worry."

"Thanks for the support; I love you too." She mumbled sarcastically.

Bryan smiled and leaned closely to give her forehead a light and innocent peck. He got out of bed; he was never one to keep lying around in bed once he was finally awake, even if he was in fact desperate to sleep. He saw no point in trying to force and prolong it. He pulled a t-shirt on and walked down the hall tiredly. He began making his morning coffee, pulling out a mug for his dear girlfriend who was probably still rolling about in bed with a headache. 'She knows she has a low tolerance.' He thought disappointedly to himself.

He leant forward against the kitchen counter, picking up a fruit fro the dish on the counter and began cutting it up slowly. He'd never told her why exactly he never felt sick after a night of drinking. It certainly had something to do with his diet lately; something she still hadn't grown accustomed to. After finishing up two fruits and two cups of coffee he made his way down the hall, an apple in hand and a cup of tea in the other. He set both down on the nightstand and she watched as he dabbed her forehead with a wet face cloth.

"Why on earth do you insist on drinking so much?"

"I don't know."

She sat up and back against the headboard, sipping her tea quietly until it was all gone and Bryan handed her the piece of fruit before sliding back into bed.

He may have not been the type to just lie in bed and try to get back to sleep but he was the type to get up and make breakfast before getting back into bed and trying to get back to sleep. At the time sleep wasn't his main priority though. There was nothing for him to do today. Kai was away on a holiday with his girlfriend and Tala was quite keen on keeping the house to himself and his own girlfriend. He had no training. No one to see. Nothing to do.

This left Bryan the freedom of lying around in his girlfriend's bed, lying back and watching and waiting for her to recover from her hangover. He idly ran his fingers along her arm while she ate the fruit and quite slowly began recovering from the night's events. Little actions performed so early warm morning and in the early stages of her hangover made her feel all the better after a few quiet minutes. She lay down and curled up to the boy, tucking her arms around his body and keeping the muscular form close.

"Have you ever done this before?" She asked quietly.

"Done what?"

"Drank and stayed up all night, shared a bed with a girl, woke up every morning to make her tea and bring her fruit and done it all like it were something normal and routine."

Bryan raised an eyebrow, "Have you forgotten that you're my first and only girlfriend?"

"I still don't get that," She stated.

"What's not to get?"

"That you were out of that Abbey thing for three years and some girl didn't come along and eat you up within that time." The boy groaned with disapproval and turned over onto his back. "You're too hard on yourself."

"I'm not. Now get some sleep."

She turned over onto her back too, seemingly upset, "I don't want to get some sleep. I slept enough."

"You slept three hours." He reminded, sitting up on his side to watch her. "Come on, you know you need more sleep; the doctor said that's why you were having fainting spells last week."

"If I sleep who will keep you company?"

"I'm going to go for a shower, change and I'll work out what I'll do after that."

She huffed, turning her head to look at him so that he was sure to see the annoyed look she was trying to get through to him. Still Bryan was never one to cower at that sort of look; if that were true then Tala and Kai would've walked all over him all his life. "Fine," she bit out quietly, "but wake me up if you get bored or you're leaving."

"I will." He kissed her forehead tenderly and got out of bed to leave her alone to sleep. She watched him intently until he found his clothes and stepped out of the room and finally began going back to sleep when she was less distracted by him.

So the next few hours of the morning went on as Bryan had intended. He had a hot shower to get the smell of alcohol and lovemaking off him and then changed into the only clean clothes he had there. It took about half an hour but he began cleaning up the living room of all the alcohol bottles and glasses he could find; he was sure that if she wasn't working in the morning then she'd be working in the evening instead and the last thing he wanted was her to come home from a stressful day of work and still find the mess to clean up.

Standing around in the kitchen, leaning back against the counter he flipped through texts on his phone. The only ones he ever kept were the ones that she'd send. They weren't really there because they were all that special or romantic but mostly because they reminded him of what he had. Someone to treasure. Someone to share things with.

Never had he felt that he needed to be so considerate of anyone's feelings. Being her boyfriend felt like the biggest job he had in the world. He never had anything else to do. Even beyblading had become second best to her lately. In the beginning it was all okay to act the way he wanted, to show her that he didn't care but then the more she smothered him with her love despite his attitude the more it made him feel like he owed her something. What he got in return, her love, care and attention, was all worth the hard work of being openly caring and considerate.

Kai was lucky. He could act his usual-self and his girlfriend wouldn't mind it because she could read his emotions like an open book despite all the secrets he kept and the tough exterior he put on so she always knew that he loved her in some way and it was only the rare occasion where she actually wanted to hear him say it himself rather than having to read it from his actions.

Tala was always open about the love he had for his girlfriend. He seemed to have no problem with cuddling her on the couch at home, even with everyone there to watch it. He was always caring when it came to her too; he'd make sure he didn't hurt her, he'd always text her just before she left work to be sure she didn't want him to go get her.

Part of Bryan was surely thankful for that openness that Tala had in his relationship because if it weren't for that then he never would've learnt how to take proper care of his own girlfriend or be a decent boyfriend. It's true, something's were just plain instinct, just something you do, something that happens but sometimes it takes a while to learn that certain things you want to do are normal. Early in the morning whenever he woke up before her he'd just want to kiss her forehead and it always confused him because in his eyes it just wasn't something that was done. Then he'd watched as Tala did it on his way out for a walk in the morning, or right when his girlfriend woke up and came downstairs for breakfast and eventually he found out it was normal. Now it all became natural and he did it without ever being scared.

Maybe he didn't show that he always loved her, maybe he didn't show it in public most of all but she was quite okay with it. She liked a bit of affection in public, but as long as she got it when they were alone at home then it was enough for her. Since to them, it was only the two of them that mattered and nothing else.

That's why no matter how they started their mornings; be it healthy, ill or hung-over they always loved the time the mornings most of all because they were the times when Bryan felt he had most to give and when she just wanted to start her day anew. Whether their night had ended stressfully or with an argument, waking up in the morning everything was better because the hot mornings were the times that mattered to them the most, the times that counted.

They'd each learnt little things about the other. She didn't mind that he had his secrets and he didn't mind that she had hers but in the short span of knowing each other they both had picked up on little details about one another and that's what kept things between them going. The fact that they worked to get to where they were. Despite all the hard work and personal battles they faced, they both found that it was all worth it.

She'd just stepped inside the kitchen. It was almost 1:30 already and she'd seemingly spent at least ten minutes in the bathroom making herself presentable. He shut his phone hurriedly and tucked it into his jacket pocket, allowing her to come over and kiss him lightly. "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty good actually," She said brightly. "You'd think I'd be sick of sleeping by now."

"You love to sleep, Ru," Bryan reminded her gently.

"Yeah, but that's when I'm not made to. Seriously, sleeping and being lazy loses its appeal when you're actually allowed to do it. All I want to do right now is run around the block."

"Well that won't be happening," the taller person said shortly. "No physical exertion, remember?"

"Relax, Bryan. As if I'm actually going to run around the block," the girl scoffed. "I'm just saying." She felt the heat radiating from the oven and knelt down to take a peek, "Ah! Pizza!" she turned back to him, smiling widely and kissing him hurriedly, "You're perfect; you read my stomach." She laughed.

Bryan raised an eyebrow at that statement, still enveloping her in a loose hug, "Perfect because I don't know how to cook and I tossed the nearest edible thing into the oven?"

She smiled at the slight hint of humor in his tone, resting her head against his chest as she clung lightly to his clothing. "I have a problem."

The boy looked down at her almost hurriedly, tightening his hold on her by just a bit, "What is it?"

"I slept another one of our mornings away." She whined quietly, looking up at him when his chest vibrated with quiet laughter.

"There's always tomorrow morning." He reminded her with a soft smile.

"But I'm working late tonight. Then I'll just get home and crash."

Bryan nodded, "I'll be here in time for breakfast."

Certainly. All the sacrifices, all the changes in attitude and lifestyle were all worth it. They gained so much more.

A/N: More Bryan/OC! I love cuteness and this morning I was rolling around in bed and it came to mind and I instantly had to get up and write it out! I've never woken up so early just to write before! For all those who have been keeping up with my whole series of romantic oneshots, thanks for all your reviews! I'm going to try get around to answering each of them, sorry for my laziness! Keep safe everyone!