I never saw myself doing this. I never saw his fingers tangled through my golden locks, nor his lips pressed tightly to mine. He wasn't the one I liked. He wasn't the one I loved. No, he was a friend, a partner, the one who had my back like no one has ever before in my life. He was so much more than a crush on a guy. No, he was everything to me. So, I always promised myself that I would never cross that line that could change everything. He was my everything though.
One cannot just fall for a guy like this. It doesn't work like that. It is every single moment piling up until one day you wake up and find that the one thing you prayed would never happen, happened. You wake up and see his hair ruffling under the heater, the cat warpped around his pillow, and his arm tossed across your waist. Normally, you would be angry and kick him out of the bed he snuck into last night, but today you just think about how peaceful it was and how you'd hate yourself if he wasn't laying there, his body warming the sheets better than any heater or heated blanket could.
He hated this season, but I loved it. The small flurries of snow that threatened storms but never last on the late fall ground. Sweater season, but not in your house. No, he turns on every heater in site so the cold doesn't get in. It doesn't bother him as much as it makes his body work harder to keep hot. So, I let him and wear summer clothes. After all, somewhere among the years together, I learned to accept and even love his weird habits. When he left all those seasons ago for that year, I found myself mimicking his habits in hope that the hot house would somehow lure him back. Those nights and mornings were the worst, not waking up to find two unwanted, but wanted, visitors that stole over half of my bed.
Earlier this morning it was just the same. Waking to find him there. I sat up and smiled to myself, seeing his face unfolded and calm, not a worry in sight. He was not smiling or frowning, just breathing. I ran my fingers slowly over his hair, smoothing the spots that were ruffled from his slumber. At my touch he tightened his arm holding to my waist, almost subconsciously checking if I was there. I was, but I couldn't let him wake to see me smiling down and debating kissing his soft hair. After all what he doesn't know won't hurt him right? No! I shook my head and took my pillow, replacing it with myself so he wouldn't wake at my disappearance.
Sliding my feet down to the warm floor I smiled, at least his habits have stopped the floor from being ice every morning. Padding across the floor, I reached the kitchen brewing myself a cup of tea. It was a Sunday so there was no use waking myself up when I have no where to go this morning. Setting into my big fluffy recliner, I took a slip of tea before grabbing the book on the side table and flipping the most recent page. Reading a few lines, I lost focus as the recliner moved slightly at a added weight. Looking up, I saw the gorgeous face that makes me instantly smile.
"How about some breakfast?" he said looking down at me his brilliant smile appearing across his face.
I smiled even wider as his smile is contagious and nodded my head, putting down my tea and book, getting up and passing him to through on leggings, a sweater, and riding boots.
"I don't see how you can wear that stuff. It's not even cold yet." He said grabbing his scarf from the table and opening the front door.
"Not everyone has the same capacity for cold as you, Natsu. Most people find five-degrees-Celsius to be cold," I laughed grabbing my bag before smiling and thanking him for holding the door open. Happy soaring ahead complaining about how bickering doesn't fill his belly with fish. Natsu just laughed and threw an arm over my shoulders as we rushed to the restaurant.
We came crashing into the restaurant was a fit of laughter. Calling out when we saw Gray and Juvia sitting beside one another at our normal booth. Oh, did I mention they are engaged? Well, they are. Gray finally popped the question while they were on their last mission and they are already in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. They smiled and waved us other and we quickly joined them ordering our breakfast and smiling to one another as we talked about the mission coming up this weekend. We were travelling up north, much to Natsu and I's dismay, and going to deliver food and preserves to a remote village up there. It would be pretty good to once again have a mission with everyone.
Once we finished our breakfast, the fiver of us split back apart and Happy flew back to the apartment for a cat nap. Natsu and I continued to wander about, walking off the meal. Discussing the majority of the mission and what we needed to bring with us to successfully complete the mission. Our minds rushing with thoughts as it was our first mission with everyone in such a long time. We found ourselves lost in thought so much what we ended up walking to the top of a hill where a single tree stood. It's leaves russling in the wind, colours of orange, red, and yellow swaying in the wind, one of two leaves releasing and falling every few seconds. It was gorgeous and shocking to see that hours had passed and our hands carried bags and bags of equipment and supplies for the trip.
Walking to the bench below the tree, I dropped the bags gingerly to the ground and sat down watching the sun lower. The sun dancing with hues of red and orange.
"Gorgeous." I heard Natsu say from behind me as he lowered his bags and stood slightly back from me.
"I know. The leaves and the sunset. This is way I adore fall. It's when nature really shows off and shows us why it's known for it's beauty." I replied, turning towards him with a large smile. Though the smile quickly became a look of shock as I noticed Natsu was neither enjoying the leaves nor the sunset in front of us. Instead his eyes were looking at mine intensely.
"No, I mean you. You're gorgeous." He said stepping forward, wrapping his arms around my waist, his chest touching mine ever so lightly. "You are the most gorgeous thing I see." He whispered before dipping down.
Now, I will tell you something. When I woke up today, I never would have guessed that Natsu would say that to me. I would have never thought he would kiss me like one of the romance books I used to adore reading. But that is the difference between literature and real life. In real life you don't always get a sense of things or the foreshadowing left by the author in your favourite romance novel. No, sometimes the best things in the world don't come expectantly. So, I would have never thought I would kiss him back and tangle my fingers into his thick hair. No, I would have never expected any of those things but I know that this feeling is here to stay.