"Audria." His voice was soft and sweet, almost a whisper, but I woke with a start, my eyes flying open. He was standing at the edge of the door, hesitating.
"Hal told me to wake you up," he stated plainly.
"We're going to have breakfast and then continue travelling." It was still a whisper, but it sounded like humming, coming through my ears.
I peered up at his eyes, all lit up for who knows what reason. His dark blonde hair was messy and sticking up in all directions, falling in his face, and he looked exhausted, but cheerful.
"Good morning," I said softly, smiling up at him. That joy must be infectious, I swear, because I felt light-hearted and happy in that moment.
I saw Hal poke his head in from the doorway. "Nah, Ben, you just don't get it. When you wake up your girlfriend, you have to start off with, 'Good morning, beautiful' and then kiss her." Way to ruin the moment, Hal. He grinned wickedly, clearly enjoying teasing us, and continued down the stairs. Clearly, we were both too shy, and too young, really, to ever do that.
I scowled at him and started to sit up. When I looked back at Ben, he was blushing. Finally, an appropriate reaction! I rolled my eyes and got up from the bed, slipping on my boots. I looked back questioningly at him and motioned for him to come over to me. He did, and I shyly gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before wrapping my hand around his. Gosh, I was all over the place; shy and girly one minute, grumpy and miserable the next.
We walked down the stairs like that, holding hands. Much to my dismay, a few of the people sitting on the couches downstairs let out audible "aw"s when they saw us.
We ate our breakfast fast as we could and rushed outside, to get away from the embarrassment that would result in us going inside.
We walked in companionable silence. I was reminded again that we were both quiet people and we were compatible in that way.
"This morning has been…interesting," I said, laughing a little bit, looking at Ben.
He grinned sheepishly. "I don't know why everyone else cares."
"C'mon, we're amusing to them." I paused, thinking about it. "It might just be nice for them to see someone happy for once."
"You're happy, then?"
I eyed him for a moment and said playfully, "You're just fishing for compliments, Ben Mason."
"I won't deny it."
I rolled my eyes at him and stopped walking, looking out into the distance.
"What?" He seemed concerned, like he thought something was wrong.
"Nothing…" I trailed off. "I was just looking at the trees. See them off in the distance? There's beauty every where. Some things never change."
Ben hesitantly wrapped his arms around me. I put my arms around his neck and pulled myself close to him, resting my head on his chest.
That's when I heard that noise, the high pitched one. Please, not again. And Ben could tell too, as his grip on me tightened. I looked up at him in panic, but his expression was already blank.
