The light smell of Peach's hair mixed with the soft scent of fabric softener drifted into George's dreams and gently pulled him into alertiveness. Breathing in the scent of the soft pillow his head rested on, George allowed the smile tickling his cheeks to take over his face, but it disappeared when his outstretched arm only felt the cooling imprint of Peach's body. Shooting his eyes open, his head shot off the pillow as it jerked every which way looking for Peach. His eyes found her, and his face was yet again engulfed by a smile. She sat beside the bed on a wooden chair, legs crossed, back straight, and eyes intently focused on the easle that stood before her. It was obvious he was watching Painter Peach. She had the distant look in her eyes that only Painter Peach had. She looked so naturally beautiful, her hair lay askew on her shoulders, her lips were dry and chapped, and dried mucus caked around her nostrils. But her eyes were intact, and captivating. Captivating him in such a way that it took him a full to minutes to realize she was still naked. Setting his head down slowly back on the pillow, he watched her, calm and confident in her own world of nothing but a blank canvas and the paints to make it something more. Everything else melted out of George's mind as he watched her. There was nothing like watching Peach paint. The way she sat perfectly still but put her entire body into the painting at the same time. The steady movement of her entire arm as it danced across the canvas. The adorable way her head tilted from side to side as she pursed her lips and furrowed her brows. She held the paintbrush so delicately, as if it would shatter at any moment. Her grip tightened when Peach suddenly plunged out of her trance and she saw him.

"Hey," he piped.

"Hey," she laughed shyly.

"What'cha' doin'?" he asked.

She blushed. He loved the way she tilted her head down and her hair created a light shadow around her face. Her eyes carried the look of a little girl who'd been caught with her hand caught in the cookie jar, "just…painting," her voice was quiet and squeaky.

"That's a shame, I was looking forward to waking up with you in my arms," he smiled at her.

"Sorry, I just couldn't let that moment slip," her voice wasn't shy anymore, it was simply tinted with sadness.

"What's wrong?" George immediately sat up, eyes wide.

"Nothing"

"Peach"

"What?"

"Please don't ruin this moment, for either of us, something's bothering you, you can tell me."

Peach was quiet for a second, George watched her heart melt in her eyes, "That's how you're different, George, you don't let me sit on it," she whispered.

"Different than what"

Peach had put her paintbrush down along with dropping her head after he asked the question. She seemed to be contemplating whether or not to tell him something. She huffed before lifting her head. Her eyes were closed, opening them abruptly, she looked into George's, "Daniel," was all she said.

"Who was Daniel?"

She looked up, as if remembering a warm memory, as a sweet smile grew upon her face, "my first love" she paused and just continued smiling, "we met when I was still at law school. He was a few years ahead of me, he graduated after I dropped out and we started living together. He graduated at the top of his class so it didn't take him too long to get a high paying job in a big law firm. We moved into this really, really fancy apartment. We were living this fantasy life, he would go off to a job that he loved and I'd stay home with my paints. Then he'd come home, and he'd always have bought me some extravagant gift, like a piece of jewelery, or a really expensive dress. And then he'd take me to some special event, I mean, the kind of events that people dream about, rich people events. And it was…amazing. But not for me," Peach looked down, "It wasn't exactly the way I wanted to live, but as long as it was with Daniel, I was happy enough. And then, something happened, we made a mistake together, and then I made a bigger one by myself, and…he left. I never thought I'd get better," She looked at him again, her eyes glistening with tears, "I did wake up in your arms, George. And believe me, when I did, I felt so happy and I just wanted to lie there forever, with you. But then I remembered all the times I'd woken up in Daniel's arms, how happy I'd felt then, and, I realized, I couldn't remember it very well. All those mornings were just becoming fading memories, and I had nothing to remember them by, and I knew I wanted to remember this moment. So I painted," she saw the questioning look in George's eyes, falling off the chair, she sat on her knees at his side, George had shifted to his stomach sometime during her story. She grabbed his hand and clung to it tightly, she looked into his eyes with her pleading voice and told him, "please understand, I was young, and stupid, and in love. But it was a stupid, stupid love that I fell out of, it just took me too long to realize I had. I made a mistake, a huge mistake that I'll regret for the rest of my life, not because of Daniel, because of what it meant. I don't regret losing Daniel, he wasn't right for me. I just," her voice had tightened and small tears were welling in her cheeks, "I just can't bring myself to tell you what I did because I'm scared you'll leave me just like Daniel," she tilted her head to his hand, and began crying, taking in a long, deep breathe, and then shakily letting it out.

George, who couldn't stand to see her cry gently lifted her chin, looking deeply into her eyes, told her, "I trust that when you're ready, you'll tell me what happened. Until then though, I'll never need anything but your beauty to remember this moment," and he kissed her again, deeply, but softly, just like the night before. He pulled her back onto the bed. They rolled onto their sides and faced each other. George gently caressed her face, wiping the tears from her face and smoothing out her hair. His hand slid off her face, and onto her neck, it slid past her shoulder, and along her arm, running his hand up and down it slowly and softly, he whispered, "how long have you been up?"

"Hours," she muttered through closed eyes.

"You still tired?"

"Exhausted"

"Good. Go back to sleep, this time I hope that I will wake up with you in my arms"

The last thing George saw was Peach smiling and closing her eyes. The last thing he felt was his arm draped over her warm body. He didn't know what Peach wasn't telling him, but he figured it was only decent of him to cut her some slack, especially with the huge secret he was keeping from her, but in truth, he didn't want to keep his secret from her anymore. He didn't want to keep any secrets from her. His last thought was of the perfect way to expose her to the magical world he'd been raised in.