I have to say one thing I'm not used to is waking up next to someone. I mean, I shared a room with my sister when all of my siblings lived under the same roof, but this is completely different. Waking up to Jon made me happy. His arm was around my waist, as if he was protecting me while sleeping. His eyes were closed. I touched his face and his eyes fluttered open to greet me and the world. He smiled.

"I could get used to this." he said sleepily.

I smiled back "I could too."

We laid there, nose to nose and breathed deeply. His arm that was around me pulled me closer to him. My hands rested gently on his shoulders and my thumb moved over his scar. When I see scars it's always been hard for me to picture what the wound that made them looked like. Jon's was no exception, in fact I'd say it's worse. I have never even seen Jon in pain (not that I ever hope to).

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Time to not worry about time."

I kissed his lips, which still felt a little drowsy and he kissed me back. He seemed to have accepted my answer. We kissed for a while and held each other.

"Have you ever been in love?" I whispered.

"Never like this."

The sun was on both of us and there was a calming quiet that took its toll. I wondered if we broke it, if everything around us would shatter and would we remain the same?

"Let's just stay here forever." he whispered

"I wish we could."

"Why can't we?" he kissed my temple

"Because, unfortunately, we both have lives."

Eventually we both had enough courage to venture out of bed in order to get ready for work. Jon and I worked quite well together. I'd always be waiting to get instructions and he'd always be anticipating hearing my voice calling his name over the loudspeaker. Rosy however, was none to amused.

"Why are you so in la-la land today?"

"I'm not in la-la land!" I protested.

She laughed "You've spilt two totes, messed up the fragrance section, and almost gave a woman a twenty for change when she gave you a ten."

I sighed. I was so distracted " I dunno..."

"That's a flat out lie!" she hit me with a magazine.

A smile fell across my face "Do you really want to know?"

"Hello, my name is Rosy. Have we met before? Of course I want to know!"

"I met someone."

Rosy's mouth dropped "Bethanny Marie Harrington!"

As if on cue, Jon had rounded the corner and was heading down our way, carrying a packet of papers and a set of keys.

"What's his name?" Rosy asked, of course just loud enough for Jon to hear.

"Who's name?" he asked, leaning against the counter.

Rosy perked up with a big smile "Bethanny here has a new boo."

"Oh really now?" Jon's interest was peaked.

"It's nothing."

"Bush hush, it's nothing!" I loved Rosy's weird expressions "What's his name?"

I had to think on my toes. "Jacob."

Jon's eyebrow raised "Jacob?"

I looked him in the eye "Yes, Jacob."

He smirked "Oh, Rosy, did I tell you I found someone too?"

Oh fuck my life.

"Oh, this is so exciting! What's her name?" Rosy gushed

"Belle" he said, not locking away from my face "It means beautiful in many different languages."

"Oh, that's so adorable! Is she belle?" Rosy asked, doing her weird eyebrow thing.

Jon put a finger to his chin, as if thinking about it "The most beautiful girl I've ever met."

I could feel the blood rushing to my face. I was hoping I was wearing enough foundation to cover it up. This game wasn't so fun anymore.

"Oh! Do you have any pictures?"

"Unfortunately, no. She's not the picture taking type."

"What does she look like?"

I swear, I am going to kill him later for this.

"She's short, but she's pretty much the perfect height for me. She has long, black, slightly curly hair and green eyes that seem to know everything. She's so pale it almost looks like she has a glow. It makes her look like an angel."

Rosy clutched her chest "Oh my God, Jon! That was beautiful. You must really love this girl."

"I do." Jon said, throwing me a wink when Rosy wasn't looking.

"What does Jacob look like?" she asked, not losing any enthusiasm.

"Who?" I asked

"Jacob... your boyfriend?"

"Oh!" I said, trying to cover it up "He's pretty tall, actually. His dark brown hair is always messy and it falls on his face perfectly. His ice blue eyes can tear through your soul and know everything about you in just a glance. He has absolutely perfect teeth and a smile to die for."

Rosy looked like she was about to cry and I was looking down, avoiding all eyes contact "I want one of those!" she yelled

Jon laughed "Oh please. He doesn't seem that great."

"Better than Belle could ever be."

"Ah-ha-ha. You wish. Belle is amazing. This Jacob seems like a complete loser."

I had to keep myself from laughing like an idiot. This whole thing was completely immature and I was loving every minute of it.

"Mr. Browning to main." came a voice that I didn't recognize.

Jon scuttled off and I headed back to work with Rosy. I found out that telling her was the worst mistake I could have made.

"How old is he?"

"Old enough."

"Is he older than you?"

"Yes." Mistake 2

"Oooh! How much older?"

"Old enough."

"18?"

"No."

"20?"

"No. Rosy, can we just concentrate?"

"Is he older than Mike?"

Mike was another one of our managers. He was probably around 25.

"I don't know. Probably."

"Bethanny! This is so not fair!"

The entire day carried on like this until it was my time to go home. I was happy that I only had to work until five. I didn't know if I could take another moment of Rosy's inquiry. I had gotten a text earlier from Jon, telling me that after work I should just walk to CVS, which happened to be right down the street, so that he could pick me up there. You know that feeling you get when you move somewhere new and everything seems to be awkwardly placed, or at the very least out of place? That feeling had left me when I walked into Jon's apartment.

I know the previous sounds creepy and this will probably even sound creepier, but it almost felt like a second home. I was starting to learn what floorboards creaked and how each indiviual pillow felt against my skin. I had made memories in the kitchen and everywhere else. I knew and expected what the cloth that the rug was made out of felt like as I ran my bare feet on top of it. Its just something you come to learn about a home.

Jon had decided he was hungry so we looked in his fridge. To my dismay there were only a few eggs, a bottle of orange juice that I wouldn't have trusted, a stick of butter, and oddly enough four unopened bags of shaved coconut.

I laughed "Why do you have so much coconut?"

He came over and looked in "I don't even remember buying that."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No lie. I don't know where that came from. Someone must have planted it in my fridge."

I started laughing "I don't think someone would plant shredded coconut in your fridge."

"You clearly don't know my friends."

As if by saying the magical word friends his phone rang.

"Hello?... Oh hey, man. What's up?... Uh I'm actually with my girl, but we can chill if you want... Yeah, no problem." he hung up "So, you're going to meet my friend Lucus."

I smirked "Do I have no say?"

"Fine. What do you want from me?"

"I'll hang out with you and Lucus if you and I go shopping first."

"Deal." Jon said "He'll be here in a few hours."

$%^&*(*$%^

I would like to state a fact that some people might not know: food shopping with men is like salsa dancing with a hippo. They have no idea what they are doing, they are completely awkward, they do unnecessary things, and they make odd noises. Jon is no exception to this. Throughout the entire time we were there he wandered off towards the twinkies, chex mix, and soda, while I picked out some good looking produce and got some cheese from the deli. While I was trying to pick out fresh bread, he was wondering what flavor gummy bears he should get. As I was getting milk and flour, he was eyeing the frozen pizza and mozzarella sticks. I think you get the picture.

"What the hell do you use these things for?" he asked, picking up something from the carraige.

I looked over "It's an artichoke."

"And what the heck do you plan to do with it?"

I laughed "Eat it?"

"Are you trying to poison me?"

"Yes. I am totally poisoning you with fresh vegetables."

"I knew it!" he screamed, grabbing the attention of several customers, "You are all my witnesses!"

"Oh my God..." I put my hands over my eyes "Are you really going to the be that guy? Can't you just be normal for once?"

"I am being normal."

"And that, scares me."

Eventually, after much deliberation, we made it to the checkout. By the time we were at his house the fridge had seen the first batch of groceries in what I believe to be its lifetime. Jon had told me that he has never had so much food in his house at one time. I laughed. Lucus would be there any second so I got cooking.

Because of today's fiasco at the food store I decided I would make the dreaded artichoke. How was I going to get him to eat it? By disguising it in a way that he wouldn't realize it was even there. I made a cheesy spinach and artichoke dip. I figured if I can get him in with something unhealthy, such as tortilla chips, I can then spring the vegetables on him.

Lucus came a few minutes into preparation. Lucus was tall and possibly the most muscular man I have ever seen in my life. He towered over Jon and Jon towers over me, so in reality there was really no chance of confidence whatsoever. His gigantic hand took mine and he was basically doing all the muscular work in this shake. I was like jelly in his hands.

Seeing Jon with Lucus was a little weird and awkward. They had so many inside jokes together that it was hard to keep up sometimes. They laughed a lot and Lucus had brought over a few beers. By the second bottle they were both more relaxed and a whole lot louder. I was surprised that some neighbor didn't come by and ask them to please be quiet. They ate like rabid hounds. I think I could have put a loaf of bread or liver and onions and they would have ate it all the same. It was official. Jon was drunk.

I made my way over to his computer as they laughed like hyenas to check what my hours were. Normally, I would ask Jon, but at this point I doubted that he would remember. I was shocked. I didn't even know we were open Christmas and here I was being put on the schedule. Of course. They would put the only Jew on the schedule. How typical.

"I have to work Christmas Eve and Christmas." I mumbled more to myself, but they inevetably heard.

"What did you say, baby?" Jon slurred.

"I have to work Christmas Eve and Christmas."

"Woohoo!" Jon outbursted "Look at Bethanny! Racking up the ka-ching ka-ching for the bling-bling, yo!"

I looked at him and I could not help laughing. I was fairly certain that he thought he was talking like a civilized part of society. He sounded like an idiot.

"Dude," Lucus said, laughing "You're not black."

"How would you know?"

"Because I can see your skin, dude."

"Oh... yeah..."

Jon, against our wished, continued drinking. Lucus stopped a few hours before he had to leave and I made sure he was completely sober before he walked out the door. Jon wrapped his arms around me sloppily the second a closed the door. He reeked of beer. I shook my head.

"I think its beddy-bye time."

"Well, I think we should go to bed, but I don't think we should do much sleeping." He gave an attempt at a wink, but it ended up looking like he was having an eyes spasm.

I laughed "Come on, Romeo."

"Who's this Romeo?"

I took his hand and led him into the bedroom where I took off his dirty shirt and pants. The second he got under the covers he was out like a light. I had to make a not that if I ever bring him to a family function EVER that I had to strictly regulate his alcohol intake. I slipped under the sheet myself after getting changed and his arms found their way around my waist. Hopefully the morning won't be too bad.