Enjoy, leave a review, constructive criticism much appreciated. Onto chapter 3!
I should have known! Honestly, how could I expect anything else? The movie they had chosen had apparently as many jump scares and gore as could be crammed in two hours. I mean, I could handle blood, but that was just too much.
Thank God I had the couch to bury myself in pillows every 2 or 3 minutes, including my, hopefully quiet, shrieks. But no, Jane and Lizzy were happy enough as they were, cuddling with their boyfriends, hello singleness my old friend.
There came a point where I just couldn't take it anymore, the frequent scares and bloody mess making me slightly sick, I untangled myself from the pillows and made my way to the hammock outside, hopefully the breeze would settle my uneasy stomach.
A while later, I was thinking about going inside for a blanket when I heard a quiet knock on the sliding door to the back yard. Just as I turned around Richard walked outside with said blanket and draped it over my shoulders before leaning on one of the pillars.
"Thanks, you shouldn't have bothered." I said with a little embarrassment, "No problem, I figured you would get cold eventually out here, I'm happy to help" He said.
"Well… umm.. thanks. And thanks for knocking, after that movie I don't think I can handle any more jump scares…" I blushed from embarrassment thinking about my almost screams during some of the movie's brutal scenes.
"I noticed you are particularly easy to scare, so I guess it's only natural you don't like those types of movies." He smiled at me, and the moonlight was honestly doing wonders for him, at least in my eyes.
"Tell you what, everyone has gone to sleep, why don't we go inside and watch a comedy instead? Maybe that'll make you feel better?" He asked, with genuine warmth in his eyes.
"You sure? You don't have to, I mean, you are probably tired too…" I said, surely, he didn't want to spend more time with me than necessary… but then again, he did help me with dinner out of his free will… No, Mary, don't get your hopes up.
"Why not? I enjoy your company and I'm not THAT tired." He held out his hand with a smile, silently asking me to with him inside.
"Okay…" I gingerly took his hand to stand up and quickly let it go right after with the excuse of folding the blanket he had put over me. I would NOT let my thought linger on his warm palm and how the pressure of his fingers around my hand felt like it belonged.
We went inside and sat on the couch, debating on which movie to watch. We settled on White Chicks, nothing like a classic to lift my spirits!
It was fun, laughing with him felt natural. A little while later, my eyes started closing, I tried to keep myself from falling asleep, that would be too rude of me! He goes out of his way to make me feel better, something he accomplished way too easily, and I just fall asleep on him? No.
As much as I tried to, I just couldn't win against the sleepiness. I fell asleep with my head lying on the top of the couch, or at least that's what I last remember. A little while later, my foggy brain is not working well and the sleep is claiming me again, but I don't hear the movie playing and I can feel a wonderful warmth surrounding me, a smell of comfort and peace so nice I just want to bury myself in it, causing me to fist my hands in the pillow and murmur something incoherent at the same time.
Richard POV:
She fell asleep. Great. Really smooth Richard, really smooth. She looks adorable though… I think about how peaceful she looks with her head lying on the back of the couch. That can't be comfortable, can it? I stand up and gently slide my arms under her knees and back, hoping to not wake her, and lift her into my arms to take her into her room.
God she is beautiful! She feels perfect in my arms, just like her hand felt perfect in mine outside. As I was thinking about that I feel her shifting in my hold, suddenly I fear she is going to wake up and scream or something, but she just lets a tiny sigh escape, fists her tiny hands in my shirt and cuddles closer as she mumbles something under her breath that I can't quite catch.
My heart is beating so hard. How can a tiny gesture like that affect me so much? I subconsciously hold her tighter as I make my way down the hall and enter her room. I lay her down on the bed and slowly remove my arms from her, instantly missing her warmth… I cover her with a light blanket and can't help but give her a feather light caress on her cheek.
"Good night Mary, sweet dreams…" I whisper and catch a tiny smile on her face right before I close the door and make my way to my room.
Goodness, I'm too old to be having these butterflies, even if she is beautiful. I think about our interactions as I lay in bed, not able to sleep yet. What I can gather about Mary is not much. She is a fantastic cook, she loves her sisters, she loves reading, and she gets scared easily. I want to know more about her, she has something interesting underneath her shyness, why is she so shy anyways? I can see she is a great person, is it because someone hurt her?