~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ben's PoV
I wake up to the sound of silence, broken only by the sound of Liz and my breathing. The clock says 9:13, but I really don't pay much mind. I'm too comfortable to ever move, ever again. The sunlight is blocked by the curtains, but a chunk of it somehow misses the horribly-ugly, flower-print cloth and lands on the middle of a pile of strewn clothes.
I turn my gaze to Liz, who's head rests on my shoulder. She looks so peaceful in sleep, all the worry and confusion of the past few days is meaningless in sleep. I just wish I could save her from the nightmares... Hell, I wish I could save all of us from the nightmares, from Manticore, from the world. But it's too hard of a job.
Zack seems to think that he can do it. Save all of us from everything we come up against, that is. He wants to be all superhero and save the world. But that isn't going to happen, for various reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that the entire world, if they ever find out about us, will be out to get us. Not a pretty thought.
I feel Liz shifting and look down at her. Her chocolate eyes stare back at me, sleep-doused, but playful at the same time. She licks her lips, a nervous habit I've noticed...it's extremely hot. "I want pancakes." she announces, and I sigh.
"I'm too comfortable." I tell her, really not wanting to get up. But then she does that pout of hers, that sexy, adorable pout that makes me want to do anything to make her smile. I groan, dragging myself out of bed. She gets up and wraps the sheet around her, toga-style.
"You gonna take a shower?" she asks, and I nod, heading to the bathroom as she does that nervous little lip-lick thing again. Mmm....ok, better make that a cold shower.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Liz's PoV
It's almost surreal how I can be so scared or mad, but with one touch from him, the rest of the world just goes away. It just doesn't matter anymore. He protects me...he's my guardian angel. And I think I'm falling- hard.
I change into jeans and a tank top, and brush my hair. I part it to the side, bobby-pinning a little back to keep it out of my face. Hmm..maybe I should get a haircut. Less work, and it might look ok....definitely something to think about.
I lay back down on the bed, a need to sleep suddenly overwhelming me. I close my eyes, trying to rid my shoulders of all the tension that lies there. He comes out of the bathroom in just a towel, and where all the air in my lungs goes is an unsolved mystery. Just the sight of him leaves me breathless. Talk about head-over-heels, right?
I turn around as he changes, trying to find a sweater, and pull out a pink one. I pull it over my head and close my eyes, rubbing my temples at the hint that a headache's coming on. I feel his strong hands on my shoulders, but somehow he manages not to startle me. I lean into his touch as he kneads out the knots in my shoulders. "Mmm...thanks." I tells him, though he will never know how very true that statement is.
"I'm gonna go run the bags out to the car." he tells me, and I pout at the loss of my masseuse. "Oh, I'll be right back." he says, smirking. He walks out of the room, and I lay down on the bed, suddenly completely tired. Funny, I never got any sleep before I got sick. Now I just can't get enough of the stuff.
Mmm....sleep...
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ben's PoV
I hurry to get the bags in the car, my stomach already growling. Damn transgenic metabolism. I walk back to the room, giving a wave to Ms. Smiley as she prances while she dusts the lobby. I open the door, only to reveal Liz lying on the bed, half asleep.
I brush a stray piece of hair away from her eyes, smiling slightly as she leans into my touch. "I thought you wanted pancakes." I ask, and she nods lazily, opening one eye.
"I still do. And as long as I don't have to move in order to get them, then I am perfectly happy." she informs me, smiling slightly.
"Babe, I'm hungry." I whine, hoping to annoy her out of bed. She nods. "Me too. Maybe if someone would give me a piggyback ride, I wouldn't feel so sad about having to get up." she tells me, her eyes sparkling with playfulness. I roll my eyes, but turn around as she leaps on my back.
"You know," I says as we walk to the car, "if It wasn't for my handy-dandy transgenic reflexes, we'd be in a heap on the floor right now." She laughs, a light, happy sound that I've missed so much.
"Yeah, I actually had thought about that. But I'd be having fun either way, so I took my chances." she says, giggling a bit. My mouth hangs open, but I quickly pull it into a smirk.
"Dirty." I tease, letting her off my back as we reach the car. She kisses me on the cheek and moves to get in, but I grab her wrist and pull her in for a real kiss. "That was my treat for carrying you all the way out here." I explain. Yeah, like it was really that hard. She weighs about ninety pounds.
"Hmmm...I might just have to have you carry me everywhere, then." she muses, and I walk around the car, knowing that she'll keep up rambling for a while. "But then the muscles in my legs would turn to mush and I couldn't walk, so maybe not." she says, looking at me thoughtfully as I slide into the driver's seat. "But definitely more with the kissing."
"Then it's decided. So, you still want pancakes?" I ask, and she nods excitedly.
"Ooh, chocolate chip pancakes." she says, grinning at me happily, grabbing my hand and squeezing it lightly. I smile back at her, truly not knowing how one person can have possibly changed my life as much as she has.
"Anything, babe." I tell her, and she kisses my cheek.
"Good, because I love chocolate chip pancakes." she says, turning up the radio and singing along to Cake's Frank Sinatra.
Zack's gonna be so proud of his baby sister. My baby girl.
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A/N: hey! It's kinda craptastic and short, but I have writer's block in a big way. Tell me what you think, honestly.
Luv you, all of my wonderful reviewers!!!
molly jeane :D