Chapter 6 - Afterglow
Early the following morning, I was vaguely aware of several kisses pressed along my shoulder blade, before the weight on the bed righted itself, leaving me alone. I drift back to sleep, shifting slightly on my side. Sometime later I woke to kisses along my neck and across my bare shoulders, and if I'm not mistaken, the wonderful smell of fresh coffee. Gentle hands turn me so I'm lying on my back, and I open my eyes against the bright sunlight as lips descend upon mine.
"Hey." He whispers. I can actually hear the smile in his voice, as I throw an arm across my eyes to block out the light. Its not that I mind him waking me, it just takes me a while to wake up, and thankfully, he knows all about this, which makes me smile.
"Hi." I feel the bed dip beside me, one hand tracing shapes on my stomach under the duvet as he kisses me again. Leisurely. Familiar. Making me realise once again how much I'd missed him.
"I made breakfast." He tells me, his face an inch from mine as my eyes finally adjust to the lighting of the room. He kisses the tip of my nose as the arm supporting him moves to position his hand over my hair.
"Are you dressed?" I ask, reaching out to pull at the t-shirt he's wearing.
He chuckled softly. "I've been up a while." He watched me for a moment, before leaning in to give me another kiss. "Do you want breakfast in here or out there?"
I smile sleepily again, touched at his kindness. "I'll be there in a minute."
As he retreats from the room I realise the t-shirt he's wearing is actually one of his that I still had in the back of my cupboard, making me wonder how he'd managed to find it. I see his dress shirt that he wore the night before folded in a pile of clothes on the chair in the corner, and I grab it, making the quick decision that I'm not ready to start the day just yet.
I see a slow smile spread across Carter's face as I enter the kitchen. "Don't look at me like that. It's my day off, I can wear what I want." I smirk as I pilfer some toast from the plate he's preparing, hoisting myself up to sit on the counter. Had I been more awake, I probably would have felt a lot more self-conscious, what with the shirt I wore only reaching mid-thigh at best.
"You're trying to make me late, aren't you?" He asks me playfully, abandoning his task to stand in front of me, folding his arms casually over my knees.
I eat my toast and shoot him an indignant look. "I have no idea what you mean."
Carter grinned at me, his fingers moving idly along my outer thighs. "Got plans today?"
"Something along the lines of retail therapy." I answer, plucking a second slice of toast from the plate that sat beside me and glancing at the clock on the far wall. "Aren't you gonna be late?"
He looks up to check the time, before leaning forward to press a long kiss to my lips. "I'm on a half shift, so if you wait a while I could go with you. I'll be off at three."
I'm not sure what I'm more surprised at, that he wants to come straight back after his shift to spend time with me, or that he just offered to go round a shopping centre with me. "Sure." I finish the toast I'm eating and place my arms on Carter's shoulders, wondering just what we've started here and how long it'll be before we have to talk about it.
He grins again and pulls gently on my shirt collar, guiding my lips to his as he entangles one hand in my hair. Our eyes lock for a second once he moves back, and he glances quickly at the watch on his wrist. "Now I'm late."
"I warned you." I call after him; laughing at the smirk he sends me over his shoulder as he leaves. I look around my now-empty apartment, dreading the on-coming analysing of what happened last night. I'm my own worst enemies in so many ways, and its only recently I've realised this. With that in mind, I drop to my feet from the kitchen counter, pouring some of the still-fresh coffee that Carter had made and discovering the croissants he'd left in the now-cooling oven. I had no idea how much I'd missed him until last night. I smile, making a silent promise to myself that if at all possible, I would do everything I could to make this work with him.
%%%%
I went out for groceries a little later, guessing I might be cooking for two people instead of one this evening. I could only have been gone an hour, but I returned to find a message from Carter on my machine. For a moment my paranoia got the best of me and I thought it was to say it was all a mistake and he wouldn't be coming over, but his cheery voice only wanted to check it was still okay to come by later. I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon tidying the apartment, enjoying my favourite music in the background whilst I worked.
I jumped when I heard a knock on the door, wondering if the music was too loud for some of my neighbours. I was surprised to find Carter standing there, along with a large box of, what looked to be, chocolates.
"Hey," he kissed me in greeting, offering the gold wrapped box to me. "Until the chocolate factory comes along."
I smile whole-heartedly at his gift, wrapping my arms around his shoulders to kiss him properly. "How was your shift?"
"Busy. Four M.V.A.s, and a couple of G.S.W.s. I managed to get away before Weaver had me working overtime." He follows me into the kitchen as I move to put some coffee on. I feel his arms encircle my waist as I finish the coffee and open the chocolates, trying to find one of the caramels I like.
"You still wanting to go shopping?" I ask, fully expecting him to have concocted an airtight excuse to get out of it.
His arms tighten at my waist as he presses a soft kiss to my shoulder before answering. "I just want to be with you, so if shopping is on the agenda, I'll go along with it."
"Good answer."
"Although I do draw the line at shoe shopping." He warns as an afterthought, reaching over my shoulder to steal a chocolate.
"Too bad. I need to restock my entire footwear wardrobe today. It'll be so much fun." I tease sarcastically, turning to face him so I can see his expression.
"Oh really? Some occasion you need to buy for?"
"I may have a thing."
"A thing?"
"Yes, a very important thing. It'll take me hours to choose the right shoes for the occasion."
"You think you're funny, don't you?"
I laugh in response and roll my eyes. I've really missed this. The banter. The easy, playful conversations we always share. "Okay, double-oh-seven, no shoes."
In some ways I wish we could go on like this forever, the carefree time spent together, ignoring the issues that caused so many problems before. But I know we should discuss this, understand what went wrong the first time round before attempting a relationship again. At the back of my mind I'm still wondering if this is happening because Carter wants a family, to replace the one he lost not that many months ago. I'm not who I was when we dated before. The transition from a nurse to become a doctor signifying the amount of changes I'd promised myself I'd try to achieve most of my life. Now I have finally accomplished that goal, and as proud of myself as I am, I need to know his reasons for wanting this relationship again.
I give myself a mental shake, content to enjoy his closeness as we sip coffee, curled up together on my sofa. He presses a kiss in to my hair, and I look into his eyes. I won't think like this, I can't make assumptions. I will enjoy this afternoon with him.
Talking can wait.