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Chapter 29
Rose woke up alone in bed. It was still night, and she only wore a t-shirt and a pair of knickers. She smiled as she remembered her and Danny snogging one another silly before they made love.
Afterwards, both of them had gotten dressed. It was simply too chilly in the flat for them to sleep nude. Danny lay behind Rose, holding her in his arms as they both watched the snow's large flakes fall. Rose felt so warm and safe there in his strong arms.
Although, Rose was cold now that she was fully awake. Where had Danny disappeared to? She felt where he had been lying in the bed and the sheets were cold. He had been gone for a while.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes and noticed the lamp was on in the sitting room. She quietly got out of bed and wrapped a blanket around herself.
Danny's greying hair seemed to glow in the light of the television. He had the sound completely down as it played cartoons. Rose could see the back of his head as she stood in the middle of her doorway. He looked down at something she couldn't see.
"Danny?" She asked softly.
He quickly looked behind himself to see her. "Hey. Did I wake you?"
"I'm not awake." She said as she walked over to him and sat down. He picked up his sketchpad so she could cover him with the blanket too. Leaning against him, she propped her head on his shoulder. She felt him kiss the top of his head.
He mumbled, "I'm sorry I woke you."
"You didn't." She smiled, "Remember, I'm still sleeping."
"Ohh. Yes. That's right." He laughed with her.
"What are we watching?"
"Ah, cartoons. I've seen these so many times that I know the lines."
She smiled, "It's probably soothing then."
"Yeah." He agreed and returned to his drawing. He must have just gotten started on it because it was only guidelines and points. He propped his feet back up on the low table in front of them and laid the ruler back down on the paper. "Does this bother you?"
"No." She smiled, "Why would you ask me that?"
He stopped and looked at her. "Sure?"
"Danny, I love to see you draw."
He laughed a bit, "Really?"
"How terrible of an ex-wife do you have?"
He groaned and rolled his eyes before he returned to his drawing.
"Want to talk about it?"
He shook his head and didn't look up from his drawing. "No, but…"
His eyes met hers.
"What?" She smiled and asked quietly.
"Do you mind staying out here?"
She smiled warmly, "I would love to."
"Do you need me to help you get more comfortable then-"
"Nah, I'd like to sit up here for a bit so I can watch you."
He lay his head on top of hers and whispered, "Thanks."
She put her hand on his thigh under the blanket.
He kissed her head and returned to his sketch.
Rose watched him work for a while but then became distracted by the cartoon after Danny turned up the volume. She closed her eyes just as a yawn threatened to overtake her. She looked down to see the beginning of the drawing's details began to pop out.
"What are you drawing?" She asked.
He shrugged his shoulders, "I really don't know. Just something I keep seeing in my head."
"Is that what it's like? You see something and decide to sketch?"
He continued his work. "More like…a need to do something. As if, it was something soothing to only think about one image for a while."
"Like mediation." She said quietly. "I should do that more often."
He nodded and continued to sketch. Some moment of action on the cartoon brought her attention back to the screen as she began to doze off. She lay down on the sofa, putting her feet right up against Danny's leg.
He tucked the blanket around her and continued to draw.
The cartoon seemed to become very far away as Rose slipped into a deep sleep.
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