Early Breakfast
Author: Knowhere
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing.
AN: Just another little something.
Summary: Literati. It's early in the morning. AU.
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The sound of humming wakes her from her sleep. The bed is empty and she feels cold without him. Reaching for her sweatshirt on the back of the chair, she slips it on and walks across the bedroom. The door opens silently and she sees him in the kitchen. There are pancakes waiting for her on their tiny kitchen table. She smiles through sleepy eyes and makes her way to him. His back is still turned away from her, focusing on making a cup of coffee for her and a cup of tea for him. Pausing for a moment, she watches him from the doorway of their bedroom. His hair is tousled and she thinks about how she likes it more now that he's been wearing it shorter. It's more adult and she prefers her grown up Jess. His pajama bottoms are wrinkly from the night before and it's riding low on his hips. The plain grey t-shirt he wears does little to conceal the hard flat planes of his muscles. That's her Jess. Understated but there. She smiles again thinking that he's hers.
Padding her way to the table, she carefully pulls out on the chairs and makes a face as it squeaks against the floor. He's startled and turns in surprise. Looking sheepish, she shrugs. "Sorry."
He smiles softly. "Hey, you're up."
"I know. Shocking." Glancing over at the wall clock, "Why are you up at five in the morning?"
"Hungry." He turns back around and grabs the two mugs. Setting them down in front of her, he motions with his head for her to eat. "Dig in before they get cold."
Raising and eyebrow at him, she picks up her fork and cuts into the first pancake. "How did you know I'd be up?"
Smirking, "Just a feeling."
"Okay." With her mouth full she asks, "What do you want to do today?"
"I just wanna stay in."
"We could do laundry." She swallows and takes a gulp of her coffee.
He's stopped eating and watches her in amusement. "Maybe."
She stops as well. "Alright Buster. What's going on? Seriously?"
"Nothing." He gives her an innocent look and picks up his fork once more. "Pancakes are good, aren't they? Tried something new. Luke told me about it."
Nodding, "Yeah they are good."
Drinking his tea, he warms his hands on the sides of his mug. "What do you think about getting a new bookcase?"
"I think that'd be a good idea. We have too many on the coffee table without a home."
He agrees. "Yeah, maybe next weekend we can go shopping."
"Sure."
Watching her from the corner of his eye, he's thoughtful. He's thinking about how long it took for them to get here. Many long distance phone calls, several unexpected trips to visit each other, and finally a long overdue confession finally threw them back into each other's lives once more. He's grown up a lot since the first time they were together. And so has she. He thinks about how his Rory is now much more assertive. She knows her place in life and knows just how to navigate it. She's tougher and has grown a backbone and it delights him to see her stand up for herself. And he's changed as well. He's gotten better at saying what he feels. He doesn't do it often, but it's a significant step forward. He calls when he says he will and shows up on time these days. He has a steady career and is slowly working his way up. He thinks about the future now, and she's always in it. He likes that she's his and there's no one else that can replace her. "Do you want some more?"
"Yeah, just another piece."
Getting up from the table, he takes her plate to the griddle. Using the spatula, he moves a singular pancake over to her plate. He picks up the bottle of syrup and squirts a dollop onto the plate. Sitting back down across from her, he sets it down in front of her.
"Thanks." She smiles and remembers a time when he made her pancakes. It had been after their first night together. His bed had been warm and he came in to wake her with breakfast. They lounged in bed for hours and talked about nothing in particular. They had held off sleeping together for a while, fear on both their parts that their relationship wasn't real. She thought she had been dreaming and he felt like he was hallucinating. But that night had been different. There were no thoughts of regrets, no whispered words of sorry on their lips, and no one in their lives to hold them back. They were there together and there was no more she could ask for.
"I talked to Jimmy yesterday."
"Oh yeah? How are they?"
"Good. Lily's doing a summer reading program. She's kicking everybody's ass." He chuckles.
She smiles at his enthusiasm. They had visited them out in California last summer and he took her around the beaches as she tried not to freckle and burn. He teased her about wearing a wide-brimmed hat and finally told her that he liked her freckles. She swatted him but left the hat off for the rest of the day. They lounged on beaches and she begged for days for him to take her to Disneyland. In the end, it wasn't a bad day and he enjoyed walking around with her hand in hand even as he scowled at the tourists. They watched the fireworks on the sidewalk of the parade and he held her close to his chest as she sat between his legs. They even took a picture with Mickey and even though he's smirking, he remembers the memory fondly because she had so much fun.
"Sheesh, I'm tired." She rubs her eyes with the heel of her hand and takes another sip of her coffee. "I'm gonna go back to bed." Standing to place her dirty dish in the sink to wash later. She sits back down at the table to finish her coffee and she watches him look down at his lap. "You gonna come lay down with me?"
He looks up. "Yeah, in a moment." Glancing up at her eyes he asks, "Hey can you do me a favor?"
"Okay."
He reaches over to the counter where he left his bag last night and she watches as he digs through it. She had bought him that bag to use for work because he refuses to use a briefcase. Tipping the chair backwards, she sees that he's grabbed some small box. He looks over at her and pushes it across the table.
Curious, "What favor?"
He nods at the box, "Open it."
She takes it but just stares at it instead. It opens with a creak and she's quiet.
"Marry me?"
Nodding she bites her lower lip to stop herself from crying. Lifting the ring out of the box she hands it back to him. He looks at her questioningly but she replies, "Put it on me?"
He smiles and complies. It looks perfect in his opinion. "Is that a yes?"
"Yeah, that's a yes."
He stands and holds out his hand to her. "Good. Now let's go back to bed."
"Suddenly I'm not so tired anymore." But she still stands and takes his hand as he leads her back into their room. She's dumbfounded and shocked.
Shutting the door behind them, he lifts the covers and waits for her to crawl in. He follows suit and spoons up behind her back. She's staring at her ring in the dim light and he's watching from behind. "Do you like it? I thought about taking you along to pick it out, but then it wouldn't be too much of a surprise. We can get another one if you want."
She shakes her head slightly. "No, I don't want another one. I like this one."
He responds by pulling her closer and tangles their legs together.
"Did you plan this? The breakfast?"
"No. Just waiting for the right moment."
"And just what was the right moment? When I told you I wanted to go back to sleep?" She giggles.
He shrugs and releases his hold on her as she squirms to face him. "Felt right. I just couldn't wait any more."
"How long have you had this?"
"Couple weeks. Kinda chickened out several times." He's being honest but then something clicks in his mind. "This isn't what you had in mind when you pictured someone proposing to you, is it?"
"I never really had anything in mind."
She's lying and it makes him feel just a bit uncomfortable. "Yes you did. You thought of flowers and candles and moonlight, right?"
"Maybe. But that's kinda childish. More like a fairytale than real life."
"Oh?"
"I don't really enjoy the fairytale anymore. I like that you're real."
He makes a face but he's not thoroughly comforted.
Scooting her way down to be nose to nose with him, she kisses him softly. "I like that you do the grocery shopping. I like that you get our mail from the box because I always forget when I enter the building. I like that you don't snore except when you're really tired, and that you don't mind when I tell you to roll over. I like that you've learned to put your dirty clothes in the hamper instead of throwing it on the floor. I know you love me when you try to talk when you're upset. But I also like that when we fight and make up, you don't hold grudges or bring up the past. I like that you're real and proposed to me at five in the morning."
He smiles and kisses her back. It's gentle and soft. His hands grip her waist and he buries his face into her neck and smirks as she shivers into his kiss. He bites down at her shoulder and moves his hand under her top to rest on her tummy. Moving against him, she giggles as he tickles her gently. He kisses her collarbone and traces his way down to the edge of her tank top. He pushes it up over her breasts and she raises her arms to take it off herself. He watches from above as her hair fans out across both their pillows. Leaning down to kiss her eyelids, he moves his hand slowly across her chest. Her hands come up to tug at his shirt and he lets her take it off. He bends his elbows so that he can feel skin on skin and hisses at the contact. She's flushed and there's evidence of her blush even on her chest. Rolling over to his side, he faces her and pulls her into a tight hug.
"Thank you."
He pulls back. "For what?"
"For breakfast." She smiles. "And for asking."
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AN: Read? Review.