I took a deep breath in, slowly opening my eyes. My senses filled with the lovely scent of salt water and something deep and rich that I didn't recognize but I knew who the smell belonged to. I shifted my head upward, smiling at what I saw. I reached my hand up, smoothing it across Jace's cheek. his eyelids scrunched and then slowly opened. Sleepy gold eyes meet mine, and my happiness fled, my smile fading. A look of wonder replaced the felling as I stared at him, wondering how I was waking up to the man I loved when just a few weeks ago I'd thought he never even noticed me. This situation was entirely new, yet I could imagine myself doing this every morning for the rest of my life. Jace's hand that had been on the back of my shoulder came up, brushing some hair out of my face. His hand lingered, slowly tracing down my cheek. I couldn't breath, not even when he smiled, causing a dimple to appear on his left cheek, and said "Good morning." I smiled, sighing. I shook my head, grinning as I lunged forward and kissed him. We rolled on the small hospital bed, him ending up on top of me. His hands pressed into my back as I reached up, holding onto his cheeks as I kissed him. All the desire, hope, and need that had built up in these last few months came rushing up, stealing my breath away. I poured every emotion that swirled through me into the kiss, not even breaking away to breath. I inhaled sharply as his hands drifted up my shirt. He paused for a moment, but I urged him on. My skin hummed as he pressed down on me, the hardest part of him pressing against the softest part of me. I hooked my legs against his hips, gasping for breath as he broke away, his lips meeting where my pulse pounded erratically. His hands threaded through my hair, bringing my lips back to his. My hands slid around the loose curls at the nape of his neck as I he pulled the hospital gown up to my chest. Jace broke away, looking into my eyes. His stare broke off as he closed his eyes and shook his head. My stomach sank. "No." He said. "Not like this. Never like this." It then occurred to me how far I had crossed into going-to-fast land. "Oh. Sorry." I said, suddenly feeling like an asshole. I wasn't 100% sure we were even together, and the idea of us as a couple had only become a possibility a few weeks ago. I suddenly felt a hand on my cheek, drawing my attention back to the present. "Hey." Jace said, a tentative smile on his face. "What I mean is: when it happens, I want it to be perfect for you."

"Perfect?"

"Yeah. Like chick flick or whatever."

I grinned. "Have you ever actually seen a chick flick?"i

"When I was 10." He winced. "It was horrible."

I laughed. "That must have been so terrible ."

He continued on with the bit. "Yeah. I think I may be scared for life."

I snorted, most likely sounding like a dying pig, but his grin widened. "Well, you can be my night in shining armor any day."

He kissed me. "Does that mean you are calling yourself a damsel in distress?"

I looked down at my beat up body. "Yeah, I do seem to be looking a bit distressful, don't I?"

He brushed some of my hair to the side. "That's not the word I would use."

"Well what word would you use?"

"Beautiful." He said.

{•}

I couldn't deny it: we were definitely in the calm before the storm. Things were perfect. School didn't start for a week, and Jace and I had the time to ourselves, at least until either of our families returned. His parents were on a business trip to Paris, and my brother & father were snowed in, at least according to the last text my brother had sent. I stood at he stove, flipping a pancake over as it started to bubble. I reached over, turning up the volume dial on the radio. I had woken up early, before Jace. After watching him sleep like some sort of psycho for twenty minutes I had gotten up and started making breakfast. I still wore what I'd slept in: a shirt of Jace's as well as a pair of his sweatpants that were too small for him put still were mammoth size on me. So, here I was, cooking every type of breakfast food available in the kitchen and shaking my ass along to hits of the 80's. I was bobbing my head and shaking my hips as Whitney Houston sang about how she wanted to dance with somebody when the music switched and a a slower song came on. I hummed along, turning off the burner and sliding the pancake onto the plate with the others. One minute I was placing the spatula down, and then the next I was in the air. I squealed, holding my arm that I could move to the strong arms the held me. "Put me down!" I said, laughing. Jace set me down, burrowing his nose into the crook of my neck. "Good morning." I smiled, closing my eyes as I leaned against him. "Good morning." My mind couldn't comprehend the transition we'd made. Only a few weeks ago, I had been secretly in love with him, until I had gotten wasted and kissed him. Then, we had had several painful yet amazing encounters. Then, last night had happened, and now...letting myself enjoy this, the eye of the storm, was such an idiotic decision. But for once, I didn't give a damn.