A/N: Before I start rambling, I'd like to especially thank tv-matchmaker for the earlier shout out! This chapter feels mildly shorter then the rest, probably because I didn't plan on using it. It's a bit of a filler I suppose. Anyways, hooray for updating on time and not letting myself get distracted! :)
When I woke up the next morning, I considered myself to be the luckiest guy in the world - despite being paralyzed from the waist down. There Tina lied with her chin upon her hand, which moved up and down simultaneously with my chest, as she stared up at me with those beautiful dark eyes of hers.
"Hey there, hot stuff." She giggled, stretching her neck to reach my cheek, where she planted a sweet kiss. I smiled and closed my arm tighter around her waist as she settled back down.
"Hi." I managed to say in a low voice, nuzzling my face into her already tousled locks.
With a happy sigh, she ran her hand back and forth across my bare chest once before sinking her fingertips in the crevasse created by my collarbone. I couldn't explain it, but just the way her skin contacted my mine sometimes sent chills up my mutilated spine. Tina Cohen-Chang had complete and utter power over me. I'd sure be a happy person if I woke up to this every morning - just her, just me, just us.
"I'm gonna get dressed." She softly said tapping my chest three times.
"No." I groaned angling my upper half towards her and locking my arms behind her back.
"Artie." She laughed. "Someone's gonna come up to wake us any minute."
"They'll knock." I reasoned.
"Either way, I'd rather not be half naked when the time comes." She said pressing her nose against mine.
"I don't mind." I smirked.
"Okay, Puck." She said.
"Fine, fine." I said returning my arms to my sides. "No need to start with the insults."
Tina rolled her eyes before thoughtfully kissing my forehead. Keeping the blue-gray fleece blanket draped across her chest, she up on her elbows and gazed across the tent to where her bags resided. Even behind her thick black and purple tresses, I could see her flawless back with no deep scar tissue down her spinal column. I may have had the brains, but she definitely had the beauty.
Grabbing the nearest possible articles of clothing for modesty, she less then gracefully made her way across the tent. Sitting on the backs of her feet, she rummaged though her belongings to find something to put over her mismatched set of panties. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught me staring out of admiration, but instead of calling me upon it like she usually did, she simple smiled and went back to what she was doing.
By the time she got to putting on a light layer of make up, which I didn't see reasoning behind, I was still at rest with the extra blanket Tina left behind in my arms. Knowing her usual morning routine, I knew she'd be finished soon and ready to set off in a matter of minutes, but I still couldn't find it in me to drag myself out of bed.
"You know things would be a lot easier if you just came back under here with me, right?" I asked slipping my hand under my chin.
"My empty stomach tells me otherwise." She smirked glancing at me from her compact mirror.
"Oh…I see how it is." I said playfully crossing my arms over my chest.
"Artie, get up." She sighed in a laughing way as she threw the pillow atop her own sleeping bag. Only after she threatened to get my sister to aid with getting me out of bed, did I start to move. This was mostly only because I was ninety-nine percent sure I wasn't wearing pants under the blanket that consumed my body.
"Morning kids." Dad said raising his coffee mug in the air.
I looked over to my mother who looked beat. Being a natural early riser, she was probably up for hours. Guilt began to strike me for making her worry so much that she had to stay up and wait for Tina and me to return home. Locking me in place near the edge of one of the logs, Tina fetched the both of us breakfast from the heating plate over the fire. She looked especially fiery today in her brick red T-shirt that complemented her figure.
"Hey Art?" Nora asked leaning in at me.
"What?" I asked after swallowing the contents of my mouth.
"What's on your neck?" She said with an evil smirk. I froze completely and looked at Tina from the corners of my eyes. She bit down on her lip hard and made a face as the word 'oops' formed between her lips.
"It's…well I – I mean we," I panicked.
"It's just a little bruise." Tina added. "Must have happened when you ran over a root in the dark on our way home".
"Yeah." I assured, shocked at her on the spot, yet reasonable, lie.
"Are you alright?" Mom panicked as dad rolled her eyes at her.
"Fine, mom." I said.
"See, that's why you two shouldn't have been out so late last night." She said.
"Won't happen again." Tina smiled, with a nod. Nora narrowed her eyes at me as she stuck a fork full of scrabbled eggs in her mouth. She didn't buy Tina's story a bit, and I kind of wondered how my parents fell for it, but I definitely wasn't complaining. Maybe that was why my mother initially arranged Nora to bunk with me in the first place – but where's the fun in that?