EDIT: Special thanks to Crosswood for Beta-ing this chapter!

A/N: I think a lot of you can relate to this one! Only did a quick once over so hopefully it's not too much jibberish. ENJOY!

Surrender

Stubborn and hard-headed; like a relentless starving wolf that refuses to let go of its hold on a fresh piece of meat.

At the first sign of that familiar yet infuriating sound, my arm swung in a large arc to slam onto the bedside table behind me. Blindly searching; my hand soon found the electronic device that was my phone and fingers were quick to randomly jam the exposed buttons until silence reigned over the still room once more.

I let out a content breath, basking in the comfort and warmth of the bed. The arms wrapped around my torso had loosened during my movements, but the lithe warm body still lingered close beside me – her silky caramel hair sprayed out and mingled with my own.

I could feel her breath brush against my arm – having been commandeered as a make-shift pillow – and her deep shallow breathing told me that my unfortunate awakening had not affected her.

I let out a defeated sigh before silently and carefully escaping from her gentle hold: picking up her limp arm that lay lazily on my stomach, side-shifting away from her, and untangling my legs in the progress. Lying just out of her reach, I decided to wake myself up with a rejuvenating stretch – raising my arms above my head, extending my legs to the full, and pointing my toes to the far edges of our bed. My back arched and clicked as I let out a satisfying groan – yet despite my intentions, this action seemed to have left me even more tired and relaxed as I let my body slump back onto the mattress.

But not before her arms snaked their way back around my waist again – in the small interval when my back had arched, she had slipped her arms around me – encasing me in a tight embrace.

She made a slight whine as she proceeded to curl and snuggle closer to my body, returning to that warmth we had shared just seconds ago.

"Shizuru, I have to get up." I quietly murmured, groggy voice betraying my words. My body still yearned for sleep but reason told me otherwise.

A whining sound came from my sleeping beauty, muffled by her burrowing her face deeper to the curves of my body.

"I made lunch plans with Mai…" I began to reason; raising my voice in the hope it would wake me up, feebly attempting to pull away from her hold.

She ignored my words and tangled her legs with mine.

"Natsuki, I had a late night." She whined, pulling herself closer to me and diminishing the little room I made between us.

I twisted in her hold, facing her, and then returned her sleepy embrace.

"Yes, I know you had a late night. But that doesn't change the fact that I have to get up." I gently cooed in her ear, stroking her hair to soothe. A discontent grumble radiated from her throat.

The action was calming – not only to her, but to me as well – and her scent was intoxicating. The drowsy veil of sleep and pure restful bliss called to me

'No. Need to get up Up, up, up.' I mentally chanted, driving away the sweet temptation, and with that I wrestled her arms away from me – all the while ignoring her incoherent murmurs:

"Natsuki… Ikezu… Mayo… -wich… Bed…"

"Ah-huh, ah-huh." I agreed, without truly knowing what she was trying to convey.

While I tried to untangle my legs again, I pulled my upper body further away from her snaking arms… and then I felt that hollow feeling – like when you walk up a set of stairs. The feeling was that heart dropping moment where you expect another step… but it never comes.

Thud.

I found myself lying on the carpeted floor, staring up at the ceiling now obscured by my navy blue hair.

'I really don't want to get up.' I thought to myself as I steeled and willed my body to recover from the unexpected fall off the bed.

But the next thing I knew, the lithe body previously sprawled across our bed slipped down and flopped itself to my awaiting arms, bringing along with it the sheets and duvet.

Once again her arms snaked around me, her face digging into the croak of my neck. She groaned in protest once more – it was then that I finally surrendered.

There, we lay on the ground, beside our bed: in each other's arms – but before letting the comforting slumber whisk us away, I reached desperately for my phone to inform Mai of the change in plans – I was going to sleep in.

They say opposites attract, but I say it's the similarities you find, discover and develop in each other that keep you together.

Other than Shizuru, I don't think I know anyone as persistent and stubborn as me, and I learned there are times you should just give in – just like Shizuru does for me.

A/N: The omake is more of a continuation, but since it has a completely different tone (aimed to be more humourous than peaceful tranquillity) I separated them.

Omake 1:

The gentle clinks of colliding metal on fragile porcelain filled the silence in the kitchen/dining room area of the Kuga/Fujino apartment before Mai's worried voice filled the room:

"Is Shizuru-san okay?" She questioned with concern in her eyes.

"Yeah, she's just really tired," a tired Natsuki replied in a monotonous voice. "You can just ignore her; she'll wake up properly soon." Having barely woken up herself, she rubbed away the lingering sleep in her eyes and adjusted the oversized shirt she had hastily thrown on that morning – her hair was still a mess and she made no attempt at taming it.

"I take it this is the reason you had to change our plans?" Mai said a hint of mirth in her eyes as she looked over the edge of the table and into Natsuki's lap.

The blunette nodded mindlessly, ignoring her friend's odd looks, wandering eye and sly smile – she sat back against the chair, subtly extending the length of her spine until she heard a satisfying click.

"You seem like you had a late night too." Her red-headed friend said in a hushed jest, eyes returning to the half-peeled green ones in front of her.

"Yeah, that's because I waited up for her to finish her project, Natsuki replied with little bit more strength to her voice, before breaking out in a large yawn. "I tried to help here and there… didn't do much though."

"You know what? Maybe some food will wake you up." The motherly friend offered, having already gotten up and made her way to the kitchen to prepare the mentioned food.

"Ah, Thanks. Sorry! I should really be the one that's offering with you being the guest and all."

"That's okay." Mai replied in a louder voice, over the sounds of retrieving cooking utensils from the drawers and cupboards.

"And sorry for flaking out of our plans and making you come over. It's just that Shizuru wouldn't let me out of bed this morning."

Mai stopped in her movements. Having crouched down behind the counter to get to some of the plates, she was unsure both of what she just heard and the immediate conclusion that she drawn because of it – confusion was evident on her face. Knowing her bashful friend though, she doubted the innuendo.

"And then she had me pinned on the ground." The sleep-deprived delinquent continued.

The red head began to stand again, peering over the counter with a questioning look directed to her blue-headed friend.

'No. No, Natsuki isn't the type to just share things like this; it must be something completely innocent – literal maybe…' Mai thought, convincing herself that it was her own mind jumping to those thoughts.

"Man, my back hurts. I better get that Mayo sandwich she promised."

Mai blushed as she tore her eyes away from the blue-headed delinquent sitting by the table on the dining chair.

Natsuki sighed as she sipped at her tea, her other hand gently stroking at the caramel tresses on her lap – there her girlfriend slept, a tight hold around her waist, head on her lap, and her body across two other chairs below the dining table.

A/N: Review if you have the time. For now, I think I'm going go take a nap. lol

EDIT: In case you didn't understand the mayo thing, the part where Shizuru mumbled: "Natsuki… Ikezu… Mayo… -wich… Bed…", she meant: "Natsuki-ikezu... I'll make you a Mayo sandwich if you stay in bed" in other word she was trying to bribe her (yeah not really a joke but I thought it'll be cute to show the lengths Shizuru would go to get Natsuki to stay in bed and also to weird out Mai into thinking that Natsuki could be bribed for "things" with Mayo sandwiches)