Me: Okay. You too.
Steve: Thanks.
Me: Oh yeah... please tell your parents Happy New Year for me.
Steve: Will do. :)
Me: Thanks so much. :) Bye. :)
Steve: Bye. :)
As I put my phone back on the table, I heard my parents come in then saw Will’s head pop up at the sound of their voices, and I couldn’t help but laugh lightly. After getting his coffee and putting it on the table, Matt helped me into my chair, while Mom got breakfast set up. While it was still really painful to eat, I could open my mouth without feeling the need to cry every time, like I had yesterday.
After breakfast, I decided to take a nice long, relaxing shower. While in the shower, I found myself closing my eyes and thinking of Steve. As I thought about him, a smile crept on my face. Just thinking about him made me feel warm and safe. The longer I thought, however, the more I started to doubt his feelings for me. I found myself wondering, yet again, if he was just staying with me because he felt sorry for me, or if he truly did care for me on another level other than friendship. Before I knew it, I felt the tears from my doubts beginning to roll down my cheeks, and I immediately tried to erase any evidence of my troubling thoughts before anyone came in. I wiped the tears off my cheeks with my palms and under my eyes with the back of my hand, and as I put my face under the spray again, I forced the doubts back down.
After getting dressed, I found that I was exhausted once again, but I knew I had to fight it otherwise I was never going to get back on a regular schedule. Knowing that if I got back in the recliner I would fall asleep, I decided to see if Mom needed help with anything. After keeping her company for a few hours, while she cleaned, I decided to see what was on the computer. That kept me occupied until dinner, which was somewhat cheerful despite my food choices, or lack thereof, but by seven, I couldn’t fight any longer and I got in the recliner and was asleep within seconds.
I was awakened by something pressing lightly on my forehead. It was so light that I almost didn’t wake up. As I started to move to wake up, I heard “Shh,” and I stopped to focus on the sound. After a few seconds, I forced my eyes open, blinked a few times to get them to focus, then looked around.
“Steve?” I asked, confused, but happy, when I saw him sitting next to me in one of the rocking chairs.
“Yeah?” he asked, grinning at the look on my face.
“What are you doing here?”
“I told you this morning I was spending New Year’s Eve with you, and that’s what I’m doing.”
“And the party?”
“What about it?”
“Why didn’t you stay?”
“I did.”
I looked at him with narrowed eyes.
“Seriously, I did.”
“‘Seriously’, huh?” I asked, with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, I just didn’t stay very long.”
“How long?”
“Five minutes.”
I huffed and rolled my eyes, in mock irritation, and he just smirked.
“So what, you said ‘hi’ to everyone on your way out the door?”
“Basically,” he replied, with a bit of a cocky smile.
I couldn’t help but giggle, despite myself. “So, what about your parents? Were they upset?”
“No, not at all. Actually, my mom wondered why I was still there when people started coming and I told her what you said.”
“And?”
“She just smiled and laughed.”
I laughed a little.
“She actually made you some homemade Tomato-Basil soup.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, they’re in the fridge.”
“Okay, thanks. How did she know?”
“I told her this morning when I told them that I wasn’t going to stay for the party.”
“Oh. Well, please tell her thank you for me.”
“Will do,” he replied, and reached for my hand.
I smiled, as he intertwined our fingers, and we just sat in silence enjoying each other’s company. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot up my spine and I stiffened.
“You okay?” Steve asked, when he felt me stiffen.
“Yeah, I just think my back is starting to spasm, that’s all.”
Without a word, he let go of my hand and got out of the rocker. He gently and quietly picked Will up off the foot of the recliner and laid him in the one next to me, then took the blanket and put it in the rocker. He put one arm under my knees and gently leaned me forward and wrapped the other around my back. Before I knew it, he picked me up, and in one swift motion put me against his chest, straddling his legs on either side of the footrest and sat down. As he propped his feet on the footrest, I got more comfortable. I ended up with both my legs tangled with his and most of my upper body lying on his chest. I wrapped my arm around his neck, as he grabbed the blanket. Once the blanket was over us, he began moving his hand up and down my back.
“Better?”
I nodded and snuggled into the curve of his neck, and all too soon I felt myself drifting to sleep.
“Elle... Elle,” he whispered, gently shaking me, “wake up.”
“Huh?” I asked, raising my head, a little disoriented.
“You need to wake up.”
“Oh, am I hurting you?” I asked, suddenly worried and quickly tried to move.
“Oh, no,” he chuckled a little, “I just thought you might want to watch the ball drop.”
I immediately relaxed and laid back down, turning a little to see the TV, and put my head on his chest and my arm across his stomach.
“How long was I asleep?” I asked, staring at a crowded Times Square on the muted TV.
“About an hour and a half,” he replied, rubbing my back with one hand and my arm with the other.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“This has to be the worst New Year’s Eve you’ve ever had.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because, you come here to spend time with me and all I do is sleep.”
“Is that why you think it’s the worst?”
“Yeah, I mean, don’t you?”
“Actually, no I don’t.”
I raised my head and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “So, let me get this straight. You would rather spend New Year’s Eve with someone who’s doped up on pain meds, sleeps, and basically leaves you by yourself all night rather than being at a party with other people enjoying yourself?”
“Yes, if I truly care about the person,” he answered, smiling.
“Hmm.” I laid my head back on his chest, with a small smile.
With about twenty seconds to go, I reached up and wrapped my arm around Steve’s neck and whispered in his ear, “Thank you.”
“For what?” he whispered back.
“For just being here.”
“There’s no place I’d rather be.”
I cuddled into the curve of his neck and he laid his head on mine.
“10, 9, 8...” I heard him whisper, a few seconds later, and it sent a shiver down my spine. My lips curved up in anticipation and I felt like the luckiest girl on the planet, and I just closed my eyes and waited.
“...4, 3, 2... Happy New Year, baby.”
I kissed his neck then lifted my head to look at him, and we just stared at each other. I could tell he wanted to kiss me, but was hesitant. After a second, he went to kiss me on the forehead, but before he did, I captured his lips with mine. He immediately, but gently, pulled back and looked into my eyes.
“Are you sure?”
I nodded, and that was all it took. He placed his hand on the back of my head and gently pushed me to him.
“Happy New Year,” I said, just as our lips touched.
The kiss was the sweetest, gentlest, and most loving kiss I’d ever had, let alone on New Year’s, and I realized that not only did I feel like the luckiest girl on the p
lanet, I knew I was.
Chapter 11
As I drove, I noticed the snowflakes beginning to fall on the windshield so I looked out my window briefly before turning back to the road. The trees were glistening with a thin layer of snow and ice and the ground had a dusting of snow on it. It was beautiful and reminded me of a postcard. With a sense of peace, I continued to drive, enjoying the silence. Reaching for my coffee, I heard a subtle snore and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation, and for almost forgetting about the person in the passenger’s seat. Taking a sip, I smiled thinking back over the last two weeks.
By the Wednesday after New Year’s, I was pretty much back to normal. I was able to stay up all day without getting so tired I would need a nap. I could sleep in a bed again, which was great because, as much as I liked watching cable on a bigger TV, my back had started feeling the effects of sleeping in the recliner every night. Also, and most importantly, I was able to eat regular food again. Though I could eat, it did not come without challenges. My gums were healed, but I couldn’t open my mouth without feeling severe pain for the better part of my recovery. I’d experienced “lock jaw” on my left side, which made it somewhat difficult to eat. Luckily, the “lock jaw” had disappeared by yesterday, so I could finally say I was completely recovered.
While it was great to be able to be awake all day, sleep in a bed, and eat like normal again, the best part, by far, of the last two weeks was being able to spend time with Steve. His classes started the week after New Year’s, while I still had another week before mine did. We knew we could still spend time together, once his classes started, but it would be limited, so we made the most of the week as we could.
Seeing that I’d been cooped up in the house for almost a week, unable to do anything or go anywhere, Steve made it a point that we did something to get out of the house, at least half the day. We'd start out the day doing things like going to the movies or the mall, have lunch somewhere, and then go do something else until evening. One day, despite the cold weather, we went to the zoo. That was probably my favorite day because, although there were not as many animals out, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We saw more of the indoor animals like the polar bears, penguins, monkeys, and many more.
As we watched each group of animals interact with each other and their environment, Steve and I were very close. It was difficult for us to be close while we were going from exhibit to exhibit, because of my chair, but as soon as we stopped, he either took my hand or leaned down on the handlebars and intertwined our fingers and I leaned back as he whispered in my ear. When we got to some monkeys, we couldn’t stop laughing. A couple monkeys were arguing with each other and he leaned down and asked me if I thought either one or both of them would throw their poop at the other. I just laughed and shrugged my shoulders and waited. Sure enough, a few seconds later both monkeys ended up with poop all over them. Steve leaned down and put his head on my shoulder and I turned my head into his neck, and our bodies began to shake with laughter. A few seconds later, we heard a couple splatter sounds against the glass and looked and saw two poop spots and two angry monkeys looking at us. We just looked at each other and began laughing again, but even harder.
When we were finally able to stop laughing, we decided to grab some lunch at the Café on the Commons. The restaurant, thankfully, had both indoor and outdoor seating. I remembered to order something I could cut up easily, so I didn’t have to open my mouth too much. Throughout most of lunch we ate in companionable silence just enjoying the food and thinking about the day, but every few minutes we would look at each other and grin. Toward the end, we talked about our other trips to the zoo.
When we finished, we decided to go check out the polar bears, penguins, and the other water creatures. Once we were inside the building, Steve went over to the woman standing by the door and started talking to her then came back over to me. He asked me to take off my seatbelt as he moved my footrests. He backed up, squatted down, and told me to climb on. After making sure he was serious and if he would be okay, I leaned forward, glad I only wore my leather jacket, and wrapped my arms and legs around him. As he stood up, I press myself more against his back and tightened my grip around his waist with my legs, but I let my arms lay against his chest so he could intertwine our fingers. We walked around just watching the animals and enjoying ourselves. When we got to the penguins, we just stopped to watch them and I put my chin on his shoulder. They were so cute, especially the babies cuddled up to their parents. Most of them were on land, but occasionally one would dive into the water and we could watch it as it swam.
After the penguins were the seals and sea lions. They were especially fun because when we put our hands to the glass they would follow us underwater. They also followed us across the glass if we ran, so Steve ran with me on his back to the end of the glass and we laughed so hard at their enjoyment, as well as our own. The ones on land blew us kisses and waved and we did the same back. The polar bears were our last stop in the exhibit. They were so cute and fluffy and I just wanted to take one of the cubs home with me and snuggle with it.
When we got to the reptile building, I felt my gut clench. Thankfully, Steve did the same thing as before, and I gratefully hung on to him. Throughout most of the exhibit I was fine, but as we got closer to the snakes I slightly began to panic. I squeezed his fingers so hard that I could feel him flinch a little and I ducked my head against his upper back.
At my death grip and the feeling of my head on his back, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
I told him, “I’m terrified of snakes.”
He squeezed my fingers, then, with our fingers still intertwined, he wrapped my arms in a bear hug and said, “Keep your eyes closed until we pass them.”
Once we did, I whispered, “Thank you,” in his ear before lightly kissing him on the neck and he just smiled and squeezed my arms even tighter.
By the time we finished seeing every animal, minus the snakes, it was almost four so we just decided to go back to his place. On the way back, I asked, “Does it feel weird being in the passenger seat instead of driving?”
He said, “No.” After a moment he asked, “Why are you so afraid of snakes?”
I explained, “I don’t know really. I used to not be, but then over time, I became more and more afraid of them.”
He looked at me confused and said, “Oh.”
I laughed a little. “I know. It doesn’t make sense. But that’s all I’ve got.” I shrugged my shoulders and asked, “Do you have any phobias?”
He proceeded to tell me and the conversation was so easy and didn’t miss a beat, and the whole time his hand was on my thigh since I was driving and it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
When we got to Steve’s, he got us something to drink while I went to the bathroom. When I came back into the living room, he was just putting our drinks on the coffee table and sitting down on the couch. Putting my chair next to the couch, I took off my shoes then less than gracefully sat next to him and folded my legs under me. Once I was comfortable, he handed me my Pepsi and we sat there in silence for several minutes. After taking several drinks, I handed it back to him and laid my head on his shoulder then yawned and shivered. Seeing me shiver and yawn, he grabbed the afghan from the back of the couch then kicked off his shoes and laid down. Once I was comfortably on top of him, with our legs tangled together, my arm across his stomach, and my head using his chest as a pillow, he put the afghan over us then reached up and shut the lamp off, and within minutes we were both asleep.
An hour later, a low rumble and vibration against my stomach woke me. I just laid there, with a small smile, unwilling to move. It wasn’t until Steve started to mumble that I even opened my eyes. When he tightened his grip on me, I put my arm on his chest and looked up at him. We just stared at each other until we both heard the rumble again and began to laugh.
After placing a kiss on the top of my head, he began to sit up, but when I tried to pull away I couldn’
t. After looking, we realized that I was stuck to his sweater. The diamond in my earring had gotten caught as I slept. Gently and slowly, so not to snag his sweater or hurt me, he pulled both items apart.
Once everything was okay, Steve took our glasses in the kitchen while I put my earrings in the empty pill bottle then went to the bathroom. Noticing how I looked, I immediately splashed some water on my face and tried to fix my hair. Realizing after about five minutes that it was not going to get any better, no matter how hard I tried, I smoothed down my shirt and headed into the kitchen.
Both of us were hungry, but neither one of us wanted to cook so we ordered a pizza. While we waited, we decided to play War. We were so engrossed in the game that we did not hear the pizza guy until the second knock. After Steve refilled our drinks and I got us both a slice of pizza, we resumed the game. All throughout dinner, we laughed, grunted and sighed in frustration, and even screamed in satisfaction. It was the most fun I’d had during dinner for as long as I could remember.
By the time we were both full, no one had won and neither one of us wanted to stop so we decided to go back in the living room to be more comfortable. I decided to take everything, besides Steve’s cards, into the other room, while he put the pizza away. Carrying a deck of cards, both my piles, and two drinks, one of which was between my legs, while driving was a little more challenging than I originally thought, but I managed. When Steve came in, I was already sitting comfortably just waiting.
Two hours later, we flipped over the same card and dealt for war. I was anxious because I realized if I won the war, I won the game. Throughout the game, especially in the last two hours, both of us had had chances to win, but somehow the other ended up winning the draw when they needed to. After counting our cards out, we both counted to ‘Three’ and flipped our cards simultaneously. Seeing the cards, I let out a loud squeal and threw my arms up, and Steve just laughed.
I was so excited that I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips, a little more forcefully than I intended, against his. What was intended to be a quick and playful kiss, turned into more when his shock wore off and he put his hand behind my head and deepened it. Without breaking contact, Steve pushed the cards onto the floor and I scooted to him and straddled his lap. With our bodies touching, my grip tightened around his neck and his hands went to my hips. I felt his hands go under my shirts and I shivered and moaned in pleasure into his mouth, as the kisses deepened.
Something New & Unexpected Page 9