The Bird and the Worm

“I get to wake up next to you this time. How nice.”

He cracked a tired smile and touched my face. “Good morning to you too, love.” Gently, he touched his lips to my forehead, his thumb skimming my cheek for a moment. “I hope you slept well.” It was amazing that even in the morning, Brian’s voice could be so smooth. Not even heaven could be this amazing. He smiled against my skin, and I released a quiet sigh, relaxing into his smooth form even more. “I know I did.”

My lips kissed the only thing they could reach- his neck- because I was much, much too comfortable with my face buried in his shoulder, at the center of his very becoming Brian-ish scent, to make the effort to kiss his lips. “I was warm enough, if that tells you anything,” I murmured, my voice barely audible past his skin. He chuckled softly, and his throat vibrated with the sound. I sighed again in content as both of his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer.

“I’m glad to know that I’m a suitable bedmate,” he teased, pressing his smooth lips to my hair.

I lifted my head from the crook of his neck, raising an eyebrow and smiling a little. “Suitable?” He laughed softly, his hand running along my spine. “Much more than just suitable, love.” His gaze flickered from my eyes to my lips for half a second, and I tried a tired version of my ‘Angelina Jolie’ eye trick before kissing him very lightly.

He kissed me back for the few moments that I allowed our lips to remain connected, and I ran my foot along his calf, my toes skimming along his skin. In response, he pulled me closer.

We were silent for a few moments, his eyes staring into mine, his gentle touch on my back, and it was enough for me to wake up to.

“I think I owe you breakfast in bed,” he finally murmured, and he let his lips lift into my favorite lopsided grin, even though it was a more tired version, considering he looked like he’d already been awake for a couple of hours. For a second, I felt bad for giving him a hard time about not being able to wake up beside him. And then he moved one of his hands from my back, folding it tenderly around one of mine, and my heart melted. “Pancakes?”

I wrinkled my nose.

“You’re right. Bad memories.” He chuckled, kissing my knuckles. “What about eggs?” I smiled. “Over easy, right?” Once again, he knew he was right. He kissed my knuckles again, another kind of smile forming slowly on his features. “I’ll be back.” He gave me a soft kiss, and then he slid smoothly out of bed, turning his head over his shoulder to wink at me before pulling on the boxers that had been tossed aside the night before.

I pulled the blanket over my chest, quirking an eyebrow and settling into the bed. “I’ll be right here, love.” I winked back, and then he disappeared into the hallway. Relaxing against the headboard and closing my eyes, I could hear his low footfalls, and then I heard pots and pans moving around before I heard the stove being turned on and sizzling eggs being dropped into the frying pan.

The first thing I noticed about this room, now that Brian wasn’t in it for the moment, was the smell. It smelled like sex in here. I wrinkled my nose a little, but I figured it was nothing that couldn’t be solved by a load of laundry. With the right fabric softener, these sheets would smell pretty again, and Brian could spend all the time in the world on this bed in order to make it smell like him again.

Just the thought of that scent made me subconsciously sense it more than the sex musk, even though the latter was much more present than the former. I could definitely appreciate this, so I remained relaxed until I heard Brian’s knuckles knocking gently on the doorframe.

Slowly, I opened my eyes, and he walked over to me, setting the tray in my lap and propping it up appropriately, slipping into bed beside me, careful not to disturb the food. “Eggs, bacon, and a glass of orange juice,” he said, kissing the side of my head. “And as if I’m not being stereotypical enough, I had to do this, too.” He pulled a rose from behind his back, and he held it out for me, twirling it a little between his fingers. “I thought it would look nice mixed in with the ones I gave you yesterday.”

I set the rose beside the plate and folded my hand into his. “I love you, Brian.”

He flashed a small smile. “Yeah. I know. I love you too.” I heard a small sigh, and lips gently touched my temple. “Now eat. You look hungry, and you can always cook for me later.” I felt him crack a smile, and he laughed shortly before kissing my temple again.

I blushed a little. “Brian…” I whined.

“What, love?”

“You’re distracting me.” The words came out so matter-of-factly that he snickered before finally pulling back, and he attempted to pull his hand from mine, but I held on tight, glancing over at him with a raised eyebrow. “It’s not your fault you’re gorgeous, though.” He scoffed, and I adjusted a little in the bed before taking a dainty bite of the eggs he’d made me. “Pepper?” I asked him, past my mouthful of food, and he nodded, laughing a little. “Yum.” I chewed a little bit more before swallowing, savoring the taste as it disappeared down my throat. Jesus. He was a better cook than I was.

Satisfied, I picked up another bite, and bit by bit, I finished the breakfast before me, savoring the taste of the bacon that differed so much from the flavor of the eggs, and I finally washed it all down with the orange juice provided. Brian waited patiently beside me, always silent, watching my reactions so that he knew what to make for me next time.

The tray was easily pushed aside, and he pulled me close to his partly-clothed body as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my bare form to his. He didn’t seem too bothered. He simply touched his forehead to mine, turning his head side to side, brushing our noses together, grinning like a fool. “This is how it should have been yesterday,” he said, and I kissed him shortly to silence him.

“I’m fine with how yesterday went,” I returned, and he scoffed, but went with it. Wriggling myself closer to him, I caught his bottom lip between my teeth, tugging at it playfully, and I giggled a little when I pulled back to see the eyebrow he was raising at me. “Sheesh. This room smells.” The eyebrow was raised further. “We haven’t exactly been discussing the national debt at night, you know.” He simply chuckled, and as he shifted in the bed so that he was sitting at the edge, I wrapped my legs around his waist so that I was perched on his lap. “I still have to get dressed, you know.”

He shook his head. “No you don’t. I don’t care if you stay like that.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Maybe you don’t, but the open windows might.”

Once again, his laughter filled my ears. “You have a point.” He let go of me, and I winked at him before picking up my panties and then plucking one of his white T-shirts from a drawer that had been left open, putting both articles of clothing on before returning to him. I added a little swing to my hips, feeling playful, and I smiled as he set his hands on my hips, resting his head on my torso. “You’re so soft,” he murmured.

“That’s your shirt, silly,” I teased, and he shook his head, groaning playfully. His arms slid around me, and I let my arms wrap around his head, holding him close to me.

I bit my lip as we remained like this. It was ridiculous that all of this felt so natural. He was acting like I’d been his girlfriend forever, and I was acting like I’d been his wife for years. I didn’t really understand it, but because it felt so right, above all things, I went with it. I could imagine that he’d closed his eyes, and I let the fingers of one hand slide through his hair. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to have something like this with someone,” he murmured, and a loving smile spread across my lips as his touched the shirt about where my bellybutton would be.

“What, you’re actually comfy down there?”

He nodded against my torso, and I bit my lip- it actually tickled a little, with his breath breezing along my torso like that. I couldn’t believe that this was the same Brian Haner that, two days ago, had been off in another country, treating his guitar like it was something to have sex with, fitting the description for ultimate badass. It was a little difficult to figure out the ease of the transition from Synyster Gates on stage to Brian Haner at home, but Brian didn’t seem to care.

He stayed nuzzled against my stomach, and I stood there, beside our bed, with my arms wrapped around his head, like we were a husband and wife that had just connected on a whole new level that didn’t involve sex at all. “You amaze me,” I whispered, though I never intended for him to hear it.

“You amaze me more,” he said gently, and I felt a tear slip from my eye.

Biting my lip, I touched my hand to his chin, tilting his head so that he was looking up at me. He offered my favorite impish smile, and I gave him my most earnest smile in return. A new expression crossed his features in response, and he rose from the bed, his arms never leaving my waist.

Except for the hand that smoothly brushed away the tear hanging from my chin. “Why the tears, love?”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing.” Right after that, I sniffled, and another tear fell. “Really, I’m…” He shook his head, curling his fingers under my chin, and his chocolate eyes gazed into mine, trying to understand. “I swear, I’m fine, it’s just…”

“Just what?” he asked gently.

I tried a smile; it didn’t work well. “Nobody’s said anything like that to me before, and you just said it…so easily...” He sighed, his eyes flashing with something new, and then he pulled me to his chest. Gratefully, I buried my face in his shoulder, and he was already brushing a hand over my hair over and over, his other arm holding me tight. Confused as to why his words had made me react like this, I tried to stop. I really did. “I love you,” I breathed.

“I know, love. I love you too. I really do. Now please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Jesus. He was trying so hard. I groaned, frustrated with myself. “It’s not your fault you’re so freaking perfect,” I mumbled, most of my words lost in the crook of his neck, but he seemed to get the general gist of it. “I mean, you make it so easy for me to fall in love with you, and then you’re my boyfriend, and then…and then you want me to marry you.” I pulled my head from his shoulder, dumbfounded, and as soon as I met his very confused gaze, all I could do was blink twice.

He furrowed his brow, catching a loose strand of my hair between his fingers, tucking it behind my ear. “So…you’re upset because I asked you to marry me?” he tried, an awkward expression on his face. I groaned, shaking my head, trying to sort my thoughts out properly. “So it’s because you think I’m too perfect for you.” He cracked a smile, and then he was laughing.

I stared at him, mouth wide open, astounded. How could he laugh at me at a time like this?

“And here- here I thought- I thought you were- I thought you were so much smarter than me!”

He sank back onto the bed, covering his mouth, clamping his eyes shut. Sighing, I ran my hand over my hair, trying to understand why he was laughing.

But that only lasted for about five seconds, right up until I realized that one, his laughter was a beautiful sound, and two, it was the most contagious thing on the planet. At first, I laughed a little, and then we were in the same position as before. His arms slid around my waist, and I sank down onto the bed beside him, which accidentally brought the both of us to a lying-down position. “All this time, you’ve been convinced that you’re the only one in this relationship that feels lucky to have someone like this.” I pouted at him. “Heather, love, don’t you have any idea how lucky you make me feel?”

“Huh?”

“Come here.” He caught my face between his hands, and then he pulled me closer, pressing his lips to mine with earnest. At first, I thought that he would part his lips, slide his tongue out, convince me to let him in, and then do dirty, passionate things to me, but they remained solidly against mine, determined to make a point. I was breathless when he pulled back, and he knew it. I still didn’t get where all of this came from. On a mission to make sure I understood, he folded both of his hands around my left, his gaze connecting with mine.

He was trying so hard.

“You make me feel happier than Michelle ever did. I meant what I said last night. I’d rather spend my life waking up next to you than spend my life next to a woman like her.” He was sounding a little like Edward Cullen, but I was beginning to understand. “The words ‘changed my life’ don’t even begin to cut it.” His breath was heavy, something I’d never seen with him before, and the way his face was set made me think he was desperate for me to know my worth.

We were silent for a while after that. We were silent for a very long time after that. It didn’t matter. I was finally beginning to get it, and so was he.