Stay With Me

“Sydney! Sydney!”

I didn’t lift my head to see who was trying to get my attention. My nose was buried in a book that I didn’t want to turn away from.

A warm hand rested on my shoulder and lips pressed against my head.

“Okay, you should wear that shirt more often because I like seeing more skin,” Danny whispered, fingering the strap of my shirt on my left shoulder. “But would you want to sing with us when we do our gig in London?”

Ignoring his first statement, I nodded my head in response. “Sure. What song?”

“Rockin’ Robin or Walk in the Sun. You’ll get to do harmony on that one.”

My eyes never left my book, “You pick. I like both songs a lot.”

“Walk in the Sun?” he kissed my neck.

“That’s fine. When do we practice?”

Danny kissed my neck a few more times, “We can work on it tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,” I replied, zoning back into my book completely.

The feeling of Danny’s fingers trailing from my shoulder to the middle of my upper arm distracted me from my reading.

“What are you doing, Danny?” I asked, feeling his lips press against my shoulder.

“Enjoying your skin,” he answered, moving his lips to my neck again.

I reached my left hand back to scratch his head when I noticed that both my shirt strap and bra strap were half-way down my upper arm. Instead, I smacked Danny’s head.

“Ow! What did I do?” he whined.

“You don’t have to undress me to kiss me, Danny.”

“But I wasn’t!” Danny protested. “They were just in the way!”

I pulled the straps back up to my shoulder and I turned to look at Danny. “This is why I don’t wear shirts like this; one, I’m too modest for this kind of shirt and two, you end up all over me.”

“I wasn’t all over you!” Danny disagreed. “If kissing your shoulder is ‘all over you’ then I guess I’ll have to lay-off kissing you all together!”

“I’m not telling you to stop kissing me!” I retaliated and then softened my voice. “I just want you to respect my boundaries.”

Danny put his hands on his head in frustration and squatted down in front of me. “I do respect your boundaries! I can’t help that you look fit in that! I just wanted to kiss you and I made sure I didn’t upset you. Apparently I did anyway.”

“Danny, you pulled not only my shirt strap down but my bra strap, too. What am I supposed to think?”

“That I’m your boyfriend who loves you and wants to kiss you to show you just how much I love you,” he answered, grabbing my hand and staring at me intensely.

“But that doesn’t–”

“Will you marry me?” Danny asked over my talking.

“–give you the… wait, what?!” I questioned, his words finally registering in my head.

Danny didn’t even blink an eye. “Will you marry me?”

All my thoughts stopped, but my heart raced and my hands started to shake. My mouth opened to answer him, but I only squeaked. I cleared my throat and held up my finger to tell him to hold on a second; thinking how to answer him in the right way.

Finally, I spoke up.

“Danny,” I paused, “I-I don’t think we’re ready… not now, at least.”

I saw the pain in his eyes and I immediately cupped his face in my hands.

“I love you, Danny, but we’re not ready to get married, especially after the argument we just had.” I combed Danny’s hair with my fingers in a loving manner, “We’ve just gotta wait for the right time to come around.”

Danny still looked hurt, but I could tell he understood my reasoning.

Frowning sadly, I pulled Danny’s head to my chest and I ran my fingers through his hair, ignoring his hair tickling my skin.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered into his hair.

He never said a word and after a few minutes, I made him look at me.

“Please say something. You’re scaring me with your silence.”

Danny looked down, “I was going to ask you on Valentine's Day, but I panicked… I get the guts to ask you now and it’s the wrong time… How am I supposed to know the right time?”

“I wish I knew, but I think you’ll know when.” I game him a tiny smile, “You know, three is my lucky number.”

“Okay…”

I tapped his nose with my finger, “It took me two guys until I got to you; I spent three years in America and on Nathan’s third birthday, I made it back to England; and twice already you’ve taken the action to marry me. Three is my lucky number.”

“So you’re saying that the next time I ask you, you’ll–”

My lips brushed against his to interrupt him, “Yes, but don’t ask now. You should wait.”

He frowned and I kissed him again.

“Love is patient, love is kind,” I quoted to him with a smile on my face.

“Don’t go all Bible smart on me,” Danny whined.

“I’m just reminding you of my beliefs.” I kissed his cheek, “I’m proud of you for knowing where it came from. Question is, can you tell me what book it’s from?”

“The Bible,” he answered, confused with my question.

I giggled, “Yeah, but there’s sixty-six smaller books in it and I want you to tell me which one.”

“I have no clue,” Danny replied. “I didn’t even know there could be books inside bigger books.”

My giggle rang out again and I kissed him deeply.

“It’s from 1 Corinthians,” I said against his lips. “I know it’s in chapter thirteen, but the verse escapes my mind.”

“Three?” he questioned into the kiss.

I pulled away and smiled at him. “Let’s find out.”

Quickly, I reached for my Bible and flipped through the pages. I found the right book and chapter, but I had to find the start of my underlining to find the verse.

A grin grew on my face, “It’s actually verse four, but three was a good guess. You win.”

“What do I win?”

Smiling shyly, I closed the large book in my hands and set it on my table. “I’ll let you, um, be my sleeping buddy tonight.”

Danny grinned, “Whoo! I think I like this prize.”

“You’re only sleeping in my bed. No funny business, okay?”

He kissed my forehead, “Only if I can kiss you while you sleep.”

My cheeks flushed and I wrapped my arms around his neck. “No funny business,” I stressed.

“Alright,” Danny agreed and then rushed to my bathroom to obviously use it.

I rolled my eyes and then I crawled into my bed, shutting off my light on the way. My night light flipped on and I watched it change colors before my eyes.

Slowly my eyes shut and my mind began to slip into my dreams, but the sound of my bathroom door opening woke me up.

I felt Danny get in my bed and then wrap his arms around my waist, pulling me close so my back was against his chest. I smiled feeling his skin on my exposed skin.

“You sleeping yet?” Danny whispered, kissing me just behind my ear.

“No,” I replied back. “I was close to it, though.”

He started giving me butterfly kisses along my shoulder and neck, “Sorry.”

I turned my body so I was facing him and I buried my face in the crook of his neck. “I don’t mind.”

Silence filled the room for a while until I decided to move my head to lay against his chest.

Like a cat, I rubbed my head against him a few times and curled up in a ball.

“What was that?” he snickered, stroking my head.

I kissed his chest and sighed. “I don’t know.”

Danny chuckled softly and began to rub his hand up and down my arm, from my shoulder to my elbow.

Goosebumps showed up all over my body and it made me cuddle into Danny more.

“Meh,” I mumbled, not getting real words to come out of my mouth.

He chuckled again and stopped rubbing my arm. “Sorry. Go to sleep, love.”

“With pleasure,” I said quietly, putting the curve of my nose where his jaw line started.

Soon my mind went blank as I feel asleep, only Danny’s touch and the sound of his breathing penetrating my dreams.