Stay With Me

"Alli, wake up," Piper's soft voice was close to my ear.

"Baby," I opened my eyes slowly and looked at Sean.

"Hi babe," I said sleepily. His fingers traced the outline of my face. His smile was bright, gleaming, happy.

"Good job tonight," I spoke softly.

"Thanks, I told you it was all for you baby," the way he said baby was so quiet, it made me want to just stay in that moment. A blush went over my cheeks as I smiled, "I wanna tell you something," his voice was strained, scared. I tried to sit up, but my body was weak with fear and sleepiness.

"Okay," I murmured. Sean got off of his knees and sat next to me on the couch. He pulled me close to his chest; he was so warm. I laid my head on his chest. I felt him take a deep, shaky breath.

"Alli, I-I lo- I won the game for you um because," Sean's stuttering made me nervous, "b-because I really, really, really, really like you Alli." his eyes were closed. I looked up at him as he continued. "I don't know how to say this, I'm terrified of how you're going to react, but," he paused and took a deep breath, "I love you..." his voice was quiet. So quiet. Was I supposed to hear that? I didn't know what to say, or how to react. I saw him open his eyes, and I panicked. I didn't know if I was gonna cry, have an anxiety attack or give him the wrong impression. I blinked hard, the tightness in my throat and I took a deep breath.

"Wait," I choked out. I felt the tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Baby, down cry. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have told you this..." I shook my head as the pads of his thumbs gently wiped my tears away.

"I love you too," I opened my eyes and I saw him smiling just like he was before. I smiled back at him. I saw Sean's eyes look at me, and I looked up at him. The way he looked at me made my self-conscious, but the way his eyes stared into mine. The more I looked, the closer we got. My heartbeat was going insane; could he hear it? Sean grazed my lips, it felt like butterfly wings touching my skin. My eyes flickered open and I glanced up at him through my lashes. I watched as his hand pushed my hair away from my eyes, his hand locked there and my eyes flashed to him. My heart sped faster as he got closer to me. My lips parted as his softly pressed against mine. My arm wrapped around his neck to pull us closer. I pulled away slightly and looked at him.

"You're gorgeous," he said softly before capturing my lips with his again.