Ever So Slightly

Will doesn’t turn to face me as we walk through the bedroom door, but speaks, in a low voice, as though not to wake someone.

‘You know when I said I wasn’t tired?’ he yawns. ‘Well…it wasn’t entirely true.’

I giggle quietly, and watch him as he pulls off his shirt, before realising that meant he was getting undressed. I turn away politely and retrieve the t-shirt I’d worn last night, peeling off my own clothes and dragging it over my head.

Remembering him tidying up earlier, I pick up my discarded clothes and fold them, taking them to the wardrobe where Will was placing his own - in his boxers.

I flush, and my cheeks grow hot as I try not to stare at him. I squat to drop my pile into the bottom of the wardrobe and stand up again.

The gap between us is now so small that I can feel his body heat radiating off him and curling under my nose, bringing back that faint smell I could recognise anywhere. I step back, blushing, and push my hair behind my ears, starting to make my way towards the bed. Thrusting the duvet to the side I climb in and replace it, relishing it’s cosiness but missing the warmth of William’s body.

A couple of minutes after having gone in, William emerges from the bathroom, giving me I a lazy smile as he climbs into bed next to me. I shuffle nearer to him and lay my head on his arm, wriggling to get comfortable as he slides his other to my waist, pulling me into him.

I feel his head nudging mine slightly and his lips find their way to my ear as he whispers, ‘I’m so glad you’re staying.’

I go to reply, but am cut off by his mouth as it opens gently against mine, willing me to respond in a different kind of way. I oblige, mirroring my lips against his and curling my arms round his waist, sliding my hands up the warm skin of his back. He breathes out heavily through his nose, and runs his tongue across my upper lip, parting it from my lower and grazing my tongue ever so slightly.

This is so unlike any kiss I’ve ever had - free from the rush of a goodbye, the lust of an non mutual desire, free from the excessive saliva of a fumble in the dark - so perfect it seems as though it might crack the moment I stop long enough to think about it. So I don’t, instead dancing my tongue against his for the longest time, relishing the taste of his mouth, savoring the texture of his skin.

As our kiss slows pace, Will slips his hand from my hair to my cheek, pressing softly as though worried I would leave. He gradually pulls away though, dropping his head onto the pillow, and touching his forehead to mine.

As I relax into the cool sheets, I feel Will’s hand curl up behind his back to link with mine. Bringing it to his mouth, he presses his warm lips to it - and this is how we fall asleep. Intertwined - bodies; hands and foreheads together like they’d been meant to fit that way.