Room 227 | Sunday Morning

[necroslacker]

Sam hadn't slept last night. Usually, that wasn't a huge deal since he tended to sleep alone but now that he was living with his girlfriend, it was kind of hard to hide that from her at the very least. He'd laid there for awhile and then he'd gotten up and puttered around the room and eventually went for a walk.

Look, he'd been trying hard to make sure those ghosts didn't appear at night, okay? It was either not sleeping or wearing the pouch and he chose...not sleeping. Because he was an idiot.

But, he was awake now. He had a bowl of cereal in front of him, his skateboard laying wheels up next to his hip and his back against the foot of the bed. A few records were near his feet and one of them was on the record player, filling the room with quiet music.

But hey, he hadn't been entirely unproductive this past weekend. He'd gone into town, gotten himself a job, and now he was eating cereal and was about to fix up his skateboard.

So, things...could be worse.

[Door closed, post open!]

Comments

[whenshewasnice]

"About doing this." Trying to solve the situation because living together meant walking away wasn't a feasible option. "I'm not good at... patching things up."

She was sure he knew that.

[necroslacker]

He did know that, yeah. He was kinda the same way.

"There's not really anything to patch up." He was sad, sure, but he wasn't mad. He could see her side of things. "I'm just a little sad right now."

The irritation had ebbed away.

[whenshewasnice]

"I know," Natalie sighed. "And I'm sorry." That wasn't something she'd meant to cause. In fact, it was something she'd really, really wanted to avoid for as long as possible. (Sadness, she felt, was inevitable.) "It still feels like something I should be patching up."

[necroslacker]

"I'll be okay."

He knew he'd gotten past worse stuff than this and this wasn't even that bad. She wasn't at fault, she hadn't broken up with him, but, you know, talk of endings could make a lot of people sad.

"It's okay."

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie sighed again, because she did know. And she couldn't say she didn't understand. She did. She just thought of things in a different way.

"You know, I moved in with you to make sure we make the best of the summer."

[necroslacker]

Sam closed his eyes very briefly at how it sounded like summer was all they were going to have. He just wasn't ready to think that way yet and he didn't know if he'd ever catch up to her. He breathed quietly.

"Yeah, I know." And he did. "I'm not trying to stick a fork in that plan, Natalie. I want to do that too."

[whenshewasnice]

"And I don't know what's going to happen after the summer any more than you do," Natalie added, quietly. Still leaning her head against his neck. "Maybe we'll keep dating. Maybe we won't. But I want this summer to be... great. I want to be happy. And I want to be that with you."

[necroslacker]

"I want you to be happy too."

He really, really did.

"And I'm not going anywhere, Natalie. I'm not trying to wiggle away or make excuses on things. I want what you want. I do. You deserve to be happy and if that means staying with me, then, well, that just makes me lucky."

[whenshewasnice]

"Mm." She kissed the back of his neck just lightly, and relaxed a little more against him. "And I want you to be happy too. And I want to be lazy with you, and enjoy waking up next to you, and talking to you last thing before I fall asleep."

[necroslacker]

"I want that too," he murmured because who wouldn't want that? He wanted to be happy and he wanted to be with her. Happiness had been elusive for him for awhile but he'd been feeling it with her quite a bit. He leaned back against her and closed his eyes.

[whenshewasnice]

"And," she murmured, because it just seemed like a good moment to try and reassure both of them that things were okay, really, "I want your records and your skateboard stuff, not for me but around me. Because they're you. And you're my slacker."

[necroslacker]

"I didn't know you wanted a slacker in your life," he said jokingly. He turned to look over his shoulder at her. "Maybe it was something you never knew you wanted until you got it?"

He even half smiled at her.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie gave him a faint smile in return. "Could be," she murmured. "I do want you now that you're here."

[necroslacker]

"Yeah. I'm here."

He nodded and smiled slightly again.

"I'm not going anywhere."

[whenshewasnice]

"Good." She nodded too, and reached to kiss his cheek. "I don't want you to."

[necroslacker]

"Okay."

He nodded and closed his eyes, leaning a little further back into her and sighing. He wasn't tense anymore which was good because he hated how his shoulders ached during all that. Right now, he was...content. All of that had been really nice to hear.

He'd needed it.

[whenshewasnice]

Natalie shifted a little, just so she could lean forward against him a little more comfortably. She let her arms stay relaxed around him.

She'd needed to say it, too.

[necroslacker]

"I'll sleep tonight," he said quietly. "I promise."

He'd wear the pouch if he had to. But, he would sleep.

[whenshewasnice]

"Thank you," Natalie murmured. She didn't care if it was something you didn't generally thank people for. It put some of her mild worries to rest, so she was thankful. "It's appreciated."

[necroslacker]

He nodded again.

"I can't promise I'll sleep the whole night but I won't leave," he told her quietly. "I'll stick around the room and do stuff if I can't get back to sleep."

[whenshewasnice]

"You can leave if you feel like it," she told him just as quietly. "Just as long as you come back. And I'll be there to soothe you when you try falling asleep tonight."

[necroslacker]

"I'll always come back."

Come on, he couldn't stay away from her long.

"You're gonna soothe me?" His smiled widened some. "How?"

[whenshewasnice]

"Don't know yet," Natalie said with a little shrug, dropping a kiss on his shoulder. "Could read to you, maybe. Or rub your back. Or ––" And this one was more of a joke. "–– I guess we could have the kind of sex that tires you out and let the afterglow lull you into sleep. Many possibilities."

[necroslacker]

Sam laughed and it surprised him because he hadn't expected it. He shook his head and looked back over his shoulder at her.

"You went from things that are rated G -- " Though he supposed rubbing his back could turn into something rated higher than that.... " -- to things that are rated R. Though, you sounded a little unsure of that last one."

[whenshewasnice]

"It's called being funny, Sam," Natalie retorted. And hey, it had totally worked, too. "And I don't know if that last one was any more unsure than the others."