“Yes. Yes! Of course. I just don’t want you to feel, I dunno, pressured or something—”

“I’m perfectly capable of thinking for myself, thank you very much.”

“I know that. It’s just…I can’t…” I swallowed hard and traced my fingers along the curve of her jaw. “I find it hard to believe this is happening.”

“Well, it won’t be happening if you keep talking so damn much.”

“Yeah—that’s—I mean that’s true.” I let out a nervous laugh. “Sorry.” I shook my head. Raising her hips Connie pulled off her underwear, throwing them somewhere behind me, and I decided to follow suit. I leaned over her again, pressed my forehead against hers. For the briefest of seconds, there was a softness, a fondness in her eyes that I had never seen before, nothing more than a flash and it was gone, and I wished that I could have captured it and held it in my memory forever. “You’re so beautiful, Connie.”

Even in the dark, I could see her blush before she frowned. “Don’t be such a twat,” she scoffed before she leaned in once again, her breath hot against my lips, and I leaned too.

* * * *

“Stop. Fucking. Kicking. Me.”

“Huh?” I heard myself grumble. I scrunched my eyes before forcing them open to behold a mass of tangled hair.

“I’m going to smother you with my pillow if you kick me one more time,” came the reply, which I managed to piece together as Connie’s. Connie. I couldn’t help the smile that broke out, hidden by her locks, and took a moment to gauge the situation. Her bare body was pressed up against mine and I had an arm wrapped tight around her waist. I pulled back in the hopes of taking a look at the alarm clock on the bedside table, but as soon as I moved, her head snapped around.

“Where are you going?” She mumbled, her voice laced with something I recognized as worry. I suppressed a snicker and lay back down.

“Nowhere.”

Her eyebrows furrowed together and to my undisguised surprise she rolled over, nestling up against me. She slung an arm across my torso possessively and snuggled in closer, all without opening an eye. She buried her head in the crook of my neck. “Don’t say a fucking thing,” she grumbled, clearly anticipating a teasing of some kind. I let myself smile and held her close, falling back asleep with Connie curled up against me and a feeling bursting through my chest that I couldn’t dare to name.

When I woke up again the bed was cold. Connie was pacing the room in nothing but an impossibly short silk dressing gown and I watched her for a moment, captivated.

“Morning.”

She shot me something resembling a glare, but there was no real malice to it. “About bleedin’ time you woke up. It’s after twelve. Orla poked her head in a while back to see if you were alright.”

“What can I say?” I grinned, stretching out my arms. “Her bed is comfy.”