After D had closed her bedroom door, Joe turned off the movie and flipped through the channels without being able to focus on anything. Somehow this evening had been a bit of a mess. He really couldn’t quite say what had made it so important to stay here, when it was purely his staying on the sofa
With scenes of a relationship flying by – Danny going shopping with him for Sarah; first evening in her dorm room; the concert; a few days of trying to get her out of his head; waking up in the hospital; his escaping his parents’ house on crutches; first night together in her dorm room… He forced h
Deep down D was incredibly relieved that his question hadn’t been what she had expected. He could ask about Pete all he wanted. That was fine. No problem there. She would answer more or less truthfully – whatever she saw fit – and that was it. The thing she really couldn’t have him ask about was wha
He had almost nodded off, when the noise of the bedroom door snapped him back into consciousness. He was instantly wide awake again, his heart beating wildly. “Joe?” It was just a whisper from the end of the sofa where he had dropped the back cushions. “You still awake?” Hearing her actually say
She didn’t answer right away. He nudged her shoulder with his chin. “Answer please.” “It is kind of an experiment, yeah.” “Well, great!” he exclaimed, “and you just lie here and flat-out admit it? That’s pretty shocking! But well - since we’re here, I guess I will just conduct my own experiments
“So, is the alligator pretending to be asleep now?” she asked and started slowly running her fingers down the back of his nose. “It’s still very dangerous,” he whispered with a soft chuckle, “You better make sure you don’t provoke it. Even when it’s sleeping it’s an unpredictable threat! “Oh reall
Joe would have loved to ignore the wake-up signal from his watch. His first impulse was to turn it off and just go back to sleep. But then Sarah and the fact that he was supposed to have breakfast with her this morning snuck into his dreamy mind and made a peaceful continuation of his sleep imposs
“Here, be my guest. Do you want to maybe bring Sarah her stuff too, while you’re at it?” There was an angel’s smile on her face. Joe cocked his head at her. She was bluffing, and he knew it. “Sure, I can do that,” he said coolly. ”I might have to explain to her how the stuff got from your bedside
“Let’s try,” she whispered and moved her hand down to his stomach.“Okay,” he put his hand back ontop of hers and slid his fingers between hers.It took only minutes until her breathing slowed down and a slight twitching of her hand told him that she was asleep again.Listening to her breathing and
Joe woke up around three, feeling really thirsty.It took him a second to grasp where he was (not in the cabin anymore) and that he was not alone.The realization caused a flash of excitement.D was sleeping far on her side of the bed.He remembered how she had always used to do that. No matter how
He was going for a mind-sweeping kiss here – one that would swipe her mind of any reservations there might still be. Even if, right now, she didn’t seem very reserved anyway. But he’d rather be absolutely sure…His own reservations were all gone by now. And having her so close just confirmed that ke
Three minutes later Joe returned, a chocolate bar in his left hand and a glass of milk in his right.“I see chocolate,” D chirped with a greedy grin. She had sat up and was leaning against the headboard. “Come here…” Like a lazy princess she waved for him to come over.Stopping at his desk, Joe set
“I don’t wanna mess this up…” he said, his gaze on the bedcover beside her head, his hand tracing one of the lines in the pattern.“Didn’t exactly feel like you were in the process of messing things up,” she said softly and reached out to touch his face.“You don’t think so, huh?” He leaned into her
Joe pushed himself away from the windowsill.“Guess I’ve really earned a jerk medal,” he contemplated as he stepped around the bed to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t pick up.”“Mhmm,” D growled, trying hard to unwaveringly hold his gaze as he came closer. “And you’re hopefully also sorry that you didn’t ca
He shrugged and kept glaring out the window. This had become kind of a habit - turning his back on people and staring into space. It was a bad habit he had developed thanks to Liz. It just helped him focus or stay composed, and it made it easier to get through situations he would rather avoid altoge
What she had before her, was part of the job ads from Saturday’s paper. One of the ads had her company’s swan logo on it. It was the ad for one of the jobs in London.Joe had gotten up from the bed again and returned to his desk. He pulled out the chair and sat down on it backwards so he was facing
D was rising from the bed with the intention to follow him. Only that she was momentarily strangely overwhelmed by something. Something indefinable that affected her more deeply than anything had in a long time.When it only got worse once she stepped out on the landing, a moist wave from the bathro