38 ~ Sour as Shego-2

Once she'd made her hot chocolate, she took my hand and took me back into the living room. Her hand was really warm from holding her mug, but mine was probably even warmer from nerves, not to mention disgusting and sweaty. She either didn't seem to mind or didn't notice it. She stopped us in front of the fort and knelt down to prepare to crawl inside. "Lottie, I don't think I'll fit in there," I said. The blanket creating the fort wasn't all that large, and I wasn't sure how I felt about sleeping while Winnie the Pooh's enlarged face stared at me. "Don't be silly, you will," she said, beckoning to me. We stared each other down for a minute until I groaned and crouched down so I could sit beside her. The inside was dark, and all I could make out was the shape of Lottie's body and the giant smile on her face. "Isn't this fun?" she asked. I leant back against the mounds of pillows. "If I'm being honest, not really." "I knew you'd say that," she said. "Do you want to watch a movie or something?" I looked at her hopeful expression and felt myself crumble into a pile of lame Ben crumbles. "Okay," I said, and had to take a deep breath when she cheered quietly. "Give me a minute." She crawled out of the fort thing and I could hear her pattering away. I sighed and then sat up, pulling off my shirt, socks and belt. I wanted to be comfortable, for Chrissakes. I closed my eyes and relaxed against the pillows and blankets. It was actually really comfortable, but I still felt like a giant in a baby's house. But it made Lottie happy to do this, not to mention it was her birthday tomorrow. And it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we got to sleep beside each other. Nothing at all. "What shall we watch?" I heard her say, and I grunted in response. I felt her lying down beside me, and then she jumped up. "You took off your shirt." I opened my eyes and balanced myself on my elbows. "Keen observation, Lottie," I said. "Does it make you nervous?" I couldn't really see her expression in the dark, but she coughed a little, and the shining laptop I saw in her hands shook. "No," she said, laughing. "You're very fit, and I know that already." I bit my lip to keep in my smile as she plopped down beside me. She didn't even flinch when I rested my arm under her neck and pulled her head onto my chest. She even snuggled closer, which made me nervous because I worried she could feel how fast my heart was beating. "My dad leant me his laptop," she said, opening the lid. "What do you want to watch?" "Whatever is available," I said vaguely. I rested my cheek against the top of her head and closed my eyes. Her hair was so soft, and was funny to feel because of the mound of curls and waves. I shifted my body so that it was slightly turned towards her, and she giggled. "You're tickling me," she whispered. "What am I even doing?" "Your chest needs a shave, you're gross." "I'm not gross, don't be rude." The artificial light from the laptop illuminated her face in a slightly creepy way, but she still looked absolutely beautiful. Even when she wrinkled her nose in disgust like that. "You need to wax your whole body, I bet, you hairy bear," she teased, making me want to laugh. I watched her log into Netflix and browse the different films. I scoffed. "I'm gorgeous the way I am." "Okay," is all she said. There was this extremely cheeky grin on her face, and I just wanted to poke her dimples. "Let's watch that," I said, pointing at the screen randomly. "You want to watch a cheesy horror film?" I pursed my lips. "Why not?" "Aw, Ben, is it going to scare you? Do you want me to protect you?" Her tone was completely serious, but she couldn't last even two seconds before she started laughing. "Brat." "You love it though," she laughed. My whole body seemed to fill with an unbelievably overwhelming sense of compassion for the girl in my arms as I listened to her giggle, and it made me realise that I hadn't told her yet. Suddenly, my hands started sweating and I found it hard to breathe, and I wasn't sure whether I was just having issues or I was losing my voice. Lottie had started the cheesy horror film I had picked and positioned the laptop so that we both had a clear shot. "If you get frightened, just let me know. I'll hold your hand." "Who wants to hold your grimy hand?" I mumbled, still thinking about when I was supposed to tell her how much I adored her. She craned her neck so I could see her wink at me. "You do, Ben." Well, she wasn't wrong. We watched that stupid, not at all scary film from start to finish, and I'll be honest. I didn't think Lottie was the type to criticise how weird paranormal ghost things killed their victims, but she was. I thought she'd get scared, but she didn't, just pretended to throw up on me. "That was gross," she said in a sleepy voice, yawning into her hand. "Too much blood, right?" "Right," I agreed. "I didn't know ghosts could hold knives." "Me neither." Lottie closed the laptop and yawned again. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She snuggled close enough to me that I could feel her light breathing on my chest. "You're just being quieter than usual." Sorry, I was just trying to figure out how to confess my love to you. "I'm okay," I said. "There's nothing the matter." "Ben?" I heard a few minutes later. Her voice was soft and quiet, and I almost didn't hear her. "Yeah?" She patted my chest and sighed tiredly. "I just wanted to remind you that I think you're lovely. Don't think any different." I closed my eyes and breathed in and out four times. "I love you, God, I really, really love you," I said, the words tumbling out of my mouth in a rapid, garbled mess. But she was already asleep.