I noticed the way she was looking at her phone, my sister's name all over the screen. I didn't want her to look, I didn't want her to be upset again when she was finally back to smiling. Knowing Mia, she hadn't had enough time to cool down. I looked at Bells and her gaze met mine, she didn't know what to do either so I decided to make that decision for her, I just couldn't handle seeing her sad again, not yet.

The moment I saw she was considering reading the message I gently slid my hand over hers and over her phone in it. "Please, Bells. You don't need to read it now." She looked up at me through her eyelashes and her eyebrows raised. "Let's just enjoy this, us. I loved that adorable smile on your face minutes ago, please just keep it for a while. Please." I begged her, my hand still pushing the phone down, while the other on was still wrapped around her shoulders.

I felt her lean into me, my lips voluntary pressing against her temple as she sighed. "Do you think it's going to be bad... The text... Is she still angry?"

"I don't know but I know my sister." I whispered, lowering my lips to meet her ear. "When she's happy, she's the happiest anyone can be, when she's sad she's on the brink of depression and when she's angry she's more than furious. It's always the extreme with her. That's why I don't want you to read that text now. It's not how she'll feel tomorrow." I whispered, tightening my grip around her, trying to give her the comfort I think she needed, or at least hopes she finds in me.

She shifted her head to the side, our faces mere inches apart. I couldn't resist brushing my nose over hers before kissing her forehead. "Lukas." She said closing her eyes briefly until I felt her hand push up the phone. "Here." She said, handing it over to me, pushing in into my hand, for a moment my mind utterly confused. "Give it back to me tomorrow morning. I want today to end on a happy note, even if it's only for today. Tomorrow, I can go back to crying but today I don't want to anymore. I choose to be happy."

"Are you sure?" I asked, seeking confirmation in her expression and when she nodded, I took the phone from her hands and shut if off before putting it in my pocket, secure and away from her. "So tomorrow morning, does that mean you're staying with me tonight?" I smiled, happy to know I could hold her close to me tonight. I had gotten used to sleeping with her, and now I couldn't imagine myself sleeping without her next to me. It was just way to comforting and cozy to wake up next to her knowing I'm the first person she sees or speaks to. To see her and her unmasked beauty in my bathroom, and to say goodbye when she goes off to class.

"Only if you want me to." She smiled before putting the straw of her milkshake to her lips.

"Sure, why not." I shrugged my shoulders, knowing I would get some sort of reaction out of her.

"Why not?" She repeated while looking at me with a scrunched face and it had me smiling ear to ear at how adorable that was.

"Yeah, why not?" I shrugged my shoulders again before leaning back against the seat as if I wasn't bothered by it and she stared at me with a blank stare, her mouth parted as her straw lingered on her lips.

"That's all you're going to say. Why Not?" She said, keeping the surprise on her face as she put the milkshake back on the table with a thud.

"Oh stop pouting." I smirked at her before quickly leaning in to kiss her lips, kissing them with aim. Before her I would have rolled my eyes if I saw one of those sugar sweet couples in a booth, acting like the way we were. But I now understood their happiness, taking back every eyeroll I ever threw at such a scene. "I want nothing more."

She playfully rolled her eyes at me before leaning in to kiss me back. "Jerk." She whispered against my lips and when her smile followed, I knew I needed her to keep smiling. She had suffered enough from what her parents did to her and now it was up to me to make sure no one would ever hurt her, to keep her happy, to keep that smile on her face for as long as I can help it.

After we finished our pancakes and milkshake, we walked down the pier, every minute I spend with her, every smile on her face felt like a gift.

She must have been exhausted from all the emotions she went through today cause after 30 minutes of driving and singing along to the radio she fell asleep. Her face was snuggled into my hoodie as she rested against the side window with the golden hour sun beaming on her face. At a red light I quickly took my phone to capture this view forever, snapping a picture and making sure it can never be deleted.

I wasn't sure if she wanted to go to her place or mine so out of habit I drove to mine and once stationed in the parking lot Bells was still dozed off to dreamland. I really didn't want to wake her up but I wasn't going to let her sit in the car for the rest of the night, so I decided to carry her all the way to my apartment.

I opened her side of the car, making sure she wouldn't fall out. And as soon as I scooped her up I felt her lean into my touch, her head finding it's perfect spot in the crook of my neck. "Lukas..." She hummed, the sound of her tired voice melting me completely.

"Sssh, it's okay, just sleep." I whispered and as exhausted as she was, she continued to sleep. Carrying her upstairs wasn't so hard as she was light as a feather and when I laid her on my bed, she crawled into the comfort of my hoodie.

I got our stuff from the car, hoping to find her still asleep when I got back up, but she wasn't laying on my bed anymore. I caught the light of the bathroom through the crack of the door and knocked briefly before getting inside. I found her only wearing a T-shirt of mine while washing the makeup of her face. "Hi sleepy head." I smiled at her in the mirror when she got back up from the sink, looking like a panda as the water had smeared all the makeup under her eyes.

"I'm sorry for falling asleep." She said, pulling in her bottom lip, the look on her face apologetic. I placed my hand on her hips to turn her around to face me, barely holding my laugh at the sight of her smudged makeup. I pushed her hair behind her shoulders before reaching for the towel next to the sink, my other hand caressing the skin underneath her t-shirt. I wetted the tip of the towel and gently wiped away the black underneath her eyes.

"Why are you sorry? I was happy you fell asleep or else you would have chatted my ears of for four hours." I smirked while wiping the towel underneath her other eye.

Her reaction we quick as she jabbed her fingers in my stomach, making me let out a laugh. "As if you would have minded. I'm wide awake now, so be ready to have your ears chatted off the entire night." She said sticking out her tongue at me and at that I threw the towel in the sink so I would have my hands free. I needed them to wrap them around her body and lift her up, her legs immediately wrapping around my waist.

"I know a way to make you tired again." I said while pushing her up against the wall, her hands holding on to me for dear life. The moment I saw her in my t-shirt I felt the desire built in my stomach, my entire body aching for her touch. I needed to be close to her, have her lips on mine and other parts of me. Like she was reading my mind she started kissing my neck, my breath stuck at my throat the second she did.

I found myself pressing into her, melting into the legs as I was hard by the thought of her only wearing panties and a T-shirt, my fingers digging into her thighs. I loved her so much, everything about her, she's the only one to make me long and desire as much as I do her.

Her lips met mine as they left my neck, her tongue immediately asking for permission and I would be an idiot not to give it to her. The moment I felt her tongue slide over my lips to meet mine I started moving us to the bed and as soon as my knees hit the edge of it, I let us both fall onto the matrass. With her legs still wrapped around my hips I pressed into her and her hands quickly found the buttons of my shirt, unbuttoning each one, slowly and deliberately, while I kissed the soft skin in her neck. When as small moan escaped her, it pushed me over the edge, grabbing the buttons of my shirt myself to get that damn thing off as fast as possible.

As soon as my shirt fell onto the floor I wanted to go at her again, my lips eager to taste hers but she held her hands against my chest, keeping me at a safe distance. "What?" I asked her with a smirk glued to my lips, her eyes tracing the lines on my chest.

She smiled looking up at me, her finger drawing over my tattoo. "Have I ever told you how much I like them? The ink on you?"

My lips involuntary curved up into a smile at the thought of her actually being attracted to them, it's not what I expected her to say. "I figured, since you can't keep, your hands off me." I hid the fact I was flattered, feeling good about myself for once. That's what she did to me. Even when I doubted my decisions, she made me love myself again, just because she did.

"I'm serious." She whispered, her eyes meeting mine sending a shiver down my spine at how longing she looked at me. "I know you sometimes doubt getting them, but don't they're perfect." She said, lifting her hand through my hair, but all I could do was frown my brows. How the hell did she know that?

"I don't doubt them." I smiled at her while placing my hands on either side of her head to keep myself up. I don't know why I didn't just admit to her that she was right.

"Yes you do Lukas." She said while sliding her other hand through my hair too. I wanted to deny again, shaking my head but she kept it still. "I catch you looking at yourself in the mirror with a questionable look way to often. Why?" She noticed?

I lowered myself onto my elbows to get closer to her, to feel less distant when facing the truth, enjoying her legs wrapped around me. "Fine, I do sometimes. I don't know why; I just feel like I'm not good enough sometimes. I don't really look standard." I rolled my eyes at that last bit, but it was true, sometimes I loved them and sometimes I regretted them just because what people might think of me.

"Yeah, in the middle ages maybe. You look pretty good to me." She said wiggling her eyebrows at me. "Since, when do you care what other people think?" She shrugged underneath me and at that I let my head fall into the crook of her neck. "Don't hide." She said, pushing my head back up.

"Someone would never picture someone like you with someone like me." I shook my head and I meant it, people must think we didn't fit together while we did work out. And yes, normally I could care less of what people thought of me, but I did care what they thought of us, of her. I saw the looks on people's face earlier on the beach, questioning how we ended up together, our two worlds clashing.

"That's a lot of someone's and also a bunch of crap." She laughed, while shaking her head at me. "I was attracted to you the moment I saw you. Had quite the setback when you opened your mouth and started insulting me but still thought you were very attractive." She scrunched her nose and a loud laugh escaped me when I heard her words. "We live in the 21st century, you and your ink would be pretty popular on Pinterest if you asked me." She kept on pulling the laughter from me, realizing that I had nothing to worry about, that I shouldn't care as long as she didn't.

"I'm sorry, I just want other people to love you as much as I do I guess. I'm just afraid that's not possible with me next to you." I let my forehead fall against her lips surprised at all of the honesty she's able to get out of me.

"Well, then fuck those people." She said and with even more surprise I lifted my head up, astound by her choice of words.

"See, I'm a bad influence on you." I smiled at her but also meant every word.

"No, you're not, you're just making me say the things I usually just think." She grinned at me, her hands guiding me towards her lips until I tasted them.

I wanted to hold her and never let go when the familiar taste of her awakened my senses. "I'll be right back." I urged her as I got up from the bed to take of these uncomfortable jeans and brush my teeth.

When I met my reflection in the mirror something had changed, I had changed, she made me think differently about myself by just the touch of a few words. I didn't doubt myself or the way I looked, I embraced it knowing to her it was nearly perfect. I for once thought I was nearly perfect, or at least okay.

I grinned to myself, her words lingering on my mind as I walked back into the room in my boxers. I even shook my head at the image in my head of her adorable smile, when she was lying underneath me. When I looked up to find her smile all I saw was a knocked-out snowflake, fast asleep. Even more adorable.

I silently and gently laid down next to her, putting the covers over her and myself before wrapping my arms around her without waking her up, quite the challenge but I did it. All I needed to do was snuggle my face in the crook of her neck to be knocked out myself. I could really get used to this, I already am.

The night was over before I knew it and the day already started off with happiness as I found Bells sprawled over me, her head resting on my chest.

"Lukas are you awake?" She whispered, the moment I yawned and stretched my arms.

"Apparently." I laughed midway my yawn. "Are you?" I smirked, looking down at her.

"Nope, still asleep." She said, quickly closing her eyes and pretending to snore but I knew she wouldn't be able to pretend the moment my fingers dug into her sides to tickle her. "Stop!" She yelled through her laughter. "Lukas stop!" And at that I seized fire while getting a playfully annoyed look from her. "Idiot, that's not how you wake up your girlfriend." She pretend pouted with mischief all over her face as she sat up to straddle me.

I sat up right, my face now aligned with hers as I wrapped my arms around her waist. I pushed her messy hair away from her sleepy but still beautiful face before leaning in to kiss her lips; my tongue grazing hers briefly and gently tugging at her bottom lip as I pulled away. "Better?" I said, unable to hide the growing smirk on my face.

She pulled in her bottom lip as if she was thoroughly thinking about her answer. "Even better if you make me breakfast, while I get ready for class?" She said, with a certain begging in her voice.

I shook my head. "Nope." Knowing it would annoy her.

"Please!" She pouted at me, her lips looking so kissable.

"Nope." I repeated, biting my bottom lip to contain my laughter.

"But I'm hungry?" She pouted even more, and she knew well enough it would convince me even though I was already planning to make her breakfast, I just wanted to see her pout.

"Yeah, when are you not?" I laughed and at that she playfully smacked the back of her hand against my chest.

"Hey!"

"Are scrambled eggs fine?" I asked her, pulling up an eyebrow at her surprised face, like giving candy to a child. She nodded before happily attacking my lips once more.

While Bells was getting ready in the bathroom, I found myself in the kitchen, cooking us some breakfast. While my mind wandered off thinking about the events of this weekend the chiming of my phone interrupted my stream of thoughts. Grabbing my phone off the counter I already rolled my eyes at the sight of the texts, yes multiple, I received this morning.

: Good morning Loverboy. Didn't see you on campus this weekend. I wanted to invite you to my party... Maybe some other time?? ✌🏼

: We could have fun together? You know we would.

: I know you Lukas, you're always in for some fun

: Just say yes. One time/night. That blonde book worm of yours can't possible offer you the things I can.

What the fuck is wrong with that girl. Didn't I make myself clear the other time at the club.

: Will you leave me alone if I say yes?

My fingers typed the words and hit send before I could thoroughly think about it, shaking my head at the fact she couldn't take no for an answer. Could this get any worse? At that thought I heard the front door fall shut and as soon as I peeked my head through the door I saw Mia, her gaze directed to Bella's bag on the floor, and by the look on my sisters' face this could indeed get any worse.

❤️

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