I stretched and opened my eyes. Wowza, I didn’t think I’d ever been this tired in my life. I wasn’t even sure I was fully awake. I felt I could drift off if a gust of wind blew…

Blinking, I felt my body tense up in sudden panic as I noticed the weight of someone else in my bed- but then it all came back.

I felt my face turn scalding hot as I remembered last night.

Oh. Theo was sleeping next to me, his face inches from mine. He looked so young and gorgeous, his dark lashes fanned out against his pale skin and his parted lips as he breathed in and out.

I couldn’t help myself. I reached a hand up to gently touch his cheekbone, brushing a strand of hair away from his face. His eyelids fluttered softly.

Theo sighed and then opened his eyes. He looked confused for a second, then he saw me.

“Hello,” I croaked.

He closed his eyes and grinned. “Ravina…”

He looked as tired as I felt. I let out a shy laugh and covered my face with my hands. Moments later, I felt Theo roll over, and when I peaked out he was looking at his phone. I watched him frown.

“What?” I asked, scrunching into a ball.

“We slept till noon.” He shrugged, dropping his phone and turning to me again.

My heart raced when he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest, so my chin was over his shoulder.

I shivered. I couldn’t believe we’d done this. I was happier than I’d ever been in my life.

“Your skin is so beautiful,” he mumbled, and I felt his fingers tracing over my neck.

I tried to get rid of my stupid grin…

“So,” I sighed. “What now?”

Theo sighed, but it sounded more like a laugh.

“I don’t know. I don’t ever want to leave.” He whispered.

“Ever?” I smiled, hugging him.

He squeezed me. “Ever,” I heard him whisper into my hair.

Suddenly Theo’s phone rang.

“Dammit. I was totally blissed out,” I sighed, as he rolled away from me and reached over to grab his phone.

I sat up in bed, leaned against the wall, and pulled the sheets tighter around me.

I wondered who would be calling Theo. Maybe James? Theo frowned and put it to his ear.

“Dad?”

I watched his jaw tighten. My heart raced a little… god, that dinner was just so horrible.

“No,” I heard Theo say to his father.

I blinked. Was he talking about me, maybe? The thought scared me. I held my breath while Theo kept glancing over at me out of the corner of his eye.

“Ok,” Theo grumbled, and then I heard someone shouting over the phone.

My heart thudded. Oh shit-

The yelling stopped almost immediately but Theo still looked irritated. He paused for a second, listening, then looked away from me and whispered into the phone, “Fine.”

He listened some more, then sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead with his thumb. He looked way older than eighteen right now. Was his father yelling at Theo about me? Oh no, oh no. Did they really not like me? Fuck, what were we supposed to do now?!

“Yeah,” Theo said. “I’ll be home later. We’ll talk then.”

Then he hung up and I waited a second, quietly, for him to turn to me and grimace.

“They hate me.” I frowned, and it wasn’t a question.

Theo shook his head. “No! Ravina, they don’t hate you.”

I stared at him…

Theo’s lips curved up slightly and he shook his head.

“Okay, yes. They probably hate you-”

I gasped.

He looked back up at me. “I mean, imagine your kid started dating a super hot bombshell of a girl who you were sure was leading him down a dark, dangerous path.” Theo grinned, suddenly leaning over me and pressing me into the bed. My heart raced and my eyes drifted away from his shyly.

“You’d hate her too if you thought she was a bad influence on your goody-two-shoes son.”

He pressed a kiss to my cheek softly, then nuzzled me. I could still feel him smiling so I wrapped one of my hands around the back of his neck and ran my fingers though his soft hair.

“Theo,” I whispered. “I love you. But if memory serves correctly, this dangerous path was entirely your doing.”

I heard him laugh. “Guilty,”

Smiling, I closed my eyes, feeling Theo’s lips against my throat.

I could practically hear the worship in the way his breath slid out, hot and desperate.

“I still want to stay here all day.” He said, kissing my neck.

I sighed. “We can’t though.”

“Then, what do you want to do?”

I opened my mouth to reply, but suddenly I heard something that made my heart leap in pure terror. The front door opening!

“Shit-” I gasped, pushing Theo away and tumbling out of bed as fast and as quietly as possible.

I grabbed my robe hanging on the back of my door and slid it on in record time. Fuck fuck fuck-

“Ravina, we’re home!” I heard my mom call.

I could hear Charlie saying something to her down the hallway, and then my eyes went to Theo still in my bed. Oh for crying out loud-

I blushed, grabbing his pants off the floor and throwing them at him. He caught them out of the air and chuckled, shaking his head at me and trying to hide his shit-eating grin.

“Get dressed!” I hissed at him, slipping quietly out of my room and closing the door smoothly behind me.

Charlie came bounding up to me, his hair wet from the rain outside and a big smile on his face.

“Hey Rav!” He smiled, skipping past me into his room and closing the door.

I let out a sigh of relief. Thank you Charles, for not asking me why I’m standing weirdly in front of my closed door…

My mom peaked around the corner and smiled at me. I smiled back.

“Fun trip?” I asked her, trying for nonchalance.

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m gonna go put the gear back in the garage.” She stepped into the kitchen. “Need anything sweetie?”

I shook my head, turning back to my door.

“No, I’m gonna be in my room mom.” I called.

I slipped back inside just as Theo was zipping his pants up and my face turned rudolph-red. I shut the door again and went quickly to my speakers, plugging my phone in and turning on a really loud BVB song.

Theo raised an eyebrow at me questioningly, and I smiled.

“So they can’t hear us,” I mouthed.

He nodded, reaching down to grab his shirt off the floor.

I stood there, listening to the loud guitar and drums, watching Theo move. I was being a total pervert, but he was my boyfriend and he was fucking hot.

My heart raced as I watched him start buttoning his wrinkled shirt, his thin fingers moving gracefully. I should draw him like this. Focused. Working on something. He looked older again…

His black hair had fallen into his eyes. It was getting quite long, over his ears. I liked it.

“Ravina?” I heard through the music.

I blinked and Theo was staring at me. I realised that I was watching him, biting my lip and leaning my head in my hands in a sort of daydream pose.

I blushed, snapping out of it and looking away shyly.

Theo moved, and before I could process what was happening, he put his arms around me and pulled me close in a hug that left me almost breathless…

My heart warmed at his closeness, and I knew I’d never felt more at home.

Smiling, I hugged him back, allowing myself a moment to enjoy it. The loud music threatening my eardrums, Theo. Everything.

I liked whatever last night was. I really liked it. But to tell you the truth, this was all I ever wanted, even before I met him. Just someone to be with, someone to believe in and to love unconditionally.

I leaned back a bit to see that Theo’s want-eyes had returned…

Maybe I was too young to know what we were, or what I was feeling, but I’m Ravina Dobs and if I started second-guessing my emotions now I’d never stop. So I smiled at Theo, and I told him a secret.

“That’s a beautiful story.” He said, his voice laced with compassion.

I felt my eyes water as I stared into his, remembering the photos of my father, and my mother’s words.

My dad died when I was two. He was a firefighter and got caught in a burning building trying to save a young family. My mother often said I got my kindness from him and my rudeness from her. And yet my favorite bedtime story when I was a child, before my mom met her second husband and had Charlie, was mom’s story of how she met my dad.

“It was fate,” she’d say. “I saw him sitting at the back of my English class in college and my heart said ‘Claire this is the one.’ Five seconds later he sneezed so hard he fell out of his seat, but I guess the heart wants what it wants.”

I always thought I’d meet my soulmate in college like my mom. Maybe that was another reason I’d been so set on getting there. Who knew I’d end up meeting him now. Who knew it would turn out to be Theo…

“I love you,” he tried to whisper over the music.

Theodore Kim, you lucky bitch. I love you too.