Her eyes

Chapter 42

After our talk I felt better because the future wasn't as uncertain as it had previously been. Because we had class tomorrow Archer suggested we go to my place and pick up some clothes seeing as I spent more time here than I did there, I filled a bag with clothes my hair products and my diffuser and some make up.

While I was doing that, Archer was inspecting the mold on the walls, something about seeing if it had infected my furniture, I didn't know what he was talking about so I left it to him. I also took my computer because I seriously needed to catch up on uni work.

When we were back at his place we studied for about about two hours and Archer shared the notes of the class that I'd missed. We went through the cardinal vowels and where in the throat or tongue the vibrations or air flow of a word came from, we honestly looked ridiculous but it was kind of fun.

When we were done Archer made us dinner while I helped by cutting the vegetables, after he had seasoned the salmon he called me over to sear and flip it around, one of them broke in the middle but he said it was fine and ate that one later on.

After we had eaten and cleaned up he got a call from Kimberly, she was telling him about all the latest gossip at her school and he listened, pretending to be interested in who liked who and what not.

•••

In the three months that had passed since we first kissed we had fallen into a comfortable routine, we spent most of our time at Archers and during the weekends we would explore the city, once he took me to an art shop and told me to pick anything I wanted. I left there with new pencils and brushes a few canvases and some water colors. That night we both painted a canvas each. He surprisingly good but he needed to work on his illusions to create a sense of realism.

The weekend after, he took me to Kimberly's skating rink and we skated on the ice, once again he was good at it. while I was falling all over myself thankfully he caught me, most times.

We also went back to the cave multiple times but unfortunately the weather had turned cold and we didn't get to swim, but each time Archer would prepare a bath for me with candles claiming it was the closest he could get to mimicking the cave. And each time I wanted to cry from how sweet he was.

We slept in each others arms each night and at this point I was scared that if I went back to my miserable apartment, I wouldn't be able to sleep by myself. During those weeks I also spent a lot of time with his family. Alice and I had gotten our nails done and she told me about how she met Cal. It was also at university and they had quickly fallen in love and just a few months later they got married.

She was so sweet to me and just like her son also quite affectionate, she would hug me like I was her own daughter and sometimes it made my heart hurt. I'd even gotten to know Cal a little better, he wasn't as scary as I'd first thought. And he had a sense of peculiar humor, and little Kimberly had become like my own sister.

We even had a girls sleepover a few times kicking Archer out of her room at his flat, and we spent the night gossiping and braiding each others hair and painting our nails. She shyly told me with a sweet blush on her cheeks about a boy she liked called Luke. But all the girls in her grade liked him and he loved all the attention he was receiving. I told her that if she had to compete for his attention, he's not something to have.

Mine and Archers relationship had somehow turned stagnant, it had gotten better on a friendship level as we got to know each other more and he was always sweet to me but we hadn't kissed again. He still kissed me in other places such as my cheeks or neck, but never on the lips. I think I might've scared him off with being awkward the first time it had happened.

Now we were approaching Christmas, and quite honestly I wasn't looking forward to it. Archers friend Connor was coming all the way from Houston to spend it with him and my old insecurities were rearing it's ugly head. What if Connor wouldn't like me or thought that I was weird? And he would say something that would cause Archer too look at me differently.

I know Archer wasn't the type to fit into the stereo typical man, but everyone valued their friends opinions to a certain degree, otherwise they wouldn't be friends. Archer had told me about Connor, he seemed like the type that was mischievous and liked to stir the pot.

He would be arriving a week before Christmas, which was tomorrow and Archer was going to pick him up at the airport. We were currently sat in the sofa, my head resting on Archers lap, my knees curled and his hand rubbing my belly inside of my shirt. His hands felt nice on my bare skin.

"What time are you leaving tomorrow?" I asked after a while of watching the screen but not really seeing anything.

"Around 2pm, do you want to come, or do you want to wait here?" He replied.

"I should probably go back to my apartment and let you guys hang out." I said absently stroking his sweatpants clad knee.

"Are you sure? I'm sure Connor wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, I mean he's come a long way to see you and I don't want to ruin it."

"You're not going to ruin anything, baby. But I guess when you put it that way it makes sense." He trailed of. "But the day after I'll introduce you."

I nodded that sounded like a better plan. "Come here,"

I sat up and he situated me on his lap so that I was straddling him. Both of us just took the other in, I took the face that I loved so much. His strong nose and high cheekbones, the dark golden eyebrows and thick long lashes, his strong jaw and pink full lips. Lastly I studied my favorite part about him, his eyes.

"Your eyes," I began, brushing my fingertips lightly across his eyebrows and down to his now closed eyelids. "Are the most extraordinary shade of blue, somehow they shine even brighter than the skies during summer."

"Who would've thought you'd be such a hopeless romantic?" He threw back the words I'd used on him all those months ago. That he even remembered them made me feel like he saw me. Like he savored each moment with me as much as I savored each moment with him.