make me stay.

twentyone

♜

it seemed like years since a shiver hadn't woken me up. the air i had fallen asleep in had somehow heated up, meaning that i hadn't woken up with frozen toes and a dry throat like usual. it felt warm, familiar, like being back home. almost like waking up with mercer by my side. actually, it felt exactly like that. 

i smiled to myself; maybe i was getting better trying to survive life on my own. 

i honestly felt like i had been getting sick inside the castle since it almost felt like you were still outside when you stepped inside. my body had not been getting used to the cold like i had hoped, but this morning was different. 

i slowly parted my eyelids expecting sunlight to blind me, but none did. where did this sudden heat come from? there was no fireplace in my room, and i saw nothing different. 

i moved my head to side, lifting it off the pillow to stretch out the muscles, feeling how my neck was still sore. the skin where my mark had slowly been showing up was red and hurting, but luckily healing day by day. 

however, if i remembered correctly, the royals had to mark their mates to claim them as theirs as a part of the crowning ceremony. if what i remembered was true, mercer would have to mark me before i would be crowned as queen, if that ever happened. 

as i tried to move even further, i suddenly noticed an arm across my waist, its owner seeming to grunt as i attempted to move away. the arm soon tightened its grip on me, pulling me back and even further back than i had been laying before. 

i frown, jerking forward, only realizing now that someone else was in the bed. 

"mercer!" i exclaim, seeing mercer laying on his stomach, facing downwards, face buried in the pillows beneath him. 

"north," he corrects mumbling, muffled by the pillows. he doesn't even move. 

"you-" i begin, but forget what i wanted to say, as if i ever knew. 

had he slept here all night? why?

"you fell asleep on me, and knowing you haven't been sleeping lately, i ended up falling asleep myself wanting to wait until i could move without waking you up." mercer mumbles, rolling onto his side. "you look like i attempted to murder you in your sleep," he frowns. 

"how do you do that?" i ask, completely stunned. 

"do what?"

"answer my thoughts," i mumble breathlessly. 

my god, he looked sleepy but still unbelievably gorgeous. he lifted his head upwards, his strangled hair is a complete mess, his waves are tangled in between each other as the aftermath of sleeping on your face. how was that even possible?

he rolls even further flashing his body down to his hips were the sheets are covering the rest as he lays on his back. 

i instantly glance away, praying that he is wearing more clothes beneath the sheets than what is currently visible. i cringe, sitting up in the bed while attempting to pull the corner of the sheet that i have in my hand up to block my view.