PASSING OF DAYS

Short Story

It was Monday morning and the end of their little sanctuary weekend spent almost entirely in bed. Skye moaned as she woke up, rolling closer to Adrian’s side, burying her face in his chest, her cold fingers clutching at his pajamas. He hummed his agreement, curling into her too, pressing a kiss to the wild mane of her hair before he sighed and tried to sit up.

She pouted into his pillow as he pulled away from her and shivered as the cool air from the room hit her previously cosy skin. His movement had not only caused the loss of his warmth, but it had pushed the duvet back.

Adrian stood, stretched with a loud yawn, and shuffled from the room to make tea. When he came back Skye had curled up in a ball on his side of the bed, holding the duvet and his pillow close around her in a sort of cocoon. He smiled and padded his way back to her, placing their two steaming mugs on the bedside table before he leant over her and nuzzled his cold nose into her cheek with a kiss.

“Come on,” he told her, “time to get up.”

She groaned, trying to squirm away from the icy touch of his face against hers. He held her in place though, letting one hand sneak under the covers and slowly make its way toward her. When his fingers slipped under her nightshirt and grazed along her stomach Skye let out a small scream.

“Idiot,” she said, trying in vain to push him away, “I hate you.”

Adrian just laughed, grabbed her hands in his and pulled her up to sitting. “I made you tea,” he pouted, “and this is the thanks I get.”

Skye glared at him, the effect ruined by the pillow crease pressed into the side of her face and her matted curls sticking up at all angles from sleep. He laughed to himself and gave her one of the cups before standing once more and taking his own.

“I’ll be in the shower.” He said, “Don’t go back to sleep.”

Skye sighed, holding her tea close to her chest as she adjusted to the chill of the room without her blankets. She stayed in that exact spot sitting on the bed, tea held close as she slowly sipped and blinked and began to wake up for the start of what would undoubtedly be a long week. It wasn’t until she’d finished her tea and heard the shower shut off that Skye made the great effort to stand.

She put her empty cup to one side and shuffled across the room to the small suitcase that sat open against a wall. She pulled out a jumper, fresh underwear and socks, jeans and a t-shirt, dumping them on the bed before stripping.

Adrian stepped back into the room already dressed, his hair wet.

“Oh good,” he said, “You’re up.”

Skye sighed, pulling on her bra and pants muttering, “I hate Mondays.”

“I know you do.” Adrian said, and he stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her bare stomach and pressing a kiss to her shoulder, “What would you like for breakfast,” he murmured, “French toast and coffee?”

“Oh yes, I love you.” Skye groaned, her head flopping back onto Adrian’s shoulder, allowing him to tilt his face awkwardly to hers for a sweet kiss.

She pulled away and stepped into her jeans slowly, before shrugging on the shirt. When she turned she found Adrian look at her, his head tilted slightly to one side, an odd look in his eye and the barest hint of a smile pulling at his lips.

“What?” she asked,

“I-” Adrian murmured, “Nothing. I’ll go start breakfast.” And he walked away, wondering exactly when it was he fell in love with Skye Mist.

***

Adrian came home on Tuesday to find Skye sitting at her computer. She was typing away furiously, her ear pressing her phone to her shoulder. She made no notice of Adrian as he toed off his shoes, but stood up hurriedly and rushed across the room to her handbag and began to pull things out of it.

Out came her purse, keys, a notebook, a pack of Stride gum, a guidebook, knotted headphones, a small pencil case, a rattling container of mints, and chocolates. Skye groaned in frustration and tipped the bag up.

Some chocolate wrappers, a scrap of paper and a travel pack of tissues fell to the floor.

Making a noise of success Skye bent down and grabbed the paper, turning it in her hand. She rattled off a random selection of numbers and letters, perhaps a password, and finally caught sight of Adrian. Her eyes lit up with relief and he smiled at her.

“Yes,” she said into the phone, “Yes, thank you. That’s fine. Okay, yes.” She walked over to Adrian and he happily closed his arms around her, “Excellent. I’ll hold, yes.”

“Who are you on the phone to?” Adrian asked,

“My bank,” Skye sighed.

Adrian winced and rubbed her back soothingly, “Everything alright?”

“It will be.” She said, “How was your day?”

“Boring,” Adrian smirked, “How about-” Skye cut him off pressing a finger to his lips.

“Yes, I’m still here.” She said into the phone.

Adrian pouted and Skye let her hand run along his cheek to cup the side of his face, her thumb running over his lower lip in an unspoken apology. His hand covered hers and he kissed the pad of her thumb as his other hand traced soft circles over her lower back.

“I’ve already given you my password,” Skye snapped, “And given you my details and answered my security questions, why do I have to give them to you again?”

Adrian heard the distant muffling, and Skye groaned pulling her hand away from Adrian as she started to step away. But at the last moment, she turned back, pushed herself to her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Adrian’s nose before walking away and going down the hall to the bedroom.

Adrian stared at her, his fingers touching his nose with a giddy smile.

***

Adrian was bored and alone. It was a Wednesday night and there was nothing to do. Too early to sleep, nothing that held his interest on TV, no books he wanted to read, and too drained to consider the documents lying on a chair across the room. Adrian groaned.

It had been his idea to spend the day away from Skye. With the convenience of their shared block of flats, he and Skye had been able to move their relationship along rather quickly. He knew that once she finished her work in the city she’d have to go back home, and it would be hard enough without him getting too used to her being there all the time. They’d practically been living in each other’s flats and a part of him was worried that… well. They said absence made the heart grow fonder, but Adrian had a theory that months of absence followed by weeks of non-stop companionship could trick the heart into growing fonder.

He didn’t want to risk it.

But gosh, this was hard. She was just down the hall and all he could think about was having her in his arms. Spending his night talking to her about anything, everything, nothing, he didn’t care. Just hearing her voice and feeling her presence, it would turn this otherwise mundane and painfully boring evening into something special.

With a resigned sigh, Adrian gave in. He grabbed his keys and stepped out of his flat, locking the door behind him, and then headed down the hall to her door. It was unlocked. He suppressed a smile as he realized she expected him.

Stepping into her flat Adrian saw her sitting, legs splayed out across her couch, watching a Chase episode and sipping a glass of red wine.

“You’re later than I thought you’d be,” Skye said as he walked closer.

“We weren’t supposed to see each other tonight.”

Skye snorted, “Stupid idea.” She muttered, and she patted the space next to her.

Adrian grinned and quickly made his way to the couch, sitting down. He expected Skye to curl into his side, but instead, she simply lifted her arm, motioning for him to curl into her. He did, toeing off his shoes so he could pull his legs up to the couch too, filling the empty space on the other side of him. His face rested on her chest. He could feel the rise and fall of her breath and hear her heart beating. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and bent her head to press three soft kisses into his hair.

“How are you feeling?” she murmured into his fringe.

Adrian hummed, squeezing an arm behind her back, the other curling over her front as he snuggled close to her, “Much better now.”

“Not such a bad day after all.” She smirked.

Adrian yawned, his eyes looking at the screen before him as people placed bids on various items, but his brain not really taking any of it in. “How did you know I hate Mondays?”

Skye laughed, her fingertips gently running through his hair, tucking the strands behind his ear. “You’ve told me every Monday since I’ve known you.”

“Yeah.” Adrian murmured, “You always know how to make them better. You’re perfect.” And she really was.

***

Adrian sat in the back of a car, sheltering from the rain that had decided to pour down by the bucket load. In his hands, he held a sandwich and a paper cup of coffee that warmed his frozen fingers.

A loud knock made him start, jumping and splashing the scalding coffee onto his fingers.

Skye stood outside, set coat over her head, peering through the window and knocking again. Quickly dropping his wrapped sandwich into his lap Adrian reached across the back seat and opened the door. The noise of the rain multiplied and Skye climbed in, closing the door quickly behind her and hanging her wet and dripping set coat over the back of the front passenger seat. She shook slightly with a loud shiver, and water sprang from her hair.

“Whose car is this?” Skye asked, stealing Adrian’s coffee and having a sip, wincing as it hit her lips.

Not really sure,” Adrian admitted, “Someone shoved me in here when it started to rain.”

Skye laughed, “We’re a mess. We’ve been walking around in so much mud and muck all day I felt like jumping in puddles.”

Adrian snorted and Skye poked her tongue out at him.

“Why’ve you got my coffee?” he asked suddenly,

“You can’t be trusted with it. Hot liquids; don’t think I didn’t see you burn yourself when I knocked. So share it with me and eat your sandwich.”

Adrian grumbled, picking up and unwrapping his sandwich as Skye smiled.

“I hope this rain passes quickly.” Skye said as Adrian sulked into his lunch, “I’d hate it to go over the weekend. I had plans.”

“You had plans last weekend too.” Adrian smirked.

“Exactly why I can’t afford to be distracted from them this weekend,” Skye whined. “So I need you to keep your magic hands to yourself this time, honey. I have things I need to get done.”

“Hmm,” Adrian pondered, “I suppose I can keep my hands to myself,” he told her, “But no promise on any other parts of me. I mean, I’m fairly certain my mouth has certain qualities that it absolutely loves to showcase in the morning. As well as my -”

Skye rolled her eyes, “Stop it.”

Adrian just laughed. “You say that now, but I bet you anything, Saturday morning, you’ll be begging me to show you exactly what I mean.”

“Oh shut up.”

“Make me.” Adrian grinned.

Skye rolled her eyes again, resolutely not looking at him as she took a sip of her stolen coffee. They sat in silence as they were, Adrian staring at Skye as he ate, Skye staring out the window and the pouring rain. Wordlessly Adrian shuffled closer to her, finishing the last of his lunch before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to sit at an angle, so his leg could slide behind her, forcing her back to his chest.

He wound his arms snug around her middle and settled his chin on her shoulder, tilting his head to kiss at the damp skin of her neck.

Skye whimpered. “The weekend can’t come fast enough.”

***

Adrian came home late Friday evening, tired, sore and hungry. With the rain yesterday they’d spent the morning catching up, which had pushed Adrian’s work back into the afternoon. When finally he had finished Adrian was more than grateful to go home and start the weekend.

Skye had been able to finish much earlier in the day, and when Adrian stepped into his flat that night, it was to find Skye curled up on the sofa with some large comfy blankets from her apartment. She looked up as his footsteps drew closer and smiled.

“Honey.” She said, “How was it?”

Adrian groaned, moving behind the couch to place a hand on either side of her. She tilted her head back to see him and he bent forward, capturing her lips in an upside down kiss.

“That bad?” she asked,

“Mm.” Adrian sighed, “I might take a shower.”

Skye nodded, reaching a hand up to stroke soothingly through his hair. “Okay. Dinner should be ready by the time you get out.”

“You’re amazing.” Adrian told her, bending down to kiss her again. Skye smiled into his mouth and pushed him away. “All right, I’m going.”

“Good boy.”

Adrian straightened up and headed to the bathroom. He spent half an hour in the shower, letting the hot water beat down on his sore back until eventually, he dragged himself back out again. True to her word when he came back dressed in his PJs, Skye had dinner set out on the coffee table next to a stack of DVDs.

She walked in a moment later holding a glass of wine in each hand. “There’s nothing worth watching on television tonight, so I thought we might just pop in a DVD and eat out here.”

“Sounds great,” Adrian accepted a glass from her and they sat down.

Dinner was a delicious and Adrian wolfed it down, eyeing the stack of DVDs. Eventually, he settled on Nights in Rodanthe knowing it was what Skye really wanted to watch. He paused from eating to sip his wine and set up the DVD, then came back and smirked as Skye smiled at him happily.

“What did I do to deserve you, huh?” Adrian asked as he sat back down and turned back to his meal, “An amazing dinner, wine on the couch with cuddling and a movie.”

Skye rolled her eyes, “I don’t know. You must just be lucky.”

“Definitely.”

Finishing his last mouthful Adrian set his plate back on the coffee table and sipped his wine. The movie started and within half an hour Adrian was spread out on his back on the couch, Skye lying over his chest. He shivered suddenly and Skye giggled as the shudder of his body ran through her as well.

“You’re not a very good blanket,” Adrian pouted, “I mean, you’re a great hot water bottle at night, but you don’t quite have the surface area of a blanket.”

Skye rolled her eyes, “Well forgive me for not rolling myself flat in an effort to warm you,” she told him, reaching to the floor with one hand to grab one of the soft blankets that had fallen there. “Will this suffice?”

Without waiting for an answer she awkwardly threw the blanket over her back so it draped over the both of them. Adrian grinned, adjusted her attempt, and wrapped his arms tight around her back.

“That’s better. Now I’m all snuggly and toasty and warm.”

Skye smiled, “Watch the movie, honey.”

***

Adrian woke with his face pressed into Skye’s chest, her breath brushing gently through his hair, making it flutter slightly. He smiled, nuzzling closer and Skye sighed contently.

“We don’t have to get up for hours,” she murmured happily,

“What about breakfast?” Adrian asked lightly, and Skye’s arms around him tightened in response.

She shook her head, “Later.”

He chuckled into her skin, “Okay,” he told her, “Later.”

A simple silence fell around them. Adrian’s eyes were still heavy with sleep and a deep sigh rolled through him as his mind began to drift, his thoughts fading away from sense and into nothingness.

Skye began to squirm.

“What?” Adrian groaned, holding her closer and still, his eyes opening and head turning to look at her.

“I need the bathroom.” Skye admitted,

With a smirk Adrian shook his head, arms winding further around her, “Later.” He said teasingly.

“No, honey, now.”

“Hmm. I still like later.”

Skye groaned and she kicked her legs under the duvet, wriggling under his grip, “I’m going to wet this damn bed, let me up.”

Adrian pressed a kiss to her sternum. “What’s the magic word?” he asked,

“Please Adrian!”

With over the top resignation, Adrian rolled onto his back, opening his arms and setting her free.

“Quickly, before I decide it’s not worth staying in bed all day and I get myself food.”

Skye scrambled away to the bathroom, shivering in the cold. She came back not five minutes later with cold feet and freezing hands. Crawling back into the bed she tucked herself firmly under the duvet and shuffled in close to Adrian, who easily rolled back into her, tucking his head under her chin.

“If those hands go anywhere near my bare skin,” he told her, “then I will get up and take this duvet hostage, leaving you to freeze alone.”

Skye pouted, but behaved herself despite the obvious loophole concerning her feet.

It was still early, and so peaceful and warm in their bed, all of Skye’s plans from the day fell from her head and she let her eyes fall closed and her head clear. Without the energy to even smile Adrian thought that ‘later’ would be much later indeed; and gently but all too quickly Adrian and Skye both returned to sleep, both dreaming of the other, so as not to miss them.

***

He felt it as she came out of the shower, her hair wet and dripping, her body wrapped in just a towel and shivering for it. He was sitting on the bed, propped up against the pillows reading and she walked in and it was just… right.

Dropping her towel without a thought Adrian watched as she moved over to her suitcase and pulled out undies before pulling them on. She turned around to get her pajamas from the bed, sitting down on the covers as she pulled those on too, suppressing another shiver.

“Enjoying the show?” she asked,

Adrian grinned, “Yeah, though not many people can make putting clothes on just as sexy as taking them off.”

Skye rolled her eyes, pulling back the covers to slide into bed. She pulled her book from the bedside table and opened it to the marked page. Adrian let her read and he too turned back to his book, his eyes moving over the words quickly as he pondered quietly. It wasn’t until twenty minutes had passed that Adrian realized he hadn’t been taking anything in, and was, in fact, looking over the same line over and over.

He set the book down and looked to his right. Skye was pulling at her lower lip absently as she read, stopping only to turn the page.

“Skye.” He said, breaking the silence.

“Yes, honey?” Skye asked, not looking up, her eyes still travelling along the page of the book as she read.

Adrian grinned at the sight of it, somehow more sure of his next words now than he would have been if she’d looked up.

“I love you.”

Skye smiled. A big large smile that spread across her whole face and made her eyes sparkle, though still, they didn’t leave her page.

“I love you too, Adrian.” She told him and Adrian just laughed, picking up his book and going back to reading.