The next day went by fine. They went outside and Ally attempted to teach Brian to cook. That night, when Brian came back into the bedroom, he jumped into the waterbed.
"Brian?" asked Ally, watching him as he got under the blankets.
"Yes?"
"Would you mind if I slept in my bed too? The cot is really uncomfortable."
"Sure. No problem. There's plenty of room."
So then Ally turned out the light and walked carefully to the bed. But it came before she expected and she banged her shin against the end.
"Oooww!" she cried out.
"Are you okay?" asked Brian, his voice full of concern.
"I just hit my shin against the bed."
In the dark, Brian reached for the light of the bedside table and turned it on. It cast shadows all over the room.
"Come here," he said. "Let me see your leg."
Ally raised her eyebrows.
"I just need to make sure it's not bleeding or anything."
Ally inched towards Brian and put her leg in his lap. Her heart was racing.
Brian carefully picked up her leg and examined the already forming bruise. His heart was pounding in his chest.
"It's not bleeding but you're going to have a really nice bruise."
He brushed his hands against her leg and Ally felt shivers go up her spine.
"Thanks Dr. Littrell."
"No problem," he said as he turned the light off.
Ally carefully got under the blankets, with her leg still tingling from Brian's touch, and made sure there was as much distance as possible between them.
But when she woke up in the morning, Ally discovered that she was snuggled against Brian. She quickly moved away, in fear that Brian would wake up and discover her. The same thing happened the next two nights. But, on the third night, Brian woke up around 3:00 to discover lying up against him. He didn't say anything.
That day went fine. Brian was recovering and getting stronger everyday. The next morning, Brian awoke to discover that his arms were around Ally and hers were around him.
'Brian, man,' he thought to himself, ' you have got to tell her how you feel today.'
He was going to. But, he couldn't find the right time. He couldn't when she woke up. Or when they ate breakfast together. Or when they were watching TV or outside. And then, it was night and they were in bed. Brian decided that it was no or never.
"Ally?" he asked as he got in bed.
"Yes?"
"I have to tell you something. "Um, see I…I…remember when we saw each other in the cemetery and, um, well and then…see I…um, AJ said that I…um," Brian's words weren't coming out right. Although he had practiced all day, he couldn't get it out. He had never really expressed his feeling to anyone else.
He couldn't think of anything else to say, or anyway to explain it. So, he just said,
"Ally, I think I really like you and…"
Ally was getting sick of his blubbering, so she did something, she realized, she had wanted to do since she saw him in that cemetery. She grabbed Brian and kissed him.
In the kiss, Brian was able to express all of his feelings, the ones he had been trying to get out in words but couldn't. When they both ran out of air, they broke apart.
"Oh, my Lord," they both said, trying to catch their breaths.
"What were you saying about, who was it, AJ?" Ally asked as soon as she had caught her breath.
"Well, you know when I came back after I was gone for a long time and you go mad at me? Well, I called AJ, he's in the BSB with me, for advice on what to do so you wouldn't be mad at me. And when I explained the situation, he said I was in love with you. I didn't believe him at first but now I do."
"I wish I could meet him to thank him."
"You can," said Brian, suddenly excited.
"What?"
"They guys were going to come to Kevin's today. All of them. And I told AJ that if it was okay with you that they could come over here one day."
"Well call them and tell them to come over tomorrow. Tell 'em to bring their swimsuits too. We can go swimming."
"Okay!" Brian kissed Ally on the cheek and then picked up the phone and punched in Kevin's number.
Chapter 11
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