Abby kept her eyes on Brian’s face as he slept. The morning sunlight was peaking through the curtains, putting a little light on his face. She gently ran her fingertips across the smooth skin of his cheek and down over the prickly hairs growing along his jaw. Brian was gorgeous while he was awake, but sleeping… Brian was beautiful when he slept. Abby knew that beautiful wasn’t usually a word used to describe guys, but she couldn’t think of another better word. He was simply beautiful.

She didn’t want to get up. She would be happy just lying there all day staring at him. But unfortunately, she had to get up. Abby placed a soft kiss on his forehead before easing out of the bed. After going to the bathroom, washing her face, and brushing her teeth, she went out to the kitchen to fix some coffee. Sasha was sitting at the table looking through the newspaper when she walked in.

“You’re glowing,” Sasha said, never taking her eyes off of the paper.

“I… I am not.”

“Yes, you are. I can see it through the paper. I take it everything is still going good between you and Brian?”

“Yes, everything is fine. Is Kevin here?” Abby asked sitting at the table with her cup.

“Nope, he’s at this house.”

“Oh, you mean he remembered that he had a house of his own?”

“You’re funny when you’re glowing. Where is the little lover boy anyway?”

“He’s still asleep.”

“And you left him in there to come see me? Aaww, I feel special.”

“You should, I don’t leave gorgeous sleeping men in my bed for just anyone.”

Sasha laughed and coughed as her coffee went down the wrong way. “I’m sure you don’t. Get your butt back in there! Don’t make him wake up all by his lonesome. He might freak out again.”

“Sasha!”

“What? I’m sorry… He freaks out a lot, I can’t help that. You should teach him how to control that.”

Abby took a couple more sips of her coffee before getting up. “You’re mean,” she said walking past her friend and laughing, “And you’re reading the paper upside down…”

“Oh hush! It’s a new thing that you don’t know about!”

“Whatever you say!” Abby called from down the hall. She stopped laughing when she went into the bedroom. Brian was lying on his stomach still asleep. She climbed up onto the bed and straddled his waist, keeping most of her weight off of him. She drew lazy circles on his back with her finger, and she felt him shudder beneath her. She leaned down close to his ear and whispered, “Where’s Nick and a feather when you really need them?”

Brian smiled into the pillow. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Ah, but I would sleepyhead.”

Brian opened his eyes and moved until he was on his back with Abby still sitting on him. He sat up and gave her a quick kiss then propped himself up on his elbows. “You’re in a good mood.”

She smiled. “I’m just… I don’t know. Is this it?”

“Is what what?”

“Is this it? You know, me and you… together… is this it? Are we finally there?”

“Yeah… I think it is…”

“What? What was that? Your voice faded… something’s wrong.”

Brian sighed and sat up all the way. He took her hands in his and laced their fingers together. “Something happened last night, and I think I should tell you. I had a dream about Elizabeth…”

“Oh God… I knew something was going to happen! This is just great…” Abby said starting to panic a little. She went to get up, but Brian put his hands on her waist to keep her there.

“Wait! Calm down and let me finish. She came to me last night and told me that everything would be okay now… She came back to say good-bye.”

“Okay… so what does that mean?”

“It means that everything is going to be okay. I love you Abby, and I want to be with you. It’s like this huge weight has been lifted from me and I… I feel good! For the first time in a really long time, I can honestly say I feel good. I feel more than good, and it’s all because of you.”

Abby wrapped her arms around Brian’s neck, holding him close to her. For a minute she was really scared. For a minute she saw everything she had ever wanted being pulled away from her. She saw Brian leaving, and her life ending. But now, that minute had passed and Brian was still sitting there, and she could still hold him, kiss him, and call him hers. Abby had never given herself to anyone like she gave herself to Brian, and she was never going to let him go.