Page 13 of Some Things Never Change

“Stop what?”

“Your creepy, strained laugh. It’s not cute.”

Chapter

Five

“You should take the bed,” I mumbled through my slow and tired blink.

“No,” said Andy.

“Just take the bed! I’ll sleep on the couch. I doubt this would even fit us both, to be honest.” I pointed to my full-sized bed with an irritated frown.

I graciously offered him the bed while I planned to sleep on the couch, but he kept insisting we both could sleep together on it. We had been at this for a few minutes already to no avail and I was getting tired of it.

“What do you mean? It should be fine. So, just sleep with me.”

“No.”

“Come on. Why are you acting like we never used to sleep together on the same bed? I’ve even endured all your kicks, Tink.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “We were kids, Andy.”

“So?” He simply shrugged. “How is it any different now that you’re twenty-eight and I’m thirty? I doubt you sleep any differently now, to be honest. Just think about it. How many sleepovers did I survive with you again?”

His statement was a low blow from when Jonathan and I did all those sleepovers at the Hughes’ as kids. We often woke up to me sprawled all over whoever I slept next to, often with my limbs thrown over them. The ones who complained the most were always Jonathan and Anthony whilst Andy never minded.

It was the afternoon, but because of the blackout curtains I had, the room was cloaked in darkness. I could tell Andy was staring pointedly at my eye bags and dark circles. “Just get in the bed. You look exhausted.”

Blinking again, I let out a groan. “Fine.”

I immediately climbed into bed without hesitation and didn’t even wait for Andy to get into bed before I fell asleep. I eventually woke up by the alarm I set for eight P.M. The phone haphazardly buzzed and beeped from the floor. It must have fallen off while we were sleeping.

I opened my eyes as little as possible and snoozed the annoying alarm. In the midst of that, I felt Andy shift at my side. I think he mumbled something, but I couldn’t comprehend it. I pulled the warm covers over my shoulders and turned to my side as I tried to get an extra ten minutes of slumber.

It wasn’t until then that I felt Andy’s breathing was unusually close to me. The warmth of his breath hit the back of my neck, tickling me. I shifted around to give Andy some room when his voice startled me.

“Where are you going? It’s cold,” he mumbled, shifting closer to me. His voice was husky and groggy, like this morning when I picked him up at the airport.

The air outside of our thick, warm comforter was chilly. I doubted my roommate, Lily, bothered to turn on the heater when she got home from work. I was pretty certain she was home as well, since there was a very dim light coming from down the hallway.

I threw the warm blankets over my cold nose as I turned toward Andy. With my eyes opened, I could still make out the outlines of his relaxed face, closed eyes, and long body despite the complete darkness that now enveloped my room.

I closed my eyes for a moment, but was jolted awake by the alarm again. Once I turned it off, I glanced down at our sleeping positions before I tossed my phone down at my pillow. I clearly made my way over to Andy’s side during our slumber and took up all the space Andy had, to no one’s surprise.

I shook him lightly. “Wake up, Sunshine.”

He let out a light groan, flopping from his side to his back and letting his long arms and legs spread wide. With his body stretched out like that, he might as well have had the entire bed to himself. I made my way over to the light switch and turned on the lights.

I walked back to the bed. “Sorry about taking up so much of your space. Were you able to sleep well?”

“Hmm?” was Andy’s response as he looked up at me with squinting eyes. He propped himself up on his elbow, blinking at the brightness of the light. “Yeah, I slept fine. Only because I’m used to you moving around so much. You still sleep exactly like when we were kids.”

“Shut up.” My cheeks started to heat up as I glared at him. “I only sleep like that because I’m comfortable around you.”

A lazy, sleepy smile stretched across Andy’s lips as he chuckled. “Do you really think I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I suggested we sleep on the bed together? It’s fine, you know. Think of it as your charm.”

I playfully fluttered my lashes at him. “My charm, you say?”

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