i had a little of writers block while writing this, but i hope you'll forgive me :) thanks for the reads and reviews, it means a lot to me no matter how many of you read this. it just takes a second to drop by and leave a comment, and to vote! xxx

also, this chapter is very fluffy ;)

I woke up the next morning to Porter curled up at my side, his arm draped around me. His dark brown hair was messy and tousled around his face, his eyes were shut, his breathing slow and steady.

He was so, so beautiful.

I know that's weird to say something about a guy - but just looking at him struck something in my heart.

Fighting the urge to look away, I gently forced myself from the couch and let the blanket fall back on him. He looked so peaceful, I didn't want to disturb him. I made my way to the kitchen and decided to cook us both breakfast. I tried searching the cabinets for pancake mix, and my eyes fell upon a box labeled with with the components I was searching for. I grabbed it and read the instructions, measuring water and mixing it altogether in a pan on the stove. I normally didn't cook, if you hadn't noticed. I usually had Easy Mac, which I had been eating an unusually large amount of lately.

A warm, soft aroma filled my nose and I reached down to flip the pancakes with my spatula. After a few minutes, they were done, and I plopped the fluffy, warm goodness that was the successful result of my cooking onto a plate. I turned to the fridge and opened it, searching for the syrup, then turning around back to the pancakes.

A person was standing at the counter, patiently waiting with a smile on their face. I screamed.

"Dammit, Porter!" I breathed, pushing him with weakness called my arm strength. He laughed loudly, and I closed my eyes, sighing.

When I opened them, he was standing there, staring back at me compassionately. His hair was mussed, like he had ran a hand through it, and he had his arms crossed across his torso. He reached a hand down and tore off an edge of the pancake, sticking it in his mouth and savoring the taste, then swallowing it. "Hmm," he said. "Pretty good."

His voice was husky, and I ignored my racing heart and burning emotions, grabbing classes from one of the cabinets in the room. He watched me, amused, as I poured orange juice into each of our glasses.

"You do realize it's like 12. It's a little late for breakfast." He said.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "It's never too late for breakfast."

He threw his hands up in the air. "Excuse me."
I set our plates down and cups, and he came and sat down with me at the table, picking up the glass of juice and chugging it. After swallowing it all, he put it down and with his sleeve, wiped it across the little shadow of mustache above his lip. He noticed me looking and grinned at me. "I was thirsty."

"You're always thirsty." I said, reaching for a pancake.

"Are you calling me a slut?" He asked, entertained by our banter.

"Nope." I said sarcastically. "Eat your pancakes."
"Yes, mom." He said, pouring a dime-sized amount of syrup on his plate.

We ate in silence, the only thing heard the sound of our chewing and slurps of juice. I was starving from the events of yesterday, I wasn't too sure about him.

"I have to get back to the studio tomorrow." He said, looking up at me.

"What day is it?" I said curiously. I hadn't been to up to date for the past few days.

"It's Sunday." He said. "January 22nd."

My fork scraped my plate, and I stood up to put my plate in the sink, him following.

"Hey," I said. "Why did you fall asleep with me last night?"
I had been meaning to ask him, I thought it strange of him to doze next to me on the couch. He could've slept in my room or something.

He shrugged, his expression blank. "I didn't want to wake you up. And I was too lazy to move."

I nodded. "Ohh, okay. I was just wondering. I didn't know if..."
"Know if what?" He was staring at seriously, standing just a few inches away from me next to the sink, my back pressed against the counter. His eyes were focused on mine as he awaited my reply. God damn, he was so gorgeous.

"I don't know." I spat out.
He grinned, and placed his plate in the sink, then walked back to the living room. I tried to make my breathing even, but something in me was stirring and my emotions were scattered everywhere.

"So what are you going to do for the next few days?" He asked, staring at me, concerned. "I don't want you to be worried about anything when you're home alone."
I sighed, looking away. "I think I'll be fine. I was just shocked from the events of yesterday. But I'll be fine."
"You sure?" He said, his face apprehensive.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it." I went and sat next to him on the couch, where he was scrolling through texts on his phone.

"Is it okay if I go ahead back to my apartment? You can come if you want - it doesn't bother me."
"Nah, it's cool." I said, trying to ignore the fact that I wanted to be around him longer.

"Okay." He said, standing up and instead of moving towards the door, looking at me with worried eyes.
"What?" I asked.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"
I laughed. "Yes!"

He stood there staring at me, and I urged him toward the door. "Go ahead, Porter. He's in jail for a couple of months - you said so yourself. I have nothing to worry about."
He bit his lip, and then wrapped his arms around me. "Okay."

I smiled, and sighed with content, feeling his warmth against my body. He pulled away, and headed towards the door. "See ya." He said, opening it and smiling back at me, then shutting the door and leaving me standing in the living room with disbelief, with a dumb smile on my face.

I flopped down on the couch, facing toward the ceiling. His scent lingered on my old tee, and I took a big breath of it, the smile never leaving my face.

Wow, I was in so deep. I had a crush on Porter and it was so clearly obvious - but I couldn't jump to conclusions and believe he actually liked me. Just because he hugged me a few times doesn't mean anything. He just cared about me as a friend, and I would have to deal with that.

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I spent the next couple of hours in a daze, listening to a mixtape of different artists and cleaning my apartment. I felt so light and blissful to have had spent the night with Porter, the two of us cuddled on the couch together. Regardless of whether he liked me or not, it still made me feel up in the clouds. I threw my clothes in a laundry bag and headed downstairs the laundromat down the street, a big smile on my face. The breeze from the afternoon kissed my face as I passed by people jogging or walking their dogs. Swinging open the door, I stepped inside to the bright flourescent lights of the laundromat and headed over to an empty one.

"You seem awfully happy." Said a voice from behind me.

I turned around to see my neighbor, an old man that lived with his wife and that always brought me random pastries or cookies that she was baking up. He was leaning against one of the washing machines, staring at me with a mixture of amusement and cheerfulness.

"Yeah," I said, my cheeks blushing. "I sort of am."

_______________________________________________________________________

"But honestly, it doesn't cost that much. I'm sure my parents will go with it. What do you think?"

I swirled the spoon around the Fruit Loops, watching them spin in circles and whoosh around the bowl, creating a mini cereal tidepool.

"Um, Alexa? Your opinion is valid."
Through a mouthful of Fruit Loops, I managed to say, "Sounds good to me."

Tess sighed on the other end of the phone. "You've been saying that for the past ten minutes whenever I ask you for help."
In exactly five days, it was Tess's birthday party, and she had done absolutely nothing to plan for it until now, late on a Sunday night. It was like Tess to plan things last minute though - it was nothing new to me honestly. It was just part of her personality, like my obnoxious rambling and blushing.

"Okay, so here are the details then. 7:00 dinner at Per Se, and then we meet at Pacha to go clubbing."
"Sounds great." My spoon clanked the bottom of my now empty bowl.

"Oh! And its gonna be the four of us."
"Who's the other two?" I asked. Must be some of her other friends from her university.

"Um, isn't it obvious?" She paused on the other line. "Anton and Porter?"
My spoon clanked and fell against the floor, falling underneath the table. "Oh! Right. I knew that."

"Don't tell me you honestly didn't think they weren't gonna go. I mean, c'mon! Anton might ask me out, finally. And you and Porter can talk some."
Yeah, talk some.

"How do you know Anton likes you?" I pushed my seat from the table, and decided to go hunting for the spoon underneath it.

"He made it pretty clear. He flirts a lot with me."

"Ahh." I said, my hand finally grasping the silver spoon.

"So yay! I'll see you then. Find something cute to wear, alright? No skinny jeans and Converses." And then she clicked off.

I grimaced, pushing myself up from the ground and heading to the sink to put my bowl in it.

I didn't know if I was more excited or nervous from Tess's phone call, at the fact that I would probably be a blubbering mess in front of Porter now that I realized my crush on him, or the fact that I just got to see Porter and spend more time with him. In an actual club this time. Without him DJ'ing.

Maybe we could go for a walk or something instead of dancing in there though, I wasn't looking forward to the closeness of the crowd against each other again. My stomach clenched up at the thought, and my Fruit Loops twirled in my stomach.

Okay, I thought making my way to the closet to find something to wear. You can do this, Alexa.