Our Corner of the Universe

thirteen.

☾☆

Melanie

I woke up to the sun shining in and the sounds of deep breathing beside me. For the first few seconds I was confused as to what was causing the sound but quickly the events of the night before flooded back to me bringing my nerves back with them.

I turned over to face Hunter, causing the arm he had around me to shift slightly. My movement seemed to have woken him up and his eyes began to flutter open. He seemed groggy at first but as soon as he saw me looking at him, his trademark boyish grin came out and he said, "I could get used to waking up next to you."

I returned the smile and shook my head, "Oh stop, I am sure this is a regular occurrence for you. I'm nothing special." I tried to come off playful with the comment but after hearing it out loud, the truth of the statement started to sting. Not that I had any right to be hurt by the thought of him waking up next to other girls, it wasn't like we were together.

The comment that I made wiped the smile right off his face, "Don't say that Mel. You are special, more than you know." He stopped a moment, almost as if he was contemplating on whether or not he should continue. "I know you have gotten this idea of me that I sleep around with lots of different girls, and honestly you would be right about that, but something about you feels different, more special. And I will have you know that last night was the first time a girl has ever actually spent the whole night and woken up next to me in the morning. So you were a first for me."

I was surprised by his honest response, and felt guilty for upsetting him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that all up or upset you at all."

"No don't apologize. I was just trying to be honest because I know I haven't been before and you deserve that. And like I said last night, you can ask me anything and I promise to be completely honest and open. I want to earn your trust again." He said.

His response left me thinking, what did I want to know about him? I had so many questions and was unsure if I even wanted to know some of the answers. I took a deep breath and lifted my head from the spot on his bare chest where it seemed to fit so perfectly. I looked him in the eye and found myself growing even more confused. I felt such a strong connection to him but he had done so many things to make me question his character. It was like my heart and my head were at war and I didn't know which side I wanted to come out on top.

I laid my head back down and snuggled up to his side. I found it easier to ask the questions if I didn't have to do it while looking him in the eye. "Okay, first question, why did you lie about not being in a frat?"

"Well, you had such a distaste for frats when we talked and I didn't want you to think I was like one of those boys you described, when in reality I am exactly like the guys you described. I guess I was just ashamed at the thought of you seeing me in that light so I lied. I am actually the president of this frat, but it isn't all hooking up with random girls and partying. I have found some of my best friends here and I am super grateful for this house. But don't tell any of the guys I said that." He chuckled at the last comment and I did too. I guess I understood his reasoning, after I had ripped apart fraternities and grouped all frat boys in the same stereotype, I probably wouldn't have wanted to admit it either.

"I was really harsh on frats and frat guys, so I don't blame you for not wanting to admit it to me after I said all those things. I guess I just had such a bad perception of you all because of all of the times my roommate comes home crying over a frat boy 'humping and dumping' her, as she would say." I explained, adding "and I guess you all aren't that bad."

My comment worked in lightning the mood, and he laughed slightly, "Well I guess 'aren't that bad' is better than nothing."

I smiled and then proceeded to ask my next question, "So are there any other huge parts of your life you casually forgot to mention?"

"Well, actually I am the quarterback of the football team. I am actually kind of surprised you didn't recognize me." I don't know how I was expecting him to answer that question but that sure as hell was not it. The new revelation that I was laying in bed with the quarterback of a nationally ranked football team caused me to shoot up into a sitting position. I looked at Hunter to gauge whether or not he was kidding but he was too busy laughing at my shocked reaction to give me any indication.

"You are telling me that you are the big shot quarterback and I had no idea?" He was still laughing to himself as he nodded his head. I could feel my cheeks begin to grow hot as I blushed at my embarrassing reaction and the even more embarrassing fact that I had no idea who he was. Not that I gave a shit about sports but football was huge here and he was the leader of the team, making him practically campus royalty. Well, at least that is what Alana says, clearly I don't think he is campus royalty considering I didn't even recognize him.

I laid back down on Hunter's toned chest in an effort to hide the blush that has already crept up on my cheeks. "Well I am glad you found my lack of basic school knowledge so funny. Anyway next question." The next one was one that I didn't think I wanted to know the answer to but curiosity was getting the best of me and I had to ask, "You said last night you have been hooking up with girls to all week to try to distract yourself from me. Was that true? Why did you do that if you say you felt the connection like I did? And who was that mean girl from last night? She seemed to think she had some sort of claim on you. Was she your girlfriend?" The questions flowed out as I wanted to know more and more.

He didn't answer at first, and the long pause was leaving me in suspense, but eventually he took a sigh and opened his mouth to speak.