She's here. It feels so good to be holding her again. For the first time in what feels like forever, she's close enough for me to touch her.

She's so, so close. Less than an inch away from me. Our lips are near touching. One slight tilt of my head downwards, and they would meet. God, I want to kiss her. I really, really want to. So badly. But I know I can't. I'll never get the chance. Because it will only ruin everything. I would get one small moment of bliss before she pushes me away and tells me she doesn't feel the same. And that would crush me.

Which is why, instead of tilting my head forward, I move my head down, resting it in the crook of her neck. I inhale her vanilla scent deeply, storing it away in my memory. I move my hands down to her waist and use that hold to pull her closer. She easily obliges, shuffling towards me slightly and threading her hands through my hair.

"You're wearing my hoodie," I murmur, squeezing her waist slightly for emphasis. A slow smirk creeps onto my face. She's wearing my clothes. Mine. I don't know why, but that makes my insides light up.

She hums softly, grazing her nails down the nape of my neck and slightly under the top of my t-shirt. A shiver rolls down my spine. That feels so fúcking good. If I were a cat I would definitely be purring right now. Dámn. I'm taking her back home with me. "It reminds me of you," She murmurs and it takes me a second to remember what the hell we're talking about. My hoodie.

I grin against the bare skin of her neck, "Were you missing me, Sunshine?"

She scoffs quietly, threading her fingers up through my hair before trailing them back down again. "Of course I was, don't be silly."

My grin only widens and I hold her waist tighter. I love it when she says she misses me. It makes me feel like I'm on cloud fúcking nine. I whisper my next words quietly, so that only she can hear me. "I missed you too."

Her shiver makes me smile. At least I affect her the same way she affects me.

Suddenly she pulls away slightly, staring at me with narrowed eyes, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

I smile sheepishly, linking my hands together behind her back in hopes of stopping her from moving too far away from me. "Everyone else wanted to keep it a surprise. It's been a lot harder than I thought it would be because all I wanted to do was talk to you about it, but I couldn't. That's why I told you that I was doing all those extra hours at the gym. I needed to cut down our talking time, otherwise I'd end up spilling everything to you."

"Aww," She coos softly, moving her hands to cup my jaw softly, "That's cute."

I sigh softly, a content smile playing on my lips. "Of course you think that."

She smiles, moving her fingers to poke both of my dimples, "I love your dimples."

I pause for a second before lifting my own hand up hesitantly. I gently brush my thumb over her bottom lip, not able to drag my eyes away from it. "I love your smile."

Her smile widens into a gorgeous grin at my words. She takes both my hands in hers, slowly stepping back away from me. I want to protest and pull her back to me, but I don't. She's choosing to move away from me and I don't want to make her feel like she has to stay right by me all the time. Even though I would love that.

She drops one of my hands and uses the other to pull me towards her living room. Liam and Anna have now moved into the room, taking up one of the couches. Max and Bella have joined them as well, sitting on the other couch, while I can see Laura – Layla's mom – in the kitchen. Anna motions for Layla to join her on the couch. Not wanting to be too far away from her now that I just got her back, I follow, sitting down on the floor in front of her legs once she is sitting.

When I feel Layla's hands in my hair, I tilt my head back to look up at her. She smiles, pulling the hair back from my face so she can see me properly as she speaks to me quietly. "Are you guys staying here at the apartment?"

I nod, a smile growing on my face, "My parents were going to book us a hotel room, but your mom insisted that there's enough room for the four of us."

She grins, fingertips lightly tracing my jawline, "Good. I want to be as close to you as possible while you're here."

"Me too, Sunshine. Me too."

~

Layla flops down onto her bed as I set Anna's suitcase down next to her drawers. Anna will be staying in here with Layla while Liam and I will sleep in the two twin beds in the spare room and Max will sleep on a spare mattress in Bella's room.

If I'm being honest, I really want nothing more than to sleep with Layla in my arms tonight. I've been deprived of her touch for so long, and I just want to hold her. But we're friends. That's something couples do. She doesn't like me like that. Even if we have slept like that before, that was different. Now I've realized I like her and I don't think anything like that will ever happen again.

I collapse onto the bed beside Layla, throwing a hand over my eyes as I let myself relax. The apartment is almost completely silent now. There's the barest sound of chatter coming from the other rooms. We ordered Chinese for dinner a little while ago and had that while everyone was catching up. Now it's a little after eight o'clock and we decided it would be best to have an early night after our flight. Laura has already gone to bed while Liam, Anna, Max, and Bella are in the living room still.

I suddenly feel a small weight on my chest and my eyes fly open to look down. Layla has her head resting on my chest, right over my heart. Right over my new tattoo that is now bandage-free. I let out a shaky breath as she rests a hand on my abdomen. The things this girl does to me.

We lie there for a moment, neither of us moving and just enjoying the quiet. Her body is warm against mine and I relish in the heat she provides. Her vanilla scent completely engulfs me and I take a deep breath in, feeling at home even though I'm thousands of miles away from my house.

She sits up after a moment and looks down at me with a small smile, "Can I see your new tattoo?"

I nod as she sits crisscrossed beside me. I lift up the side of my shirt enough for her to be able to see that tattoo. "My dad finished the last of it the other day."

She shakes her head, grinning, "It looks even better in person!" Her eyes are wide when she looks up at me and asks, "Can I touch it?"

I nod again and she reaches out, dainty fingers beginning to trace the lines. I take in a sharp breath at the contact, tensing. Her touch feels so dámn good, it should be illegal.

"It doesn't hurt anymore?" She asks quietly, tracing the wing of the bird.

"No, it's fine now," I murmur, the both of us just watching her hand trace the lines on my skin. I marvel at how she touches me. Her touch is gentle and careful, but she seems sure of herself. She always is when it comes to my tattoos. She seems to enjoy tracing them. I just don't think she realizes how dámn affected I am by her touch.

"Do you have a favorite?" She asks, moving her hand to trace the other tattoos on my torso.

When her question finally registers in my mind, I pause. I do have a favorite tattoo, but I can't show her just yet. "I don't think I have just one favorite. I love all of them," I lie.

She nods, tracing over a flower I have tattooed on my stomach. "I like this one a lot. It's beautiful," She pauses, glancing up at me with a small smile, "But I don't think I have a favorite either."

My heart swells at the thought of her knowing my body and all my tattoos well enough to be able to pick a favorite and yet she still can't choose one. I like that.

After a moment, she lies back down beside me, resting her head on my chest again. I pull my shirt back down and wrap my arm around her, my hand sitting on her hip. I gently rub soothing circles through the fabric of my hoodie she's wearing with my thumb. She lets out a quiet, content sigh.

For a few minutes, we lie there like that together, neither of us speaking. We don't have to. We're more than okay just sitting in a comfortable silence together.

That quiet is soon broken though when Anna walks into the room. A smirk works its way onto her lips when she sees us, but she doesn't comment on our position. "Do you guys want to come watch some Friends?"

Layla immediately jumps up and I frown. She turns back to me and when she sees my face, she grins. She grabs my hand and drags me out of the room with her. "We haven't watched Friends together in over a month, Reece! We have a lot of catching up to do!"

She pulls me out of her room, dragging me behind her as she follows Anna. She pauses in the hallway and drops my hand to open a cupboard. Grabbing a pile of blankets, she turns back to me with a smile and I take the pile from her without her having to ask. We then walk out into the living room where Anna, Liam, Max, and Bella already are. Anna and Liam are curled up in the armchair together while Max and Bella share on one of the two couches.

I pass a blanket to Liam and Anna before walking over and passing another to Max and Bella. Then, I move to the free couch with the last blanket, standing there and waiting for Layla to sit down.

She grins, sitting down in one corner of the couch. I hand her the blanket before sitting on the couch myself, twisting around and laying down so that my head is in her lap. I look up at her and she looks down at me. We both grin at each other.

It's been way too long.

Layla starts the next episode of Friends, picking up right where we left off. She then unfolds the blanket and lies it at an angle across my torso and her legs, avoiding my face so that it won't be covered. Her hand then falls to my hair as she starts scratching her nails lightly along my scalp.

I let my eyes fall closed, not really paying attention to the TV. I'm much more focused on Layla's touch and how good it feels to be like this again after more than a month apart. It's just simple things like watching TV together that I really missed.

Her finger soon trails down until she's tracing my face. I open my eyes and look up, immediately locking my gaze with hers. She has a soft smile on her face as she looks down at me, her finger gently tracing my cheekbone. She continues, going over my eyebrows, the creases in my forehead and my jawline. All the while, I just stare into her ever-entrancing emerald green eyes. I lose myself in the depths of green, catching the little spots of brown and hazel in her irises.

She really is so incredibly beautiful. And I want nothing more than to just lean up and kiss her.

I close my eyes again and try to contain my thoughts. I can't afford to think like that. She would hate me if I ever tried anything. And then I'd lose her for good. I can't let that happen.

I won't.