The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I slept the entire night, no tossing and turning, staring at the ceiling or waking up in the middle of the night. The second thing I noticed was that, on such a rainy morning, I was warm, too warm and too comfortable to even move.

My eyes fluttered open and as the world came into view my breath hitched in my throat while my heart slammed against my rib cage- Haydn slept inches from my face, her arm thrown casually over my waist keeping me warm. I rubbed my eyes and smiled as I took the time to admire her, she looked a lot less intimidating when she was asleep, and I didn't realize how long her eyelashes actually were. I wished I could stay in bed and admire the small freckles that kissed her cheeks, or how good she smelt, or how peaceful she looked but my throbbing bladder reminded me you couldn't get everything in life. I gently, and regretfully, pulled myself out the bed, and her arms, and watched as a sleeping Haydn grabbed a pillow, hugging it close to herself before I made my way to the bathroom in the hallway.

Since I was already awake and had no intentions of going back to sleep, I hopped into the shower and let the warm water run over my body as I picked up her fruity smelling soap and washed off my sleep. As I stepped out the shower, I managed to use some clean underwear and black workout tights from my gym bag but had to change into a baggy grey hoodie Haydn offered me last night that I didn't end up wearing.

Haydn was still sleeping when I walked into her room and, having moved a little in her sleep, more of her tattoos were visible and seeing all the different drawings that covered her body I decided that one day I should ask her what they meant- hell I didn't care if they were just for fun, I just wanted to know everything about her. I turned my attention to her face as she slept, her eyes fluttering lightly behind her eyelids as she dreamt and before I could stop myself, I leaned down and gently kissed her forehead and as I pulled away, I saw her fluttering eyes still. I wished I could just climb back into bed next to her, but she wasn't mine, so I moved to her desk and took out my biology books and started working. It was becoming easier to grasp the concepts now that Haydn was helping me study but there was no way I wanted to risk failing the test.

Haydn slept for a few more hours while I studied and only at 11:00 did she start to stir. I was guessing that with her night terrors on most nights she never got much sleep and that's why she was sleeping so long. I heard her yawn as she sat up and when I turned to face her, I couldn't help the blush that appeared on my cheeks as she stretched, her shirt creeping up her toned stomach.

"What's the time?" She asked sleepily and I averted my eyes in embarrassment as I checked my phone.

"It's eleven ten," I replied, and her eyes grew comically larger.

"Like in the morning?" She asked in shock, and I nodded before she smiled. "God, I haven't slept this long in ages." She muttered as she rubbed her eyes. "What're you doing?" She asked as she got out of bed and walked over to me, and I shrugged sheepishly.

"I'm studying actually, I really can't fail that test." I sighed as I felt the familiar increased heartbeat that was brought on by my anxiety, I could barely even think about that stupid fucking test before I was swarmed by a wave of anxiety.

"Hey, don't worry about- you'll be okay, you've got this." She said reassuringly as she squeezed my shoulder. "I'm going to take a shower quick." She said before grabbing some clothes and walking into the bathroom.

I continued to work but Haydn didn't take too long before she walked back out with wet hair and a bare face, dressed in black basketball shorts and a plain white shirt and I thought she'd never looked more beautiful. Her eyes were bright, and she smelt so good, and it took me a second to realize she asked me a question.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked and she smiled as she gently shook her head.

"Did you have something to eat?" She asked and I bit my lip as I shook my head. "Oh my god, Cristina! You must be starving; you should've gone downstairs while I was sleeping." She said and I shook my head.

"And risk awkwardly running into your dad or stepmom? No thanks, I'd probably turn into a bumbling idiot." I muttered and she laughed as she pulled me up from her chair.

"Laura, Luis and Daniel aren't here, they've gone to Laura's parent's house, they have dinner there every Saturday and only come back Sunday afternoon." She explained before dragging me towards the hall and as she intertwined her fingers with mine, I felt my breath hitch.

I know I sounded cliche, but her hand fit in mine like a puzzle piece, like my hand was made to fit in hers and even though she was way out of my league, I hoped it was true.

"So how come you didn't go?" I asked as we walked down the stairs and into the kitchen and she shook her head, almost offended by the idea.

"Laura and her parents don't really like me, she sees me as a demon set out to ruin her happily ever after and her parents think I'm some Mexican delinquent child who only does drugs and drinks all the time. I just stay to make things easier for everyone." She shrugged sadly before letting go of my hand and I couldn't help myself, but I pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her as I rested my head on her shoulder. Unsurprisingly, just like our hands, we seemed just to fit together, and it took a single second before I felt her arms around me as she relaxed into my arms and after a few seconds I pulled away first as I looked her in her eyes.

"You've changed, you know you have, so don't let some racist, old white people make you feel bad about yourself. You've come a long way Haydn and you should be proud of yourself." I said reassuringly and she flashed me a small smile that lit up her eyes.

"Thanks, Cristina, I think I needed to hear that." She smiled.

"Just reminding you of the truth." I shrugged before she laughed with a small blush and I was glad that, for once, it wasn't me.

"So how do you feel about grilled cheese sandwiches?" She asked before she turned red again. "Actually, that's one of the only things we have the ingredients for."

"Grilled cheese sounds great." I grinned as I walked around the kitchen island. "Can I help with anything?" I asked and she shook her head.

"You can just sit there and look pretty and leave the rest to me." She flirted and I blushed as I took a seat at the kitchen island to watch her work.

I highly doubted I looked pretty, I didn't have a scratch of makeup on my face and since I didn't have my bonnet last night my curls were looking a little bit messier than I would've liked but beggars couldn't be choosers because I got to spend the night with Haydn and now I'm watching her make us grilled cheese- messy curls were worth it.

"You're pretty good at this," I commented as I watched her work and she laughed.

"Good at making grilled sandwiches? Orrr?" She said as she dragged out her word and I blushed as I rolled my eyes.

"I mean you're pretty good in the kitchen, you look like you enjoy being in here," I mentioned and by the blush, on her cheeks, I think I hit the nail on the head.

"I really do actually, being in the kitchen is actually one of my favorite places." She explained and I didn't want to pry but I found myself wanting to know more.

"How long has it been one of your favorite places?" I asked as she made the sandwiches before heating up the pan, taking a few seconds to think about it before she replied.

"For as long as I can remember actually, my mom wasn't a whizz in the kitchen, so I learned from an early age how to cook and make food. I guess it just comes from there and cooking can be a distraction I guess, so that also helps." She said with a smile as she grilled the sandwiches in the pan.

We continued with small talk as she finished making our food and once, she was done we moved into the living room to watch White Chicks. It surprised me how nothing could be awkward with Haydn and me, whether it was watching tv in silence or studying together I never felt awkward around her, if anything I felt more at ease than with her than I did with others who were much closer to me.

"You know if my mama ever saw me sitting while you cooked, she'd kill me," I said thinking out loud without much notice and Haydn's eyebrow shot up in question.

"Why?" She asked, distracting us from the movie.

"My mama is a big believer in helping, whether it be chopping vegetables or help stirring or whatever. She says it's the way she was raised, she's pretty traditional like that, my grandmother is too." I smiled as I reminisced. "Every time we go visit her in Spain my mom, my gran and I are forever in the kitchen together and I can't even complain, it's where some of my best memories one from."

"Your mom is from Spain?" Haydn asked, turning to face me and I nodded, our movie being completely ignored.

"Yeah, her and my papa moved here a couple of years before I was born," I explained.

"Your dads also Spanish?" She asked and I shook my head before I replied.

"No, he's Russian but they had to move to America because being an interracial couple back then was really hard and borderline dangerous. My papa's parents don't even speak to him anymore." I said sadly. "I'm happy they moved because I love my life here but sometimes, I feel like I was robbed of my culture and family, all because people can be dickheads." I mumbled before I turned bright red, I was really just out there bumbling like an idiot about things Haydn probably didn't even want to hear about.

"I get it." She said and my eyes shot up to look at her, surprised she didn't tell me to shut up or that I was boring. "My mom isn't winning the "best mom of the year" award anytime soon, but sometimes she'd tell me what it was like when she was young. She told me her family was Mexican, her grandparents immigrated from Mexico many years before and how big their family was. She'd tell me stories of their holidays together and how close they all were and all the food they would cook and how much they all loved each other, and I hated it. I never met any of them, I don't even know their names, but I felt like they were all taken from me before I even got to experience it and resented her for it for a long time." She said as she put her empty plate on the coffee table next to mine.

It was in that moment that I realized that something between us had shifted, after last night it was like our walls, we had built up for other people kind of crumbled around us and I didn't even notice until I was spilling my deepest, darkest secrets to her. She was just so easy to talk to, I felt like I could tell her anything and she wouldn't judge and for someone who had to struggle with anxiety for years, I couldn't even explain how relieving it was. We were even sitting really close, almost as close as we were last night, and she was so beautiful, and her lips look so soft, and we kept staring at each other.

"Well, they really missed out on someone pretty amazing," I whispered as I let my eyes drop to her lips and when I looked back into her eyes my breath got stuck in my throat when I realized she was looking at my lips.

"You think so?" She said with a small smile, and I nodded before I bit my lip.

It only took me a heartbeat to gather up the courage to seize the moment and I slowly leaned forward, and she stared down at me with heavy eyelids, not moving away. I held my breath as our lips were millimeters away from touching and I was finally going to kiss the girl who occupied my thoughts for weeks but just as our eyes fluttered closed and our lips brushed together, we heard the front door open.

"We're back!" Daniel yelled as his footsteps indicated him coming in our direction and we bolted apart as I turned bright red.

I couldn't believe I did that; I was a fucking idiot.

"I-I'm so sorry, Haydn, I have to go, I'll see you at school," I muttered to Haydn in a panic as I raced to her room to get my stuff before quickly disappearing out the door.