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chapter nine; almost at the diadem
James woke up with his wand's alarm clock and quickly shut it down so Maya wouldn't wake up too.
She was lying on her side of the bed, her back turned to him, and hugging the pillow as she slept. Her hair was sprawled on the mattress, the smell of flowers in the air and making his stomach flutter as he rolled to his side, to (not creepily) look at her.
James wanted to deck himself for not noticing she wasn't sleeping before. Then again, Amaya pretended that she had been, so she wouldn't bother anyone.
And she did it fucking well; yes, he hated himself for not noticing she'd been exhausting herself but the witch had been running around all weekend, doing all sorts of things as if she had an infinite supply of adrenaline in her.
All because she didn't want to 'burden' anyone.
He mentally rolled his eyes at the girl that didn't seem to quite grasp the concept of their family, and that their love was unconditional, and if she wanted to bother him every second of every day, James would happily let her, because that meant she was with him.
Last night, the moment she walked into his room, which was a fucking surprise as she didn't usually (or never) do it, James knew something was wrong and he hadn't even thought twice before telling her to get inside the bed.
He'd felt his heart race when she didn't hesitate either, her face twisting into relief, her arms that'd been consciously hugging herself dropping as she slipped under the covers.
Now, as he watched her sleeping like a simpering fool, Amaya moved in her sleep and James held his breath, not wanting to risk waking her up. And though he wanted to stay for a little while longer, move closer to her, and tug her to him so he could go back to sleep with her in his arms, he had to start thinking about getting up and ready.
She turned to him, her arm falling by the side of her face. He couldn't stop staring at her face, she was so beautiful James had never wanted more to teach himself how to paint or sculpt just so he could immortalize the picture of her. Cursing Training, James forced himself to get out of bed.
He quickly took a shower and got dressed and by the time he left the bathroom Amaya was thankfully still asleep—honestly, he wagered she'd be asleep for a week after exhausting herself. He placed his glasses on his face and walked over to the other side of the bed, crouching down beside her and brushing a strand of hair away from her face, trailing her freckles in the process and making Amaya's nose twitch.
She blinked up at him, her eyes unseeing for a moment and then her lips tugged up. James' heart did a summersault at that moment. "You can keep sleeping, sunshine. I'll see you after training."
