The Art of Living

[35] Something.

What were they? That was truly a good question. Ellie was quite certain about what she wanted them to be, but she wasn't sure how to tell Brian that. "I want us to be something.. Does that make sense?"

"That does make sense. And I think that's good, because we can take it at our own pace. You just can't let people freak you out if they call us a couple or something. Especially Lynn will probably do that, at least if I know her as well as I think."

Ellie nodded and sighed a little. "Yeah, she might. But I'll try not to let it freak me out. As long as we know what we want, what we are, then we are fine. Right? Is that good? I'm sorry, I'm pretty clueless as you might be able to tell."

Brian chuckled softly and kissed her cheek. "Don't worry. I think as long as we're on the same page and we're honest with each other then it's all good."

Smiling widely, she nodded. The feeling of Brian's lips on her cheek made her incredibly happy in a way that she couldn't quite explain. "What do you want us to be?" She asked curiously and looked at him.

"I think that's pretty obvious..," he said quietly, holding her close. "I would love to call you my girlfriend eventually, but there's time for that. There's no rush, I promise. We'll take it at a pace that's comfortable for you. For now I'm just incredibly glad that we are where we are now."

Smiling widely, Ellie rested her head against him. "You're wonderful... really. Wonderful. I'm so happy. I had no idea a guy could make me this happy - in a non-sexual way."

Brian laughed a little and rubbed her arm. "I feel honoured. I'm glad you're happy. I'm glad you tell me too. And I bet we can add happy in the sexual way soon, don't worry."

Now Ellie had to laugh. "I'm sure, yeah.. I don't think either of us would have a problem with that." She lifte her head again and looked up at him. It seemed a little surreal to her that she could be so open with Brian, that they were joking around, that they were teasing each other about sex and that there was nothing weird about it.

Brian looked down at her and smiled widely. "Oh no, definitely not. And this time completely sober."

"With a lovely breakfast in the morning," Ellie added and softly kissed Brian's cheek.

He sighed happily and pulled her even closer. "Yes, definitely..."

The record that had been playing in the background was finished, so Ellie got up and put it away again. Brian got up too and started to gather the dishes. "Do you want to do the washing up now or tomorrow?"

"You won't believe it, but thanks to Lynn I have a dishwasher. A small one, but for one lazy person it's absolutely perfect." Ellie smiled and helped him carry everything into the kitchen

"I am so jealous of your flat here, you have no idea." He sighed a little. Together they put everything into the dishwasher, but Brian very often took a moment to just look at Ellie. "Do you normally sleep long or do you get up early?"

"I sleep long. I can sleep until noon if no one wakes me, I'm a night owl, definitely. You? If you want to get up early, you definitely can, you should feel at home here. If you want to go out for a walk or whatever, and then come back, there's a spare key by the door, you can just take that."

"I can take your key?" Brian sounded very surprised.

Ellie shrugged and nodded, giving him a smile. "Yeah.., sure. I don't want you to feel trapped here."

"Thank you. I appreciate it, really." He smiled at her and held his hand out for her.

Ellie smiled widely, and took his hand. "Do you want to go back into the living room? Or are you tired? We can go to sleep, or we can have a cup of tea and go to sleep after that, whatever you want."