One Day At A Time

Chapter Thirteen: Dream a Dream

Rain pours outside the house, fogging up the bedroom window.
Ava wakes up in a large bed with soft white sheets and a white, fluffy comforter.

A pair of arms are wrapped around her.
She feels warm, really warm, and a little tense at the idea of a stranger cuddling with her in bed.

She cranes her neck a bit, looking over her shoulder.
To her delight, it's Lilly who is holding her.
Not only does she feel warm, but she feels safe and at ease now.

Though, Lilly looks older.

Ava turns her head back to where it was, staring blankly at the window by the bed.
The wall around the window, along with all of the walls in the bedroom, are painted navy blue.

Navy blue walls, white bedding, and Lilly cuddling her when they're older.

It's a mix of things that are really nice, things that fit together perfectly in Ava's subconscious mind.

"Are you awake?" Lilly whispers a little while later.
"Mhm." Ava replies, rolling over to face her.

She gets a good look at Older Lilly's face.
She's pretty, really pretty.

Lilly has always been pretty in Ava's eyes, she's just never known how to express it.
She's never had the right words that do Lilly justice.

"How'd you sleep?" Lilly asks her.
"Good, I slept good. How about you?"
Lilly smiles softly at her.
"I slept good, too."

For a few moments, Ava just... admires Lilly, soaking in the image and the idea of living with her everyday and waking up with her everyday.

Lilly can tell she's lost in thought.
Ava always goes quiet when she's lost in her thoughts.

"What're you thinking about?"
"I love you." Ava says right away without missing a beat.

It sounds natural, like she's said it a few thousand times before now.

She just says it and hears the words float around the room.
"I love you, too." Lilly tells her, sitting up in bed.

Ava sits up with her, picking up her glasses from the nightstand next to her and pushing them onto her face.

"I'm gonna go start a pot of coffee. Do you want any?" Lilly says with a yawn.
Ava nods her head.
"Yes. Thank you."
"No problem." Lilly smiles.

She kisses Ava's cheek, then slides out of bed, walking down the stairs towards the kitchen.

The next day, Sunday, Ava stirs out of her dream, opening her eyes and looking up at her ceiling.

That dream was nice, really nice, and a first of its kind.

Lilly has shown up in her dreams plenty of times before, but never in the sweet and domestic way that she was last night.

Deep in Ava's heart, something is woken up, something that wants her cuddle Lilly in the real world.

They've never cuddled, they've never even thought about it once, but it sounds like a really good idea to Ava right now.

Ava stares up at her ceiling with thoughts of kissing and cuddling Lilly in her mind, when her phone buzzes on her nightstand.