I woke up to the feeling of small kisses being placed on my hand, trailing up my arms, and towards my neck. Christian began nibbling along my jaw and I shifted, without opening my eyes, so that my mouth captured his.

          He froze for a second, probably surprised by the sneak attack, before he kissed me back. "Good morning," he murmured against my lips. He rolled onto his back with a sigh, looking out of the window of my room. For a second, I was sure that his eyes glittered with tears, but when he turned to look at me, they were their normal piercing blue.

          "Morning," I said a little uncertainly, watching him.

          "Get out of bed, sleepy-head," he said, sitting up. "You need to be fed."

          "I'm not a dog." I glared good-naturedly. He seemed fine to me. Any concerns about tears were quickly dismissed.

          "And yet your stomach is growling," he pointed out, patting my stomach. His dimples were on display as he grinned at me.

          "Dogs don't growl, they bark," I shot back, feeling smug.

          His lips pulled up in the corners as he smiled down at me. "Alright then, bear. Let's get you fed." He slipped out of bed, heading to the backpack he'd dropped near my dresser last night. I propped myself up on an elbow, enjoying the view. He turned once he found a pair of clean boxers, glancing at me. "Like what you see?" he asked, smiling. Pulling his boxer on, he looked almost wistful as he glanced at the floor-length mirror near my closet

           "Modesty is an admirable trait to have, you know," I told him, rolling my eyes. He could be so cocky sometimes.

          "I won't always look like this, you know," he said. Pulling his jeans on, he left them unzipped as he stalked towards me.

          "You'll always be handsome, even when you're middle-aged and supporting a beer belly," I said, not understanding where he was come from.

          He looked kind of frustrated, but he seemed to shrug it off. He touched my bandaged hand, playing with my fingers. "Can you take this off yet?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

          I glanced at the digital clock on my bedside table. "I don't see why not," I told him, carefully peeling the bandage back. The skin around it still looked a little red and irritated, but the tattoo captured all of my attention. It looked even better than it had last night, and the sight of it had my heart racing.

          "Wow, it's amazing," Christian admired, looking it over. He traced the intricate swirls and small marks of the tattoo, barely brushing the delicate skin of my hand.

          "I know," I breathed, admiring it with an almost painful twist in my stomach.

          ***

          "Here," Christian said when I walked through the kitchen doors and took a seat at the table. He placed a plateful of pancakes in front of me, along with some syrup.

          "God, you are awesome," I said, tucking in with gusto.

          He laughed. "You'd say anything for my food."

          I rolled my eyes, but didn't argue. He was right. "You're not eating?" I asked as he sat down next to me without a plate of his own. I was sure that he was coming down with something. He hadn't had much of an appetite lately, and for the past week, he'd been coughing quite a bit.

          "I ate while I was cooking. I'll just have a few bites of your breakfast." He shrugged, playing with some of my hair. I nudged him in the side, making it clear the he wouldn't be getting any of my pancakes.

          "I love your cooking," I said with a happy sigh once I'd cleaned my plate. "I love you as well," I added after a moment, glancing up at him through my lashes.

          He tugged on my arm, pulling me onto his lap. "Oh, I see how it is. It's my food first, and then me second."

          "Silly boy." I smiled, kissing his downturned lips. I could feel his chest puffing up at the use of the word boy, and quickly kissed him again. It was nice not having to worry about my dad walking in on us.

          Christian pulled back after a long moment. "Mila?" he murmured tenderly, pressing his face against my neck.

          "Hmm?" I was enjoying the feel of his kisses, and had actually begun to feel a little drowsy in his arms. I didn't know what on earth I'd been worrying about earlier.

          "I love you."

          "I love you too, you big sap." I smiled even though he couldn't see me. He was just too sweet sometimes.

          "Ouch. Is it a crime to tell a girl I love her?" I could feel his own smile pressed against my neck.

          "If it's not me, then yeah it is." I turned to look at him, sternly. Shaking his head, he kissed my nose, like it was impossible that he'd ever feel that way about anyone else. The house phone rang just then, saving him from further harassment. "I should go get that." I stood up, reluctantly.

          "I should get going actually. I promised Damian that I'd hang with him for a while today," Christian said, standing up too. Damian was probably one of his closest friends, and I was currently really frustrated with him. He was crazy about my friend, Vera, and watching him do nothing about it had gotten old really fast. She'd left to go visit her dad for a few weeks, and Damian seemed to have been sulking around ever since.

          "I'll see you later," I told Christian, leaning in to give him a quick kiss, before I picked up the phone.

         ***

          The doorbell rang about an hour after Christian left, and I heaved myself off the couch to see who it was.

          I was surprised to see Damian at the door. I looked behind him and was even more surprised to see that Christian wasn't behind him.

          "Hey. Where's Christian?" he asked, echoing my thoughts. He ran a hand through his hair, looking frazzled. He looked over my shoulder, as though Christian was hiding behind me. "I really need his advice on something."

          "He's not here," I told him, confused. "I thought he had plans with you? He left over an hour ago now."

          "He did?" His boyish face looked surprised for a second, before he composed himself. "Oh, I must have misheard him." He waved it off, not even thinking twice about it.

          "Yeah, you must have," I agreed, albeit reluctantly. Where was Christian, if not with Damian? "Want to come in?" I asked, trying to mask my worry.

          "Nah, I should probably find someone else to help me." He rubbed the back of his blonde head.

          "You know Damian, if it's girl trouble, I could help. I am a girl." I crossed my arms.

          His cheeks flushed a little. "That's OK. I... yeah. I think I'm OK."

          "OK..." I said slowly, staring at him. I wondered if this was about Vera. It sure would explain why he was so hesitant to confide in me.

          "Bye Mila, see you around." He waved, before bolting back down the driveway to where his car was parked.

          I shut the door behind him, immediately going back to the couch to look for my cell phone. I found it nestled between two cushions, and checked to see if I had any missed calls or text messages.

          Nothing.

          Where are you? I texted Christian, wondering if something had come up. We'd been almost inseparable all summer, so it was odd that he'd just up and disappear.

          My phone vibrated almost immediately.

          I'm still at Damian's place. I don't think I can get back. My dad wants me home tonight. I'll see you tomorrow. Love you. Xx

          I sat down heavily on the sofa, my knees feeling weak. He'd just lied to me. Why?

          Only one explanation came to mind, and I tried not to even consider it. This was Christian. He would never do that to me – to us. It just wasn't possible.

          I needed to calm down. This was probably all some big misunderstanding... but nothing changed the fact that he'd lied. He had deliberately deceived me and Damian into thinking that he was with one of us, when he was somewhere else.

          He was cheating on me. That had to be it.

          I blinked back tears. Sure, I'd been behaving a little erratically these past few months, experiencing a lot of restlessness. But that didn't mean that I didn't still love him, that I didn't still care. I felt my heart break a little at the thought of Christian with another girl.

          I had known him my whole life and the boy I knew, the man I loved, would never hurt me like this. What the hell was going on?

A/N:

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you all know that I won't be putting up a cast for this story. I put up pictures for my other story (Life As I Know It) and I kind of regretted it. I want you guys to imagine what YOU think the characters look like, not have ME show you how they do. Hope that makes sense, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)