she's a rebel, she's a saint

“Not as good as you look in the morning,” John said, sitting up and pulling her in closer for him to get a better look at her. Sometimes he took his girl for granted. He knew it. She probably knew it. She was a smart girl with a bright head on her shoulders, she must have known he wasn’t the greatest man for her, but he sure as hell tried against all odds. It was his fault she had those nightmares weekly. Somehow he wanted to change all of that.

“Come here, let me get a good look at you.” He said with a smile, moving in close enough to kiss her but held off. “You’re my girl, you know that? How’d I get so damn lucky?”

"Oh, you sweet talker, you," she said with a shy grin, a little giggle escaping her breath. Biting her lip a little, Avery took a breath as he got closer, and she pushed a leg against him, loving the feel of his strong body against her in any way possible. "I don't know... Here I thought I was the lucky one." She reached up and ran a hand through his dark salt and pepper hair, and she touched the tip of her nose to his. She lived for moments like this; the moments where they could just be, where he was here with her and not doing god-only-knows at work. At the thought of work, she frowned a little, then put her grin back in place quickly. "Do you have work today?" She hoped not. Free days for the two of them were few and far between.

John had been up for quite some time now, taking the morning to read over some new book he saw while window shopping. It wasn’t often he found a good read, but when he did he made sure to schedule in the appropriate time to get his fix of the novel. This one happened to be about some aged old vampire tale with a jokey spin on it, Acco Dracula. Strangely enough, this fiction read was reminding him more and more of his daily life here in Mason. “Mornin’ sunshine,” he said, voice still rugged from the dry air during his night sleep. “I figured you’d be out a little while longer.” John folded the bottom corner of the page he was reading and closed it, tucking it away onto the nightstand. “Bad dreams again,” he noted, having heard her stirring and moaning in her sleep. “You okay?”

Biting her lip, she turned her face down, burning her face into his shoulder. "Ugh," she said, muffled by his clothes and skin. She hated those dreams, hated how much they affected her. Of course, she had lost her parents, in almost the worst way anyone from Mason Hill could imagine. Bringing her eyes sheepishly back up to look at John, Avery sighed heavily. "Good as can be," she answered, frowning. She didn't like to dwell on it; those were the times she ended up stealing the key to the liquor cabinet and getting wasted. John was always understanding, but her liver probably didn't appreciate it much. "How's your book?" she asked, changing the subject as she began tracing small shapes along his arm.