He was sleeping in the same bed as I was, his head resting on the pillow next to mine. His lips were parted and he was breathing softly, sleeping so peacefully I almost didn't believe I was awake: It had to be a dream. But as I shifted under the comfortable blankets and felt the weight of his arm wrapped around me, I realized it wasn't a dream, and my movement woke him up gently.

His eyes opened and met mine, a smile spreading slowly across his lips as he looked around and realized we were still together. "Good morning," he whispered softly, bringing a hand to my cheek.

I smiled back and replied, "Morning, Vann." I looked over his shoulder at the clock and saw that it was 10 in the morning, and Vann had said he had to work that morning. "Oh, no, Vann, you're going to be late for work!" I said quickly as I sat up in the bed. As I did, I realized that I was just wearing my bra and skirt, so I quickly grabbed the blanket and covered myself up and giggled.

He laughed as he sat up; he only had on the tight white undershirt he'd had on under his button-down shirt last night on our date. As he sat up, I watched the muscles in his arms and shoulders moving, my heart fluttering again like the night before. "It's okay, Jess, I'm not going in. I want to stay right here," he said.

"Oh… but won't you get in trouble? I don't want you to lose your job because of this," I began, but he closed his eyes and smiled that smile again.

"They'll live, don't worry. I'll call them later; tell them I'm sick or something." I relaxed a bit more and let the covers fall away from me, realizing that I had nothing to be ashamed of or nervous about.

I settled back into the covers with a smile as he leaned in and kissed my cheek lightly, then got up out of bed. I watched him from my spot under the comforter. He was only wearing that tank top and his boxers, and I loved the way he looked. We hadn't done anything the night before; we had kissed till our lips were raw, then kept kissing some more, laughing and rolling around and playing and kissing… It was wonderful!

He moved like a dream, getting up and stretching his arms as he yawned. As he walked to the bathroom, I got to sit there and watch him with a smile on my face… I'd spent the entire night with a guy and didn't feel the least bit nervous! It was amazing; he was helping me deal with my problems just as I was helping to heal his. And we were only just beginning our relationship, there was a lot more healing to do, but also a lot more living, and we were going into it together. And neither of us had ever been happier.

**

Later on, we had dinner and walked on the nearby beach, shoes in hand and splashing in the surf. Vann had stopped at his place and gotten some clothes to leave at my place for the weekend, then we caught a movie. By then, it was almost midnight, and we'd already spent a whole day out on the town, so to speak, and things were looking great.

Vann offered to bring me back to his place to meet the family he was boarding with, the Vails. I agreed and decided that it would be nice to see where he slept and called home, seeing as how we were both traveling.

Once there, I met the polite husband and wife, their daughter off to college, leaving the room empty for Vann to board. They were very nice people, and offered everything they could, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed: so much friendliness in such a short time, it seemed like a dream at first.

But once we climbed the stairs after saying good night to the Vails, and Vann opened the door to his room, I knew it wasn't a dream. His little room in the attic was perfect, just the way I'd imagined it. It had a slanted ceiling, being the attic, and the walls were painted a soft blue, it looked like the color of the sky in the spring time. He had a suitcase packed into the corner of the room, next to the bed, and a few personal effects here and there.

He smiled as he opened his arms to the room for me, "Here is it, my place. Don't mind the mess, I just got done with laundry yesterday," he went on as he picked up some clothes from the floor to the right of us.

As he put on the radio and found a classic rock station playing Van Morrisson's "Domino", I studied the little knick knacks on the shelves, knowing they weren't his, but also admiring them: they got to live with him.

But what got me was the pile of books on the desk in the far corner. Child Psychology, Applied Mathematics, Intermediate Engineering…He was studying. "Vann, are you going to classes?" I asked, puzzled.

He smiled sheepishly and replied, "Well, I figured that I would have to get some kind of education if I want to get anywhere, so I'm taking some online courses, yeah.. I just registered yesterday. See? I told you, I'm making an effort," he trailed off, looking hopefully at me.

I smiled, "I believe you, Vann. Don't think that you have to prove anything to me. I've said it before and I'll say it again: My heart says to trust you, and I do."

"And because you trust me, I want to change, I want to get better," he said with a sudden reminder to himself, "Oh, I forgot, time to take my medicine!"

"You reminded me too, thank you!" I laughed… another thing we had in common, but cute and funny all the same. After a quick sprint to the bathroom and me taking my pill, he returned in a few seconds with an even bigger smile.

Looking around and seeing some embarrassing pictures of their daughter's ex-boyfriends in frames, I had to laugh, "Wow…you really have a nice set-up here, Vann. Heart throbs and all." He blushed and turned one picture over on it's face as he walked past it towards me, holding my hands.

"Yeah, well, it's hopefully only temporary…I'm looking for an apartment, and I wanted to know if you'd like to move in with me. We could give it a shot together, this whole 'functioning member of society' thing…What do you say?"

I could barely believe my ears as he stood in front of me and spoke the words. He wanted me to live with him, move into an apartment with him?

"You want me to live with you?" I asked in disbelief. He nodded and I asked again, "like in an apartment? Together?"

He nodded, "Yeah, that's usually where people live, right?" and smiled.

I nodded with him and said, "Well, yeah, I'd love to, Vann…That's… yes! I will!" And as I answered with a little squeal of excitement, he opened up his arms and I jumped into them, laughing with him openly now.

We were actually going to live together? This was more than I could have ever hoped for, and it all seemed to be happening so fast! But our life together was just beginning, and it was going wonderfully!