Haven

The night's sleep was much needed, I had felt exhausted after yesterday. The whole situation, information and emotions had surely made me feel tired. Calmness hung in the house in the morning, which relieved me a lot. As if we had all overcome the crisis point and were finally at ease now Luke, Tara and I had talked. If they would feel the same was the next question, but I didn't want to worry about it too much.

Slipping my high waisted, wide and ankle length black pants on, I tucked my yellow high neck shirt into that after that. I brushed my hair, washed my face, applied some mascara and lipgloss and stared at myself through the mirror for a while.

What would he see when he looked at me? What would he think?

Would he even see or think anything when he looked at me? He was hard to read, I didn't know about his feelings when it came to that. Had it ever crossed his mind? Or would he be fine living his life alone, with a dog and maybe a good friend?

Sighing, I brushed my teeth, mentally scolded myself for applying the lipgloss first because I could do it all over again now and finally left the bathroom. Leaving our area, I smiled at Nina as I saw her serving the breakfast, laying everything out onto the table. "Good morning!"

"Good morning, love." She answered, giving me a warm smile. I still thought her accent was quite sweet, it made me smile instantly. "You slept okay?"

"Yeah, I slept okay." I answered, smiling at her daughter who was shyly hiding behind her. Sitting down at the table, I noticed Luke, Louis and Abel where here already, but Zephaniah was nowhere to be seen. It confused me, he had been the first one up, every morning, so far.

"Where's Zeph?" I directed the question more towards Louis and Abel, not being able to look Luke into the eyes just yet.

Luke, however, was the one who answered the question. "You told me to stay away from autistic people, and apparently I don't know how to get along with them. How do you wake autistic people, Haven? I didn't do it, I wouldn't dare after yesterday's conversation." He shrugged, grinning a little.

The night's sleep was the reason I managed to stay calm, although I couldn't help but let the seriously slip out of my mouth. Shoving the chair away, Nina gave me a curious look after I jogged out of the kitchen. I knew Zephaniah could be anxious about time, especially if he awoke much later, especially on the trip.

Re-entering our area, I stood still when I stood in front of the boys' bedroom, hesitating a little. Pressing my ear to the door, I couldn't hear anything- he was most likely still asleep. Knocking a few times, I simply opened the door when he still hadn't answered, my eyes falling onto the sleeping guy.

Closing the door, I watched him for a while, the sun coloring his skin almost golden. The rays of light danced onto his walls, the pattern of the curtains displaying on his bare back as the sun reflected them. The night had been warm, he hadn't slept in his oversized sweater.

My eyes trailed down his body, his skin looking soft and smooth. The waistband of his underwear hung just above where his back became his bottom, the gap slightly visible. His hair was disheveled, his soft breathing heard.

He slept on his stomach, he apparently always did. I couldn't see his face, it was turned to the wall, which had slightly disappointed me. Crouching down next to him, I rested my hand on his shoulders. He didn't react, neither had he even moved, which made the urge grow stronger- I couldn't resist myself.

I trailed my fingers over his bare back, feeling how smooth and soft his skin actually was, the warmth radiating off him. Pulling my hand back, I sighed, not knowing if I was doing something that was right. My mind flashed to Jonah- he wouldn't do this to Sarah, would he?

"Zeph?" I said, my voice just above a whisper. I didn't touch him this time, realising he might actually not like it that much. "Zeph, wake up." I tried, louder this time.

He stirred a bit, changing his position. "Coop," he sighed a little, pulling his knees up further.

"Zeph, it's me, Haven. It's breakfast time." I couldn't help but smile a little to the fact that he had referred to Cooper. "Wake up."

Zephaniah stayed silent for a while, until he covered himself with the covers and rolled onto his back, his eyes falling onto me. "What?" He said after a moment of silence. His eyebrows furrowed, he was confused- which I could totally understand. "Haven?" His eyes widened, and he sat up instantly, hitting his head against the upper bed in the process.

"Zeph," I chuckled, covering my mouth. "Watch out." He was awake now, at least. I observed his face, his cheekbone was bruised, definitely bruised, but his lip was healing, not bleeding anymore. He looked better than he did yesterday, which relieved me.

Besides all of that, I couldn't help but stare into his sleepy eyes, his hair flying every direction but the right one. His eyes were blinking faster, eventually he brought his hands up to them, rubbing them softly, his lips parting while he did so.

He, clearly, needed some time to wake up, to process and start up his mind, it seemed. It warmed my heart for reasons I couldn't really understand, or maybe I could, but didn't on purpose.

"It- it's morning? Right?" Zephaniah questioned, glancing at the bed that stood oppositely of his one. "Where.. what time is it?"

"Breakfast time. You slept through the alarm, I guess." I gave him a smile, hopefully he wouldn't question about the other boys. "I'll leave you alone to get ready, I just came to wake you."

"Oookay." He frowned a little, quickly rummaging through his suitcase. "Can you- can you tell the woman I will come so quickly? I'm sorry, I didn't mean- is she still serving breakfast.. do we need to leave now?" Stress was practically written in his eyes, which saddened me, but didn't surprise me either. This was Zeph.

"Zephaniah, you're on time, still. I haven't eaten yet, neither did the others. You're not too late, okay?" I tried to calm him, even when I knew anxiety wasn't really that simple to just calm down. Once he had nodded, I left his room and closed the door for his privacy, walking back to the kitchen, where Norah had just entered as well.

"Have, hi!" She smiled, the two of us sitting together. "Slept well? The mattresses are pretty good, but no bed sleeps better than your own."

"Hiya," I chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, you're right about that. I miss my pillow the most. What day are we on? Day four, right? Time flies, before we know it we're back home already." I sighed a little, smiling thankfully when Nina placed a cup of tea in front of us.

"For real." Norah mumbled, dipping the teabag in her cup.

"What are you visiting today?" Nina questioned, sitting down at the table herself with a cup of tea, a plate with bread and cheese in front of her.

I smiled, dipping the teabag in my tea as well. "Oh, House of Anne Frank and we're going through the canals with a boat today! About the history of Amsterdam, I believe. I can't wait, honestly. Amsterdam is such a beautiful city! It must be so nice to live here."

Nina laughed softly, nodding her head. "Sloterdijk is perfect. Close to Amsterdam Central itself, but a calmer area to live in, for my children as well. The boat is pretty nice, we have done it ourselves."

"That's nice!" I smiled, my eyes falling onto Zephaniah as he quietly entered the kitchen, his eyes glued to the table. My heart thumped, his outfit made him look more handsome than he already was. Dark grey trousers, a black and white, thick striped shirt with a brown- orange denim jacket on top of it. No socks, as always, his hair neat but the top slightly disheveled.

"Good morning, love!" Nina said happily, eyeing Zephaniah, who quickly, but politely gave her a small smile.

"Good morning." He brought out politely. I could tell he already found that hard to do so, but his manners did push him to.

"The cats have been waiting for you." Nina smiled, pointing at the cat foods that were already displayed on the kitchen counter.

Zephaniah hesitated, his eyes flickering between the cat food and Nina. I knew he needed confirmation, but I also knew that Nina was the one who had to give him it. Thankfully, she realised his hesitation, her hand reaching for the empty bowls. "You can fill them. That's fine."

It gave Zephaniah enough confidence to do so, so once the bowls were filled and the cats were eating, he joined us at the table. Abel looked at him with slight worry in his eyes. I didn't understand, until his eyes lingered on Zephaniah's cheekbone. Had he finally realised that what his best friend did was wrong?

Zephaniah sat down beside me, on the left side. He smelled good- I couldn't really describe the scent of his cologne, other than that it was manly.

"Your outfit is on point." Norah raised her eyebrows, her eyes scanning Zephaniah's body. Despite that her comment was true, it still kind of irritated me that she had to say it.

Zephaniah gave her a half smile, glancing at me. Once Norah was engrossed in a conversation with Louis, Zephaniah turned his full attention to me. "What's that mean?"

"That your outfit is on point?" I wondered, looking him into his eyes.

He hummed, his eyes flickering up to my face, where his gaze rested into mine for a brief moment. I smiled at that, his purity suddenly shown again. "Basically means that you have a really nice outfit."

"Okay." Zephaniah frowned a little, I wondered if he hadn't quite understood what I had meant to say, or if he didn't understand why Norah would say that. "Your outfit is on point." He mumbled, pointing at my shirt.

I chuckled softly. "Thanks, Zepho."

Once Nina had everything displayed onto the table, she cleared her throat, gaining our attention. "I thought why not let's do a Dutch breakfast. Practically, we live on sandwiches. In the morning its either a slice of bread with whatever you can possibly think of, or yoghurt is fine too. Personally, I love hagelslag. It's chocolate sprinkles. So here's what you do; grab a slice of bread, spread butter over it, pour the chocolate sprinkles on it and eat it. Simple, but tasty. Who wants to try? Otherwise you can get toast still, don't worry." She laughed, holding up the so called hagelslag.

"I want it!" I said right away, reaching for a slice of bread. I knew hagelslag was something typically Dutch, and I had always wanted to try it. "So it's like, butter all over, right?" I asked Nina, who nodded in response. She gave me the hagelslag and watched me as I poured it over my bread.

Zephaniah had watched the whole time too, he seemed hesitant but when one sprinkle had accidentally fallen off my plate, he had secretly picked it up and stuffed it into his mouth.

"I like to cut it in four pieces, but you can also fold it closed." I wondered what she meant, but when she had shown me the options, I chose to cut it as well. Louis, Abel and eventually Zephaniah chose to eat hagelslag as well, Luke and Norah were too hesitant so chose to eat toast.

Zephaniah stared at his bread for a long time, I wondered if he was in one of his stare moments. Until he turned his face to me and whispered. "Does it hurt in your mouth?"

"Hurt? Why?" My expression was unsure, Zephaniah had seen it.

"I don't.." He trailed off, licking his lips. "Sometimes different structures of food hurt my mouth, because my mouth- my mouth can be sensitive."

Sensory issues, clear. "Oh! I don't think it would hurt, Zeph. The chocolate melts quickly- the sprinkles aren't hard."

"If it is not true, Have.." He threatened, which surprised me. I hadn't seen his playful smile that much before- but once I had seen it I had wished for him to be more like it. The different, slightly unknown side of him was one I seemed to like quite a lot.

"Then what, Zepho?" I challenged, searching for his eyes.

Zephaniah chuckled, he glanced at me. "Then I will put you in a room with a Dutch shepherd and he will lick you all over your face but he is a working dog so you- so you need to exercise with him or he will get bored and annoy you. In the room there are smoke machines, preferably yellow and- and chocolate sprinkles will fall out of the sky and the dog can't eat it because it is bad for dogs so you have to- have to keep him from eating it." Once he was done telling his story, his eyes that were previously glued to the ceiling, flickered back towards me, his lips curling up again.

I was a little perplexed by his extremely random story, but maybe that was the fantasy that came within his interesting mind.

I watched him as he took a bite, chocolate sprinkles falling onto his plate, some stuck to his lips. Once he had licked them off, he glanced at me and slowly shook his head. "I'll save you this time."

"Why, thank you." I laughed softly, wondering if he had said Dutch Shepherd on purpose, or if his mind had subconsciously linked his knowledge of dogs and the country we were in at this moment.

After everyone had had a few sandwiches, Nina stood up and gave us milk, orange juice, water, tea or coffee to drink. Zephaniah had chosen the same drink as me, I thought he found it hard to choose between those many options.

However, Nina had given him a glass of water as well, once her eyes had fallen onto his medication. Zephaniah had stared outside the window while swallowing down the chalky looking pills. I wondered how on earth he could swallow them down so easily, it made me feel sad.

"Is anybody still hungry?" Nina questioned, looking at us with questionable eyes. It stayed silent for a while, most of us shaking our heads no. Nina's lips parted as she wanted to say something, but she got interrupted by the growling sound of Zephaniah's stomach.

Zephaniah's cheeks flushed pink, but I experienced the warmth he suddenly had on his cheeks in my stomach instead. My feelings for him had gotten ahead of me.

~~~

Haven appreciating the men body aaaah. Cute zeph.

Luke still being so annoying?

Zephaniah's random story?? Do you think he kind of made that up quickly without realising it?

Bit of a filler, sorry :(

Let me know your thoughts... votes comments feedback much much appreciated XX