I wake up to a set of arms around my body that are not my own.

As I come out of sleep I remember who I am currently laying with, and I try to move. But I'm stuck.

I look down and see Connor's arm wrapped around my waist and I can hear his soft breathing.

I slowly tilt my head up towards his and can't help but stare. He looks so peaceful. I never realized it but he always has a crease between his brows while he is awake. Now, there is nothing troubling him in his dreams.

I hear a grunt from the other side of the room and look over to see Jasper who is getting up.

I pretend to go back to sleep and wait for other people to get up as well. The whole time I try to think of a way to get out of my situation without making things weird between Connor and I.

After a couple of minutes I hear Jasper walk around the room a bit and then I hear him whisper something but I can't make it out.

Then I hear another voice and the rustling of  blankets. I feel the presence of people next to the couch that I am laying on.

"Did you take a picture?" I hear a voice whisper, it sounds like Adam.

"Of course I did. He is never going to hear the end of this," Jasper whispers back.

Oh they better not have taken a picture of us. Looks like I might have to get my hands on someone's phone.

"Did you spot the other two? I wonder which is going to happen first," Adam mutters.

I want to open my eyes and see what he is talking about but I don't want to blow my cover.

Connor shifts in his sleep and pulls me closer to him and I can't help but melt into him.

I hear Jasper and Adam walking around and then I hear a couple of other people's voices. I think one of them is Tony and the other is Kayla.

"Should we wake everyone else up?" Kayla asks quietly.

"Nah, let them be. They all look too peaceful," Jasper says.

I hear them walk upstairs and I open my eyes. I glance around the room and notice there are a couple extra blankets next to Allie.

I move my head slightly to look back up at Connors face. I slowly move my hand up and rub my thumb under his eye.

I slowly get up from the couch, trying not to wake him. When I stand up I notice the crease between his eyebrows returns. I start to wrap the blanket around him but his eyes start to flutter open.

His eyes blink awake and his green eyes meet mine.

A smile spreads across his face, "Good morning Superstar."

"Good morning Sunshine. Did you sleep well?" I ask smiling.

"I actually slept really well. Better than I usually do," he adds.

"I know. I usually never sleep good when there is a storm."

He thinks about what I said for a moment and a small grin comes across his face. Then he glances around the room and his eyebrows furrow.

Connor sits up and looks around the room curiously, "Where did everyone go?"

"They are probably upstairs getting breakfast. We can go up in a little bit if you want," I say.

"You go on up, get some food. I have to use the bathroom," Connor mutters.

I nod and make my way upstairs. I can hear the loud voice of Jasper coming from the kitchen. There is the sound of a pan crashing followed by a few obscenities.

I quickly make my way to the kitchen and there are several pans on the floor and flour all over the counter. Jasper is picking up the pans while Kayla tries to sweep up the flour but she proceeds to get it all over her clothes.

"What happened in here?" I ask.

"They wanted to make pancakes but the two of them have no idea what they are doing," Tony answers.

Jasper swings the pans up in his arms, almost hitting himself in the head, and turns to look at me.

"The right pan was buried underneath a bunch of other stuff. And I forgot that things tend to fall when you pull the base out," Jasper explains.

"And I was getting the flour out from the top shelf and it was opened so when I pulled it down, it fell everywhere," Kayla grumbles.

"It's all good. I just hope that for your sake you didn't wake Sabrina up," I say.

Jaspers eyes widen when he realizes just how loud he was. Kayla quickly sweeps up the flour and starts to mix together the pancake batter.

I walk over to the table and sit down next to Tony and Adam. Adam glances between me and Tony with a little gleam in his eyes.

"Soooo how did you two sleep?" Adam asks.

I look over at Tony and notice a small blush creep up his neck. I think back to the conversation that Jasper and Adam had earlier and the extra blankets that were next to Allie when I woke up.

"No way!" I exclaim.

Tony looks at me startled and then scowls at me, "Keep your voice down."

"You slept with Allie last night," I say pointing a finger at him.

He points his finger back at me, "You slept with Connor last night."

I gasp. "Oh shut up you know yours is a way bigger deal than mine."

"Don't even start. You two have barely even touched each other. You cuddling with him is a big deal," Tony counters.

"We both know how Allie feels about physical affection. I would say you just made major progress my friend," I smile.

"Considering you were that comfortable with him during a storm, I would say that you made some progress as well," Tony grins.

Adam looks back and forth between us with confusion all over his face.

"What the hell just happened? One second it sounded like you two were going to fight and now I'm thinking you guys are going to hug," Adam marvels.

"Oh that's just the way we are," I respond.

Tony reaches his arm over and hugs my shoulders, "Nova is the sister I never had."

"I would say that you are the brother I never had but I actually do have a brother," I say.

Tony scoffs and reaches over to mess up my hair. I slap his hand away and then lightly slap him again on the face.

Adam just laughs and shakes his head in disbelief.

I start to smell pancakes being made and my stomach grumbles. I look up at Kayla and she is dancing around the pan holding a spatula.

Jasper is filling up a coffee pot with water and he almost drops it when Connor come running up behind him.

"Good morning!" Connor yells.

Jasper wipes up some of the spilled water, "Well good morning to you too. What's got you in such a good mood?"

"I don't know. I just think that today's going to be a good day," Connor sighs.

Tony clears his throat and then nudges my arm. I turn to him and bring up my hand, pretending that I'm going to slap him, and I laugh when he flinches.

"Okay, do I need to separate you two?" Adam asks smiling.

I open my mouth in disbelief and start laughing, "Be quiet teach."

Adam chuckles and shakes his head as he gets up from the table. He walks over to Kayla and helps her with the pancakes.

Connor walks over and sits down next to me with a smile on his face. He rests his hands in the table next to mine and starts to fidget with his fingers.

He has a big smile on his face as he watches everything that is happening in the kitchen and doesn't even notices how unsteady his hands are.

I slowly move my hands towards his and when my finger touches the back of his hand, it stills. I just rub my finger back and forth against his hand and he doesn't even seem to notice.

Then Sabrina and Allie walk into the kitchen with very different expressions on their faces. Allie looks very cheerful and well rested while Sabrina looks incredibly cranky and like she could kill someone.

"Well good morning you two," Jasper greets them.

"Good morning Jasper!" Allie cheers as she walks over to the table by us.

"Please tell me you have coffee," Sabrina grumbles as she rubs the sleep out of her eyes.

"I just started making some, it should be done pretty soon," Jasper says.

Sabrina groans and shuffles her way over to the table. Allie takes a seat next to Tony and Sabrina sits down on the other side of me.

She rests her head on the table and I honestly think she may have fallen asleep again.

Connor leans over to my ear, "She's not a morning person I take it?"

"You know, it really depends. Sometimes she wakes up and could go run a marathon and other times she's just like this," I respond.

Connor nods his head in understanding. Jasper walks over with a cup of coffee and waves it near Sabrina's head. After a couple of seconds her head perks up and she grabs the cup from Jasper and takes a sip.

"You're welcome," he sighs.

Sabrina gives a grateful smile and then takes another sip. Jasper pours himself a cup and takes a seat beside Sabrina.

Tony is whispering something to Allie and Sabrina looks at me with wide eyes. I can tell that she wants to say something about it but I gently shake my head.

Her attention then moves to the table and she looks at mine and Connors hands. Her mouth opens wide and before she can say anything, Jasper covers her mouth with his hand.

He elbows her arm and I guess she takes the hint. Connor turns his head when he notices the commotion and then shoots me a questioning look.

I just shrug and then glare at Sabrina. I give a quick shake of my head and a look that tells her to stay quiet.

I'd rather my friends not make my situation with Connor any more awkward than it needs to be.

Then Kayla comes walking over to the table holding a plate stacked with pancakes, "Who wants some?"

Everyone immediately sits up in their chairs and start grabbing pancakes and adding them to their plates. Adam comes over with the syrup and we all start digging in.

"Thanks for making us breakfast Kayla," Jasper mumbles while shoving his mouth full.

"Aw it was my pleasure. I love cooking for you losers," Kayla says as she ruffles Jasper's hair.

We all sit around the table, enjoying our pancakes and joking around with each other.

After we all finish up eating our breakfast, Connor and I start washing up everyone's dishes. He's in charge of washing and I'm drying.

Everyone else went downstairs to clean up Jaspers basement, leaving just the two of us in the kitchen.

"I feel like we need to talk about what happened last night," Connor says carefully, handing me a plate.

I feel my heart rate speed up and I know that I'm starting to blush. It's not like anything crazy happened between the two of us, but I'm worried that Connor is going to tell me he doesn't like me the way I like him.

"What do you want to talk about?" I ask slowly.

"Well, there was a thunderstorm last night and I know that you are scared of them. So I was trying to comfort you."

I nod my head, "You did. I mean, I actually fell asleep during a storm which rarely happens. I felt safe with you."

Connor plunges his hands into the soapy water and looks down at the sink. I watch his expression and I can't quite figure it out.

"Good. Good. I want you to feel safe, especially with me," he says seriously.

I nod and dry the plate I'm holding and put it away.

"Was that all you wanted to talk about? I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable," I say.

"Why would you make me uncomfortable?"

"Well I- uh, I kind of fell asleep on you. I don't know if you really like that kind of thing," I say, flustered.

"Oh, it was fine. I'm not afraid to cuddle with a uh- with a friend," Connor mutters out.

I take the clean plate out of his hands and start drying it. I grin and roll my eyes and try to keep a laugh down.

Connor looks up at me and a confused look comes across his face, "What are you smiling about?"

"Do you commonly cuddle with your friends? Should I ask Adam?" I grin.

A smile spreads across his face, "Oh, Adam and I have cuddled plenty of times. Is that not something you do with your friends?"

"I can't say it's something we usually do."

"Well I guess you'll just have to get used to it. It's going to become a common occurrence," Connor grins.

"Oh is it now?" I question with a gleam in my eye.

Connor chuckles and shakes his head. He cups his hands in the water and then quickly brings them up, splashing me with water.

"You jerk!" I gasp.

Connor laughs and reaches his hands back into the water.

"Don't you dare!" I yell and hit him with my towel.

His mouth drops open and he splashes me again with water. I now run up to the sink and get some water in my own hands and splash him with it.

We continue going back and forth, splashing each other with water and trying to get away from each other.

Then Connor gets a cup and fills it with water and before I can run away, the cup is dumped over my head.

I gasp and glare at him while Connor is leaning on the counter, trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard.

"Look at you two: making a mess in my kitchen," Jasper says, holding his phone up recording.

Connor and I look at each other with wide eyes and then look back at Jasper and burst out laughing again.

"Sorry for the mess, we'll clean it up," I say, trying to catch my breath.

"Nah, you two are fine. It's just water, I can wipe it up. How about you two go get changed? So that you're not dripping around the house?" Jasper offers.

I nod gratefully and run out of the kitchen with Connor.

When we get downstairs we both stop abruptly when we notice everyone else looking at us.

"What the hell did you guys get up to?" Tony asks.

"We were just uh, cleaning the dishes," Connor answers.

"Cleaning the dishes or yourselves? You guys are soaked," Sabrina marvels.

"We just got sent down here to change. We're trying not to make anymore of a mess," I reply.

"Well get going then, you two are acting like little kids," Adam says grinning at Connor.

I run to my bag and dig out some new clothes and go in a separate room to get dressed. I put on a pair of leggings and a plain t-shirt. My hair is still damp so I leave it down to dry.

When I walk out of the room Connor is already changed and sitting on the couch by everyone else. I plop down next to him and listen to the conversation.

"It was great having all of you over for my birthday. It was way too long since we had all been together, with the swim season starting and all," Jasper says.

"Well I can't wait to watch you guys kill it this year, we'll be sure to be at all of your meets. When is your first one?" Kayla asks.

"In a week. I'm not sure who we are going against, but we are hosting," Connor answers.

"I can't wait. The boys swim season is always my favorite," Kayla says grinning and wiggling her eyebrows.

"Oh Kayla come on now! You can't be serious," Jasper groans.

Kayla puts her hands up in defense, "Listen, I'm just being honest."

Jasper rolls his eyes and shakes his head at Connor. I look over at him and notice a small smirk on his face.

"Well, I have to get home. My mom is probably already in a cleaning frenzy for Thanksgiving," I sigh, getting up from the couch.

Connor stands up suddenly when I do and I look at him curiously.

He looks at me shyly and rubs the back of his neck. I grab my bag slowly and bring it to my shoulders.

"Are you leaving too Sunshine?" I ask.

Connor clears his throat, "Uh yeah, yes. I will go home too."

I look around the room and see everyone else is looking at him curiously as well. Adam has a grin on his face and looks like he is trying to hold back a laugh.

"Okay, bye then. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'll see you, Allie and Sabrina on Thursday. And Connor, I better see you too," I say pointing at him.

Connor seems to compose himself once again and nods his head, "Don't worry Superstar, I wouldn't dare to turn down the invitation."

I smile and turn to head back upstairs and out the door.

As I'm driving home, I run a hand through my hair and smile at the memories from the water fight in the kitchen.

I remember all the little things that happened between the two of us these past two days and I feel my heart flutter.

This stupid guy is really making quite the impression on my life. And I think I'm becoming a fan.

I just can't wait for what's to come.

***

Thank you so much for reading!

I'm back!!?? It has been way too long since I have updated this story and I am so sorry for the wait. I'm not going to promise a new chapter every week, but I am hoping to update a lot more often.

School has really put a strain on my writing and I hate it, because all I want to do is develop this story. So thank you for sticking with me and this story.

I love you all!❤️