thank you for the reminder 😌💖

Gwyn groaned as she woke up the next morning with a massive headache. Even with the curtains drawn her bedroom was too bright, and she reached for another pillow to cover her eyes with.

Bits and pieces of last night were floating around in her brain. She remembered going out with her friends and having the time of her life. But once the Svedka had come out, everything had gotten much fuzzier.

She vaguely remembered Azriel helping her get home because they lived in the same building. She was pretty sure she cried at one point, but she can’t remember why. Maybe it had to do with the McDonald’s bag on her nightstand?

Sighing, she reached for her phone and skimmed through almost fifty messages from Nesta and Emerie. She had one from Cassian letting her know that he’d gotten everyone back safe, but the one from Azriel telling her to call when she woke up caught her attention as soon as she read it.

It was just after eleven so she knew he’d definitely be awake. He’d always been an early riser no matter how late he went to sleep. Thankfully, he even answered on the first ring.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said. She pulled the phone away from her ear; even his voice was too loud with her volume settings. She made sure to lower them before putting the phone back to her ear.

“What the hell happened last night?” she asked, half-dreading his response. “Did you take me home?”

“I did,” he confirmed. “I also took off your makeup for you and helped you change into your pajamas.”

She remembered parts of that — mostly how much she’d giggled and generally been unhelpful. And how her dress had been a pain in the ass to get off. He’d truly been a saint to deal with her last night. “Right. Thank you. Did we stop at McDonald’s too?”

“We did,” he said, his voice tinged with amusement. “You started crying so I got you some fries. Do you have any left?”

Hot embarrassment flooded her senses; she couldn’t believe she’d cried over some fries. Or that he’d actually given in to make her stop. Sighing, she reached out for the bag and checked it, surprised to see there was still a good amount left.

“There’s some,” she said. “Anything else exciting happen?”

Azriel went quiet and Gwyn couldn’t help but wonder what she’d done this time. She’d been drunk, but hopefully not so drunk as to admit her feelings for him…

“You asked me out on a date,” he said quietly. She wanted to curl up into a ball and die — there was no way he felt the same way about her, especially after what sounded like a disaster of a night.

“Oh God,” she said, groaning. Her face was so hot she probably was the same color as a tomato. “I’m so sorry, that was probably so uncomfortable for you. This is so embarrassing.”

“I thought it was cute,” he said. She had to take a moment to process the fact that he thought her drunk behavior was cute and not wildly inappropriate. “You did bully me into saying yes, though.”

“I what?” she exclaimed. Her head throbbed and she had to take a moment for the pain to ebb away before continuing. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I never should have said that.”

“I mean, I wanted to say yes,” Azriel said. “But I told you to ask me again when you were sober.”

Gwyn didn’t know what to say to that. He actually wanted to say yes? He wanted her to ask him again to make sure she was being serious?

“Um…” she said, at a rare loss for words. “Um. Are you, um, being serious?”

“Very,” he said. He sounded like he was trying not to laugh. “I wanted to make sure you actually wanted that.”

“No, I mean about wanting to say yes,” she corrected. Her heart was beating painfully loud in her chest as she waited for him to respond, daring to hope that maybe something would work out between them after all.

“Of course,” he said after a moment. “But the real question is whether you were being serious, Berdara.”

“I was being serious,” she said softly. “So… do you have any plans next weekend?”

“This hot ginger is supposed to take me on a date,” he replied. She smiled as she realized she was that hot ginger. “I’d have to check my calendar.”

“You’re the worst,” she said, giggling. Then her head throbbed again and she was reminded just how hungover she was. “I’m going back to bed because my hangover is killing me, but it’s a date next weekend.”

“It’s a date,” he echoed. “Sweet dreams.”