Mary, Mary .04

"Nothing's quite as pretty as Mary in the morning
When through the sleepy haze I see her lying there
Soft as the rain that falls on summerflowers
Warm as the sunlight shining on her head"

-"Mary in the Morning", Elvis Presley

**

*Tom's POV*

The sunlight streaming through the cracks in the blinds woke me up. I rolled to my side to see Mary sleeping beside me. The sunlight was illuminating her face as she smiled slightly in her sleep. Her hair was a mess and her makeup was smudged everywhere, but she had never looked more beautiful to me.

She stirred slightly and I put my arms around her and she fell back into the peaceful sleep she was just in. I pulled her close to me and she turned around, burying her face into my chest. I attempted to fall back asleep, but the sight of my best friend in my arms was keeping me awake.

So long I had been falling for her, afraid to tell her and now I guess my biggest fear would be that she will wake up and regret everything that had happened between us.

She slept for another hour or so before her blue eyes fluttered open and she smiled up at me.

"Good morning" she whispered, her voice a little groggy and sounded obviously hung over, but it was adorable. She looked at me and then she looked down at herself. "We're naked" she said softly.

I nodded, not knowing really how to respond to the statement.

I could see the wheels in her head turning as she tried to piece together the events of last night obviously fighting through the cloud the alcohol left her head in. "We had sex?" She asked, as her mind finally put everything together.

I nodded again, trying to gauge her reaction to figuring it out.

"But...we're friends?" She said in a confused voice, it coming out like more of a question than a statement.

"Mary, I have been falling for you for the longest time but I was content just to remain to friends cause that is what you wanted. When you kissed me last night, I just could really control myself and it didn't really seem like you could either. If you want to pretend like this never happened, I can do that. If you want to make something more of it, I can do that too. Whatever you want Mary. Just make the call."

She pulled herself out of my arms and sat on the edge of the bed, her back to me. She ran a hand through her hair and stood and walked about the semi-lit room, picking up our clothes as she thought through everything I had just said.

"Tom." She said softly as she put my clothes at the foot of the bed and slowly began getting dressed, obviously not caring too much that she was standing naked in front of me. Once she had her bra and underwear on, she moved to my side of the bed and sat down beside me. I moved over and she laid down beside me, propping herself up with her elbow.

"You have been my best, and pretty much only, friend for as long as I can remember. I have loved you like a brother since I have known you and I didn't really think that I could ever have romantic feelings towards you..."

I could feel my face falling, I knew this was going to happen.

"But...I guess it took some liquid courage to realize that maybe I've been wrong. I'm not saying I want to jump into anything and be boyfriend and girlfriend...but maybe, we can try being something other than friends and see how that goes."

Before my brain could fully absorb everything that she had said, my lips were on hers. "You don't know how happy that makes me."

She reached down to my clothes and handed me my boxers. "Now get dressed and let's go get some breakfast or something, okay?" She asked with a smile and she got up and redressed herself and I followed suit.

After we remade the bed we sneaked down the stairs and out of the house without anyone seeing us, much to our relief. As we got into the car to drive to the diner, her hand made it's way over to mine, resting gently on top of my hand for the entire ride.

I don't think I stopped smiling once.