Photo by Kinga Cichewicz on Unsplash

She’s so pretty. A real-life sleeping beauty, truly. God I love seeing her like this, all peaceful and quiet. It’s a simple sight, really, but then again, they say what matters most is the simple things. I guess I’m not hard to please, though. Knowing I can come over here and watch her sleep a bit, as soon as I’m done with work, is enough to keep me going. Plus, her bedroom is so neat, so clean… it smells like perfume, just like her hair. Her dark hair… it’s everywhere, blending with every shadow in the room, including mine. I sit on the edge of the bed, trying my best not to wake her up, holding my breath. The moon shines a pale light on the side of her face, and I’ve got to tell you, she looks amazing (it’s almost unreal, in fact).

So every night, before I too go to sleep, I do just that. She never locks the backdoor, so after punching out, I can automatically head for her house. With great care, I close every door and walk towards her room, at the end of the long stairway. Both her parents are snoring heavily in the masters’ bedroom. Even though they sound like monsters at this late hour, I still hope I’ll get to meet them soon. In a way, all of this is funny: I feel like a professional ninja, moving swiftly in the night. You could argue it’s kind of creepy or something, but I don’t mind at all. I know she’s not officially my girlfriend, but it’s as if. I mean, we spend nights close to one another and sometimes walk together. That sure is some relationship stuff, don’t you agree? Anyway, as I said, I don’t care. If you were standing with me right now, gazing silently at this dreamlike scene, I bet you’d understand. Yeah, I’m sure you would. She shivers, causing the silk sheets to reveal parts of her naked body. I smile foolishly. My cellphone suddenly vibrates in my pocket, and, in a hurry, I turn it off. I look calmly at her face, trying to figure out if she’s about to emerge from her sweet dreams. She remains still: she hasn’t heard anything. Status quo—perfect. With those headphones on, anyway, she probably can’t hear a sound. I don’t understand why she won’t go to bed without her beloved iPod, but to tell you the truth, I’m more than okay with that. Her breast keeps lifting up and down, and even though I’m tired enough to lie down and sleep, I do not move an inch. There definitely is a form of perfection in simplicity. Right now, I do not have to worry about anything: no bosses, no school, no parents, no assholes, no duties, nothing. In fact, my biggest worry is waking her up by accident. Yes, we do share a comforting moment. No, she isn’t aware of that, but why would she need to be?

"You’re so pretty" I murmur, softly patting her hair. I think I should ask her to be my girlfriend. Now would be a good time. I must have watched her profile pictures a thousand times since the last few weeks (let me tell you this: she’s waaaay prettier asleep, right now, than when she’s posing with stupid guys in stupid bars). In all seriousness, I’ve been hoping to update my Facebook status to "in a relationship" for a couple of years now. It’s silly, I know, but I’m… I’m a good guy and I think I deserve it. I wouldn’t break her heart or anything… I don’t even know how to break hearts!

A week ago, I wouldn’t even have thought about us being officially together: her goddamn boyfriend was still around. That piece of dirt was treating her like shit—not like a princess, not like the sleeping beauty that she is. But he’s gone now: I took care of him. The bastard was stronger than I thought, and I had to stab him at least a dozen times before he collapsed. He left too many fucking blood stains on my work uniform. Well… I guess I should go clean that up. Yes, I should leave now, in complete silence, of course. I don’t want her to see me like this, not for the first time. I’ll… come back again tomorrow. Maybe then I’ll ask her if she wants to be my girlfriend.