My alarm went off earlier than I wanted it to. If we were being technical, it went off exactly when I set it to go off, but I wanted to sleep in. However, I couldn't snooze it and risk it going off again to wake up Hale, so I drug myself out of bed and into the shower.
I turned up the heat of the water so warm that it left red streaks down my skin. I needed to feel sanitized, a clean that went deeper than my skin. I scrubbed at my skin until I was nearly raw, attempting to wash away not just dirt, but fear, confusion, and stress as well.
I must have showered forever because Hale was awake when I got out of the bathroom. He was propped up on one elbow, texting on his phone.
"Good morning," I said cheerily.
"Morning, beautiful," he greeted, voice still gravely with sleep.
I leaned over
