It's morning
And we slept the night away
It happened
Now we can't turn back the hands of time
Oh no, no
Yes we've stolen this moment
We forgot to face one simple fact
We both belong, to someone else
As we slept the night away

Macy awoke slowly; smiling slightly at the feeling of his warm body spooned next to hers. Swiping her dark hair off her face and out of her eyes, she rested her arms atop his encircling her waist and nestled deeper under the covers. Sighing contentedly, she closed her eyes and thought back to the previous night. Almost suddenly, a wave of guilt and shame washed over her. Not because of what happened, but because it all felt so perfect.

She had never felt so alive or loved with someone as she had the night before. When he touched her, it was breathtaking. When he kissed her, the world stopped. When they made love, it was completely earth-shattering. No one had ever made her feel that way and she was certain she would never feel that way again.

Carefully, rolling over in his arms so not to wake him, Macy studied his features. He seemed perfect; as corny as it may have sounded aloud, he was perfect. In every possible way. She wanted to kiss him, but held back. Closing her eyes, she tried to rid herself of the sudden aching in her heart.

In a matter of hours, he would be leaving her and they would have to pretend like nothing had ever happened. How could he expect her to act as though they were still only friends after all they’d shared? Was that even realistic? Could they honestly go on about their lives and act as though they were normal? It seemed impossible in her mind, but she was sure he’d be able to. She considered asking why they would have to end it completely, but she knew that was unquestionable.

It's morning
Sunlight shines across your sleeping face
A new day
Brings reality and we must go our separate ways
What a lovely night we had
As we shared each other's love
We forgot about all the pain we’d cause
As we slept, the night away

Macy continued to watch him sleep as the sun crept above the horizon and began to peek through the heavy drapes, drowning out the dark shadows of night. As more time passed, she could feel the ache in her heart intensifying. She was sure if this kept up, eventually her heart would break.

Finally, Macy felt him begin to stir, and she drew in a deep breath when he pulled her body closer to his. He opened his eyes and met hers, smiling.

“Morning,” his voice was still thick with sleep. He leaned in, slowly and nuzzled her neck, eventually bringing his mouth up to hers. Leaving a trail of tender kisses back down her neck and across her collar bone, he nuzzled his face into her skin and took a deep breath.

“G’morning,” Macy whispered. She closed her eyes, as his lips glided effortlessly across her skin, leaving it warm and tingly. “Did you sleep well?”

“When I finally fell asleep,” he smiled, causing his eyes to light up happily.

She felt her face growing hot and averted her gaze. She was suddenly uncomfortable and at a loss for words; there was nothing she could say to ease the hurt. And how could you put into words, something that was so perfect that you felt like you were in heaven?

As we lay
We forgot about tomorrow
As we lay
As we lay
We didn't think about the price we'd have to pay

When she felt his arms wrap more tightly around her body, Macy tried furiously to keep her emotions at bay. They knew that when they got into this, it would be a one time thing, so why was she trying so desperately to make it more than that?

Because I love him, she thought sadly as a tear broke free and trickled down her cheek.

“Macy…” his voice was desperate.

“I’m okay,” she opened her eyes and smiled as brightly as she could. “Just ignore me.”

“I wish…this is just…” she placed her finger on his lips to silence him.

“Don’t,” she shook her head. Looking up, she was surprised to see tears shining in his brown eyes. “I know everything that’s going on in your mind right now. And you don’t need to try and explain because I understand.”

“But that doesn’t make it any easier, does it?”

It's morning
And now it's time for us to say goodbye
Goodbye baby
You're leaving me
I know you've got to hurry home to face your wife
I would never want to hurt her, no no no
She would never understand
You belong to me, for just one night
As we slept, the night away

“If this was supposed to be easy, I don’t think it would mean so much,” she answered simply and placed a soft kiss on his chest and then rested her head in the same spot.

They both just lay there, quietly holding one another for quite some time. Though it only seemed like a short while. Biting her lip, she knew when she felt him moving that it was time for him to get going. As much as she hated it, this was reality. As much as it hurt, she had to face it.

He sighed heavily and Macy lifted her head to look at him.

“I hate this,” his voice held a mixture of anger and sadness.

Macy was a little surprised. She had been almost certain that this situation would have been reversed.

“It’s not fair,” her voice was a broken whisper. “But I understand why this can’t go on.”

“I understand, too,” he said in an almost defeated tone and hugging her tightly. “But I still don’t think it’s fair.”

I would never never want to hurt her, no no no
She would never understand
You belonged to me for just one night
As we slept, the night away
As we lay
We forgot about tomorrow
As we lay
As we lay
We didn't think about the price we'd have to pay

Pulling herself out of his grasp, Macy scrambled out of the bed and found her clothes. She could feel his gaze burning into her, but tried her best to ignore it. This wasn’t going to be easy any way she approached the situation, but now it was going to be even harder to tell him goodbye.

“I think it’s best if we’re the only ones to get hurt,” his voice was barely above a whisper. “But I can’t help being a little—”

“Selfish?” she asked and pulled her shirt over her head.

“Yeah.”

He had just voiced the very thoughts going through her mind. Never in her life had she ever experienced anything like the night before, and she just wasn’t ready to let that go. Not just yet. But she had to because they weren’t the only people involved and if they kept seeing one another, it would only be worse. The more they were together, the harder it would be to let go. Eventually they would probably just decide that they wouldn’t need to break it off figuring no one would ever know. And then, someone would find out.

Because you can’t hide something like this forever. It’s impossible, Macy thought miserably.

“Well,” his voice broke her thoughts, startling her. “I guess I should probably get dressed and get home.”

“Yeah…” Neither one of them moved. “AJ?”

“Mmm?”

“Do you think things would be different if you weren’t married?” the question hung in the air for a moment. “Or do you think it was just the thrill?”

We should've counted up the cost
But instead we got lost
In the seconds, in the minutes, in the hours
As we lay
We forgot about tomorrow
As we lay
My love, why can't you see
How loving you, is killing me, baby baby
I can't take it no more, no
See I can't be in your life
You've gotta go home to your wife

“I think things would definitely be different.”

“Time was just against us, huh?” she asked quietly and sat down beside him on the edge of the bed.

AJ gently tucked a strand of hair behind Macy’s ear and cupped her face in his hand. When he spoke again, his voice was once again a whisper. “I will never forget last night.”

“You know I won’t.”

Macy watched as he found his clothes and got dress; her heart aching the entire time. Leaving him to gather the rest of his things, she walked to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of juice. She took a sip and tried to swallow the lump that had risen in her throat. For a while, she just stood there staring out the kitchen window at the cloudless blue sky. The beautiful day was a complete contradiction to the way she felt.

She finally heard AJ come into the kitchen and turned to greet him with a weak smile.

“Be careful going home, okay?”

He only nodded.

“I would say call me when you get there, but under the circumstances…” she trailed off.

He nodded again.

She never imagined this was going to be so hard. How could one night affect someone so much?

“Well, I should really get going.” It was now Macy’s turn to nod.

Leaning against the kitchen counter, she bit her lip and refused to cry.

AJ walked up to her and leaned in, slowly and delicately placing his lips on hers for one final kiss. Then, just as quickly as the kiss had happened, he turned and walked out of the kitchen leaving Macy there to stare after him; the kiss still lingering on her lips.

“I love you…” she whispered as a few hot tears escaped down her cheeks.

It's morning*

***
* “As We Lay”—Kelly Price