Thanks so much to BlackWolf65 for helping me to edit this story. You're input is greatly appreciated!
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Darren awoke, shifted, and then smiled broadly at the petite little beauty that had her arms wrapped around him. Her face was peaceful and cute in slumber, a small smile on her lips as whatever she dreamed about held her unconscious attention. It was late in the night, or early in the morning, when she had come over. And as usual, she took off her shoes and socks and climbed into his bed. She immediately attached herself to his side, trying to suck up the heat of his body. Karina was an extreme cuddler when she slept, but he didn't mind at all.
Darren watched the few and far between changes that took place on his best friend's face. He still couldn't believe that after everything they'd been through, and after all this time, that she was his - that she was still by his side, and in his bed. His smile broadened, and he lifted his hand to push a stray tendril of curly brown hair away from her face.
Compulsively, he stroked the softness of her cheek with the pad of his thumb, trying to imprint this image of her in his brain forever - the soft flutter of her eyelashes, the plumpness of her light brown cheeks, the bow in her full lips. He'd never felt such a sense of contentment in his life, but she did it for him. She made it happen.
Darren thought back to when they had first met, all the way back to the "sandbox days", when girls had cooties and glue was the dish of the day. He and Karina went to different schools, but were in the same grade and happened to live right across the street from each other. He was new in the neighborhood, having moved with his parents and two older brothers. He was four at the time, and could recall the day like it had just recently happened.
Darren's mother, Mrs. Samantha Hayward, was over-friendly and anxious to meet her new neighbors. She encouraged her then young sons to try and get to know the other children on the block. James and Jason, 8 at the time, refused outright, upset that they had been forced to leave their friends and make new ones. It didn't matter one way or another Darren, because he wasn't sure what was going on, anyway.
Karina's mother, Sharon, was the same way, although she and her family had become residents in the quiet neighborhood when Sharon was 5 months pregnant and waddling. Karina was three and an only child, and had never experienced having older or younger siblings.
While in the supermarket a week later, Sharon recognized the woman that had moved into the house across from hers that no longer housed a "for sale" sign. She quickly made it a point to introduce herself and welcome the woman into the neighborhood. The woman introduced herself as Samantha Hayward, and the two women quickly became friends, bonding over their families, jobs, and everything in between.
