the 'brook action threads

When Mallory went to bed on Thursday night, she knew that she would be woken up around 2 or 3 am by her boyfriend, whose birthday was on Saturday.

Mallory was ecstatic. She was debating just staying up, but she decided not to, because she wanted to stay up and talk to Benson for awhile - for as long as he could stay awake, anyway. She knew he'd be tired after driving all day. She felt bad that he was the one who had to drive to her for his birthday, but he'd insisted, so....

Mallory could barely get to sleep that night. She felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve, trying to get to sleep knowing that the morning would bring exciting surprises. She finally dozed off at around 11:30.

She was awakened by a text; she lived with two other girls, and she knew that Benson was too considerate to bang on the door and wake them all up. He probably wouldn't even have woken her up, if she hadn't insisted on it.

She ran to the door and threw it open, rushing to hug him before he even got the chance to step inside. "Hi," she mumbled into his shoulder, squeezing him tightly. She hated being so far away from him.