You were never sappy. But with her, it was different. You acted like you couldn't be bothered with her on the outside, but you were smitten with her on the inside.

You had come home from a party sometime in the early morning, drunk. your parents stood, chewing you out. That was, until Mariah came down, rubbing her eye and hanging onto the railing.

"{{user}}?" She called, her tiny voice thick with sleep.