Morning came through the curtains in thin strips of gold, the kind of light that arrived before the house had fully committed to being awake.
Liam opened his eyes.
Elena was beside him, her hair spread across the pillow in every direction, her face carrying the specific quality it only had at this hour, the composed version of her that existed in every other context entirely absent, just her breathing slowly, her lips slightly parted, one hand loosely near her face.
He looked at her for a moment.
Her eyes opened.
They looked at each other in the morning quiet and then he leaned forward and kissed her, slow and without any particular agenda behind it, and she kissed him back with her hand coming up to his jaw, warm and unhurried.
When they separated she looked at him with the soft morning version of her expression and stretched, both arms going above her head, her back arching, a small sound leaving her that had nothing performed about it.
