Angel's POV
I opened my eyes to find him watching me.
Not intrusively - he was sitting on his side of the bed, already dressed, leaning back against the headboard with his arms loosely folded, and there was something in his expression that was - warm. Unhurried. Like he had been there a while and hadn't minded.
"Good morning," I said, voice thick with sleep.
"Good morning." The smile that came with it was slow and genuine. "You're beautiful when you sleep."
The blush arrived before I could do anything about it.
"Stop that," I said, pressing my face into the pillow.
"I'm simply making an accurate observation."
"You're being kind."
"I'm being factual." His voice carried that particular certainty that Merrick always had - the ease of someone who had decided something and saw no reason to qualify it. "There's a difference."
I lifted my face from the pillow and looked at him with the skepticism that the statement deserved.
