The first apartment they saw the following afternoon had a yellow door.
It was a splash of sunlight on a quiet neighborhood street, a color so bright it seemed as if it had been contained in a can of paint, cheerful, a little worn around the edges, like a door that had already seen a hundred stories unfold within its frame. Catherine came to a stop in front of it, her hand still in Luffy's, and felt a soft click occur within her.
"This one," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Hey, we haven't even gone inside yet."
Catherine knew, of course, she had, and she smiled up at Luffy, who was smiling down at her, his eyes crinkled at the corners.
"It's happy," she said, trying to explain, "like it's waiting for us."
Priya, a brisk woman with a clipboard and an apparently inexhaustible fund of cheer, unlocked the door with a flourish. "Two bedrooms, one and a half baths, small balcony with a view of our community garden. Built in the seventies, renovated recently, previous tenants were an elderly couple who loved plants you'll see!"
The moment they stepped inside, the light hit them.
The living room had big windows on the south side, flooding the room with golden afternoon light. The hardwood floor was the color of honey. The walls were a soft cream, still smelling of fresh paint. The kitchen was small, open to the living room with a breakfast bar just large enough for two stools and a lazy Sunday afternoon spent on a crossword puzzle. The balcony was only six feet deep, with two rusty metal chairs and a potted jasmine plant that had miraculously survived the abandonment of the house.
Catherine moved slowly through the rooms as though she was afraid to breathe too loudly and scare the possibility away.
The bedroom had a window seat with a thin cushion still in its plastic wrapping. She sat down on it immediately, her knees drawn up, looking out the window at the tops of the trees and the rooftops.
Luffy stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed, watching her with that quiet, reverent smile he only gave her in moments like this.
"Room for a bigger bed," he said. "And maybe a crib someday."
She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with tears. "You keep saying that."
"Because I keep meaning it."
Priya cleared her throat from the hallway. "The second bedroom is perfect for an office, guest room, or… nursery. Plenty of natural light."
Catherine stood, moved to Luffy, and wrapped her arms around his waist. "What do you think, Hubby?"
He buried his chin in the top of her head, surveying the room with his arms wrapped around his wife.
"I think yellow doors are good luck," he said. "And I think this place already smells like home. Like coffee in the morning and your shampoo at night and cat fur on everything."
Priya offered a polite smile, pretending not to notice the soft intimacy in their voices.
They continued to tour the place: the half-bath with its miniature tiles, the closet that could fit both their wardrobes if they stopped buying matching hoodies, the creaking floorboards in just the right tune to walk from kitchen to couch.
When they got back to the living room, Catherine spun around once in the center, arms outstretched.
"I can see it," she said. "Fairy lights over here, bookshelf over there. Our big couch against this wall. A little table for your pastry experiments. The cats sunbathing in the window seat. And us dancing in the kitchen at two a.m. because we're too happy to sleep."
Luffy stepped into the circle of Catherine's arms.
"Then let's take it," he said, simple.
Priya's face lit up. "I can draw up the papers today. First month's rent and deposit "
"We'll do it," Catherine interrupted, smiling at the rapidity with which the words were spoken. "We want it. Today."
Luffy leaned over and kissed her temple. "My decisive wifey."
They signed the lease on the breakfast bar, the scratching of pens on paper accompanied by the sweet smell of jasmine carried from the balcony. Priya handed over the keys a pair of shiny silver keys on a plain key ring and promised to send the official documents via email.
As the door closed behind her, the silence enveloped them like a warm blanket.
Luffy turned to Catherine, his eyes sparkling.
"We… we just got our first real home together."
Catherine threw herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist as he caught her. They kissed, messy and happy and teeth-bumping until they were both gasping and dizzy.
"First of many," she breathed into his lips. "This is just the beginning."
They spent the next hour wandering the empty rooms once more, pointing out where things would go.
"Couch here," Luffy said, making a grand gesture.
"TV goes on that wall," Catherine said.
"Biggest litter box empire in the corner," Luffy added.
"Art supplies shelf by the window so I can watch you make coffee while I sketch," Catherine said.
"Bed big enough we can starfish and still touch," Luffy added.
They ended up on the bare floor of the master bedroom, backs against the wall, legs stretched out, hands linked between them.
Sunset streamed into the room, long fingers of orange coloring their skin.
Catherine leaned into his shoulder.
"I used to be so afraid of roots," she confessed quietly. "Of signing leases, of staying in one place long enough for someone to leave me. But with you… it doesn't feel like a trap. It feels like flying while standing still."
Luffy turned his head, kissed her hair.
"I was scared too. After my parents… I thought if I kept everything temporary, the café, the apartment, even friendships, then losing things wouldn't hurt as much. But you walked in, and temporary felt unbearable. I want permanent with you. Paperwork. Bills. Arguing over thermostat settings. All the boring, beautiful forever stuff."
She lifted their linked hands, kissed his knuckles one by one.
"Then let's make it boring and beautiful starting now."
They remained there until the light changed to a lavender hue and the room cooled.
When they at last stood to leave, Luffy locked the yellow door behind them with pomp and circumstance.
"Our door," he said, his grin mischievous, as if he'd just gotten the best toy in the store.
"Our door," she repeated, her heart so full, it hurt.
They walked home hand in hand through the evening air as it grew cooler, pausing to purchase street food snacks and masala chai from a street vendor who recognized Luffy from the café. They ate their snack on a low wall near the park, legs kicking as they fed each other between kisses.
When they arrived at their current apartment building, night had fully fallen. Mochi and Matcha greeted them with a flair for drama about how their dinner had arrived late.
Luffy picked up both cats in his arms. "Guess what, babies? We got a new kingdom. Bigger windows. More sunbeams. You're going to love it."
Catherine leaned back against the doorway, watching Luffy talk to the cats as if they were people, feeling a love so overwhelming it made her head spin.
She stepped towards him, her arms going around his middle from behind.
"Thank you," she whispered against his back.
"For what?"
"For making roots feel like wings."
He turned in her arms to face her, his fingers cradling her face.
"Thank you for staying."
They kissed slowly deep, unhurried, as the kittens twined around their ankles, purring their approval of the proceedings.
Later, in bed, snuggled up together beneath the same old blanket they'd been using since the first night he'd stayed over, Luffy touched the silver coffee bean chain around her neck.
"Tomorrow, we start packing."
"Tomorrow, we start moving forward."
She corrected him, touching a kiss to his collarbone.
He smiled, his face pressed into her hair.
"Forward. Together."
The city went on outside their window, but inside, four hearts, two human, two feline, began to beat as one.
And the yellow door, over there, waited patiently, already taking shape as a form for all the tomorrows they would walk through.