𝑻𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒕 🔞

𝐸𝑝- 27 {𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔}

🅅🄾🅃🄴 🄿🄻🄴🄰🅂🄴

The morning light was soft, filtering through the curtains like a quiet whisper. I wasn’t fully awake, caught somewhere between the haze of sleep and the awareness that something — no, someone — was beside me.

And then I felt it, the lightest touch on my skin. Her fingers, tracing along my jaw, moving up to my cheek with a gentleness that tugged me toward consciousness. I knew it was Serah. I didn’t even have to open my eyes to feel her presence, to know that the warmth I felt was hers.

My eyes slowly fluttered open, adjusting to the morning light. The first thing I saw was her smile, soft and glowing in the dawn. She was leaning over me, her eyes full of tenderness, her fingers still tracing my skin like I was something precious to her. The sight of her made my chest tighten in the best way possible, as if my heart was too full to contain it all.

“Good morning,” she whispered, her voice like a melody I could listen to forever.

For a moment, I just stared at her, taking it all in. The way the light caught the edges of her hair, the way her eyes shined with something so pure it made me feel lighter. My hand reached out, almost on its own, finding hers and lacing our fingers together. I pulled her hand to my chest, letting her feel the steady beat of my heart beneath her palm, hoping she understood that she was the reason it beat the way it did.

“Good morning,” I mumbled back, my voice still rough from sleep. But even half-awake, all I could think about was how lucky I was to have this — to have her.

Serah leaned down and kissed my forehead, her lips soft and warm against my skin. I closed my eyes at the contact, letting the comfort of it wash over me. She pulled back slightly, her face still close enough that I could see every detail, every bit of emotion that passed over her.

“You’re so beautiful,” I whispered, barely aware that I was speaking out loud. It was something I thought all the time, but the words seemed to fall from my lips without me needing to think.

She gave a soft laugh, her cheeks flushing a bit as she teased, “You always say that.”

I smirked, my hand reaching to cup her face, pulling her even closer. “Because it’s always true,” I replied, my voice low and sincere.

The quiet moment between us stretched out, but it wasn’t the uncomfortable kind of silence. It was the kind that felt heavy with understanding, where words weren’t necessary. Serah rested her head against my chest, and I could feel her breath syncing with mine, calm and steady.

I moved my hand to her hair, running my fingers through the soft strands, more to soothe myself than her. I couldn’t believe she was really here — that she was really mine. The thought of it, of her, made everything feel surreal, like I was living in a dream I never wanted to wake up from.

“You know,” she murmured after a while, her voice still soft but filled with warmth, “I could get used to waking up like this every morning.”

A chuckle escaped me before I could stop it. “You’d better,” I said, my tone teasing, but there was a deeper truth in my words. “Because I’m not letting you go. Not now… not ever.”

And I meant it. She was my everything, the one thing in my life I knew I couldn’t live without. I held her a little tighter, as if to make sure she wouldn’t slip away, feeling the weight of everything we’d gone through to get here.

The world outside felt distant, like it didn’t exist in this moment. It was just us, wrapped up in the warmth of each other, the morning light casting a soft glow over everything. I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair, letting the calm of this moment sink into my bones.