The Edge of Everything

Chapter Seventeen

Waking up beside Cassian slowly became my new favorite thing. Because I wasn't pregnant and we were finally together. It was like a nice little memory, except it was always different in the mornings now. I always woke up with his arms wrapped around me, sometimes he would press a kiss to my cheek, my shoulder. It didn't matter how I woke up, seeing Cassian's face, feeling his warmth beside me, was enough to make me forget the evil Tomas had done to me.

I was letting go of that scar, slowly but surely. Cassian was showing me how a man treated the woman he loved. A few times I woke up to Rey's feet pressed against my back and her in between us. Even then Cassian kept his hand on my waist.

It was sweet, the way he was with us.

The doctor removed Rey's stitches yesterday. She was as good as new, just a small scar on her forehead. Her hair hid it, but she pouted in the way home. It wasn't until Azriel showed her his scars, his hands and how they were still useful, that she thought her scar made her strong. Cassian was even impressed with the way he handled her.

Mor was in tears as she watched her boyfriend calm and soothe Rey. I was surprised she didn't drag him out of the house when he was done, holding my child in his arms. She was smiling, staring at him like she had never seen this side to him before. I was waiting for the day she came to Feyre and I wearing a ring. They were bound to get married before any of us.

I sighed as I wrapped the blanket tighter around me. The sun filtered in through the blinds. It was warm, I didn't want to wake up yet. Cassian didn't have to work today and the house was quiet. I sighed as he pulled me closer, his lips pressing gently against my shoulder. He knew I was awake, his fingers running lightly over my arm causing me to shiver.

"Good morning," he whispered in my ear.

"Where's the little one?" I asked my eyes still closed. I refused to open them yet.
He laughed, "she ran out to terrorize Feyre and Rhys when I told her to let you sleep."

I buried my face in his neck, "mmhm sleep. I don't want to wake up."

He laughed again, "Nesta," he said my name softly, "as much as I love having sleepovers with you I want to ask you something."

My eyes opened slowly. I winced at the light shining in through the window. His eyes sparkled as he looked at me. My mom told me and my sisters once that you can tell a man loves a woman by the way his eyes light up whenever she enters a room. Cassian's eyes were the brightest I had ever seen them as he held me there in what was now becoming our bed.

Love. It had always scared me. But here with Cassian, it wasn't fear that made me wonder what he wanted to ask me. It was excitement, a thrill shot down my spine. Because I wasn't afraid to love him, not anymore. He was my person, my favorite place to call home.

I smiled back at him, wondering if he could see all the love I felt in my eyes like I could see it in his, "what's that?"

"What would you say to moving in with me? You, me, and Rey. We'd be a family, in our own house without Feyre and Rhysand always calling us out for our public displays of affection."

I laughed slightly. Then I bit my lip imaging it, a future where we were really together. Where all of this was behind us and somehow we had made it to that finish line. One I never thought I would see.

I looked up and Cassian was waiting. He was holding his breath. I sat up slowly, pushing my hair out of my face, "really? You want to move in with me? You want to wake up beside this bird's nest of hair and bad breath every morning?"

He nodded, a smile playing on his lips as he leaned into me. His big hands framed my face as the tips brushed a few strands of hair off my neck, "you're beautiful, even in the morning. I told you, I want a life with you. A future together."