You hadn't known how long the two of you had been tangled together on Emma's couch, bodies molded to each other. It could've been ten minutes, it could've been three hours, but you were enjoying every moment of reacquainting yourself with her touch.
Her face had pressed against your neck gently and you'd felt her soft, even breaths against your skin that signaled she felt just as calm and content. You'd almost absentmindedly cupped the back of her neck, slid to trace down her spine, curled your fingers around her waist, wanting to relearn every curve and shape of her.
You hadn't been able to be near her like this in weeks. For you, it seemed like years. You'd missed her so fucking much.
"Bedtime?" you'd finally whispered, breaking the peaceful silence as you'd noticed her grip on your shirt slackening, signally how sleepy she was.
She'd instantly stirred, lifting her head and glancing at you.
"Yeah. Bedtime," she'd mumbled after a moment, giving you a soft smile before beginning to shift herself off your body and stand up. You'd missed the contact almost immediately— your lap felt cold without her there.
You'd stood up slowly, stretching out your muscles a bit in the process and beginning to follow her as she moved through her apartment towards her bedroom.
She'd walked into the bathroom adjoining it, flicking the light on and moving to the sink to begin washing her face and brushing her teeth. You'd followed her in, automatically moving over to where you'd once left your toothbrush and a small travel-sized bottle of your face wash a few months back.
It'd still been there. Right in the spot you'd left them last, waiting for you. Emma hadn't thrown them away. That in itself made your heart feel a little lighter than it already did, if that was even possible.
Tonight had been so unexpected, so genuinely good and you weren't sure how you'd gotten lucky enough to be able to have her back. If someone had asked you a day ago if this was where you'd thought you'd be right now, in Emma's apartment, brushing your teeth with the extra toothbrush she hadn't yet gotten rid of, you would've said hell no. You would've thought you two would never be together again after your stupidity.
You'd be so glad that you were wrong.
__ __
You had easily climbed into bed beside Emma, taking the same side you always had before and shifting a bit to get comfortable underneath her soft, plush comforter. You'd barely exchanged any words after you'd finished washing up and made your way into her room, both of you seemingly preoccupied with your own thoughts.
You'd sensed her nervousness as she let out a soft sigh before reaching over to flick off her lights, submerging the room in darkness. It was so black you could barely make anything out anymore, the only small amount of glow coming in from the moon peeking through her curtains.
You'd felt her shift next to you, sliding a bit closer, but neither of you touching still. Despite the fact that you were now underneath her warm pile of blankets and in a completely silent, dark room, you'd suddenly felt awake.
Your body had become hyperaware of the fact that she was so close to you, yet still entirely too far away. She'd only been wearing a tank top and her small sleep shorts, you having stripped down to only your boxers since you didn't have any pajamas here. If she just moved over an inch, if you just shifted a little to your right, your skin would brush against hers.
You'd felt brave in the dimness of the room, barely able to make out her face, but relying on your instincts as you'd finally forced yourself to move over just a bit.
It was wrong that you two were lying sleepy and content together in bed and weren't even near each other. You needed to fix that. And you knew her well enough to know that if she really didn't want you close, she wouldn't be afraid to push you away. To tell you it was too much too fast.
But she didn't.
When you'd tentatively slid your leg up against hers, she'd let out a startled breath but didn't pull away. So you'd shifted on your side to bring your arm up to lay across her stomach, pulling her closer to you in the process. She'd hadn't resisted, instead seeming to relax slightly against her pillow and move so she was snuggled just a little closer to you as well.
It'd been the push you'd needed to finally do the one thing you'd wanted to do all night: press your lips to her skin. You'd turned your head a bit to finally, finally trail a light line of kisses along her shoulder. You'd heard her let out a small, startled noise as you'd continued your movements over to her collarbone, the side of her neck, lips moving anywhere they could reach in the position you'd been in.
"Ethan," she'd breathed out after a moment, her words breaking the heated silence between you. It wavered your confidence a little and you'd removed your lips from her neck after a moment.
"Mmm?" you'd mumbled, mouth still hovering inches away from her pulse point, but not wanting to push anything further if she wanted you to stop.
The silence had stretched between you for painfully long and you were finally coming to accept that she was rejecting you, when suddenly she moved.
She'd pushed your arm away from her and shifted so that, before you could even blink, you were on your back and she was hovering over you. Her legs were on either side of your body, hips straddling yours as she leaned forward and blindly connected your lips together.
Her movements were confident, sure in what she was doing, but she'd missed a bit at first given how dark it was, instead lips connecting with your chin, then the side of your mouth, before finally making their landing.
And holy shit you had missed this. You'd missed how soft and warm she was. How confident she was in the kisses she gave you, a complete opposite of the shaky whisper she'd spoken just seconds ago. Her tongue had flicked out to trace along your bottom lip, begging for access, and you'd easily parted your mouth a bit to let her in.
From then, it had been a tangle of tongues and limbs, what little clothing you'd both been wearing being ripped and thrown and discarded in a mess on her floor. There'd been soft kisses and rough kisses, fingernails pressing into skin, hurried, eager motions, and slow, sensual ones as well. It was what you both had needed. A reconnection. Something to solidify what maybe neither of you had quite been able to say out loud earlier. It was showing your emotions in actions rather than words, which is something you both did best.
And when it had all been done, neither of you had regretted a thing. You'd both been lightheaded and spent, Emma's body collapsing on top of yours with a huff as her limbs seemed to be too jelly-like to move.
It'd been erratic heartbeats and huffs and puffs of breaths from both of your exertions. And finally, when both of you had come down a bit and feelings returned to normal, it wasn't awkward. It wasn't bad and it wasn't uncomfortable.
Instead, it was her lips pressing to your chest as she continued to lay curled on top of you. Her soft words mumbled into your skin.
"I love you," she had whispered, and the words would've been barely audible if you hadn't been paying close.
But you were. So you'd heard her say it loud and clear. And you hadn't been able to help the way it had made your heart soar, rendering you practically speechless.
You'd wrapped your arms around her tighter and leaned down to kiss the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her, of you, of the both of you mixed.
"I love you, too," you'd finally breathed back, the darkness and the languid, pleasant feeling of your body making it easier to admit.
And with that, you'd both fell asleep easily and quickly, still wrapped in each other's arms.
a/n: leave a like or a comment if u still have hope for ethma bc im starting to feel like im the only one lmao :( let's just pretend that this fic is true and these are events currently playing out in real life pls and thanks
