Emma had awoken peacefully and easily as the sun had begun to shine through her blinds. It was the first time in weeks that she hadn't been jerked awake out of a bad dream, forced herself to get up after hours of tossing and turning, or laid staring at the wall instead of getting any rest at all. She had successfully slept through the entire night— and she was pretty sure she had the naked man lying practically on top of her to thank for that.
She'd forgotten just how much of a snuggler Ethan was. He'd somehow ended up with his face pressed against the top of her bare chest, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist, and his leg flung over one of hers. She wasn't complaining though. He had felt warm and his grip had enveloped her in a feeling of safety.
She'd blinked her eyes blearily a few times as she'd adjusted to the morning light, shifting a bit to stretch as much as she could without waking him. Glancing down, she'd taken in his bedhead, the way his lips were parted slightly as he let out puffs of relaxed breath, and she'd felt her heart flutter. Her cheeks had pinked as she remembered the events of last night, made evident by both their lack of clothing and the way she could feel him naturally pressing against her leg.
Despite how fast it had all happened, she didn't regret a thing. She didn't think she would ever regret being with him. He was kind and he was gentle, he always made her feel comfortable and good, and it was easy between them. Natural. It was like they were supposed to be together.
And she didn't know if it would always be that way or if perhaps one day things would change for good, but for right now, she knew that she had made the right decision. She'd let him back into her life and she was willing to give their relationship another chance. If it ended up backfiring on her, then so be it. Love made you do crazy things sometimes. It made you take big risks, have a little faith. She was ready for anything.
___ ___
By the time Ethan had woken up, Emma had already untangled herself from him, climbed out of bed, and begun making them breakfast. She hadn't been surprised when half an hour later he'd snuck up behind her in the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her waist, his chin coming to rest on her shoulder.
"I hate when I wake up without you," he'd whispered, voice still rough and laced with sleep. It had made her shiver a bit and she'd bit down on her bottom lip as he pressed a gentle, innocent kiss to the side of her neck.
"I'm making you breakfast. Are you hungry?" she'd mumbled back after a second, grinning as she continued to cut up various fruits on her cutting board.
"Hungry for you," he'd replied easily, letting out a laugh at his own joke and giving her waist a squeeze.
"Ethan!" she'd squealed teasingly, setting down the knife she was using to push his arms away from her. "Behave. Or I'll make you go back to bed until I'm done," she'd added after turning around to face him, giving him a stern look.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm shutting up now," he'd grinned, holding his hands up in defense and beginning to move towards the island. He'd easily sat down at one of the chairs near it, watching her with a tiny smile as she'd gone back to slicing up a banana.
"Can't we just go to Alfred or something? I need coffee and they have those little chia seed things you like or whatever," he'd said after a few moments of silence, having begun to mindlessly scroll on his phone.
She'd stilled for a second at his words, knife halfway cutting into a banana slice before she set it back down. She'd turned around to face him again, keeping her expression carefully neutral as she studied him.
Alfred was public. They'd be seen there and people would most likely take pictures and then they'd probably be right back to where they started. Madness. Mayhem. Speculation upon speculation. She'd felt her chest tighten at the thought, though she wasn't sure why. She hated that she let these things bother her. He was still looking at his phone, not even aware that she was suddenly struggling with a million different things in her head.
She couldn't blame him for not sensing her obvious discomfort at his suggestion. It was a totally normal thing. Wake up, go get coffee and breakfast together, enjoy the day. But for them, such a simple task was not quite so simple. She wished she could change that more than anything.
But given the fact that she was Emma and he was Ethan and millions of people knew exactly who they were... it was something that couldn't be changed.
"Well... if we go to Alfred... people will probably see us," she'd whispered after a second, his eyes immediately having snapped up to hers at her change in tone. She no longer sounded lighthearted and happy, but instead tense and upset.
"Oh," he'd said a few moments later, finally seeming to have understood what she meant by her words. "Right. Well. I could go? And get us some coffee, if you wanted... or... or we could both go, but one of us could stay in the car? Or like.. fuck.. I don't know. We don't have to go at all, actually. I don't even know why I said it. I wasn't thinking," he'd rambled, letting out a nervous laugh as he ran his fingers messily through his hair.
She didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry at his words, but she'd settled on giving him a small reassuring smile. It was both comical and miserable that there had to be so much planning and thought behind a simple little coffee trip.
"I guess we still have some stuff to figure out when it comes to... going out together and all that," he'd added after a pause of silence, giving her a little smile and shrugging his shoulders.
She'd let out a deep breath, moving over to where he was sitting at the island. She'd barely given him time to react before wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his neck.
He seemed a bit taken aback by her sudden closeness, but after a moment he easily wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to the side of her head.
"We definitely have a lot of stuff to figure it out. But... I think we'll be able to do it. I believe in us," she'd breathed out against him, pressing a small kiss to his neck. "And maybe, for today, I could make us coffee?" she'd asked, lifting her head a bit to look at him.
"You'll be happy to know that I didn't throw out your $3,000 coffee machine even though I debated it for a few days," she'd whispered teasingly, giving him a wicked grin as his eyebrows furrowed.
"You were gonna throw out the coffee machine?! What the hell," he'd said in disbelief, causing her to let out a louder giggle.
"Maybe... maybe not. Just be glad I didn't," she replied with another laugh, leaning forward to connect her lips with his lightly before moving away and back to the counter.
He was right. They did have a lot of things they had to figure out. They had to come up with solutions to a hundred different problems and brainstorm ways to keep their relationship between them and for them only. They had to figure out boundaries and fill their friends in on their rekindled relationship, while also reminding them to please please not spread any rumors or leak any information. They had to decide how to act with each other on social media and debate if liking or commenting on each other's pictures was worth the frenzy it created.
The list went on and on and it seemed daunting, but when it came down to it, it wasn't that bad. She'd have Ethan by her side to help her figure things out and they'd work through it together. As a team. A pair. As a couple.
And despite all the shit they had gone through already, they'd come out stronger and better than before. She was absolutely sure of it.
