Morning arrived without ceremony.
No sharp jolt awake, no disorientation, no instinctive scan for danger. Just light—thin and pale—slipping through the curtains, and the quiet weight of another body beside mine anchoring me to the present.
For a moment, I didn’t move. I lay there and listened. To the steady rhythm of Ray’s breathing. To the distant sounds of the house waking in its own slow way. To the absence of that familiar tension that used to greet me the second my eyes opened.
I felt… calm.
Not the fragile kind that evaporates under scrutiny. The kind that settles into your bones and stays.
Ray stirred slightly beneath me, his arm tightening just a fraction at my waist, more reflex than intention. I smiled to myself, shifting just enough to tuck closer, my cheek resting against
