Legendary | s. harrington (18+)

chapter thirty four

STEVE awoke before Evelyn. Her head was still over his arm, which was now considerably numb, and her skin didn't look pale today - it seemed plump and healthy. The bags beneath her eyes were half the size and he smiled. She'd slept. He looked over her face, brushing the hair shielding her from him out of his way. Her mouth hung open a little and her chest was rising and falling in small, slow breaths. Steve grinned. They'd slept together.

Gently, he pushed himself from beneath her, pulling on some clean boxers, jeans and a t-shirt. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and sort his hair, finding a spare toothbrush in their cupboard for her and placing it out ready for when she needed it. He debated having a shower but the notion of her joining him flickered in to his brain and he wanted to give her the courtesy of the option.
Instead, he wanted to make her breakfast, so he jogged down the stairs humming to himself.
Had he ever been this happy?
He boiled the kettle, knowing exactly how she liked her tea from the countless times he'd been round to her home. He added the milk she liked, no sugar, and crept up the stairs. He swore, having forgotten to remove the tea bag and walked back down to throw it in the bin before starting his descent again. Each step creaked mockingly beneath his feet, as if daring to wake her. He cringed, hoping she wouldn't hear it and made it to his door, pushing it wide ever-so-gently, eyeing the cup in his hand so he didn't spill it.

He was almost at her side, ready to place the cup down, when the speakers of his alarm clock screamed Just Like Heaven from beside her head. He jumped, tea spilling over the sides of the mug and making trails down his fresh jeans. He cursed but he didn't care deeply. It was another reminder that she was truly here. In his bed.

Delirious, she craned her neck, her hair messy around her face and spiked in all directions. She mumbled something, rubbing her eyes.

"Is that the Cure?" Steve let his head roll on his shoulders as he laughed; her eyes peeling open, her mouth still crusted with drool. He doubted she knew her own name just yet, but she knew The Cure even when she was ripped from sleep.

"Yeah." It was his alarm - the local radio. Usually, it wasn't the same song on repeat. He grinned, perching in the crook her bent knees made at the end of the bed. She dipped at his weight and a smile stretched out her lips. She was still drugged from her heavy sleep, she couldn't name the last time she hadn't been haunted by a dream, and her head fell sloppy back to the pillow. She cocooned herself in his sheets, breathing in the scent of him around her, hoping to never move from this warm, delicious spot. She felt his warmth at her legs and looked to him from beneath her dark lashes. Steve pushed the mug forward and she sat up.

"I made you some tea."

"You did?" Unexpected, her eyes widened and she took the mug from him staring at the liquid like she didn't quite believe him. "Thank you." She went to take a sip, only for the sheets to fall and she spluttered a laugh, all her confidence from the night before having disappeared. She covered her chest with one arm, a small noise of surprise bursting her lips open.

"Oh, I should get you a shirt." He turned around to the drawer behind him and snatched hold of the tshirt he'd selected for her the night previously. Once it was in his hand, he left it in his lap with a mischievous smile. "Or, I could just leave you like this. I know which one I'd prefer." Now that she sat up straight, her legs were parted beneath the sheets and he leant into the space, nuzzling his face against the part of the duvet where her stomach was. Instinctively, her hand slipped to his hair and raked her nails therapeutically over his skull. He hummed against her, wrapping his arms around her spine and sighed, blissfully. "I'm never letting you leave this spot, I hope you understand."