The weather finally cleared by Thursday.

Sunlight spilled across the office windows for the first time all week, warming the usually cold conference rooms and making everyone slightly less miserable than normal.

Including Alex.

His cold had mostly disappeared overnight, which unfortunately meant his energy returned too.

Mia noticed immediately when he stole her coffee during the morning meeting and looked entirely too pleased with himself afterward.

“You have your own,” she whispered sharply.

“Ours tastes better.”

“That sentence still sounds concerning.”

Alex smirked without apology before taking another sip.

Across the table, one coworker sighed dramatically. “I miss when you two were pretending to be professional.”

“We were never convincing,” another replied.

“True.”

Mia lowered her head briefly while Alex looked completely relaxed beside her.

That should have embarrassed her more than it did.

Instead, it felt strangely natural now.

Comfortable.

By late afternoon, exhaustion finally caught up to her.

The week had been nonstop—deadlines, meetings, teasing coworkers, too little sleep, and Alex somehow finding ways to distract her every twenty minutes.

By the time they reached their apartment that evening, Mia barely managed to kick her shoes off before dropping her bag onto the couch.

Alex glanced over while loosening his watch. “That bad?”

“I think my soul left around three p.m.”

“That explains why you stared at the printer like it offended you personally.”

“It jammed six times.”

“Traumatic.”

She mumbled something incoherent while disappearing toward the bathroom.

A hot shower helped slightly.

By the time she changed into one of Alex’s oversized shirts and soft shorts, the apartment already smelled like garlic, butter, and something simmering on the stove.

Mia walked quietly into the kitchen.

Alex stood at the counter chopping vegetables, sleeves pushed to his elbows, hair still slightly messy from changing after work.

Domesticity looked unfairly good on him.

For a second, she simply watched him.

The soft kitchen lighting.

The low music playing somewhere in the background.

The steady movements of his hands.

Home.

The feeling hit her unexpectedly hard.

Without thinking, she crossed the kitchen and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

Alex paused immediately.

The knife lowered onto the cutting board softly before he turned his head slightly toward her.

“Well,” he murmured gently, “this feels serious.”

Mia only tightened her arms around his waist.

Tiredness settled heavily into her bones now that she’d stopped moving.

Alex turned fully this time, concern replacing amusement when he saw her face properly.

“Hey,” he said quietly. “What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“That answer sounds suspicious.”

She rested her forehead against his chest. “Just tired.”

His expression softened instantly.

The teasing disappeared from his face completely as his hands settled against her back.

“You should’ve said something earlier.”

“I’m saying it now.”

“While using me as furniture.”

“You’re warm furniture.”

Alex laughed softly under his breath.

Mia barely had enough energy to glare at him.

“You need sleep,” he murmured.

“I need this first.”

That answer affected him more than she expected.

His hands tightened slightly around her waist while she stayed pressed against him, eyes half closed already.

The kitchen smelled warm and comforting around them.

Sauce simmered quietly on the stove.

Outside, the city glowed gold beneath the evening sky.

Mia sighed softly against him, completely relaxed now.

Alex brushed his fingers slowly through her hair. “You’re falling asleep standing up.”

“Maybe.”

“That seems unsafe.”

“I trust you.”

The words slipped out naturally.

Simple.

Honest.

Alex went still for half a second.

Then something gentler settled into his expression.

Before she realized what he was doing, his hands slid beneath her thighs.

Mia let out a quiet sound of surprise as he lifted her effortlessly.

Instinctively, her legs wrapped around his waist while her arms settled around his shoulders.

“There,” Alex murmured. “Better.”

She blinked sleepily at him. “You’re showing off.”

“Correct.”

But he looked far too affectionate for the arrogance to feel real.

Mia’s fingers drifted into his hair automatically while he carried her across the kitchen.

He stopped near the counter, keeping one arm securely beneath her while the other brushed lightly along her thigh.

“Tired girl,” he murmured softly.

“Long week.”

“I know.”

His forehead rested briefly against hers before he kissed her slowly.

Not rushed.

Not heated.

Just warm and lingering enough to make her melt further against him.

Mia kissed him back lazily, half smiling when he chased her for another one afterward.

“You’re clingy tonight,” she whispered.

“You started it.”

“Fair.”

Eventually, Alex forced himself to put her down before dinner burned completely.

Mia sat on the counter nearby afterward, watching him cook while occasionally stealing pieces of vegetables from the cutting board.

“Stop stealing ingredients,” he said without turning around.

“You cut them too small. They’re asking to be eaten.”

“That isn’t how cooking works.”

“Says who?”

“The entire culinary industry.”

She smiled faintly while swinging one foot lightly against the cabinet.

The exhaustion still lingered heavily, but something about watching him move comfortably through their kitchen eased the tension in her chest.

This.

This was becoming her favorite part of the day.

Coming home to him.

Dinner ended up simple—pasta, garlic bread slightly overcooked because Alex got distracted talking, and wine neither of them finished because Mia nearly fell asleep halfway through eating.

Alex watched her with obvious amusement from across the table.

“You’re blinking slower.”

“I’m fighting for my life.”

“You lost fifteen minutes ago.”

“Probably.”

After dinner, Mia curled against him on the couch while he answered a few work emails reluctantly.

Her head rested against his shoulder.

One of his hands stayed absentmindedly tangled with hers the entire time.

“You know,” Alex murmured eventually, “the office was unusually quiet today.”

“That’s because everyone already finished interrogating us.”

“I think Daniel still has theories.”

“Daniel thinks we secretly got married months ago.”

Alex looked thoughtful. “That would explain why he stared at my left hand during lunch.”

Mia laughed quietly.

The sound faded into a yawn halfway through.

Alex looked down immediately. “Bed.”

“Bossy.”

“You’re barely conscious.”

“Still rude.”

But she let him pull her up anyway.

The bedroom lights stayed dim while rainless wind moved softly through the slightly open window.

Mia changed quickly before climbing beneath the blankets with an exhausted sigh.

Alex joined her a minute later.

Almost immediately, she moved closer instinctively.

One arm draped across his stomach while her head settled against his shoulder.

Alex shifted slightly until she could comfortably rest partly on his arm.

Neither of them spoke for a while after that.

The apartment stayed quiet around them.

Safe.

Still.

Mia’s breathing gradually slowed as sleep began pulling her under.

Alex watched her silently in the darkness.

The softness in her face.

The way her fingers still loosely held onto his shirt even half asleep.

The complete trust in the way she curled against him every night now.

Something deep in his chest tightened painfully.

Not fear.

Not uncertainty.

The opposite.

He brushed his thumb gently along her arm.

“Mia?”

A sleepy sound answered him.

He smiled faintly.

There was probably a smarter way to ask this.

A more planned way.

Something romantic involving timing and coherence.

Unfortunately, Alex had never been particularly skilled at waiting once something mattered enough.

So quietly, while she drifted at the edge of sleep against him, he asked:

“How would you feel about getting married someday?”

Silence followed for a second.

Then another.

Mia shifted slightly closer without opening her eyes.

Half asleep already.

Alex was about to assume she hadn’t heard him—

when she mumbled softly against his chest:

“Thought you’d ask sooner.”

His entire heart stopped.

“Mia?”

But she was already drifting deeper into sleep again.

Still holding onto him.

Still warm against him.

Alex stared at the ceiling for several long seconds before quiet laughter escaped him helplessly.

Of course she answered like that.

He looked down at her sleeping face, something unbearably tender settling inside his chest.

Then he leaned down and kissed the top of her head gently.

“Good to know,” he whispered softly into the dark.

A sleepy smile appeared briefly on Mia’s face even unconscious.

And wrapped together beneath tangled blankets, with the city lights glowing softly beyond the windows, they fell asleep already carrying a future neither of them seemed afraid of anymore.