Slow Mornings With Your Girlfriend
synopsis: Mornings with Ellie are slow, warm, and full of the kind of affection she rarely knows how to put into words
warnings: female reader, sleepy/affectionate Ellie, clingy and lovestruck Ellie, fluff, soft physical affection, teasing, comfort, domestic intimacy, no explicit content.
Morning arrives in pieces.
Not all at once, but through the pale wash of sunlight spilling between the curtains, a quiet hum of wind beyond the window, and a comforting weight draped over your waist.
You don’t open your eyes immediately.
A sleepy exhale brushes across the back of your neck, followed by the gentle weight of an arm tightening around your waist. It isn’t enough to trap you, the girl has never held you like you’re something to keep, but enough to pull you the last inch between your bodies until there’s nowhere left for the morning chill to settle.
You corners of your lips tug up before you’re even awake enough to realize it.
A sleepy mumble leaves her lips, too slurred to make out, and then her forehead bumps gently against your shoulder. It’s clumsy in the way only Ellie can manage, half asleep, entirely affectionate.
“…Hi,” she murmurs, voice rough from sleep.
Satisfied, Ellie settles again, though only for a heartbeat. She was never very good at staying still.
Her fingertips wander beneath the hem of your oversized sleep shirt, finding the warm skin of your stomach almost absentmindedly. Her palm rests there first, soaking in the warmth, before her fingers begin slow, lazy circles.
Not teasing, okay, well, maybe a little. But the main intent was to hold you.
You feel her shoulders relax behind you. A breath leaves her. Slow. Content. It’s funny, you think.
Ellie never really knows what to do with words first thing in the morning.
Her hands, though… They’ve always known. They wander because they can. Because they like the reassurance. A content hum vibrates against your collarbone.
“You comfy?” you ask quietly.
“Mhm.” Without lifting her head, Ellie starts pressing kisses against whatever part of you she can reach.
Your shoulder first. Then your collarbone. The side of your neck.
Each kiss is slow and lingering, separated by little pauses where she seems on the verge of drifting back to sleep. Just when you think she’s finished, another featherlight kiss lands beneath your jaw.
“You counting?” you mumble.
“…Maybe.” Her nose nudges against your cheek before she presses another kiss there.
Her hand begins drifting again, slow enough that you barely notice it at first. Across your ribs. Up beneath the loose fabric. Until her palm comes to rest against your chest.
She pauses there. Her thumb strokes once, absentmindedly. Then again.
The gentlest little knead follows, careful and unhurried, her sleepy mind seemingly more interested in the familiar warmth beneath her hand than anything else.
You let out the quietest breath and her kisses follow. One to the corner of your mouth. Another to your forehead. Another to your nose.
You scrunch your face, laughing quietly as she keeps going, unhurried and utterly relentless.
She doesn’t sound remotely apologetic. Instead, she smiles into your skin and kisses your cheek again. “I missed you.”
You blink at that. “We’ve been asleep.”
“And somehow you still missed me?”
Ellie finally cracks one eye open, green iris barely visible beneath sleepy lashes. “You were unconscious.”
“Yeah, but…” She yawns mid-sentence, eyes closing again. “…Different.”
You shake your head, unable to stop smiling.
Her hand is still tucked beneath your shirt, absentmindedly tracing lazy patterns. Every so often, her fingers flex gently, kneading the softness there with a tenderness that lets you gasp softly.
There’s no rush to the movement.
You thread your fingers through the messy strands of auburn hair sticking out in every direction, scratching lightly at her scalp.
She melts instantly. “Oh,” she breathes against your shoulder.
“There she is” you murmur and again, kisses follow your shoulder, slow, maybe with a little more intention than before.
“Don’t stop”she whispers softly.
“I thought you were asleep”
“I absolutely…” Another yawn interrupts her. “…Can.”
Her words dissolve into another sleepy mumble as she buries her face against you, hiding a grin against your shoulder.
The room falls quiet again.
Outside, birds chatter somewhere beyond the glass. Inside, the only sounds are your steady breathing and the occasional sleepy sigh Ellie lets out whenever your fingers comb through her hair.
Minutes pass. Maybe longer. Neither of you cares enough to check. Ellie hums sleepily against your skin, her fingers warm and lazy as they move under your shirt. She’s not fully awake, her breaths are slow, deep, but instinct takes over.
“Mmm… you’re so soft,” she mumbles into the crook of your neck, pressing another drowsy kiss there before nipping lightly.
Her palm gently squeezes again, not demanding or intense like usual, but tender and half-dreamy. Like she just wants to feel you close while still floating between sleep and morning.
Ellie’s touch drifts lower, her fingers tracing idle circles over your thigh, slow, warm, exploratory. She shifts closer beneath the blankets, her body curling around yours like a cat claiming its spot.
Without opening her eyes yet, she presses a soft kiss just below your ear and exhales, a sleepy sigh full of quiet affection. Her thumb brushes lightly along your inner thigh now… not rushing anything… just being close.
A small smile plays on her lips.
“What’re you doing” you mumble sleepily.
Ellie stirs a little at your voice, still hazy, but her fingers pause for just a second like she’s considering whether to answer or keep going.
Then, without words, she kisses your shoulder again. Her hand slides back up your thigh with purpose now… deliberate. Not rushed or aggressive… but intentional in that quiet morning way.
She nuzzles into you again, letting her head fall against your neck. “Touching my girl.”
Ellie hums again, low and content, as your hips shift into her touch. She feels it, that quiet surrender, and something sleepy in her chest tightens with affection.
Her fingers trail higher now, teasingly slow over your hipbone, slipping under the waistband of your pajamas just a fraction. Her lips linger on your neck, pressing lazy kisses along the sensitive skin there… each one soft as a breath.
She’s not fully awake, but she’s present enough.
“Ellie” your murmur and the sound of her name, soft, sleepy, hers—unravels something in Ellie. Her breath hitches just slightly, and suddenly she’s moving with quiet urgency.
Her fingers slip fully under the fabric now, warm skin meeting warm skin. A slow exploration… curious touches that trace along your inner thigh… higher…
She kisses your neck harder this time, a little less drowsy affection and a little more hunger, as her fingertips finally brush where you’re most sensitive.
A quiet groan escapes her this time, the one who was supposed to be waking you up.
It vibrates against your neck, low, deep…unmistakably needy, as her fingers glide through the heat of you. She wasn’t expecting that. Wasn’t ready for how wet you are… how warm… how perfectly ready.
Eventually, Ellie tilts her head just enough to look at you again. Her expression is still heavy with sleep, freckles softened by the morning light.
She studies you for a moment, eyes drifting over your face like she’s committing it to memory.
“The one where you’re about to say something embarrassing.”
She smiles, small, crooked, unmistakably Ellie.
“I just…” She pauses, fingertips giving your side one last gentle squeeze. “Really like waking up next to you.”
Your heart gives the smallest, traitorous flip. “I really like waking up next to you too.”
You raise an eyebrow. “So all the kisses were your love language, and now we’re back to one-word answers?”
She snorts softly. “Pretty much.”
Then, because apparently she hasn’t reached her morning kiss quota after all, she leans in once more and presses one final kiss to your lips.