Pocahontas🌸🌺

The next morning...

Serenity shifted against me, just a tiny movement, but enough to make my breath catch. I loosened my hold so I wouldn't wake her, then tightened it again because I couldn't help myself. She fit against me too perfectly — like my body had been waiting for this shape, this warmth, without me even realizing it.

I let my head fall back against the pillow, staring up at the ceiling for a moment. My muscles still ached from yesterday, but the pain felt muted now, softened by the weight of her curled into me. I'd had mornings where I woke up sore, stressed, already bracing for the day ahead.

But this morning... I felt grounded. Settled. Like the world could wait.

My eyes drifted back down to Serenity. Her hair was a little messy, her cheek pressed against my chest, her lips parted just slightly as she breathed. She looked peaceful. Safe. And something in me tightened at the thought that I was the reason she felt safe enough to sleep like this.

I brushed a thumb along her shoulder, barely a whisper of a touch. "You're gonna kill me," I murmured under my breath, voice still thick with sleep. "I swear."

Not in a bad way — in the way that made my chest feel too full, like I didn't have enough room for everything I felt. I wasn't used to this. To softness. To being held without having to ask for it. To waking up with someone who didn't expect him to be anything other than exactly who I was.

I swallowed, letting my fingers trace slow, absentminded circles on her back. "You make it way too easy to fall for you," I whispered, knowing she couldn't hear me.

Or maybe hoping she couldn't.

I closed my eyes again, letting the moment sink into me. The warmth. The quiet. The steady rhythm of Serenity's breathing syncing with mine. I didn't know what the day would bring — practice, pressure, expectations — but right now, none of it mattered.

Right now, it was just me, her and the soft morning light.

And I wished I could freeze this moment. Hold onto it. Wake up like this every day.

Chapter. 1- The Weight He Lets Me Carry

I heard the front door opened with a tired grunt. I walked into the bedroom and sat on the bed smiling softly at Caleb, while rubbing his back. "Hi baby, tough practice tonight?"

Caleb groaned as I began to rub his back. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Yeah. Coach really pushed us today. I'm in so much pain, pips."

I smiled and straddled his back carefully not to put my whole weight on him. I begin to massage his back and shoulders. "I'll run you a hot bath, and we can order some Chinese later. Then we can watch a movie if you like."

Caleb lets out a contented sigh as my hands work the tension from his sore muscles. He turns his head slightly to look at me with those big purple puppy-dog eyes. "Mmm...that sounds perfect. You're literally saving my life right now, pipsqueak." He gives me that adorable lopsided grin he knows melts my heart. "Extra wontons in my soup though, okay? I earned like...a hundred extra wontons today."

Caleb's grin makes me laugh under my breath. "A hundred wontons? Baby, that's not soup anymore. That's a structural engineering project."

He groans dramatically, burying his face in the pillow as I press my thumbs into the tight knots along his shoulders. "Then build it," he mumbles, voice muffled. "I believe in you."

"You believe in me because you're too tired to lift your arms."

He doesn't deny it — just lets out a low, grateful hum that vibrates through his back. His muscles slowly start to loosen beneath my hands, the tension melting away inch by inch. I can feel the exact moment he stops trying to hold himself together and just... lets me take care of him.

After a moment, he turns his head again, cheek pressed to the mattress, eyes half‑lidded but soft. "You're the best part of coming home," he says quietly, almost like he didn't mean to let it slip out loud.

I pause, my hands resting warm against his skin. "Yeah?" I ask, voice gentler than I intended.

He nods, slow and sleepy. "Yeah. Practice sucks. Coach yells. My whole body feels like it's made of concrete. But then I walk in here and you're just..." His eyes flick up to mine, warm and unguarded. "You make everything feel lighter."

"Good," I whisper. "Because you deserve to come home to something soft."

Caleb exhales, long and content, like the weight of the whole day finally slips off him. "Run that bath," he murmurs, already sounding half-asleep. "And don't forget the wontons."

"I would never," I say, sliding off him carefully. "Rest for a minute. I'll take care of the rest."

As I head toward the bathroom, I hear him mumble something that sounds suspiciously like "love you," quiet and drowsy.

And I smile — because even if he didn't mean for me to hear it, I did.

The bathroom tiles are cool under my feet as I twist the faucet on, letting the water run until steam begins to curl upward. I pour in a little eucalyptus bath soak — the one he pretends he doesn't like but always sighs into — and watch the water rise, turning the room warm and hazy.

Behind me, I hear the faint rustle of sheets. Caleb must've shifted, probably trying to convince himself he's not about to fall asleep fully clothed. He never wins that battle.

When I step back into the bedroom, he's exactly where I left him, sprawled across the mattress like someone unplugged him from life. His hair is a little messy, his cheek pressed into the pillow, his breathing slow and even. He looks younger like this. Softer. Like the world hasn't been demanding so much from him all day.

I sit beside him and brush my fingers through his hair. "Baby," I whisper, "bath's ready."

He makes a noise that's somewhere between a groan and a whine. After a few moments, he groaned softly and rolled over onto his back, reaching up to tug me down on top of him.

"I don't think I have the strength to stand even if I wanted to." He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my neck, nuzzling his nose against my skin.

"I'm just going to stay right here. With my favorite person on top of me. Forever."

I giggled and leaned down to kiss him slowly and deeply. I eventually broke the kiss and smiled at him.

"Unh-unh, you need a bath to smell fresh and clean. Come on get up."

Caleb pretended to pout as I pulled away, making a show of his discontent. But deep down, he couldn't help but smirk at my determination to make him bathe.

"Do I really smell that bad? I can't help it if I worked hard to earn a nice, manly musk."

I raised an eyebrow at him, crossing my arms in the most unimpressed way I could manage while still fighting a smile. "Manly musk is just a fancy way of saying you smell like you lost a fight with a gym bag."

Caleb gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to his chest like I'd wounded him. "Wow. Betrayed in my own home."

"Oh, please," I said, tugging lightly at his wrist. "If you smelled any stronger, I'd have to file a complaint with the HOA."

He let himself be pulled up, still pouting, still pretending to be offended, but the sparkle in his eyes gave him away. "You're lucky I love you," he muttered, though the grin tugging at his mouth ruined the attempt at seriousness.

"I am lucky," I said, guiding him toward the bathroom. "And you're lucky I'm not making you sleep outside until you smell human again."

He laughed — that warm, tired, boyish sound that always hit me right in the chest — and let his head fall onto my shoulder for a moment as we walked. "You're mean," he murmured, but he sounded content, almost relieved to let me take over.

"I'm practical," I corrected. "There's a difference."

"Uh-huh," he said, stepping into the bathroom as steam curled around us. "So practical you kissed me before telling me I stink."

I nudged him with my hip. "I kissed you despite the stink. That's love."

He paused, looking at me with that soft, unguarded expression he only ever gets when he's exhausted and trusting and a little undone. "Yeah," he said quietly. "It is."