You woke up with the sun going through the curtains.

The sheets were warm, the air calm.

But what caught his attention the most was the absence by his side.

You sat down, confused.

Before I could think too much, the door opened with a soft click -

And there was Aaron Warner, balancing a tray with breakfast, his forehead frowned as if carrying a nuclear bomb.

“You’re awake,” he said, as if it were a strategic failure on his part.

You blinked, surprise.

“Did you make... breakfast?”

“Yes,” he said, placing the tray on the small table next to him. “Apparently it’s... common. In... relationships. I researched.”

A break.

“I researched several articles.”

Another break.

“And forums.”

You had to hide the laughter behind your hand.

“Warner, are you okay?”

He stood next to the bed, stiff.

“I’m trying to do the right things.”

You stretched out your hand and pulled his arm, making him sit on the bed.

“You already do everything right,” you said, your voice still hoarse with sleep.

He stared at you for a second, as if he were analyzing the veracity of that sentence.

Then, slowly, his gaze softened.

“About yesterday,” he began, tense.

“You don’t need to say anything,” you interrupted, kind.

“But I want to.”

He took a deep breath.

“I just... never knew how. I never learned.”

He looked at your hands. “But what you said... what you are... changes everything.”

You approached and touched his face.

He closed his eyes for a second.

“I’m not good with words,” he said, “but... you have everything from me.”

You smiled.

“This is almost an ‘I love you’, general.”

He opened a crooked smile. “It’s an ‘I love you’ with militarized vocabulary.”

You laughed.

He leaned over and kissed her forehead.

“I love you too,” he said, finally.

“Only in my way. Intense, crooked, dangerous.”

A break.

“But whole.”