She didn’t think it would be a big deal.

One night apart.

Just one night.

Maybe you’d fallen asleep reading. Maybe you needed space. Maybe it was just too damn hot for two bodies tangled under one blanket. Whatever the reason, Ellie hadn’t asked. She just nodded like it didn’t sting. Like she wasn’t already feeling the ache before the door even shut.

Now, she was lying in bed alone, staring up at the ceiling, listening to the quiet tick of the night. The pillow felt too big. The sheets too cold. Her body wouldn’t settle. Muscles tense. Heart restless. Her mind replaying every click of your door closing like a looped recording.

She turned. Once. Twice. Huffed a breath into the dark. Swore under it.

Fuck this.

The floor was cold under her bare feet. She didn’t bother with socks. Didn’t bother brushing her hair back from her face as she crept through the hallway like some lovesick teenager. The kind of person she’d always rolled her eyes at.

But the second her hand touched your doorknob, she paused.

Maybe she should go back.

But then she heard your breathing, soft, even. You were already asleep. Peaceful. And that made her chest tighten.

Carefully, quietly, she eased the door open and stepped inside.

You looked so still under the sheets. Curled slightly, like you’d left space for someone else without realizing it. Or maybe you had realized it. Ellie didn’t ask.

She just slid in beside you, her back pressing against yours as she loosely wraps her arms around you. she sighs in content and rests her forehead againt your back, closing her eyes.