notes— tender morning edo!gruvs... this is the sappiest thing i've ever written.
horizons
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She wakes up slow to warm arms and his steady breath against her shoulder.
Held is how she'd describe it, with his body curled around hers, forearm holding her close as he nuzzles against her. She knows he's awake; he always is on weekends and she doesn't know how he did it, doesn't know when it happened, but opening her eyes to his ready smile has become something Juvia… looks forward to.
Pressing his face into the crook of her neck, Gray hums deep in his chest. She can feel his smile against her skin, feel his heat, his presence, firm and protective.
"Hello, Juvia-chan."
She blinks blearily. "Morning," she yawns, pressing back against him. "…What time is it?"
"We don't need to get up for a couple hours." A fluttered kiss to the junction of her neck and shoulder. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you for breakfast if you like."
"Mmm…"
The best part is the quiet. No over-thinking. No shouting silences where every noise is a gunshot and unsaid words speak the loudest. The best part of waking up is the comfortable, steady, confident quiet of him — like he's happy just to lay with her, just to be with her. Nobody chasing. Nobody running anymore. It's only Gray waiting for her to wake up with a sense of calm she'll never get enough of, so much more than what she was afraid of — so much better.
Her lips curl into a soft smile and, because she can, just because she can, she turns slightly and presses them against his jaw. Then she ducks away to hide her widening grin in the pillow as he rumbles in appreciation, hugging her close. Always so pleased just from a little attention, it's adorable — he's adorable.
"It is a good morning," he agrees a second too late, flustered and grinning and nuzzling against her again.
It makes her heart squeeze. It makes her want to flip them over and pull sweet moans from him again. It makes her want to push him out the bed and bury under the blankets for a million years.
It's one of those mornings where she wakes up and thanks the stars for slowing her down enough to get caught. Because the fear, that fear she has to remind herself to push away every day, is worth putting up with, for this. For his arms around her, the feel of his smile against her neck, a whispered 'hello' like he's been waiting for the sunrise and she is dawn.
It is important, Juvia thinks, to wake up wanted.
One moment in a thousand; one sunrise out of countless, she knows that. She knows that, but it is hers, and he is hers, and this matters. He sighs contentedly, her hair quivering under his exhale. The warmth of his quiet steady touch is, for a second, her whole world.
She holds the moment the sun kisses the sky to her heart, and falls once again in love with the horizon.