Adam woke around noon. They'd been asleep for a while, each of them emotionally exhausted. His eyes opened and he looked around but didn't move his body because Alexa was still asleep, his head still on her chest. He glanced down. They were still holding onto each other, their fingers tightly intertwined. He kept looking at their hands, their fingers, Alexa's chipped navy blue nail polish; it made him feel safe. Like he wasn't alone. It was the first time he'd felt this happy in months.
He lay there for a few more moments relishing in the comfort of having her there with him. Her chest slowly moving up and down, breathing in and out, as he listened to her heartbeat. She began to stir and he raised his head to get a look at her. She looked back at him and with a yawn she let out,
"Hi."
"Hey."
Adam adjusted his position and sat up straight and leaned toward Alexa, kissing her on her forehead. She closed her eyes to his touch. He sat back to get another look at her, his eyes moving over her gorgeous face. Then he remembered. Getting off the couch he said,
"Wait, I want to show you something."
He went to the darkroom and returned as quickly as he had left, but he was holding a picture. The one he developed of Alexa.
"Look what I found last night."
He handed her the photo and she took it from him, examining it.
"Where did you—"
"I found an old roll of film in the darkroom last night and developed it. This was the only photo on it, but I don't remember when this is from."
Alexa turned it in her hands.
"Neither do I…Came out nice, though."
"Yeah, you look beautiful. As always."
She looked up at Adam to see him wearing a smug little smirk. His trademark expression. She looked at him for a moment and then back at the photograph. Then handed him back the photo as he sat down beside her, examining it himself, not letting the smile leave his face. He felt like the luckiest man in the world.
"You know, I think—" but Alexa's sentence was cut short.
Before she could finish, Adam quickly leaned toward her and put his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her close to him, then kissed her, hard. He left her dazed, not able to remember what she was going to say.
Then he sat back and rested his head on the back of the couch and turned his face to look at Alexa once more, that stunning smile still on his face. The smile that could make her weak if she stared at him for too long. The smile that could cheer her up even after the shittiest day of work. The smile that she hadn't seen in months. It was the first thing she'd noticed about him when they met 5 years ago. That amazing smile of his.
He didn't say a word to her; just sat and watched her come out of her daze, proud that he was the one that put her there. After they sat together for a moment, carrying on a silent conversation of glances on the couch, they got up and got dressed. Alexa called the restaurant and took a sick day and Adam called the studio and said he wouldn't be able to make it in for the shoot that day.
They spent the day together. Driving around and listening to the radio, Adam never took his hand from Alexa's. They argued over what to listen to, what movie to go see that afternoon, what to get for dinner. They were happy, glad to finally have things back to normal. For now.
