Beek: (v.) To bask or warm in the sunshine or before a fire.


Auggie propped his elbows on the railing and took a deep breath. The air was still cool in the pre-dawn and it felt refreshing against his bare torso, clearing his head. The street below was quiet, or as quiet as a street in D.C. ever got, and it was calming. He took another breath, smelling the moisture in the air from the dew and the bittersweet sting of an autumn breeze, and felt the last of the tension leave his muscles.

He let his mind wander, forgetting about the dream that had woken him so abruptly that he knew he had no hope of getting back to sleep again. Instead he thought about everything else, both insignificant and important, while the air around him warmed and dried.

"Auggie?" The curious, sleepy voice pulled him from contemplating about a new algorithm he wanted to finish at work that day, and he smiled almost without realising he'd done it.

"Out here," he said over his shoulder. He heard the sound of bare footsteps on the hardwood from inside, and then a small huff as someone climbed out of the window he'd left open. The metal beneath him shuddered just slightly as the feet moved across it and then he felt a gentle hand on his back. "Morning, Annie," he said and inhaled the muted scent of grapefruit beneath his own scent coming off the shirt she was wearing.

"I think it's still too early to be considered morning," she grumbled and he laughed quietly when he heard her muffle a yawn. Her hand slipped down to wrap through his arm and her hair tickled him as she rested her head on his shoulder. "So, care to tell me why you're standing out on the fire escape at such an ungodly hour of the morning?"

"I'm watching the sunrise," he responded. He loved that she didn't even question this statement, just made a short hum of understanding. "It's coming soon, I can tell. The temperature's gone up like five degrees in the last minute." They simply stood in the quiet for a moment, enjoying the growing warmth and the company. Then he asked, "Are there any clouds near the horizon?"

Annie hummed under her breath as she lifted her head. "A couple. Not a whole lot, but some. Those long thin ones that look like feathers."

He smiled. "That means there'll be a lot of colour," he said. In his mind he put together a blur of golds and pinks.

The moisture in the air thinned even more and Auggie straightened up, feeling Annie come along with him. His eyes drifted shut. Against his arm he felt the flutter of Annie's long eyelashes and he smiled; she'd closed her eyes as well. "Here it comes," he breathed.

Warmth spread across his skin as the sun poured over the horizon, sucking the last of the chill from the air and bathing the world in a heated glow. In his mind, he watched the light spreading and bleaching the wispy clouds with brilliant colours. A small, contented noise left him, and at his side Annie copied it. "That feels amazing," she murmured and he didn't even bother trying to restrain his smug smirk.

"So do you," he said and was rewarded by the sound of her biting back a laugh.

"Okay, Casanova, let's get you inside before all the women leaving for work start gawking at you," she drawled sarcastically, placing a hand against his bare chest and pushing him back toward the window.

"How do you think I used to get half my dates?" he asked cheekily. "Mary, in the apartment across the street, mmm – she was fun." He stepped aside to let her go through in front of him, and she smacked his shoulder as she passed.

"Watch it, Anderson, or you're sleeping on the couch tonight," she said.

"It's my apartment," he protested with a laugh.

Her response came from inside the bedroom. "And your point…?"

Auggie opened his mouth before realising that he really didn't have much of an argument. Besides, if he made too good of a point, she'd just spend the night at her place for once to get her revenge. He'd learned very quickly that Annie Walker did not take losing all that well, in any aspect of her life. "Okay, fine," he relented, crouching down to slide in the window.

She touched his hand to let him know where she was, and then said, "I'm going to go start the coffee."

"Annie," he said before she'd gotten too far. The sound of her steps stopped and he finished, the sincerity in his voice clear, "Just so you know, there's no one else in the world I would rather watch the sunrise with than you."

Her feet crossing the floor quickly was the only warning he got before she had seized his face in her hands and her lips crushed against his in a kiss full of sweetness and passion. By the time she pulled back, Auggie's head was spinning. She laid her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms more tightly around her, holding her against him and nestling his face in her hair.

"I love you, Auggie," she murmured into his skin. It wasn't the first time she'd said it, but for Auggie every time he heard it felt like the first time and his heart did a familiar leap.

"I love you too, Annie," he replied with a smile and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.

From that day on, they started to make a habit out of sitting out on the fire escape every few mornings to watch the sunrise together with their eyes closed and their hands intertwined.