A/N: only a day late! There is improvement... enjoy!

hygge: (n.) a deep sense of place, warmth, friendship and contentment.

"Good morning, I didn't expect to see you up so early." Henry spoke as he saw his wife emerge from upstairs. He had been up early to get the kids ready for the day. After Elizabeth's nightmare, he hadn't been able to sleep again.

"Why is that?" She is not smiling and the look on her face is serious and closed off. Like she doesn't want to even begin to discuss the event of the previous day.

Still, Henry can't quite stop himself from offering up a knowing smile. "You had a pretty rough night."

"I can't just sit around all day."

Henry sighed. It was going to be a long day and he was just glad the kids weren't present. He hoped they would get a chance to talk today.

He offered her a plate with breakfast and he continued to move around in the kitchen. Things were silent and since Henry wasn't talking to her, she was forced to reflect on the past couple of day. The past year even.

With nothing to distract her, memories of the past year slipped into her mind.

"Elizabeth." He greeted, leaning in to kiss her. His hand settled over her wrist and he pulled her close.

He offered her a drink which she gratefully accepted. Anything to keep him from touching her.

There was a bitterly dark and painful feeling in the middle of her badly broken soul that was screaming at her. To get up and continue fighting, but she was exhausted.

What was the point?

"You drugged me." She whispered as she fell backwards, her limbs heavy and her mind quickly clouding. It wasn't just that he had put something in her drink that startled her, it was the fact that within a few minutes she would be dragged into the darkness without a clue of what he was going to do next.

"I am sorry." He told her and brushed hair out of her eyes. "But I did not think you would cooperate. I do not want to hurt you, Elizabeth."

His smile is empty and smug.

Still, she had to try and talk him out of whatever he was going to do next. "Don't"

"Shh. You will see I am better for you. We can be happy together."

She tried to struggle against the restrains and fight the drugs, but they are too much, and everything was being much heavier by the second. And Andrada, he was just watching and studying her like she was nothing more than an object to him.

"Please." She hadn't begged before and the satisfying smirk on his lips made her regret the words as soon as they left her mouth. He knew he had won this round, but she would be damned if she didn't fight back.

Fight to return to her family, her kids. To Henry.

His lips brushed over her forehead, the touch making her want to scream and flinch away. "It will all be okay. You will be okay."

She knew that was a lie. Even if she survived, she doubted she would ever be okay again.

He ran the back of his palm across her cheek and smiled down at her. Her eyes were become heavier and she finally allowed herself to close them, letting the darkness drag her down.

Henry sat down on the chair next to her and saw the distant look in her eyes. She was deep in thought and whatever it was, it wasn't good. He could tell from the pained expression on her face. "Can you tell me anything?"

"I'm going to try?" It sounded more like a question than a statement, but it's enough for him because he had been waiting for this for so long. No longer wanting to pretend that the terrible things hadn't happened.

Elizabeth said nothing for the longest moment, just stared to something in the distance only she seemed to see. When she finally did speak, her tone was flat like she was trying to carefully pick out her words.

She noticed an anxiety settling in the pit of her stomach.

A familiar anxiety, even.

She rubbed her temple lightly, feeling a headache sneaking up on her. "I woke up in total darkness and pain. So much pain."

Her heart was pounding, and she worried it might just jump out of her chest. It was strange this was the first thing she noticed when she returned to consciousness. The next thing she was aware of was the darkness that still surrounded her even though she had her eyes opened.

Her mind quickly jumped to her next problem when she felt a scorching pain in every muscle in her body. Like fire racing through each and every one of her nerve endings. She heard someone scream before realizing it was her.

She tried to shift her body but found her hands tied above her head. She was laying down and her best guess was it was a bed. Her ankles were tied together to what she guessed was the footboard.

The door opened revealing Andrada and a bright light from the hallway. She blinked a few times to get used to it. Looking around the room, she saw she was indeed laying on a bed and it was the only thing in the room.

However, the main thing that caused her to shudder, was the fact that he had changed her clothes while she was out cold. Tears slipped down her cheeks and she hated herself for this weakness.

He watched her with something far darker than just mere curiosity. Something like a disturbing amount of true almost sexual pleasure.

"How far?" Elizabeth raised her eyebrow at this question. She wasn't quite sure what her husband was referring to. "How far did he go?"

"He kissed me, touched me but that was it." She whispered, and Henry chose to believe her. There was this constant worry she wasn't telling him the truth to protect him, but he knew if something had happened, she would have told him by now.

"Remember he is into kickboxing?" Henry simply nodded. "He made me fight with him, but I was so tired."

Elizabeth slowly started eating her breakfast while Henry processed the information. The details his wife was giving him caused a terrifying image to form in his mind. He knew this was only a part of the horror she had endured the past year.

"So, when I kiss you, do you- do you see him?" Henry tried to hide the disgust in his voice, but she knew him all too well. She wanted to lie to him, tell him she didn't.

But she couldn't.

"Sometimes." She admitted and lowered her head in her hands.

Henry knew the last thing she needed was for him to get upset. To be sad or angry. She needed him to be her rock and be strong for her.

"What did he do?" He asked, and she lifted her head. What did it matter? "What can I do different, so it won't feel like him."

She smiled at the effort he was willing to put in. Pushing her breakfast aside, she shifted her chair closer to him.

Grabbing his hand, she placed it on her cheek. Her mind flashed back to how harshly he used to put his hands on her cheeks and kiss her.

"Not here." She whispered and brought it past her cheek and to the back of her head, leaving it there.

Slowly she leaned forwards and let her lips gently touch his. He applied a bit more pressure and she let him for a few second before pulling away. It wasn't as much a kiss as it was a way for her to show how gentle he had to be.

"He was rough." She whispered still with her eyes closed and leaned forwards again. Their lips only just brushed as Henry was careful to not make her feel uncomfortable.

"Okay that didn't count as a kiss." She grinned, barely having even felt his lips on hers. She leaned forwards and tried again. It still didn't feel like it used to, but it was closer. They were one step closer to returning to normal. Her lips left his and she pulled him in for a hug, his arms circling around her tiny form and she buried her head in his shoulder.

"Have I mentioned how amazing you are?" She whispered in his ear and he let out a laugh. If one of them was amazing, it had to be her.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

The ringing of the phone caused them to break the hug and Henry smiled. He knew who was calling. It was always the same person on Monday morning so he got up.

"Hey." … "Yeah, thanks." … "You know what? You could come over?" … "No, I think she would like a familiar face." … "Alright, see you in a bit. Bye."

"Who was that?" Elizabeth asked curiously. It sounded like they were coming over for her.

"Blake. He always calls on Monday morning to see if the kids and I need anything. Are you up for him to come by?"

"Yes." She smiled, though it quickly disappeared when she realized she was still in her sweatpants.

"He won't mind what you're wearing." Henry promised her, but she shook her head and got up.

"Please help me get dressed into something a bit less depressing?" He helped her upstairs and she changed in one of Henry's sweaters and a pair of leggings. They hurt the wound on her ankle slightly, but it was nothing she couldn't push down.

They waited downstairs until the doorbell rang.

"I brought bagels and I'm pretty sure you already ate, but..." His voice trailed off when he noticed the familiar figure emerging from the kitchen.

"Hey stranger." Elizabeth smiled and stepped closer. Henry grabbed the box of delicacies since Blake looked like he was about to drop them.

"You're here." He whispered, and Elizabeth offered him a knowingly smile before wrapping her arms around him, standing on her tiptoes to reach him.

Blake's arms carefully circled around her and he let out a breath of relief. It felt strange, hugging his former boss. Not because of the intimate contact- because she had hugged him before- but because he never imagined he would see her again.

"You always knew when and what I wanted to eat." She joked as she pushed back and eyed the box Henry was holding.

"That might have been because you were always hungry for anything, ma'am." Blake replied, and Elizabeth face fell, masking it with a sad smile.

"I think we're past that. I'm no longer your boss, just Elizabeth."

Henry interrupted the silence. "How about we dig in, in the kitchen?"

Blake walked after the couple and couldn't help the way his former boss walked. Less grace and she seemed to be favoring one leg over the other. Shaking these thoughts away, he was just glad she was alive and took a seat in the kitchen.

"Henry told me you still work at State?" Elizabeth started a conversation, glad she could sit down again. Her lack of energy was starting to frustrate her but that was something for another time. When Blake wasn't present.

"Yeah, your speech really inspired me. I had you firing me in your calendar and although you didn't get to do that, I did keep it as a limit for myself. A week before the deadline I was appointed assistant policy advisor."

Elizabeth smiled at the impact her words had had on him. She knew from the moment she hired him as her assistant, he was destined for greater things.

"Good to hear. So how's the new job?"

"It's great. Jay is the new chief of staff since Nadine left and he said I might have a real shot at being promoted to policy advisor." Blake gratefully accepted the cup of coffee from Henry and watched him set a cup of tea in front of his wife before sitting down next to her.

"Jay is the new chief of staff?" Elizabeth was surprised but then again he was the next qualified person after Nadine. "How are Daisy and Matt? Henry told me she had the baby."

"They're still awkward about it at work." Blake grinned, remembering how uncomfortable they used to make it for each other. Pretending nothing was going on when everyone already knew. "The baby is so precious."

Elizabeth watched Blake pull up pictures and showed it to her. She smiled as she saw a baby girl on the screen. "What's her name?"

"Joanna." Blake told her. "Joanna Elizabeth."

A small gasp left her mouth as she heard the second name. She had liked her staff and they had been like a family to her. Though, there was always the issue that she was the boss.

She had always felt like Daisy was the one who least liked her, at least after she patched things up with Nadine. They didn't always look eye-to-eye which caused trouble occasionally.

In knowing that, hearing Daisy named her daughter after her was a shock. Now she had to meet the beautiful baby girl.

"Joanna." Elizabeth repeated and she handed the phone back. "That's a beautiful name."

"She'll turn one in a few weeks." Blake put his phone back in his pocket.

"I better start buying presents for all the milestones I missed." Elizabeth joked and got a light smile in return.

"Oh no." Henry whined. "Now that you're home are you going to start online shopping?"

"Be prepared for a whole lot of useless junk." She teased and he rolled his eyes in responds.

For a moment they sipped their drink in silence until Blake remembered something.

"I meant to ask, how did Jason do on his history essay?"

Elizabeth looked at Henry and hoped he would explain to her what she had missed.

"Blake helped Jason with his history essay on the American government." He told her before turning to Blake. "He aced it. Thanks again."

"Not a problem." Blake smiled.

Elizabeth started to realized the depth of Blake's relationship with her family. It had evolved over the past year and grown into something deep.

"Thanks Blake."

"Yeah of course. He worked hard on it."

"No, I mean thank for being here. For taking care of my family when I couldn't. It wasn't in the job description when I was your boss, and you certainly had no obligation to do so when I was gone."

"I'd like to think you were a bit more than my boss." He shyly smiled as he looked down at his coffee. "That's what friends are for."

"Thank you." She spoke with a genuine tone and the raw emotion was something he hadn't seen from her before. Maybe it was because she was no longer his boss

Or perhaps it was because of what she had endured.

"I should leave you be." He got up and both Elizabeth and Henry followed his action.

They passed through the kitchen when the phone suddenly rang. Elizabeth couldn't stop herself from flinching in reaction. It was a small movement, but she was quite certain everyone had seen it. Just the same, she ignored their worried reactions and hugged Blake goodbye while Henry answered the phone.

"Next time the entire gang should come over. And I want to meet Joanna." Elizabeth whispered as she let go of him.

"Promise and it's really good to see you." Blake told her and Henry now joined them with the phone in his hand.

"It's Will." He told her and she said goodbye to Blake before taking the phone to the kitchen and answering it.

"Thanks for everything." Henry told Blake before he opened the door. "This past year you've been a rock for this family. I hope you know how much we appreciate you."

"I'm really glad to see her again. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything." Blake mumbled a quick goodbye before walking out the door.

TBC