Feyre woke up to the sound of the river outside the window, smiling as she felt Rhys' arm looped around her waist. They had moved under the covers at some point during the night, and she could hear him breathing steadily against her.

She slowly turned on her back, and his arm tightened around her. He opened his eyes with a frown, as if he was struggling to find his bearings.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you," Feyre whispered. He blinked a couple of times before answering.

"It's alright, seeing you naked first thing in the morning isn't half bad."

She laughed and turned on her belly, propping herself up on her elbows to look down at him.

"Smooth."

"I do my best."

They stayed silent for a little while, Rhys running a hand on the bare skin of her back. Finally, he spoke.

"Did you sleep well?"

She nodded. She had slept better during that last night than she had in a few weeks. If she had to guess, she'd say that finally admitting her feelings had helped. And probably the sex, too. She thought again about what had happened last night on this bed, and before that, in the kitchen. The memories of Rhys' words sent heat to her cheeks.

"Are you blushing?" He asked, grinning at her, and she couldn't help but look away.

"No."

He rose on an elbow and moved his hand from her back to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. He leaned over until he was whispering against her neck:

"Yes you are."

She laughed at the ticklish sensation of his lips on her skin and playfully batted him away. He only kept kissing her neck in answer, and they rolled around under the sheets, until their legs were tangled together and Rhys was on top of her, his hair messy and a large smile on his face. She captured his lips and kissed him, more than happy to feel his hands come up to cup her face as he deepened their kiss.

They pulled apart after a while to catch their breath, Rhys resting his forehead against hers. She could have stayed that way forever, just enjoying the peace of the morning and the presence of the man in bed with her. But she also knew there were things to be discussed, things they had been more than happy to put aside the night before, but important things nonetheless.

So she gave him a last peck on the lips before starting, her voice more hesitant than she'd hoped:

"So… What happens now?"

He rolled away from above her and propped himself up on the mattress, looking at her, thinking.

"I don't really know, to be honest. I know that I love you," she smiled at the words, at the absolute truth she sensed in them, "and I want to be with you. Other than that… I'm not going to lie to you, this might complicate things for my job."

"Because I'm an informant on your big case?" He nodded, and she saw he was a bit taken aback by how quickly she'd answered. "I heard Amren and you talk the first time you brought me to the precinct. She said it was stupid of you to bring me here, because I was an informant and it could put your case in jeopardy."

He sighed, brushing his disheveled hair back.

"Yeah, that's about the jist of it. Us being involved could potentially compromise the entirety of the information you brought in against Hybern."

"I don't understand why, though." She sat up on the bed, looking around and grabbing Rhys' shirt from the floor to put it on. "Most of the information isn't me testifying, it's just documents and records. So, why would it matter if we're involved now, months later?"

She turned to find him staring at her with a small smile as she pulled her hair from inside the shirt. Then he got up and went to his dresser to grab a pair of clean underwear.

"A good defense attorney could use us being together to argue that the documents shouldn't be taken into account during a trial, and get them thrown out before a trial even began. They could argue that your relationship with me compromises the integrity of your testimony, and the documents being linked to you, they could have their way."

Feyre got up and joined him as he was putting on his sweatpants. "I don't understand. The documents are real, so how could they be excluded from a trial?"

"It's not that simple. At the moment, the documents you gathered are part of the case the prosecutor is building against Hybern. Proof of deals with Tamlin's family through their company. They're a part of what the prosecutor will use to press charges, but they're not officially evidence for the trial if there's no trial, yet. Once it starts, the defense has every right to contest the validity of any piece of evidence we use. So, there's a possibility they would try to throw this part out."

They stood in silence for a moment, before Feyre said:

"So what do we do?" She paused, before putting a hand on his arm and adding, unable to contain her smile at the words: "because I love you, and I want to be with you too."

He grinned and kissed her again, slow and gentle, before answering.

"I don't know yet, but I'll figure something out. I promise."

She knew she should still be worried. Worried that the work he'd given his life for could be compromised, worried that she would have taken such big risks for nothing. But at that moment, she didn't feel worried. All she knew was that she believed him, and she was happy.

"Do you want some coffee?" He asked, and she nodded with a smile. They would have time to think about what to do. For now, she just wanted to have breakfast with the man she loved.

Five days had passed, and they hadn't broached the subject again.

Five days of blissful peace, during which they adapted their routine to the new rhythm of their relationship. She was still making coffee in the mornings, but he would greet her with a kiss on the shoulder, wrapping his arms around her. They were still watching movies in the evenings, but she would be curled up against him instead of sitting on the other side of the couch. They would talk on the terrace before going to bed, but they were sharing a bed now, tearing at each other's clothes and getting lost in their desire before falling asleep together, exhausted and relaxed.

Sunday morning was passing slowly, and they were still in bed, Feyre's back pressed against Rhys' chest, their fingers intertwined as they caught their breath, skin glistening with sweat after waking up with a need for each other.

Feyre let out a chuckle at the thought of it. She'd spent weeks, even months, wanting to be with Rhys, but she hadn't thought it would be that... intense. She couldn't seem to get enough of him, and he was clearly feeling the same, making it hard for them to not spend their days in bed, or to stop from making out at all hours of the day.

"What are you laughing about?" Rhys whispered in her back, and she could hear in his voice that he was on the brink of falling back to sleep.

"Not much. Just thinking about how we should probably try to get more hours of sleep per night," she joked.

He laughed and squeezed her fingers.

"Oh I think we're getting just the right amount, Darling."

She stayed silent for a moment before saying:

"Rhys, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"When did you know you were in love with me?"

He didn't reply right away, but she knew he was thinking about how to answer her. Finally, he spoke.

"Way too early."

She let go of his fingers and turned around to face him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it was when you were still with him."

She took a sharp breath. They hadn't mentioned Tamlin since the night Rhys had told her about his arrest.

"Tell me," she simply answered.

He took a deep breath and tucked her hair behind her ear before saying:

"When we started texting after Sandy's death, that's when I realized I had feelings for you, feelings I shouldn't have. You were telling me about your colleagues at the bakery, you were talking about why you loved painting, and what you liked about your favorite books, and I couldn't get enough of it. Every night that we talked left me wanting to know you better, and wanting to see you more often. That's when I realized I was in dangerous territory," she chuckled, and he continued. "I was sure I was in love with you the night of the party at your place."

Memories of the party came to her. Tamlin's failed proposal, the incident in his office. But also, the way Rhys had looked at her when she'd found him, and Rhys complimenting her make-up with a look so tender that she'd been taken aback by it. Them sharing a drink in the garden, before Tamlin had joined them.

Looking back, she could see how it made sense, how she was not surprised by his answer. Because deep down, she'd known back then that their relationship was changing, growing, even though she'd refused to admit it.

"I already knew I had feelings for you back then," she answered. "I knew it, and I knew that I shouldn't, but I couldn't help it. After that… I don't know when I knew exactly. I just knew that I was in love with you and I didn't want to deny it anymore."

He smiled and kissed her, before pulling away again. His face was more serious now, and she knew what he was about to say.

"I've been thinking about what we should do. For the investigation against Hybern. I think the best solution is to tell Amren about us."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, we both agree on what we want, so we're not going to stop. And not telling her might be worse in the long-run. If she knows, there would be records of a third party who could testify that we didn't get together before now."

"Won't she be mad at you?"

He snickered. "Oh, she will be. But she'll be more mad at us if we don't tell her. That way, it gives us an edge on what could happen whenever Hybern is put on trial in the future."

"Alright, then. We tell her."


Deciding to tell a very scary-looking woman about a relationship she didn't want you to have sounded easy on paper. But right now, sitting across from her at the precinct, Feyre was starting to regret agreeing with Rhys.

"So Rhysand, you requested a meeting?" Amren asked in her usual stern voice.

"I did." Feyre could feel the doubt in his voice, but he didn't back down. "You know that Feyre has been living with me over the past couple of months. We…" he took a deep breath and took her hand in his. "We started… being involved, I guess you could call it."

She felt heat invade her cheeks. She wasn't ashamed of her feelings, but somehow she still felt like a teenage girl having to come clean after a big mistake. Rhys squeezed her hand, but he didn't look away from Amren.

Amren rested both elbows on the desk and crossed her fingers, considering the news. The silence stretched on, and Feyre thought she might burst from the tension in the room. Then Amren sighed, and said with the ghost of a smile on her lips:

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. When did it start?"

"A few days ago."

"When?"

"Last Tuesday."

"I suppose there's no way that this would just be a…" she sat back in her chair and made a vague gesture, "fling."

They exchanged a look, and Feyre answered.

"No, it's not a fling."

Amren's eyes landed on her, and Feyre suddenly felt more tense, as if she was being looked at through an X-Ray.

"Did he explain to you the consequences this could have on the work he did the past two years?"

"He did."

"And the both of you took this risk, anyway."

It wasn't a question, but Feyre still nodded in answer, and she saw Rhys do the same from the corner of her eye. The silence was heavy around them, and Feyre was just waiting for Amren to say something, anything. But Rhys spoke first.

"Amren, I know you're angry at me, but -"

"You don't know shit," Amren interrupted him, grabbing a few documents from inside her desk. "You think when I warned you about this, I thought you'd listen? Of course not, I know you, and listening to orders over your own feelings is not something you do, to my despair." She was smirking at him now. "Anyway, I had those documents drafted for the both of you, in case this were to happen."

She handed a sheet to each of them, and Feyre skimmed through it.

"Is this an HR form?" Rhys asked.

"Not exactly, no. Feyre doesn't work for us full time, so we had to adapt the language to make it appropriate in your case. But that's the jist of it, yes. Basically, by signing those you are putting an official starting point to your relationship, which should theoretically prevent any attempt by the defense to invalidate Feyre's involvement about something that happened months before you two started this."

Feyre stared at the form for a while, her mouth slightly agape. She'd been stressing out about this for days, and Amren had had it all figured out from the start. She looked up and found the woman looking at her with a satisfied grin on her lips.

"Will it be enough?" She asked.

Amren shrugged. "Frankly, we won't know before we're there, and the start of the trial against an entity as big as Hybern Inc. could still take months, if not more. But it's the best we can do. And in any case," she added, handing them two pens, "your testimony and documents is only a small part of the puzzle. Assuming it falls through, we should be able to salvage the rest. After all, it's not like our dear Rhys did nothing before he met you."

Feyre chuckled and grabbed the pen. Maybe things would turn out all right, after all.