A./N.: Short but sweet. Only excuse ... I felt like it and it is the quiet before some more dramatic chapters. Hope you enjoy anyway.

Healing Silence or Awakening Love

Elsie slowly awoke to a strange sound, which she had never before heard in her room. She carefully opened her eyes and searched around for the source of that noise. Turning her head to the right, she finally discovered what had woken her up. What she saw brought a smile to her face and a lightness to her heart.

Charles was sitting in her chair next to her bed, asleep and snoring softly. His head had fallen forward onto his chest. His back was hunched in sleep and Elsie had no trouble guessing that he must be very uncomfortable indeed. Her lips slightly curled upward as she silently observed him, noting and steady rise and fall of his chest to the sound of his snores. Charles' hair had come undone during the night. He had obviously run through it with his hand before succumbing to fatigue. A rather dashing-looking lock of hair curled on his forehead, giving him a much less severe and much more handsome air. Elsie's hand tingled slightly as she wished she could stroke it back. That thought surprised her rather, but she had little time to contemplate that strange wish. She could see Charles stirring slightly.

Charles felt groggy despite obviously having fallen asleep during his vigil over Elsie's sleeping form … Elsie! He groaned and was suddenly much less groggy. How could he have fallen asleep? The last thing he remembered was that he had hummed a soft tune to her, watching her beautiful face so relaxed in slumber. He had tenderly interlaced his fingers with hers and had held on through the night. Now he could feel her much smaller fingers and their warmth in his large paw of a hand. He gulped. Hopefully she was still asleep and he could at least back away from her, not crowd her when she woke up, and make himself somewhat presentable. There was no need to scare her right after waking up. He would never forgive himself. Carefully he began to extricate his hand from hers, but then he felt her fingers tighten around his. He was slightly shocked and peeked up … encountering the most dazzling blue eyes he had ever seen in a person.

Timidly Elsie began to lightly stroke his thumb with her own and gazed solemnly back at his startled expression. His eyes were still a bit foggy from sleep and yet had the soft, warm tone of the most decadent but delicious chocolate.

He blinked in surprise at seeing her awake and this calm around him, and even though Charles felt his heart lift up into the skies and sing with sheer happiness. For a second he doubted his state of mind – he had to be asleep still and dreaming blissfully. Then Elsie's fingers tightened a bit more around his and he knew that he wasn't dreaming, that this was really and still dreamily blissful. Tenderly she squeezed her fingers in return and stroked her thumb tenderly, tickling her lightly with his nail scraping over the sensitive nerve endings.

Elsie felt utterly content at this moment. She had woken up not to an empty room but to the sound of her … friend … confidant … finance … and he hadn't shied away from her touch, but reciprocated it. She dropped her gaze to their interlinked hands for a moment or two before lifting her gaze again to his chocolate orbs and gazing deeply into his soul, losing herself in him. She could see his love there, shining brightly, but a bit overlaid by fear of frightening her. That was more than understandable. She herself didn't exactly know how she wanted people to act around her and what would or would not scare her. It seemed that her conscious mind and memory had been separated, making her often times act irrationally and contradictory. Wanting to reassure him of her faith in him and her love, Elsie squeezed his hand. A shy smile started to spread over her lips, curling them at the corners, crinkling the skin around her eyes and bringing a spark to her eyes. She smiled lovingly at him, unreservedly. Charles' own lips mirrored hers and he positively beamed at her.

Both were silent and yet they had said what really mattered.

He loved her unconditionally, she trusted him unreservedly – with her life and her child's.