***Cassius***
I woke up before him.
For a moment I didn't move. I just lay there, aware of everything at once, the weight of his arm across my waist, the warmth of him along my back, his breath slow and even against the back of my neck.
I had not woken to this in a very long time.
During our marriage I had woken alone more mornings than not. Aldrik was always gone before I opened my eyes, his side of the bed already cool, no evidence remaining that he had been there at all except the slight indent in the pillow. I had learned not to reach for him within the first few weeks, that particular hope, because that hope got crushed the same way every morning eventually stopped feeling like hope and started feeling like stupidity.
I lay still now and let myself feel the difference.
I turned over carefully, trying not to wake him.
