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It was one morning, both Ben and Callum laid lazily in bed, blissed out from the night before. All around them was silence, bar a few birds tweeting outside the window, a distance car being put into action, driving off around the square. It was summer, and the weather embraced the season, for once. The sun had come up early, all golden yellows and fiery oranges seeping in through the corners of the curtains, where Ben hadn’t shut them properly the evening before. It had woken Callum up earlier than he had wanted, but with his boyfriend still fast asleep behind him, he couldn’t bring himself to be angry. They never really got to share these moments, one of them awake and the other one asleep, because nine times out of ten, they would both have to be up quite early in the day to go to work, never getting the time to cuddle their way through the morning.
Callum turned on his side gently, wincing slightly as he tried to not wake Ben up. His breathing didn’t falter, so Callum side, thankful that he didn’t wake him. He hadn’t been sleeping recently, kicking Callum in the middle of the night, waking up as soon as the sun did, so Callum was adamant that he’d let Ben sleep for as long as he could now.
He couldn’t help but stare at Ben. He just looked so relaxed, finally, after weeks of barely being able to sleep for longer than a few hours at a time. His eyelashes looked so long, resting on his cheeks, and Callum smiled to himself as he remembered Lola being annoyed at Ben for his naturally long eyelashes only a couple of weeks ago. He had never really noticed them before, but now, as Ben was illuminated by the rising sun, he realised that she was right. The crinkles that usually formed next to Ben’s eyes were long gone, a tell-tale sign that he was sleeping peacefully. All too often, Callum would be kicked or elbowed awake and would turn to face Ben, noticing that his eyes were scrunched up beyond belief, sweat building up on his forehead, dampening his hair that had fallen in the night. That was a far cry to what he was experiencing now. Ben looked younger. More at ease with the world. His cheeks were flushed a pale shade of pink, something that only Callum would be able to notice, being so close to him physically. Scattered over his cheeks, were freckles. People usually noticed the prominent freckle, just below his left eye, but they failed to notice that his cheeks were filled with faint little brown dots, that gained in prominence in the summer months, becoming darker and more plentiful. If Callum could take a photo, just to savour the moment, he would, but his phone was too far away and he knew that if he moved, the moment would be ruined. Instead, he settled for taking a mental image, and moved his hand to Ben’s cheek, resting it there softly.
Ben didn’t stir. It was like Callum hadn’t even touched him. With his thumb, Callum traced over Ben’s freckles, like he was drawing a dot-to-dot, the imaginary lines creating an image over Ben’s skin. The constellation of freckles relaxed Callum, as he continued to smile as he traced over them, taking everything in: the slit in Ben’s eyebrow, probably caused by one of the many scrapes he had been in, the pink of his lips, and how at peace he looked when he slept. The side of Callum’s hand brushed against Ben’s lips, the feather like touch just resting there, feeling the soft and steady breeze of Ben breathing. Before Callum could think about moving, he felt a soft pressure to his hand.
Fuck.
It happened once more, Callum frozen in his position momentarily. Ben smiled as he kissed Callum’s hand again, for a third time.
He opened one eye, squinting as he took in the change in light, and then opened his other eye. His sight was blurry, getting his bearings as he looked at Callum as best he could without his glasses. Callum leaned down and gently pressed a kiss to Ben’s lips, no heat or want in the short embrace, it was just something he loved doing every morning.
Ben wrapped his arms around Callum’s waist, pulling the both of them closer together, if that was possible. “Morning.” He greeted, hand running up and down Callum’s back. His voice cracked, a sure sign that he had slept well.
Callum looked at Ben in utter disbelief that this was his life. He got to wake up every day with Ben by his side. He got to kiss Ben in public. He got to hold Ben’s hand. He got to feel love, and finally be able to reciprocate it. “You’re so beautiful.” Callum responded, unable to keep his emotions in check.
Chuckling out a soft laugh, Ben reached his hand down, resting it gently on Callum’s boxer clad arse. “Stop lying.”
“I’m not a liar Ben.” Callum said as he ran his fingers through Ben’s hair, pushing it away from his eyes. “You really are so beautiful.”
Ben rolled his eyes, but the shy smile on his face showed how he really felt. “You need your eyes testing.” He laughed out.
Callum held on to Ben’s face, his thumb running over his skin, tracing his lips at the last moment before he ducked down to press a longer kiss to them, both of them smiling into the embrace. “How did I get so lucky, eh?”