Chapter Text
It was a slow change.
Ness supposed that it actually wasn't that slow, considering they'd known each other for some six years. In comparison, the months between the end of the Malhare incident and their becoming 'official' wasn't much time at all. It just felt like a slow change. Maybe because there was no one conversation, no 'Aha!' moment, no discussion of intentions or exclusiveness or any of that.
It just sort of happened. Ness and Luis comforted each other a lot, in those early days of recovery. Even after Malhare was out of the picture, the two spent most of their time with each other. The days were filled with quiet conversations, desperate grasps, and hushed, soothing late-night whispers. As time passed, they found themselves laughing more, joking more, crying less - but still always close to each other.
Somewhere along the way there developed a new feel to the way they held hands, or leaned against each other, or laughed at each other's jokes. Plans went from requests for company to presuming they would go together. Talks of the future became about 'us,' and although both of them noticed, neither of them pointed it out.
They both froze in place the first time Mike asked if they'd had a good time on their date. He'd paused at their reactions, blinked, and then laughed.
"Sorry, did I get it wrong? That's what I get for assuming…"
"No," It'd been Ness that answered. She'd paused and looked at Luis, who stared back at her in surprise. Then, he'd grinned widely. "No," Ness had continued, still smiling herself when she looked back at her dad, "you didn't get it wrong."
That wasn't when it really sunk in for Ness that this was their new normal. That came during another evening. Mike would be spending the night at the Arcade, so Ness and Luis were settling in to watch a collection of movies. It was a favorite pastime - they'd start with one they wanted to see, and then just keep watching until they fell asleep. Inevitably, they'd wake up spread in strange poses across the couch, the popcorn bowl on the floor and both of them disheveled by sleep. They weren't the most comfortable nights, but they served their purpose - a shared way to keep the demons of their own thoughts away.
That night, they'd started with some straight to Blu-ray comedy, which turned out to be a bit of a dud, but it was light hearted enough that neither had bothered to turn it off. They'd turned, instead, to making fun of it. They took turns pointing out obvious flaws in the story, responding to each other with "It's just a movie," and mocking the characters and their predicaments. Maybe the movie wasn't the best, but they were having fun with it, and that was distraction enough.
"Feeling more popcorn?" Ness asked during a particularly cringe-worthy scene. She leaned down to scoop up the bowl.
"Sure," Luis agreed, shifting so she could climb to her feet. Ness stood and then, without even really thinking about it, leaned over and placed a quick kiss against the side of Luis's temple. She'd already turned to head for the kitchen by the time her actions caught up with her and she paused as her face flooded with embarrassed warmth. With a nervous swallow, Ness turned back to look at Luis again. He looked just as startled, and was staring back at her in turn, his mouth slightly agape. Ness waited, barely breathing, for him to say something - anything. She wondered the whole time if she’d just stepped over some invisible boundary.
Finally, after leaving her hanging for what felt like an hour, Luis beamed. The happiness in his face spread through his eyes, and Ness could have sworn she saw them sparkle. Feeling the constriction on her heart ease, Ness smiled back. She didn’t have the effortless grins that Luis was so good at, but she felt the warmth in her own smile, anyway.
“You can bring more of those back, too,” Luis said.
“No promises,” Ness shot back. She turned for the kitchen, her face still warm but her heart soaring. She reveled in Luis’s heartfelt laughter as it followed after her.
Ness supposed, if she had to actually pick a moment, that was the one in which her heart became irrevocably and absolutely Luis’s.