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Matt sat on their bed, his back against a collection of pillows. His elbow rested on the windowsill beside him, fingers gliding smoothly over the page of the book he was reading.
Heather loved stealing glances at him as she sat at her desk writing. Suddenly, a cloud that had been blocking the sun must have moved, because the room was bathed in soft morning light. She noticed Matt's mouth break into a small smile as he bookmarked his page and laid his head back, his face towards the sun.
“You couldn't be more beautiful.” The words escaped her mouth before she had a chance to stop them. Matt turned his head slightly in her direction, laughing shyly. “Come lay with me?”
He stretched his arm out towards her, inviting her to join him. Heather happily obliged. She slid into bed next to him and crawled into his embrace as he wound his arms tightly around her and gave the top of her head a quick kiss. Seeming content, he leaned his head back again.
“Careful, don--” she stopped herself. Matt’s head tilted towards her, curious.
“What?”
“I --” She chuckled, awkwardly. “You were looking straight at the sun. I was about to tell you not to.”
Matt cocked an eyebrow, a soft smile widening. He gave her a teasing squeeze. “And what exactly would happen if I looked directly at the sun?”
She let out a huff, laughing. “I don't know! Isn't it still bad for anyone to fry their ey--” she stopped herself again, which only made Matt’s smile grow wider.
“Were you about to enlighten me on the dangers of frying my eyeballs?”
She swatted his arm playfully.
“I'm sorry,” he said, chuckling softly, his face sobering in faux concern. “Thanks for looking out for me.”
“Somebody has to.”
They laid in each other’s arms for a moment, chuckling softly, until Heather turned back towards him and took in a breath.
“No, really though.” She poked him gently in the ribs. “Isn't it probably still a bad idea? For you to, you know, look directly at the sun?”
“You're serious?”
“Yes.”
Matt paused for a second, thinking. “Well, for most blind people, yes, actually. Most still have some light perception, which they could lose if they damaged their eyes somehow.” He paused. “Lucky for me, I have zero light perception. They say I'm still not supposed to let--" he gestured vaguely towards his eyes, then flicked his hand dismissively. "But it really doesn't matter.”
There was a beat before Heather responded. “Wow, no light perception.”
“Nope.” His voice was completely unbothered.
“Here I am trying to use sun lamps and blackout curtains and all sorts of things to make my light intake just right, or else I don't sleep,” she said, laughing wryly.
“It does actually mess with my sleep. I have trouble falling asleep sometimes, a lot of people without light perception do.”
“What do you do when you can't fall asleep?”
His expression, which had been so soft just a moment ago, seemed to harden, just a little. Before she could amend her question or ask him what he was thinking, he trailed his hand up her arm to cup her cheek, pulling her into a kiss. She sunk into it before forcing herself to snap out of it, pulling away. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in so that their faces were just inches apart. His warm eyes didn't quite meet her gaze, but the effect felt the same.
“If you can't sleep, call me, okay?” She tried to imbue every word with the genuine concern she was starting to feel towards Matt a little more often.
She thought she sensed some hesitation, but then his face melted into something even softer than before as he raised his hand to graze the back of his index finger against her cheek. He smiled at the feeling of her cheek growing warm beneath his touch. He gently trailed his finger across the bridge of her nose and eyebrow before pulling her back in for another soft kiss.