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It’s quiet when Annie wakes up. Not the familiar, midday silence she’s used to waking up to, but the type of quiet that wraps around her when his presence isn’t too far away.
Her body felt his energy before her mind caught up to it.
She could always feel his energy, whether they were two feet apart in their living room, or twenty feet apart at one of his family’s functions. They’d been together long enough for her to know how he was feeling just by how he occupied space, by the way the quiet sat between them.
Lately, she’d only experienced that midday silence. In the mornings, Elijah was getting ready to head out to work not even five minutes after Annie was stepping out of her shoes after her twelve shift in the ER. When Elijah finally makes it home from work in the evenings, it’s time for Annie to get ready for work.
They normally had at least two days a week where they were home at the same time, but the past few weeks haven’t awarded them that luxury.
It started when Annie had mandatory overtime a few Fridays before. She was off that Saturday, but the big job Smoke’s construction crew was working had him going into work on a day he was normally off.
There were days where she was off and he’d come home dog tired, only having enough energy to make it through dinner and maybe one episode of a show they’d promised to watch together, before he was ready to call it a night.
When he was off and she had to work, she’d sleep for the better part of the day, not leaving much time for the two to enjoy each other’s company before she had to get ready for her overnight shift.
Elijah would give her space to rest uninterrupted, and as she moved through their home getting ready, he’d smile warmly at her when their eyes caught each other.
She could see the longing in his eyes though. A look that she knew matched what he saw in hers when he’d kiss her goodnight.
They missed each other something deep.
It would sound crazy to someone who didn’t know the couple—they saw each other daily. But seeing each other wasn’t spending time together. It wasn’t spending the day tucked into each other on the couch. It wasn’t Annie sitting on the futon in their spare room reading a book while Smoke sat at the desk across the room, fiddling with something he claimed needed fixing.
Smoke went to bed the night before thinking he’d be spending another Saturday by himself while Annie rested before she needed to be at work. Annie came home from work earlier than normal this morning and crawled into bed, planning to take advantage of the hour or two she thought was all the couple would have to hold each other before he’d be getting up for work.
So when she woke up to the smell of a fresh pot of coffee, and the lingering warmth his body left on his side of their bed, sleep left her quickly.
Her eyebrows furrowed softly as she looked around the room. Her eyes land on the clock on her nightstand.
1:15.
She climbed out of bed, walking clumsily out of the room and toward the kitchen.
Smoke stood at the counter, a plate with fruit and a bagel in front of him. Annie watched as he drizzled honey on top of the plain cream cheese.
She smiled softly when he turned around, plate in one hand and her favorite mug in the other.
“I ain’t know you were off today, Lijah.”
The look of concentration that was on his face melted into warm fondness when their eyes met. His shoulders dropped slightly as he moved over to the table.
“We got more than expected done yesterday. We were on track to finish a day early so I gave the guys the day off.”
He sets the plate down on the table before walking over to the fridge. He grabs the too sweet creamer Annie insisted on using in her coffee, adding some to the cup before making his way over to her.
“I thought I had more time before you got up. Was gonna bring it to you, give you more time in bed before you had to leave for work.”
Annie takes the cup from him, leaning up to peck his lips.
“I normally would be, but I smelled coffee.”
She takes a sip, her eyes closing as she swallows.
“I swear, you add something extra to that filter when you make this,” she says, going for another sip.
Smoke chuckles softly, grabbing her hand and leading her over to the table. He pulls her chair out, watching as she sits before sitting in the chair next to her.
“That’s what coffee taste like when you don’t fill half the cup with caramel flavored sugar.”
Annie rolls her eyes softly, a smile dancing on her lips as she puts her cup down.
“I just watched you pour the same amount of creamer into this cup as I do. Don’t worry, I’ma find out how you make it one of these days.”
He sits back in his chair with a smile on his face as he watches her lift a blueberry to her mouth.
“You came home early this morning,” he says, changing the subject.
Annie nods. “There were less patients than anticipated last night, so they asked who wanted to go home and I volunteered.”
He raises an eyebrow as he watches her eat like she hadn’t just said she volunteered to leave work early.
An eyebrow shoots up when she looks up to see the shock on his face.
“What?”
“Nothin’, just never thought I’d see the day that Antoinette Moore left work early.”
Annie rolls her eyes at that.
“I was tired. A few more hours of sleep before a day off sounded too much like heaven to say no to.”
He smiles when her words register. “Wait, you off tonight?”
Annie nods, taking a bite of the bagel.
His smile widens, and Annie can’t help but match it when his dimples make a rare appearance. Excitement shines in his eyes, and Annie lets out a soft laugh as she observes him.
“You must’ve missed me,” she teases.
“Hell yeah I did. I don’t even remember the last time we were off at the same time,” he replies, and the playfulness that laced Annie’s words left her body when she heard the seriousness in his tone.
“I missed you too,” she says softly after a moment of silence. She reaches for his hand, and he quickly wraps hers in his.
The pair stares at each other, love and longing making its presence known in both their expressions. They could feel it in the way their touches lingered when their paths crossed. Annie could feel it in the way he held her when they slept. She saw it in the way he held out each night she was off just to spend a little time with her. Elijah felt it through the texts she’d send him throughout her shift when she got moments to breathe.
It wasn’t until now that either of them actually said those words out loud, and it felt like a weight was lifted not only from holding it in, but from knowing they weren’t alone in that feeling too.
Annie takes another bite of her bagel, her eyes widening slightly when it dawns on her that he wasn’t eating anything.
“How long you been up?” she asks him as she thinks back to his warm side of the bed.
“A while.”
She frowns lightly. “Did you eat? I’m sittin’ here eating while you just watchin’, the bed was still warm when I got up. I hope you ate,” she says, pushing her plate away softly.
“I ate a few hours ago,” he says, grabbing her hands before she has the chance to stand up.
“I wanted to lay with my wife this morning, so I got back into bed until it got close to the time you normally wake up.”
Annie visibly relaxes.
“Good.”
Elijah shakes his head and nudges the plate back towards her, and Annie continues to eat.
“What you got planned for the day?” he asks once she takes her last bite.
“Nothing. I was just gonna watch some TV until you got home, but you’re here already,” she says, shrugging.
He grabs her plate and takes it to the sink, and Annie doesn’t miss the crease forming between his eyebrows.
She looks at him with a curious expression when he turns to face her. Smoke was deep in thought, racking his brain for something the two of them could do together, but all that comes out is a disgruntled sigh.
“Did you have somethin’ in mind?”
“No…” he starts. “A few things crossed my mind, but all of them require going outside.”
He walks over to Annie as she stands with her mug in one hand.
“And I just wanna spend time with you, with nothing to distract us,” he says, his hands finding her waist.
Annie hums softly, her free hand coming up to rest on his shoulder.
“I don’t wanna leave the house either,” she says, smiling up at him.
The corners of his mouth turn up at her words as he leans in to kiss her softly.
“We still got four episodes to finish,” Annie says when he pulls back, a knowing smile making its way onto her face.
“Then maybe we can cook dinner together later? I took those steaks out last night.”
Elijah’s face lights up at that.
“Sounds good to me, baby.”
Annie finishes off her cup of coffee before the couple makes their way to the living room and sink into the corner of the couch.
As they wait for the streaming app to load, Annie finds herself leaning into Elijah more. She couldn’t think of a better person to spend the day doing nothing with.