"Good morning, Claire." Gabriel said with a smile as Claire opened her eyes in the morning. "Seeing as it's wonderfully cold outside, and we have nothing urgent to attend to, I am proposing a morning in bed."
"Good morning, Gabriel." Claire grunted. "What about Eva?"
"She's a late sleeper." Gabriel said as he moved Claire's hair off her face. "Besides, she can entertain herself. She's not five." Gabriel grumbled.
"Is that how you treat all of your guests?" Claire asked with a sleepy smile resting on her face.
"Just Eva. She's my sister, not a VIP." Gabriel rolled his eyes as he continued caressing Claire's cheek. "We can do something nice with her later on. By the time she's up it'll be almost lunchtime anyways, so… I'm thinking cuddles and then breakfast in bed. What do you think?"
"That's so unproductive," Claire grumbled. "It feels like I'm wasting the time."
"Is being with me a waste of time?" Gabriel asked with worry.
"No!" Claire shook her head. "Of course not! I just don't like staying still for too long. I need something to focus on."
"Focus on me, then." Gabriel suggested. Claire fixed her eyes on Gabriel's face. "Tell me what you see."
"Hmm… I think there's grey hair here." Claire pointed at a silver stray on the side of Gabriel's head. His eyes were filled with horror.
"A grey hair?!" Gabriel asked in disbelief. "Please tell me that you're kidding." Gabriel begged.
"I'm not." Claire shook her head as she watched Gabriel with amusement. "It must be due to all of the stress."
"Come on, Claire. This isn't funny." Gabriel looked increasingly worried and anxious.
"It isn't funny. You have your first grey hair." Claire said as she started playing with a short strand of his hair where she noticed the grey. "Why are you worried about it?" She asked curiously.
"I don't like the idea of ageing. It makes me aware of how little time we actually have. Never mind the fact that I'm not even 30. It's a little bit early for greys, isn't it?" Claire was silent as she studied Gabriel's face, noticing a shallow crease across his forehead and a few fine lines around his eyes and cheeks. She ran her fingertips across each crease in deep contemplation. Gabriel watched her curiously. "Claire, what are you thinking?"
"Oh." Claire tried to collect her thoughts into a coherent one. "I was wondering how you'll change as you get older. And then, I've realised that there's a small chance that I'll get to see it. And it wasn't that scary to think about, but rather contradictory, it made me excited."
"Excited?"
"Yes, the thought of seeing you age."
"I hope that you realise that this doesn't sound too good." Gabriel smiled.
"Gabriel, I'm saying that I was excited at the thought of getting old with you. However small chances are for this." Claire said as she turned beetroot red. She run her fingertips across the creases on his cheeks as he smiled weirdly compelled by it. Gabriel couldn't take his eyes off her as he realised that the wonder on Claire's face as she looked at the most beautiful things was there. She looked at him with the same wonder as if she saw the most beautiful painting or if she heard the most beautiful piece being played in the philharmonic. The wonder in her eyes that Gabriel fell so deeply in love with was there right now as Claire studied his face with extra care.
"I want to get old with you, Claire." Gabriel admitted. "I want to wake up by your side every day. I want to hold you while we fall asleep. And I want to hold your hand through all of the good and the bad. I love you so much."
Claire went silent, still surprised whenever Gabriel told her of his feelings, and still questioning her feelings for him, unable to admit to herself that somehow she cared for him more and more each they, and she didn't want to let go of him any time soon, terrified of the moment that he'll decide to discard her. She had to cut it off now, but even then it was too late. She already knew that it'll hurt more than anything her heart can handle. Because, although she tried not to see it, the way he looked at her was how no one else looked at her before. It was something that she couldn't put into words.
Gabriel was starting to be synonymous with comfort, safety and familiarity. Claire realised that all that he did wrong before was already forgiven. It was forgiven the moment that she realised his regret and willingness to change. And knowing his pain and his struggles, the moment that she understood what was going on in his head and his heart was the moment when she couldn't hate him anymore. He was a broken human that lifted himself up for her sake.
Claire jumped as her phone started buzzing. She ignored it at first, but messages kept coming. She let out an exasperated sigh, as she snuggled into Gabriel.
"Someone's impatient." Gabriel grumbled unhappily.
"I can tell you who it is by the rate of the messages." Claire said with a chuckle.
"It's Alex, isn't it?" Gabriel asked, laughing.
"Probably." Claire nodded. "He can wait." She decided as she reached for her phone and turned it off. She snuggled back into Gabriel, embraced by his warmth.
Claire stayed in bed for a while longer, talking about nothing much with Gabriel but rather just enjoying the peacefulness and quietness of suddenly stopping. She did have to fight an urge of getting up every few minutes, unaccustomed to being still for this long, but there was something rather compelling about being in a moment with Gabriel.
"I have a question on a touchy subject." Gabriel said carefully.
"Go on."
"We are married for nearly half of a year." Gabriel started as he watched Claire's body language carefully, aware that she might be uncomfortable with his question. "I wondered if you'd like to do anything nice to celebrate this. I understand if you don't want to acknowledge it and if you rather ignore it. We can celebrate different things in our relationship instead."
"I wouldn't mind doing something nice." Claire replied after a moment of thought. "What other things do you want to celebrate in our relationship instead?"
"Well…" Gabriel chuckled. "The first date, the first kiss, the first time you've called me an asshole. There's plenty to celebrate."
Claire smiled at the suggestions, realising that it was her relationship she ever was that felt so real, or maybe it was real. She couldn't tell yet. But it was the first time she could be like that with someone.
Soon Claire became too restless to stay still. She was quick to disappear in the morning to meet Alex for a coffee whilst Gabriel did his work.
As Claire returned at nearly noon, she walked across the hallway to find that someone was in the pool. She continued, walking into the room, for the first time in years not reacting instantly to the smell of chlorine or the sound of water. She noticed it but it didn't cause as intense of a reaction. Instead, she focused on a lone figure in the water, swimming across the length in a front crawl or freestyle. Claire silently judged Gabriel's technique with a smile on her face. Gabriel reached the end of the pool and stopped holding onto the edge of the wall before he noticed Claire.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realise you would be back this early." Gabriel uttered quickly, wiping dripping water off his face, worried that his swimming was going to upset Claire.
"Surprisingly, Alex didn't bother me for that long today. He got straight to the point." Claire answered as she squatted by the edge of the pool.
"I'll be right back if you want to wait outside." Gabriel uttered as he swam across to the ladder, pulling himself out. Claire didn't answer, freezing at the sight. Firstly, she didn't expect to see Gabriel in his swim shorts anytime soon, and frankly, his well-defined abs were spectacular. Secondly, Claire noticed slim long scars across his back and on his sides and upper arms, which she didn't notice before. There were tenths of thin lines across his back, each only about two inches long. But it was unnerving for Claire to see, making her question Gabriel's past further, only now realising how little she really knew about him.
Gabriel dried himself with a towel in a hurry, putting on his dressing gown. "How's Alex?" Gabriel asked snapping Claire back from her thoughts.
"He's alright." Claire smiled as she followed Gabriel out into the hallway. "He is still unsure whether to beat the shit out of you or not. He's still making his mind up about us."
"Good to know." Gabriel chuckled. "Now, if he does beat me up, will you take his side or mine?"
"If it does happen, I suspect that you can punch the shit out of him in a single swing so it's hardly a fair game."
"I won't punch him." Gabriel shook his head.
"Would you just stand there and accept your beating?"
"Pretty much." Gabriel nodded. "I can't hit my best friend, and I definitely can't hit my wife's family member."
"What?" Eva asked in confusion from the top of the stairs.
"Alex is still considering beating me up." Gabriel said with a smile.
"Alex Best?" Eva checked.
"Yeah, that one." Gabriel confirmed with a nod.
"Why?" Eva furrowed her brows as she made her way down.
"Funny thing, actually." Gabriel laughed. "You must remember Alex talking about his baby cousin."
"Oh yes. He used to talk about her all the time."
"It's Claire."
"Seriously?" Eva asked in disbelief.
"Yes." Claire nodded. "My mum's maiden name is Best. Alex is her nephew."
"Seriously?" Eva repeated.
"Yes." Claire nodded again.
"That's amusing." Eva decided as she walked past them towards the kitchen. Claire followed Gabriel upstairs.
"But otherwise, he is still disgruntled about us keeping our relationship a secret." Claire added. "He does seem concerned about your well-being, too."
"I haven't spoken to him properly since the reveal. I've tried on Thursday but that night was cut rather short."
"Oh, don't remind me." Claire hid her face in her hand. "Alex was kind enough to not bring it up."
"I think I owe Jacque and Matthew some explanation." Gabriel thought out loud.
"I have an idea which you may hate." Claire said carefully.
"Go on."
"You owe me a karaoke night. Why don't we get our friends together and go for it?"
"Karaoke? Zoe and Alex in one room?"
"Zoe's into Mark nowadays." Claire waved her hand. "Set up Alex with Eva and problem solved."
Gabriel turned around and scowled at Claire.
"I was confused as to why Alex thought you and me are a bad idea, but I understand it now. Eva and Alex are definitely a bad idea."
"You never know." Claire shrugged as she tried to conceal her laughter.
"When?"
"What about tonight?" Claire suggested. "A bit of short notice but maybe?"
"Okay." Gabriel nodded. "I don't know any place for karaoke though."
"I'll get that sorted. Don't worry. Just make sure to bring your singing voice along." Claire smiled happily ready to go to her study.
"Claire, sorry about the whole swimming thing." Gabriel said as he grabbed Claire's hand.
"What?" Claire looked confused.
"I didn't mean to be in a pool when you came back."
"Are you trying not to swim when I'm around?"
"Well, yes. I haven't swam in months."
"I don't mind. Enjoy your swims all you want. You do need to work on your downstroke more though."
"Wow, I'm already being criticised although you barely saw me swim half a length, if that."
"That's more than enough to see a lacking technique."
"Thanks," Gabriel said with sarcasm as he laughed walking away to get changed.
Claire put her briefcase in a study before deciding to come down and find Eva.