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Robert never sleeps particularly well.
The nightmares still come, prison memories he’d rather forget, but they aren’t what keep him awake.
Waking before dawn with Aaron asleep beside him, Robert spends long moments simply watching him, half-convinced that if he blinks, it will all disappear. That he’ll open his eyes and find himself somewhere else. Somewhere colder and harsher. A place where Aaron isn’t his again.
It feels too good to be real.
Aaron stirs, sensing him awake. Without opening his eyes, his hand finds Robert’s face. His palm settles against Robert’s cheek, his thumb brushing lazily along his jaw.
A silent I’m here.
He slips an arm around Aaron’s waist and draws him closer. Aaron comes without protest, moulding himself against him as though there was nowhere else he’d rather be.
Robert holds him there, listening to the steady rhythm of Aaron’s breathing, feeling the warmth of him against his chest.
Not a dream, not wishful thinking. Just an ordinary morning with the man he’s loved for most of his life.
Robert presses a kiss into Aaron’s hair and closes his eyes. This reality is better than any dream he ever dared to imagine.