Chapter 62: Breakfast in bed

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Breakfast in bed

Saturday morning arrived quietly, sunlight easing through the gap in the curtains long before Garrett actually opened his eyes.

He woke first, the apartment silent except for the faint hum of the city outside. Beside him, Freya was still asleep, hair scattered loosely across the pillow, her expression softer than he’d ever seen it. None of the usual sharpness, none of the teasing confidence that seemed to live permanently at the corner of her mouth when she was awake. Just quiet, unguarded rest.

He stayed still for a while, taking it in.

There was something unfamiliar about this, waking up to someone beside him instead of an empty apartment and the same silence he’d gotten used to. He hadn’t expected how much that would settle into him, how ordinary and strange it felt at the same time, having her here in the quiet morning light.

Careful not to wake her too abruptly, he leaned over and pressed a slow, gentle kiss to her forehead.

Freya stirred a moment later, eyelids fluttering open, and it took her a second to focus on him watching her. When she did, a slow smile spread across her face, easy and unguarded.

"Morning," she said, voice still rough with sleep.

"Morning."

Neither of them rushed to say anything more than that.

Eventually, Freya shifted, propping herself up slightly against the pillow, a small, satisfied stretch working through her before she settled again, closer to him this time.

"So," she said, a teasing lilt creeping into her voice now that she was fully awake. "Is this what Sunday was like? With Emiliana?"

Garrett caught her meaning immediately, and didn’t dodge it. "Nah...Sunday didn’t go that far."

Freya raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting that answer. "It didn’t?"

"No. There was... some of it. Not all of it." He kept his tone even, no discomfort in admitting it, just plain fact. "It stopped before it got anywhere close to last night."

Freya went quiet for a second, processing that, something working behind her expression before it settled into open curiosity. "So am I the first person you’ve actually gone all the way with?"

"Yeah," Garrett said. "You are."

The words landed visibly. Freya’s whole face shifted, a warm and bright smile spreading across her face that she didn’t bother hiding at all.

"Oh," she said, sitting up a little straighter now. "So I’m the first, then."

"You are."

Her smile only widened at the confirmation, something quietly triumphant slipping into it now, like she’d just won something she hadn’t fully realized she’d been competing for until this exact moment. She leaned into him again, pressing closer, clearly pleased with herself in a way she made no effort to hide.

"Good," she said, satisfaction warm in her voice. "That’s really good, actually."

For a moment, neither of them said anything else, the quiet settling comfortably around them again, something unspoken but clearly understood between them now.

Whatever this was, it belonged only to the two of them.

Garrett got up first, pulling on a shirt before heading toward the kitchen.

"Where you going?"

"Kitchen"

"Why"

"Breakfast"

"You know I live two doors down, right?" Freya called after him, still half-buried under the blanket. "You don’t have to play host. I can literally walk home for breakfast."

"I’m aware."

"So you’re doing this on purpose."

"Seems that way."

She huffed, though there was no real argument behind it, just amusement as she settled back against the pillow and let him go.

He kept it simple. Tea, toast, eggs done the way he actually knew how to do it, a couple of other small things pulled together without much fuss. Nothing elaborate, nothing that required the kind of effort he’d put into Friday’s dinner. Just something worth waking up to.

Instead of calling her into the kitchen once it was ready, Garrett balanced the plate and mug carefully and carried the whole thing back to the bedroom himself.

Freya’s eyebrows lifted the second he walked in. "You’re bringing it to me?"

"Looked comfortable. Didn’t want to ruin it."

She sat up properly as he set the tray down beside her, something genuinely caught off guard in her expression now, softer than the teasing from a moment ago. "Garrett. This is... really sweet, actually."

"Don’t make it weird."

"I’m allowed to make it weird. You just brought me breakfast in bed." She picked up the toast, inspecting it like she still half expected to find something wrong with it. "Since when do you know how to take care of a girl?"

"Wouldn’t call it a skill. More common sense."

"Sure. Common sense." She took a bite, chewing thoughtfully before adding, "Most guys don’t have that particular kind of common sense, for the record."

"Then most guys are doing it wrong."

Freya laughed at that, shaking her head slightly, though she didn’t argue the point. She ate slowly, clearly enjoying the small luxury of it more than she wanted to admit outright, glancing at him every so often like she was still adjusting to the idea that this was just how things were now.

Underneath the teasing, something had settled in her that hadn’t fully been there before. No lingering uncertainty about whether she actually mattered to him, whether last night had been a fluke or something real. Just this, plain and unremarkable on the surface, a plate of eggs and toast carried into a bedroom because he’d wanted to.

Once they’d finished eating, Freya set the tray aside and climbed out of bed, stretching before glancing around the apartment properly for the first time that morning.

"Alright," she said, already moving toward the small pile of dishes from the night before. "I’m helping clean up."

"Don’t need to."

"I know I don’t need to. I want to." She picked up a stray glass from the side table, giving him a look that made it clear arguing wasn’t going to get him anywhere. "You’re not doing everything yourself while I just sit here looking pretty."

Garrett let it go, mostly because he didn’t actually mind the company.

They settled into it easily, Freya taking over the smaller tasks without being asked, straightening cushions, gathering stray dishes, tidying the bits of last night’s evening that were still scattered around the apartment. Garrett handled the rest, the two of them moving around each other in a comfortable rhythm that didn’t require much conversation to feel natural.

At one point, she held up a spatula from the drawer, inspecting it with mock seriousness. "This is a good spatula, by the way. Solid choice."

"Didn’t think spatula quality was something people ranked."

"Everything’s rankable if you care enough."

"Noted."

By the time the apartment was mostly back in order, Freya glanced at the clock and let out a small sigh.

"I should get going. Got some things I need to sort out back home."

Garrett nodded, unbothered. "Okay."

Freya paused, giving him a look that was equal parts amused and expectant, like she’d anticipated a bit more resistance than that. "That’s it? No trying to convince me to stay?"

"You said you had things to do."

"Fair enough." She smiled, shaking her head slightly at his lack of protest, though there was nothing disappointed in it. If anything, the ease of it seemed to suit her fine.

She gathered her things by the door, taking a moment longer than necessary once she reached it, glancing back at him with something warm and unhurried in her expression.

Then she stepped out, and the door closed softly behind her.

Garrett stood there for a moment in the sudden quiet, the apartment feeling noticeably different than it had a few hours ago. Emptier, though not in an unpleasant way. Just quieter.

He glanced around at the tidied counters, the cushions straightened, the small evidence of the morning still lingering in the details.

Eventually, he reached for his phone, more out of habit than any particular reason, thumb hovering briefly before pulling up the system.

The screen flickered to life.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION RECEIVED.]

Garrett’s expression shifted slightly as he read it, whatever he’d expected clearly not matching what was actually sitting there in front of him now.

Whatever the system had to say this time, it was clearly important enough to interrupt the day.

Garrett tapped the notification.