They never shared a bed.
Ever.
On missions, yes. But never in this light.
Not intimately. Not romantically.
In that moment, Chadwick felt as intimately close to her as he ever felt. Like he’d just awoken from a terrible hole of darkness. She was there for him. Maybe she didn’t say it all the time. Though there was no need for that.
She began to rouse shortly after him, blinking a few times. Before speaking she smiled, almost shyly, burying her face in his shoulder.
“Morning,” he spoke in French, close to her ear.
“Morning,” she said, feeling his warm cheek rest on her own. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I just came in to check on you,”
Chadwick placed a short kiss on the back of her ear. “Is that so?”
“You were acting strange last night,” she murmured. The bed abruptly creaked in dispute of Malina’s sudden position on top of him. “Like a stranger,”
He reached to push some of her hair behind her ear. “I saw him last night.”
Malina watched his eyes dance. “He likes to come to me on the edge of contentment. He likes to remind me what I’m missing.”
“What are you missing?” she whispered, searching through his distraught glare.
“Him,”
The dam had broken, ran down his cheeks, and left him heaving. Malina brought herself close to him. So close, their hearts began to beat as one. His tears would soon become her own.
“Love makes you feel. Love makes you long. So, let it do that much until you can cope. Okay?”
With a struggle for breath, Chadwick sobbed slightly in her shoulder.
She would continue to believe in him till the day they stood in front of one another, sharing but one intimate moment.
They still felt. They still longed.
For each other.