Sophia's POV
We woke up late.
Not by choice exactly, just by the natural rhythm of a place that didn't have anywhere in particular to be. The light came in through thin curtains and landed soft and yellow across the bed, and Damien was still asleep beside me, one arm thrown over his eyes like the sun had personally offended him.
I lay there and listened to the village waking up outside. A door somewhere. A bicycle bell. The distant, patient sound of the sea.
"You're awake," Damien said without opening his eyes.
"How do you know," I said.
"You breathe differently," he said. "Once you're actually awake instead of just lying there."
"That's an unsettling amount of attention to pay to my breathing," I said.
"I pay attention," he said. Simply.
I smiled and pressed my face against his s
