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The first time Vanessa spends the night Usnavi wakes up at 5 am, terrified that it’s all been some sort of wonderful dream and she’s not going to be there next to him. It turns out she is. He doesn’t think he’s ever been more relieved in his life.
Lying there asleep with her long hair splayed across her bare shoulders she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen in his life and he has no idea what he’s supposed to do next. It’s only a few minutes past 5 in the morning and after years of giving her (free) coffee every morning he knows that Vanessa and mornings have never been the best of friends. Reluctant to risk her wrath he just stares at her, blinking in amazement at the play of light across her hair and shoulders as the sun flows lightly through the small window next to his bed.
He doesn’t know how long he’s been staring at Vanessa when she rolls over, blinking in the light as she smiles at him, laughter clear in her eyes. “Do I even want to know how long you’ve been staring at me Usnavi?”
Feeling a warm blush spread across his cheeks he buries his face in his pillow as he feels her hand gently caress the knobs of his spine. Laughing softly, she moves closer to him and Usnavi can feel the brush of her hair on his arm as she whispers in his ear.
“I don’t mind you know. I’m looking at you too.” She brushes teasing kisses on his shoulder until he turns onto his side and looks at her. She’s leaning up on one arm, sheet barely covering her as she smiles at him in a way he’s never seen before. Usnavi can feel himself starting to smile as he leans forwards, brushing their lips together softly.
Vanessa nudges his shoulder until he falls fully onto his back before she slides fully on top of him, sheet falling down to her hips as she deepens the kiss. Reaching up, he tangles his fingers in her hair as he feels the warmth of her body lining up with his.
After what feels like hours, she pulls away slightly, smiling as his head thumps back down into the pillow. Grinning at him with a sparkle in her eyes, Vanessa smacks him lightly on the chest before pulling herself off him completely. Usnavi watches as she gets out of bed, turning back to look at him for a second before bending over to grab the shirt he was wearing the night before off the floor.
She pulls on his shirt, smirking at him as his widen before heading towards the door. With a smile on her face, Vanessa leans on the door frame and asks, “so does breakfast and coffee come with a night at your place? Because it’s early and I’m hungry?” With that, she leaves the bedroom and heads towards the kitchen.
Knowing he’s smiling more widely than he ever has before, Usnavi hauls himself out of bed and pulls on a pair of sweatpants. He turns around to glance at the clock before he leaves. 5:30 am. Apparently under some circumstances Vanessa is very much a morning person.
He pauses for another moment before Vanessa’s call pulls him into the kitchen where he finds her leaning against the counter, still smiling. Her smile is his favorite thing in the world.
Brushing a kiss across her lips - it still amazes him that that is a thing he can do whenever he wants now - he moves past her and into the small space between the stove and counter. Allowing himself a momentary bit of cockiness he leans against the stove, attempting to strike a pose of relaxed confidence.
Usnavi regrets it immediately as his hand slips on the cool metal and he loses his balance. He can hear Vanessa chuckling, not bothering to hide her laughter as he attempts to recover.
“Now that all attempts at smoothness have failed, can I get you to make me breakfast?” she asks. Feeling himself blushing again, Usnavi nods his head before turning to the fridge. He’s peering into the fridge when he feels Vanessa’s arms wrap around him from behind.
Her lips nuzzle gently at the base of his neck, her warm breath ghosting over his skin. Usnavi doesn’t understand how she can be so confident, when he’s afraid at every second that he’ll wake up and still be hopelessly in love with a woman he thinks will never return his feelings.
Still wrapped around him, Vanessa whispers in his ear, “I can hear you thinking. Thinking that this isn’t real, that I’m going to vanish. That this is all some dream.” Her arms tighten around his waist. “I’m not going anywhere. There’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be than with you right now. So believe it. Believe in us.”
She pulls away from him and Usnavi knows she’s smiling at his back as he determinedly rifles through the fridge, unsure of how to respond. As much as he’s never doubted how she feels for him, because Vanessa would never be here in his apartment if she didn’t want to be, he’s still having trouble wrapping his head around the realities of the fact that his years old, seemingly hopeless crush on this beautiful and amazing woman has actually become something real.
Shaking his head he pulls what he needs out of the fridge and turns to Vanessa smiling. “So, I believe you said something about breakfast?”
He burns the eggs.
Vanessa laughs again at the look on his face. He’s becoming used to this laugh, one that seems to be reserved only for him. He likes making her laugh. So Usnavi just grins, and dumps the burnt eggs into the trash before grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close.
Their noses brush together and he realizes as Vanessa stands barefoot in his kitchen that he’s a few inches taller than her. He brushes their lips together gently, arms still wrapped around her waist.
She buries her face in his shoulder arms moving to wrap around him. Vanessa looks up for a moment, smiling that brilliant smile that he wants to spend the rest of his life looking at, and suddenly Usnavi’s not afraid anymore.
Not afraid that one day he’s going to wake up and she won’t be there, because he knows, with more certainty than he’s ever known anything that for the rest of his life he’s going to wake up and Vanessa will be right there next to him.