Yours
3:48am — The Plaza Hotel
The city disappeared the second the hotel room door closed behind them.
Not literally.
New York still glowed through the windows. Traffic still moved below. Somewhere far beneath them, music and sirens and life carried on exactly as normal.
But inside the room, everything narrowed down to this.
Leah.
Elle.
The way Leah looked at her like she still couldn't quite believe she was real.
Their coats landed somewhere near the door in a mess of black fabric and cold air before Leah pulled her close again immediately, kissing her with a kind of desperate softness that made Elle's chest ache.
This felt different from before.
Less nervous now.
More certain.
Weeks of tension had already dissolved between them. What remained was trust. Want. The terrifying intimacy of finally having the person you've been imagining for months standing right in front of you.
Leah's hands slid carefully along her waist beneath her jumper, slow enough to stop if Elle wanted her to.
She didn't.
Not even remotely.
Elle kissed her deeper instead, fingers tangling gently into blonde hair as Leah let out a quiet breath against her mouth that nearly undid her completely.
God.
Everything about her felt warm.
Safe.
That was the dangerous part.
Not just how much Elle wanted her.
How easy it felt to let her close.
Leah pulled back only slightly, forehead resting against hers while both of them tried to breathe normally again.
"You alright?" Leah asked softly.
The question made something twist painfully sweet inside Elle.
Always checking.
Always careful.
Elle smiled faintly. "You ask me that a lot."
Leah brushed her thumb gently along Elle's cheekbone. "Important question."
"I'm more than alright."
Relief flickered visibly across Leah's face at that.
Then she kissed her again slower this time, guiding her backward toward the bed without ever rushing her.
The room glowed gold around them from the city lights outside.
Everything softened.
The kisses. The touches. The nervous laughter between moments where neither quite knew what to do with how overwhelming this felt.
Because despite the chemistry and the flirting and the months of tension— this still mattered.
Deeply.
Elle felt it in the way Leah touched her like something precious instead of temporary.
Felt it in the quiet moments between kisses where they just looked at each other like they were memorising this.
"You're staring again," Elle whispered softly.
Leah smiled against her mouth. "Can you blame me?"
"A little."
"Impossible."
They laughed quietly together before the sound disappeared into another kiss.
Hands wandered slowly. Carefully. Learning.
The intimacy built naturally, unhurried and warm, until eventually Elle's back rested against cool sheets and Leah hovered above her, suddenly looking nervous all over again.
That surprised her.
"You okay?" Elle asked gently.
Leah exhaled a quiet laugh, shaking her head slightly. "Yeah. Just..."
She looked down briefly before meeting Elle's eyes again.
"I really like you."
The confession hit harder than anything else tonight.
Not because it was dramatic.
Because it was honest.
Simple. Real. Completely unguarded.
Elle reached up gently, fingertips brushing along Leah's jaw.
"I know," she whispered softly. "I really like you too."
Something softened completely in Leah after that.
The last bit of hesitation disappeared.
And when she kissed Elle again, it felt less like urgency and more like surrender.
Outside, snow drifted slowly across Manhattan while two women who were supposed to stay casual fell hopelessly, terrifyingly further into each other instead.