FaceTime
Miami — 11:48pm
The bedroom doors were still open to the ocean.
Warm night air drifted softly through the yacht suite while waves moved gently against the hull below. Somewhere upstairs music played faintly from another boat passing in the distance.
Leah lay half beneath the sheets beside Elle, skin still warm, hair messy, completely and utterly relaxed for maybe the first time in over a year.
And honestly?
That alone felt miraculous.
Elle lay curled against her chest wearing one of Leah's oversized white shirts, lazily tracing patterns across Leah's stomach while both of them existed in that soft exhausted haze that came after intimacy.
Quiet.
Content.
Dangerously in love.
"You know what's annoying?" Leah murmured sleepily.
"What?"
"I had actual plans tonight."
Elle laughed softly against her skin. "You're saying that like I forced you into bed."
"You're very distracting."
"Correct."
Leah smiled against the top of her head before reaching for her phone blindly from the bedside table.
The screen lit instantly with missed messages.
Family group chat.
Beth.
Grace.
Grace's last text read:
Leah snorted quietly.
Then her mum started FaceTiming.
Elle immediately froze.
"Oh my God."
Leah laughed softly. "Relax."
"No, absolutely not. I'm emotionally vulnerable right now."
"That sounds dramatic."
"We are literally in bed on a yacht."
Fair point.
The phone kept ringing.
Leah smiled slightly before answering.
Instant chaos.
"THERE SHE IS."
Her brother's voice exploded through speakerphone first.
Leah winced immediately. "Jesus Christ."
The camera shook violently before settling on her mum sitting at the kitchen table back home in England smiling knowingly.
"You look happy," she said immediately.
Leah rolled her eyes automatically but smiled anyway.
"Hi Mum."
Then—
"Oh my God."
Her brother suddenly leaned into frame squinting suspiciously.
"Is she there?"
Leah blinked once. "Who?"
"THE AMERICAN."
Elle physically hid her face against Leah's shoulder laughing silently.
Traitor.
Leah tried to keep a straight face. "You're being deeply embarrassing."
"PUT HER ON."
"No."
"Leah."
"Mum control your son."
Her mum looked far too entertained by all this.
"Elle?" she called warmly toward the phone. "You don't have to hide."
Slowly — very slowly — Elle lifted her head from Leah's shoulder into frame.
Still sleepy. Barefaced. Hair messy from bed.
And immediately Leah's entire family collectively lost their minds.
"Oh she's gorgeous."
"Leah you were underselling massively."
"No wonder you flew to Miami."
Leah physically dropped her head back into the pillows groaning.
"You're all horrible."
Elle laughed properly now beside her.
And God.
Leah loved that sound.
"Hi," Elle smiled shyly toward the screen.
Leah's mum instantly softened.
"There you are."
The warmth in her voice surprised Elle slightly.
Because somehow Leah had already made space for her inside her life before she even realised it herself.
"How's Miami?" her mum asked.
Elle glanced sideways toward Leah briefly before smiling.
"Honestly? Perfect."
Leah looked down at her immediately after that.
That look again.
The soft one.
The dangerous one.
Unfortunately her family noticed instantly.
"Oh my God," her brother groaned dramatically. "The way she looks at her is actually sickening."
Leah laughed helplessly while Elle hid her face against her shoulder again.
"Can we mute him?" Leah asked.
"No," her mum smiled knowingly. "We're enjoying this too much."
The conversation drifted naturally after that.
Easy.
Leah relaxed further into the pillows beside Elle while her family asked questions about New York and Miami and whether Elle finally understood football properly yet.
"She still calls it soccer," Leah complained weakly.
"Because that's what it is," Elle defended.
Her brother gasped dramatically. "Absolutely not."
Leah laughed so hard she nearly dropped the phone.
And suddenly Elle realised something quietly terrifying:
this already felt real in the deepest possible way.
Not just romance.
Belonging.
Leah's family already spoke to her like she was expected to stay.
Like she mattered here.
Eventually Leah's mum smiled softly through the screen.
"Well," she said gently, "it's lovely finally meeting the girl who made my daughter smile again."
Silence.
Tiny.
But enough.
Because the words hit Leah directly in the chest.
She looked down briefly before glancing toward Elle beside her.
And suddenly the room felt softer somehow.
More honest.
"I'll call tomorrow," Leah murmured quietly.
"Sleep well," her mum smiled knowingly.
Her brother leaned dramatically back into frame one last time.
"Please stop being disgustingly in love before breakfast."
Leah hung up immediately.
The room fell quiet again except for distant waves outside.
Then Elle looked at her softly.
"She really said that."
Leah frowned slightly. "What?"
"That I made you smile again."
Leah went still for a second.
Then looked down at her hands briefly before answering honestly.
"You did."
The vulnerability in her voice nearly undid Elle completely.
Because Leah said things quietly when they mattered most.
No performance.
No speeches.
Just truth.
Elle moved closer instinctively until Leah's arms wrapped around her again beneath soft Miami moonlight spilling through the open balcony doors.
And holding her there in the middle of warm ocean air and tangled sheets and sleepy happiness, Leah realised something terrifyingly certain:
she'd never want another version of life after this.