Chapter 90: Branded by You
The alarm cut through the stillness like a whisper cracking the air — soft, insistent, but not jarring.
Beep... beep... beep...
Noel stirred first.
He made a quiet sound, somewhere between a sigh and a groan, and blindly reached for his phone, swatting around until his fingers landed on the screen.
Silence.
He blinked slowly, still warm, still pressed into Luca’s chest.
For a moment, he just lay there — not moving, not thinking, only feeling. The heat of Luca’s skin.
The steady rise and fall of his breath. The faint scent of his hoodie, faintly detergent and something unmistakably him.
"You awake?" Luca’s voice was rough from sleep, muffled.
"Unfortunately," Noel whispered back, cheek still against his shoulder.
"Alarm’s evil."