*Runze's POV*
Beautiful
The word lands somewhere I wasn't expecting.
I've heard him say things to me that did real damage —
I love you in a quiet bathroom while the tap was running, your voice is so fucking intoxicating in an elevator, things I've had to press my palm to my chest afterward just to contain.
But this one does something different. Something quieter.
He isn't saying it to flatter me. He's saying it the way he states things that are simply true.
No performance in it. No hesitation.
I'm standing in a cream nightdress that looks like it belongs on someone else, with my stomach round and obvious underneath the thin fabric, and he's looking at me like I'm the only thing worth looking at in this whole room.
My fingers slowly loosen on the hem.
His hands find my waist first.
