“How are you feeling today?” I asked, catching a hint of a flush as it worked over Ellie’s face.
“Good. Really good.” She dropped her head into her hand, covering her cheek with her palm. “Hey, Sawyer?”
“Yeah?” I hesitated, coffee grounds in hand.
“Can we make regular coffee today?” she asked, tapping a LEGO brick on the table and staring at the mostly completedMillennium Falcon.
My heart skipped a few beats. “Instead of decaf?”
She nodded before finally blinking up at me. Her eyes were soulful, matching the color of the walls we painted. Acceptance lingered there, something bittersweet. I doubted it would ever fade entirely, and that was okay.
We were going to be okay.
“Of course.” I had to clear the scratchiness from my throat. “Whatever you want.”
She straightened and crooked a finger at me, beckoning. “I want you to come over and help me finish this.”
“Be there in a second.”
Hurriedly, I threw the coffee together and marched back to her side. Ellie stood, gesturing to the seat she’d been in despite there being another chair opposite us, and I sat, pulling her down onto my lap once more. We worked in silence, listening to the drip of caffeine.
When the coffee was done, she filled mugs for both of us and set them on the table. Back on my lap, she clicked a piece into place after checking the directions. She took a sip of the coffee. Leaned back against my chest, let her head drop on my shoulder. I held her tight, longing to know what was going on in her brain.
“How’s the coffee?”
Ellie hesitated, but only for a moment. “I like the flavor.”
“Yeah, it has a hint of caramel in it.” I pressed my face into the curve of her neck and inhaled the scent of her shampoo. “Something a little sweet in the bitterness.” I nipped at a tender spot behind her ear, thinking how she was my something sweet in a world that wasn’t always kind and how I wanted to be that for her, too.
Ellie hummed, and I closed my eyes, feeling her shift a little and listening to the sound of plastic snapping together. When Iblinked my eyes open again, I found her holding a LEGO piece out for me.
“Last piece,” she said softly.
I raised a brow. “Are you giving me the honors?”
“Yeah, baby.” Flutters filled my stomach, making me feel thirteen again. “I think you deserve it.”
Taking it from her, I followed the point of her finger, quickly identifying where it needed to go. Once it was in place, we both sat back, assessing the completed model.
Nine hundred and twenty-one pieces.
Three hundred and thirty-nine steps.
One by one.
Little by little.
And look at it now.
“I think it’s ready to take on the empire,” Ellie said, making a grin split onto my face.
“I think you’re right.” I turned it so we could get a glimpse of it from all angles. “Wow. So…what do we do now?”
Ellie shrugged, breathless laughter leaving her lips. “Take it apart and put it back together again?”
But she shook her head, not serious. Some of her words lingered, though. Took shape. Meant something.
“I think we’ve done a lot of rebuilding already, El.” She twisted sideways in my lap to look at me, and I brushed her bangs aside so I could see her pretty eyes better. “What about starting something new?”
