The next afternoon, Gael woke up to sunlight across his face and Haley stealing his hoodie again.
"That's mine," he said without opening his eyes.
"No evidence."
"You're literally wearing it."
Haley sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, dark hair ssy from sleep, his oversized black hoodie falling off one shoulder while she scrolled through her phone.
Gael cracked one eye open.
The sight nearly distracted him completely.
Morning, Haley was dangerous in an entirely different way.
Less polished.
Less performative.
Just warm and comfortable and entirely too easy to want around constantly.
"You're staring again," she said.
"You stole my clothes."
"That's not a denial."
Gael pushed himself upright slowly while Haley grinned triumphantly.
The apartnt slled faintly like coffee and the ocean breeze drifting through the slightly open windows.
"You know," Haley said casually, "Alex asked yesterday if you secretly manipulate people."
Gael paused halfway through reaching for his shirt.
"That feels aggressive."
"I told her no."
"How reassuring."
"She said you make people like you too easily."
Interesting.
Gael leaned back against the headboard.
"And what do you think?"
Haley looked at him over the edge of her phone for a second before answering.
"I think you actually listen when people talk." She shrugged lightly. "Most people don't."
The simple honesty of that answer stayed with him quietly.
Because she wasn't wrong.
In both lives, Gael had learned that most conversations were people waiting for their turn to speak.
The Dunphys were different.
ssy.
Loud.
Interruptive.
But strangely sincere underneath it all.
His phone buzzed against the nightstand.
Claire.
Haley noticed imdiately.
"Ooooh."
"You make that sound every ti now."
"Because it keeps being interesting."
Gael grabbed the phone while Haley watched with shaless curiosity.
"Hey."
Claire sounded mildly exhausted already.
"Please tell you're not busy."
"That depends on what Phil broke."
"Emotionally? My patience."
Gael laughed quietly.
From sowhere in the background, Phil yelled:
"I heard that!"
"You were supposed to," Claire shouted back.
Haley buried her face against a pillow, laughing.
"What happened?" Gael asked.
"The dining room table collapsed."
Silence.
"…How?"
Another pause.
"Phil attempted ho improvent."
"It explains everything."
Gael rubbed his forehead while Haley practically vibrated with amusent beside him.
"Do you need help?"
"You don't have to—"
"I'm already awake."
Haley snorted loudly beside him.
Claire caught it imdiately.
"…Is Haley there?"
"She lives here now," Gael answered before thinking.
The line went briefly quiet.
Then Claire laughed softly.
Not teasing.
Not judgntal.
Just amused.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," she said.
Sothing about her tone made Haley narrow her eyes suspiciously from the bed.
"Mom likes you too much," she mouthed silently.
Gael ignored her.
"We'll head over soon."
After the call ended, Haley imdiately flopped dramatically across his lap.
"You volunteer for my family way too easily."
"You say that like they're not entertaining."
"My dad almost died assembling patio furniture last month."
"That's exactly my point."
Haley laughed before tilting her head back to look up at him.
For a mont, neither spoke.
Gael's fingers drifted absently through her hair while sunlight filled the bedroom around them.
The intimacy between them had changed over the past weeks.
Not just physical.
Easier.
More instinctive.
Haley touched him constantly now without thinking:
hands on his chest,
legs over his lap,
fingers tangled with his while driving.
And Gael had started doing the sa.
He'd never been naturally affectionate before.
At least not in his old life.
But Haley pulled it out of him effortlessly.
"You know what I realized?" she asked softly.
"What?"
"You smile more now."
Gael blinked once.
"That sounds fake."
"It's true."
She lifted herself slightly, leaning closer until their faces were inches apart.
"And," she added quietly, "I like knowing I'm part of the reason."
God.
That sincerity would destroy him eventually.
Gael kissed her before she could say anything else.
Slowly at first.
Haley lted against him imdiately, one hand sliding into his hair while he pulled her closer across his lap before putting his now erect cock inside her dripping vagina.
"It's so ... hot!" she whispered as he entered her
The ambience deepened naturally, carrying the lazy warmth of late mornings and tangled sheets mixed with fluids with it.
Haley smiled softly against his mouth at one point, and the tiny sound nearly unraveled his self-control entirely.
"You know," she whispered between moans, "we were supposed to leave like ten minutes ago."
"Your mother married Phil. She understands suffering."
Haley burst out laughing against his shoulder.
Gael grinned before kissing along her jaw slowly, drawing a softer breath from her this ti.
Her fingers tightened lightly against his shirt.
"Gael…"
He liked hearing his na from her far too much.
Especially like that.
Especially when her voice softened halfway through it.
Haley shifted closer against him until there was almost no space left between them on the bed.
Warm skin.
Soft breathing.
Sunlight across tangled blankets as he filled her.
The apartnt suddenly felt very quiet.
Gael brushed his thumb lightly along her thigh beneath the oversized hoodie while Haley watched him carefully now.
Not joking anymore.
Just looking at him in that open, honest way that still caught him off guard.
"You know what scares a little?" she admitted softly.
"What?"
"I think I'd miss you really fast."
The confession landed sowhere deep in his chest.
Gael touched her face gently.
"You won't have to."
For a second, Haley just looked at him.
Then she kissed him again—
slower this ti,
more intimate than playful.
The kind of kiss that made the outside world disappear piece by piece.
Unfortunately, the outside world returned in the form of Gael's phone buzzing again.
Three tis in a row.
Haley groaned dramatically into his shoulder.
"If that's my dad again, I'm blocking him permanently."
Gael grabbed the phone blindly.
Phil.
Of course.
He answered while Haley buried her face against his neck.
"…Hello?"
"Ergency," Phil announced imdiately.
"That word has lost all aning around your family."
"The table situation evolved."
Gael closed his eyes briefly.
"How evolved?"
A pause.
"…There's smoke now."
Haley sat upright instantly.
"Oh my God."
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