"Elle!"

"What?!" Her voice comes from deep within the apartment.

"Your boxes are literally everywhere!" I try to pinpoint where her voice is coming from, but the maze of boxes completely obscures anything from view. Her lease had finally ended, and it had been an easy decision for her to move in. She was here all the time anyway.

"Sorry, angel!" She calls. I shake my head and sit down the pizza box on top of a moving box labeled 'Shoes'.

"How was your day?" She asks as I kick off my shoes and hang up my bag.

"Good. Morgan and I went downtown. He bought an ungodly amount of stuff for that chick he's dating."

"Lucy? Leah?"

"Lynn." I answer, picking my way through the boxes. I find her in a clear spot on the floor, surrounded by pictures. As she looks up at me, I am filled with nothing but love. The sunlight streaming in through the windows falls right on her, her brown eyes lit up like gold. Her hair is pulled back into a loose bun, strands falling around her face. It's one of the most gorgeous scenes I've ever seen.

"What?" She asks, cocking an eyebrow. I drop to my knees beside her, careful to avoid the pictures.

"You know how gorgeous you are?" I ask and she rolls her eyes.

"Sawyer."

"Not kidding. You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." I say and she laughs, shaking her head.

"You're in a good mood."

"Nah, you're just pretty." I say, leaning over to press a kiss to her lips. "And yeah, I am in a good mood."

"Glad to see it. You deserve more happy days, angel." She says and I nod, glancing around at all the pictures.

"What's all this?"

"This..." She leans back on her hands. "This is me getting distracted and definitely not unpacking." I pick up a picture of a younger her and two guys I don't recognize.

"That's my cousins. Michael and Joey. We were at the Cape in that, I think. We went every summer."

"Cape Cod?"

"Yeah." She says. "I miss it."

"I hear it's beautiful." She hums and I pick up another picture of her and her mom.

"You look just like her, Elle." I say softly.

"I have my dad's nose."

"Do you?" I turn to look at her. She hands me a picture of a man. He's not at all what I pictured, but she's right. Same nose.

"I miss him." She says softly. "Everyday."

"I know." I reach out, brushing my thumb across her cheekbone. "He'd be so proud of you."

"I hope so."

"I know so." I say and she smiles. I look around at the photos until one catches my eyes.

"Oh my god. Ohhh..." I pick it up, pressing my hand to my mouth.

"What is that?" She asks, trying to look at it. I scoot backwards, flipping it around to show her.

"No!" She says, lunging for it. I stand up, laughing.

"Angsty high school Elle! Who would've thought?!" I evade her efforts to grab me, giggling wildly. The picture has her looking like some kind of goth rocker, with thick eyeliner and puffy hair.

"You give that back!" She says and I grunt as she pushes me onto the couch, straddling me.

"I want to keep this."

"I want to burn that." She says.

"Oh no, this needs to last forever. Like, the Smithsonian. Front and center exhibition. Or the Louvre. Right next to the Mona Lisa."

"You are so..." She huffs, trying to tug my hand out from under me to get the picture.

"So what? Funny, amazing, pretty, the best ever? I know, right?" She rolls her eyes, groaning.

"I'm never getting that picture back, am I?"

"Not in a million years, baby." I say and she rests her hands on my waist, shaking her head.

"We have pizza." I remind her and she slides off of me. As I stand she tries to grab the picture, but I hold it away.

"Don't even try it." I tease.

"Y'know how I call you angel? This is devil behavior." She says, swiping her thumb over my bottom lip.

"Devil, 'cause I'm so hot?" I shimmy my hips dramatically, earning yet another dramatic eye roll. I pocket the picture and we retrieve the pizza. As we eat, she fills me in on her day, including an argument with a mover guy and the mysterious disappearance of a box filled with books. I try my best to listen to her, but I can't stop thinking about how lucky I am to have her. She's gorgeous, the slowly dying sunlight illuminating my apartment making her glow. Honestly, she might call me Angel, but she's the one who looks like one.

And after the past weeks, and the hell we'd faced at work, it's more than nice to feel nothing but love.

HEY SQUAD I KNOW YOU GUYS PROB HATE ME BUT I LOCKED MYSELF OUT OF MY ACCOUNT AND I LITERALLY JUST GOT BACK INTO IT I AM SO SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING FOR LIKE THREE MONTHS 

HERE'S A CHAPTER WITH NO ANGST IN IT BC I AM VERY VERY SORRY!! i literally missed y'all sm i miss ur insane comments😩but i'm back and thank u sm to anyone who is actually gonna read this i know it's been way too long. thanks for sticking with me squad <333 sasha(aka STUPID)