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The sun began to gleam through the crack in the curtains, shining bright morning light into the room. Not that it mattered - you were already awake. At least you could see a little better now, you supposed.
It was still a little early, but not early enough. Noel had to get up that morning; he had to go film The Great British Bake Off. If only he could've stayed in with you, then maybe you could've stayed in bed all morning long.
His arms were wrapped around you, never planning on letting you go. His face was close to yours, his warm breath hitting your cheek with every steady rise and fall of his chest. He wasn't going to be waking up yet, you were sure of that.
You looked at him, still fast asleep, and noticed one side of his face was half covered by his long black hair. Your fingers longed to touch it, stretching out towards it.
It was messy, though that wasn't anything new. Noel was always touching it, playing with it, running his hands through it. It wasn't often that it wasn't covering at least a small section of his face, if you were honest. Except when he had it really short for a time, but that was a while ago now.
Reaching up, your fingers barely had to touch his hair before a tiny, muffled noise escaped him.
"Hmm..."
"Morning, sleeping beauty."
"Mmm...no..."
You chuckled sleepily, stroking his hair with gentle fingers, the jet black locks soft and silky from a wash the night before. It still smelled of the conditioner he used, mixing with that blue Radox shower gel that's supposed to help wake a person up in the morning.
"Come on love, you're on set today, remember?" You murmured, and his eyes only scrunched tighter.
"Sod the set." He said. "Sod the tent. Sod the heat and the rain and the bloody contestants who can't bake."
You chuckled, your hand lingering on his cheek. "Someone's grumpy this morning."
He finally opened his eyes. There was a crease on his face from when the sheets had pressed against his skin, and you touched it gently, reverently. He leaned into it, his eyes clouded with guilt.
"Sorry, love." He sighed. "I didn't mean to snap, I just..."
He trailed off. You kissed him gently, wrapping your arms around his neck. One snaked up to play with his hair, and he seemed to shiver from the softness of your touch.
"You didn't snap." You said. "If you had, you'd have known about it."
He chuckled. "I know, I'm just tired."
"Tired?"
"Didn't sleep." He said. "Not much. Too much going on up there."
His eyes flicked up, motioning to his brain, and you frowned, holding him tighter.
"What's on your mind?" You asked.
"Don't really know." He sighed. "Everything, really. Art ideas, show ideas, thoughts about what people baked last week. Random thoughts, embarrassing things I did years ago that don't even mean anything to anyone anymore."
"That really is everything."
"You can say that again."
He buried his face into your neck, and you held him there, feeling his warmth seep into your skin. His hair tickled your cheek, a sensation that never failed to leave your heart fluttering.
"I just really don't want to go today." He eventually said. "I just want to stay here and cuddle."
"I know, sweetheart." You said softly. "You don't have to go if you don't want. Stay here with me. I'm sure Paul, Prue and the rest of them can cope without you for one day."
"No, I need to go in." He sighed. "I might just have a lie in."
"That's better than nothing." You said. "And I'll drop you off if you like."
"Mmm..." He murmured, already halfway towards falling asleep again. "That'd be nice."
Neither of you said anything more after that. Quiet filled the room again, and you made a mental note to yourself to make hot chocolate for when Noel came home. He'd like that, even if he was exhausted.
Maybe he'd drink it, maybe he wouldn't. It didn't matter; all that mattered was this. Being in his arms, warm and loved.
And always ready to run your fingers through his hair.