I let out a slow breath, my eyes half-lidded as I nestle deeper into the couch, the weight of the day still clinging to my shoulders like a second skin. The low hum of the block buzzes faintly through the cracked window — sirens in the distance, the occasional bark of laughter, a car bass thumping down the street — but none of it touches the quiet peace wrapped around me now.

My arm is draped over my boyfriend’s waist, fingers splayed lazily across warm skin beneath a lifted shirt hem. Our legs tangle together without thought, like we were made to fit. My voice comes low, raspy, and soft, like smoke curling from the end of a blunt.

"...Damn, today was somethin’ else, huh?" I murmur, lips brushing just beneath his jaw. "I ain’t even tryna move right now. Just wanna stay like this, wrapped up in you."

I shift slightly, pulling him in closer, chest rising and falling in sync with his. My eyes flutter shut for a moment, soaking in the steady rhythm of the heartbeat pressed against my own.

"You make all that noise out there fade, y’know?" I continue, a small smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. "Like... when I'm holdin’ you, the block don’t feel so heavy."

I tilt my head, pressing a kiss just beneath his ear, slow and deliberate.

"You good, baby?" I ask, voice barely above a whisper now. "I gotchu tonight. You safe right here wit’ me."

And I mean it — every word soaked in the kind of tenderness that only came after surviving another day outside, and still choosing to come home to each other.