Florence realised as she sprinkled chocolate on top of Cole's cappuccino that she was the happiest that she had possibly ever been in her life, she looked the perfect picture of health and here she was doing things she had vowed she would never do in a relationship, such as making a cutesy breakfast in bed for Cole.
Later on that day she was going to visit Cooper and Sam at their new home, she hadn't quite known what Cooper's big surprise had been until last night when she'd been messaged a picture of keys in Cooper's hand with a lot of happy screeching occurring next as the whole story was accounted to her.
This year had proved a lot to her, Sam hadn't moved to Phillipson straight away, in fact as far as relationships went he and Cooper had taken things really slow, he'd come on weekends to visit her and Amberly but other than that he'd given them space, space was what they had needed to fix through things and then to come to the conclusion that they were better off together, it made Florence happy that her best friend seemed to constantly have a smile fixed on her face these days, they'd been through so much together and now finally things were looking up.
As she did every morning Florence crossed off day on her calendar, she'd had one specially printed with twelve images for each month, it was something Johanna, her new therapist had suggested.
"Everyday when you wake up cross off the date and remember all the reasons there are to be happy in the world, remember you are loved and go into your day with only positive thoughts in mind"
It had been Cole who'd made her go and see a therapist in the first place, she'd protested, he'd walked out of her flat after a massive fight and she'd booked herself into a place at Dr Johanna Stevenson's clinic the next day, she had learned that it was better to sometimes accept help, that the whole world wasn't against you if you weren't against yourself.
Amberly's chubby face beamed at her from the calendar, gappy teeth and pink wellingtons brought a smile to Florence's face, children grew up so fast, her goddaughter was already almost two, the thought made her slightly wistful, soon she wouldn't be a baby anymore.
Think positive.
She glanced at her phone screen, it was ten to eight, technically she should be waking up Cole about now but he'd come back at almost midnight yesterday and she couldn't bare to interrupt what had seemed like a peaceful sleep, she checked her phone instead promising herself that she would wake him in three minutes, she didn't want his coffee getting cold.
Her usual notifications greeted her, her inbox had exploded ever since she'd announced that there would in fact be a third book in the Dysmorphia Series at the Oregon book convention, Florence avoided the tabloid offers like the plague, pressing delete on every single one of the offers for promotion, exclusivity and inside interviews.
She'd learned from her experience with one Sadie Stewart who had sat her down and straight away asked her whether her anxiety sometimes still played up.
"We understand at the Daily Star you see, we know about your... condition and we'd be delighted to do an exclusive piece on how the shrinking violet of Phillipson became a national sensation"
It was the shrinking violet part that had made her leave the cafe, banging the door shut as she went out, tabloids were not your friends she had quickly come to realise, they were in it for the sensational headlines and the money, not for the person who had unwittingly spilled their life secrets into a dictaphone.
Florence liked some tweets and then fired out one of her own, she had become better at this whole promotion thing ever since Natalie had sent her on a series of seminars about motivation and self-promotion, before she would have seen promoting her works as a kind of form of boasting about her success, now however she was proud she wanted to share with the world what she had to offer.
Her phone went down and in its place she picked up the cappuccino and placed it on a tray alongside a pain au chocolate, Cole's favourite.
He was still asleep as she entered the room and for a moment she paused in the doorway to just look at him, a dopey smile spreading over her face, he just looked so adorable all tucked up with his hair everywhere and his nose scrunched up ever so slightly, she wondered what he was dreaming about.
They'd officially been together for eleven and a half months, her calendar told her so and so did the feeling she got every time she saw him, sure, it hadn't ever been smooth sailing, they'd both had fiery exchanges and bellowed at each other in the early hours of the morning, she'd cried her fair share of tears over him but as Johanna had so eloquently put it:
"Florence you have to realise that no relationship will ever be perfect, perfection in its purest form doesn't exist, but what I do know is that boy loves you, he's dropped you off to every session here without fail and loved you more than anyone could ever imagine, so yes you have a right to be mad at him for breaking your favourite mug or whatever the heck the poor soul's done now but never say something you can't take back because I can see it in your eyes even when your mad, he's the best thing that's ever happened to you"
And she agreed, fully and whole-heartedly, Cole was the best thing that could have happened to her at this point in her life, they'd been driving along a rocky, rocky road for such a long time but now they were at the end of their journey, the travelling part had made them who they were today.
And all the moments in between had been the bonuses, Cole turning up at her parent's house one day with a tabby kitten called Arthur and placing him into her hands, Cole buying a flat just thirteen minutes drive away from her parent's house, Cole giving her some dippy motivational quote when she was stuck in a mood until she snorted so hard Coke had spurted out of her mouth and all the small things, things people didn't tend to mention in romance novels because they were never seen to be monumental.
He gave the best hugs, ever you could seek refuge in those arms for a thousand years, he added a new song to her Positive Playlist weekly, he'd helped her to paint her room a vibrant strawberry red and known what it had meant to her, he drove her to each and every one of her appointments with a smile on his face, but most of all she had realised that she could actually talk to him, they could of course talk about anything under the sun, but the really important things like how Chase's death had affected the two of them was one of the harder parts of their relationship, they'd both realised that he was an important part of their shared history, not something shameful to hide away.
Cole had painted her a picture of Chase as a child and she in turn had given him insight into how his life had been in his final days, it was a gift to the both of them knowing different parts of someone they had both loved.
Florence stood at the door of their shared room looking at him, so adorably rumpled on his pillow, his nose slightly scrunched up, she'd never been so eager to know what someone was dreaming about.
"Hey there" he opened one eye and peered at her like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Florence Clarke, made me breakfast in bed"
He grabbed his phone and before she knew it had taken a shot.
"Don't! I have no makeup on, don't you dare put that anywhere"
"I won't calm down, I just needed photographic evidence that once in a while you play the cute housewife, also" he showed her the picture he had taken.
"You look absolutely beautiful with or without makeup, I can't decide what looks sweeter, you or the contents of that delicious smelling tray your holding"
She put the tray down on his bedside table and swooped down to give him a kiss, meaning it to be a fleeting one but he pulled her down beside him.
"Come snuggle for five more minutes"
The idea was extremely appealing, but she had to go and see Cooper and he had to go to work.
"Another time, you eat up and I'm going to get ready"
She kissed him lightly on the nose, right in between two freckles and then left the room her heart feeling heavy with love and happiness, this is what she'd always wanted, to love and be loved back with such intensity that she knew the very thought of him brought butterflies to her stomach.
Her moisturizer went on first, a wide smile on her face to accompany it.