"When are you off tonight?" Cole asked, looking over at Lili who had propped her arm up on the arm of her chair and was drifting somewhere between being awake and light slumber.
She straightened, stretching her arms and neck.
"Around nine I think. Why?"
"I was just wondering if you want to come back to my place tonight. I'm off at 8, I can wait around."
Lili thought for a moment. Due to their wildly different schedules (Cole filming a ton of scenes with the Serpents, her being more involved with the Cooper-Family-Storyline), it had been a week since she'd fallen asleep next to him. She would be lying if she'd say that she didn't miss him, but she also didn't want him to stay around and wait for her, when he could be at home, relaxing.
"I mean, I'd love too, but you don't have to..."
"Lils. It's okay, I can wait. Its not like I'd bore myself to death around here." he interrupted. "And we could get some Chipotle."
"Okay, now that's an argument" she grinned.
"You prefer Mexican food over my company?" he feigned offence. "That hurts Lili."
"I'm positive you'll survive" she grinned and nudged his shoulder.
"Barely."
...
From the corner of her eye, Lili saw Cole entering the Make-Up trailer, car keys already dangling from his left index finger, seemingly all ready to finally leave the set.
"Lover boy is a little impatient today, isn't he?" Erin, her make-up artist asked with a grin.
Lili just giggled at that. If she was being completely honest, by now, she was impatient to go home too. Even though she didn't fully admit it to herself, she was craving a little alone time with him. Not the fancy kind of alone time, which meant grabbing dinner at some restaurant or going on an adventure (although she loved them). No, what she was really craving was the simplest kind of alone time anyone could think of: pulling on some sweats and curling up next to him on the couch, the low murmur of some Netflix show in the background while she slowly drifted off to wonderland. She didn't know if she'd ever find a way to describe how it felt. How even doing absolutely nothing could become the most exciting thing in the world. Maybe it was what belonging somewhere felt like. Maybe it was what home felt like.
...
When they entered Cole's apartment, Lili let out a breath of relieve. It felt like all the tension and stress she'd been exposed to during the day fell off her immediately.
She had always been surprised at how fast this place, his apartment, had started to feel like home to her. After only a few weeks she had become able to walk the whole apartment in the dark and find everything she needed, without a second thought.
After they both had changed into sweatpants and Lili had bat her eyelashes half a second to get one of Cole's shirts, they dropped down on the couch, takeout containers in hands and an espisode of Black Mirror on TV.
A comfortable silence emerged between them and Lili felt her whole body relax when she sagged against him, his arm coming around her shoulder, almost out of habit. She'd come to love how normal all of this had become, how even though the world around them was constantly buzzing, here in their little bubble they were always able to lock all the noise out.
"I wish we could do this every night." the words had left her mouth before she even realized.
She felt Cole tense a little next to her and lifted her head from his shoulder.
"What's wrong?"
He shook his head a little.
"Nothing" he answered. "But I... I was actually thinking about that."
He suddenly seemed a little nervous, his hand coming up to wrap one strand of hair around his finger.
"I mean... you spent most of your time here anyway and uhm... I mean, why not move in here?"
He turned around to look at her, half nervous, half hopeful.
Lili was surprised by his suggestion for a moment, but then it started to intrigue her. Falling asleep next to him. Waking up next to him every morning. Enjoying the simple joy of domesticity.
She looked at him again, a smile forming on her face.
"I'd love to."