WULFRIC opened his eyes slowly. The morning light pushed through the gaps in his heavy curtains, casting soft lines of gold across the wide ceiling of his bedroom. He blinked a few times and stretched his arms above his head, feeling the pleasant pull in his muscles. His whole body felt loose and warm, like he had slept deeper than he had in weeks or maybe months. The usual tightness behind his eyes was gone. So was the weight that often sat on his chest in the mornings. Instead, he felt a calm he rarely experienced.
He turned his head on the pillow and stared at the light shifting across the far wall of the large room. Everything was still and peaceful. Then the memory of last night came back to him all at once. The atrium. The movie. Aster's laugh. The way Aster had looked at him when he asked if they should make it official. They were together now. He was Aster's boyfriend. A wide grin spread across his face before he could stop it.
