Leo woke before the alarm.
For a second he stayed still, staring at the pale blue morning bleeding through the curtains, listening to the apartment breathe around him. Pipes ticking softly. A car passing outside. Lila snoring faintly upstairs like she was personally fighting sleep in hand-to-hand combat.
Then he remembered.
Alex lands today.
The thought settled warm beneath his ribs instantly.
Leo pushed the blanket aside and got up quietly.
The kitchen was cold at this hour. He rubbed his hands together before switching on the small light above the stove. The apartment still carried that heavy early-morning silence where everybody else was asleep and the world hadn't fully started yet.
He liked it. Coffee first. Always.
The smell slowly filled the kitchen while he moved around barefoot, pulling eggs from the fridge, bread from the cabinet, fruit from the counter. He worked automatically, practiced from years of taking care of people without making a production out of it.
