Liam opened his eyes slowly.
The ceiling of Kelly's living room looked back at him, the lamp on the side table still on from the night before, the morning light coming through the curtains at the angle it came through at this hour.
Something warm and specific was happening below his waist.
He looked down.
A hand. Moving slowly, deliberately, with the practiced patience of someone who had been at this for a while and was entirely comfortable with the pace they had chosen.
He smiled, still mostly asleep, and said quietly, "Stella. You're still on it I see."
The hand stopped.
He opened his eyes fully.
Kelly was kneeling beside the couch looking up at him with her hand still loosely around him and an expression that had several floors to it and none of them were warm.
"Who," she said, "is Stella."
Liam became completely awake.
