Summary: With no obstacles in their way anymore, Ethan and Callie have their first morning together. A future fic. This was inspired by a request from a friend for the prompt “Your shirt was in the laundry pile and I couldn’t help but steal it”.
The smell of coffee hitting her nose is Callie’s favorite way to wake up. All through college and med school, she’d only owned coffee makers that let her set a timer. There was nothing better than having coffee ready to inhale the second she dragged herself out of bed. She’d continued the habit into residency, pointing out that it was far more pleasant than waking up to just a blaring alarm clock or obnoxious ringtone when Jackie had laughed about it.
“You still set an alarm,” Jackie had pointed out.
“Yes, but I immediately wake up to coffee,” Callie had fired back.
The rich aroma that wakes her this morning comes well before her alarm clock does and is accompanied by the sweet smell of French toast. She loves French toast.
“Mmm,” she mumbles, even before she’s fully awake.
When she finally opens her eyes, she’s momentarily confused. It’s still dark out. She’s pretty sure it’s Sunday, and she has no idea who’s up making breakfast so early. Unwilling to get up quite yet, she snuggles back into the sheets. The material against her bare skin is far softer than what she usually feels. The other side of the bed is empty but still warm when she stretches her arms out.
Her surroundings slowly come into focus as her eyes adjust to the dimness in the room. The night before comes back to her in pleasant waves as she wakes up.
Almost as soon as they’re in Ethan’s apartment, their hands laced together, he’s kissing her. His lips are hungry and a little desperate against her own, his fingers digging into her hips. She groans, threading her hands through his hair.
“Why did we go to Donahue’s again?” she manages to gasp between kisses. “We should’ve-”
She loses her train of thought when his lips trail down her neck and find a sensitive spot that turns her into putty in his hands.
“Ethan,” she moans.
He nips at the spot again, and she tilts her head to the side, her eyes fluttering closed at the sensations rolling through her. God, if this is what he does to her just from kissing her neck, she can’t even imagine what he’ll do to her when he has her in his bed.
“We went to Donahue’s together because we can now,” Ethan murmurs in her ear.
The words make her pause long enough to tug his head back up until his eyes meet hers again. “We can, can’t we?” she muses.
The smile on her face at the words is mirrored on his. It still doesn’t seem real. After wanting him for so long, struggling to hold herself back when they were alone and in moments where she just needed him, wanted him, they don’t have to deny what they’re feeling anymore. She doesn’t think he’s going to start randomly kissing her in front of their colleagues at work anytime soon, but not having to hide what he means to her is a sweet relief.
Her smile widens when he ducks his head back down to press his lips to hers. It’s a long, lingering kiss, a promise of things to come. His fingers tighten on her hips at the noises coming from low in her throat.
Callie fumbles with the buttons on his shirt, his skin warm under her palms when she gets them undone. The thundering of his heart when she presses a hand to his chest makes hers race even faster. It nearly overwhelms her, the knowledge that they can finally be together and that this time, he won’t stop their kisses and tell her they can’t.
She leans against him, closing her eyes. His lips brush over her forehead.
“This is finally happening, isn’t it?” she murmurs.
He doesn’t answer. Callie glances up and sees a hint of a smirk on his face. She laughs.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
The smirk remains firmly in place.
She loops her arms around his neck. “I mean, I did, but not just like that. I meant… us.”
Ethan traces his thumb over her lips, his eyes searching hers. “Yes.”
“Ethan…”
She can’t put into words at the moment how overwhelmingly happy she is, so instead she kisses him again, pouring everything she’s feeling into it.
He walks her backwards into his bedroom, his lips only leaving hers long enough to murmur that he’s been waiting for this, for her.
As much as she wants to get up just to try and persuade Ethan right back into bed, the smell of coffee is enticing. Callie climbs out of his bed and pads into his bathroom to jump in the shower and brush her teeth, letting the hot water and minty toothpaste wake her up more.
She pulls her underwear on, then spots his shirt in the laundry basket. The soft fabric of his button-down shirt is far more appealing than thinking about putting her jeans and shirt back on. She briefly pictures his reaction to her walking into the kitchen in his shirt and pulls it on before she can stop herself. It smells good, a pleasant mix of his cologne and laundry detergent.
Ethan is standing at the stove when she emerges, his back to her. He’s shirtless and wearing just a pair of pajama pants. Her gaze lingers over his bare skin and the lines of his muscles. His hair is damp from a shower, still tousled, and her fingers itch to run through it again.
“Good morning,” she greets him when he turns around.
She sucks in a sharp breath at the look on his face when he sees what she’s wearing. His eyes rake over her. His expression is so full of desire that she has to bite her lip against making what she’s sure would be an embarrassing sound.
“Good morning,” he greets her, his voice low.
Callie wanders over to him, peering at the French toast stacked on a plate.
“Mmm,” she sighs. “That smells amazing.”
His arm wraps around her waist and she nuzzles into his side.
“I can’t believe you remembered I love French toast.” She pokes his side. “Some people might say you like me.”
He shakes his head, shuts the stove off, and reaches over to pour her a cup of coffee. “I’m observant. I remember a lot of things.”
“Well, that’s romantic. Way to ruin the moment,” Callie laughs, taking a sip of the fragrant liquid.
He takes her cup suddenly and sets it down. She doesn’t even have time to protest before he turns them and presses her back against the counter. He kisses her deeply, his hands slipping under the hem of his shirt to run over her stomach and around to her back. The embarrassing noise she’d tried so hard to keep in slips out.
“I wasn’t trying to ruin the moment,” he says. “Just making a point.”
“What point is that?” she gasps, her fingers digging into the muscles of his back.
He finds the sensitive spot on her neck again, his tongue and his teeth playing over it until she moans. “I remember that spot.”
He lifts her onto the counter and her legs wrap around him immediately, keeping him close. Ethan ducks his head down to kiss her again. “I remember you saying how much you think about kissing me, especially when you’ve had a bad day.”
She flushes when his fingers trail up her thighs, over the waistband of her underwear, and slowly inch their way higher. He keeps kissing her, soft and slow, but she can feel the burning intensity behind it. His fingers deftly undo the buttons on his shirt until it’s hanging off of her.
“Oh…” she moans when he nips at her collarbone and cups her breasts in his hands.
“I remember things about you because I want to, Callie. I want to remember the things that you like. The things that make you happy.”
“Mm,” she whimpers, arching into him when his thumbs run over her sensitive skin.
“I want to remember the things that make you make those noises,” he says in a low voice, nipping at her ear.
“Ethan.”
“God, Callie. I won’t be able to forget how my name sounds when you say it like that.”
His voice is husky, his eyes a deep midnight blue when he says it.
She squeezes her legs tighter around him. “Good thing you won’t have to try and forget it then,” she replies, her voice trembling.
His eyes burn into hers.
“Ethan… I… “
Her heart pounds in her chest. She swallows hard when he cups her face in his hands and leans in, his lips just brushing hers.
“I love you,” he murmurs.
She wraps her arms around him, holding on tightly. “I love you too,” she whispers, her voice thick with emotion.
He smiles at her and the feelings building in her almost spill over. Anything and everything else is forgotten for long moments while they hold on to each other. He looks unbelievably happy, so Callie is confused when he frowns suddenly.
“Ethan?”
“I just realized we didn’t actually make this official.”
Callie raises her eyebrows. “Okay, if you’re talking about filling out HR paperwork or something, you’re ruining the moment again.”
Ethan laughs once. “No, I’m not referring to paperwork. Although we will have to-”
She puts a fingertip to his lips, groaning when he kisses it softly. “Did you mean… asking me out?” Callie asks.
She has no problem with labels, but… “Are you going to ask me to be your girlfriend?”
She can’t really imagine Ethan saying those exact words. It just doesn’t quite fit him. Sure enough, his brow furrows and he says, “Not with those exact words, no. I was going to ask you to be with me.”
Her heart threatens to beat right out of her chest. She’s been waiting so long for him to ask her that, to actually be with him, that she almost forgets to answer.
“Callie?”
“Huh?”
Her eyes dart up to his. Ethan is watching her with amusement. “I’ve either rendered you speechless for once, Rookie, or you’re the one who’s about to ruin the moment.”
She snorts out a laugh. “Because I waited for this long to be with you just to turn you down? Not even close.”
She yanks his head down and is gratified at the way he sucks in a surprised breath when she kisses him. “Of course I want to be with you.”
As soon as the words are out of her mouth, Ethan lifts her up and carries her back to his bedroom. He sets her down on the cool wooden floor, stilling her hands when she goes to slip his shirt over her shoulders. He drinks her in, his gaze like a caress on her skin.
“Trying to remember how I look in your shirt?” she asks in a murmur.
Ethan nods. “It’s a good look,” he replies, finally sliding it off of her, his fingers feather light on her skin.
“So I should remember to do this more often.”
His answer is to kiss her hard and lift her onto his bed, his mouth trailing down her neck, her chest, her stomach, his name a cry on her lips as she arches into him.
As long as it’s taken them to finally get here, with nothing and no one in their way anymore, the wait has been worth it. There’s nothing she wants more right now than to keep having these moments with him.