The kiss to her temple comes as a surprise, and the smile on her lips freezes as her eyes widen. For all that being with him here is the most comfortable thing in the world, she's not expecting such a show of affection, undeniable and clear. It isn't that he hasn't been kind before. It isn't even that she thinks he's any place better to be than here, with her, with the world golden and bright around them both. But there's always a part of Effy that feels very strongly that she's no longer the loved one, no longer the one that people turn to because they want her embedded somewhere in their lives.

It's the part of her that thinks everyone will leave in time, by choice or by fate, but with that blink and that moment, he washes that mark away with the tide.

Soon, it'll burrow its way into her side again, but not before she turns to press a kiss back to his cheek in return.