A sliver of moonlight fell through the smallest of gaps in the curtain as Elise walked into the kitchen. She looked around, remembering the way her father had often sat alone in the dark, hot drink in hand, lost in his own thoughts. She’d sometimes sat with him; other times she’d slipped back up the stairs, not wanting to disturb him. At the time, she’d wondered why he hadn’t just gone up to bed to sleep, but she knew now that he’d felt as if the weight of the world had been on his shoulders, because that’s exactly how she felt now. And she’d also seen the heavy load of guilt resting upon him too, at so vocally encouraging his son to fight for their country, only to have him slaughtered within weeks of departure.

In truth, her father hadn’t been the one to make the choice; Louis had been a young man, expected to fight. But his guilt had been at how quickly he’d pushed him, how robustly he’d announced him as a hero to their homeland.

Elise filled the kettle with water to boil, and then placed her palms on the cool kitchen bench, eyes shut as she folded forward.

“Anything I can do?”

She leapt up, hand to her heart as she spun around. “Harry! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

He moved out of the darkness and closer toward her, facing her from the other side of the kitchen.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, his voice soft and low. “I just didn’t want you to think you were alone. In here, I mean.”

She smiled as he turned on the light, running her eyes over his face, at the stubble brushing his cheeks, at the easy way he looked back at her even though they barely knew one another. She’d seen a different side to him earlier in the way he’d spoken to Cate, the way he’d almost shunned her nursing skills out of guilt for being alive. But now he looked at ease, with her at least, although maybe he was just too tired to be any other way with her in the middle of the night, standing in her kitchen. They’d clashed the night that he’d arrived, and the following day, but she was starting to think that perhaps she’d been a little too hard on him after everything he’d been through.

“You couldn’t sleep either?” she asked.

His smile made his lips tilt upwards just a little. “If I’m honest, I don’t know when I’ll ever be able to sleep again.”

She turned her attention to the water starting to boil and took two mugs down from the shelf. It was nice to have someone to talk to, even if she was still a little unsure around him.

“Coffee?”