ARIA'S POV
She found him in the study.
He was standing at the window when she came in....jacket off, shirt sleeves rolled up, the particular stillness of a man who had been waiting and was trying not to look like he'd been waiting. He turned when he heard the door.
He looked at her face.
She looked at his.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
"How was it," he said.
"Done," she said. "It's done."
Something released in him visibly....she watched it move through his shoulders, his jaw, the set of his whole body shifting into something that wasn't carrying weight anymore. He crossed the room and she met him halfway and he pulled her in and she went....completely, without resistance, her face against his neck and his arms around her and the specific warmth of being held by someone who had been worrying about you and was now holding the proof that the worrying was over.
She exhaled.
He pressed his lips to the top of her head.
They stood there for a moment.
