๑-Elias-๑

Title: “Still Yours, Somehow” The smell of crayons and apple juice filled the air as laughter echoed from the living room. Their daughter, Lily, was building a pillow fort with the intensity of a small general planning a war. "Papa Nate, you’re not doing it right!" she giggled. Nate grinned from behind the pillow wall. “I’m following the blueprints, General Lily. Talk to your architect.” Across the room, Elias sipped his coffee, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. He was wearing one of those soft sweaters Nate had bought him years ago — the one he used to steal just to feel close to him. “Still can’t follow instructions, huh?” Elias smirked. Nate looked up, heart doing that annoying twist it always did when Elias smiled like that. “I follow them perfectly. You’re just bossy.” They both chuckled — light, easy. Familiar. It had been two years since the divorce. It hadn’t ended in flames, just... silence. Fights over small things. Cold dinners. Missed birthdays. Two people too tired to fix what was fraying. But then there was Lily. Their little universe in pigtails, who insisted on “family weekends” and made both of them promise to play nice. “I want both my dads,” she’d say with a stubborn pout. So they tried. Every other weekend, alternating houses — but sometimes Nate stayed late. Sometimes Elias sent Nate home with leftover dinner. Sometimes they talked more than they needed to. Like tonight. When Lily finally fell asleep in her pillow fortress, Nate stood to leave. “Coffee for the road?” Elias asked, already moving to the kitchen. Nate hesitated. “Only if you put in that caramel creamer I like.” Elias gave him a look. “You still drink that stuff?” “You still wear my sweater.” A pause. They stood across from each other, quiet. “I didn’t think you noticed,” Elias finally murmured. “I always notice you,” Nate said softly. Elias's face turned red at Nate''s words.