Chapter Text
The training simulators at Johnson Space Center hummed with controlled chaos, but Reid always found her in the noise. Christina stood reviewing telemetry data, her posture straight, her focus unbreakable. Without thinking, Reid stepped beside her. His fingers brushed hers first—light, almost accidental—then laced through them fully.
Christina didn’t look up right away. She simply squeezed back, her thumb tracing a small circle on the back of his hand. “You’re early,” she murmured, a smile tugging at her lips.
“Couldn’t wait,” he replied softly. His other hand came up to rest at the small of her back, warm and steady. In the sterile lights of the center, amid checklists and pressure suits, this was their language: no grand declarations, just the constant, gentle proof that they were tethered to each other. When she finally turned, he pulled her hand to his chest, pressing her palm over his heart so she could feel its steady rhythm. “This always beats calmer when I’m holding you.”
She leaned in, forehead briefly touching his shoulder. “Then don’t let go.”
He never did.