Preston Garvey Week Day 6 - Sunrise

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN: September 2025

NOTES: One of several entries into Preston Garvey (Appreciation) Week over on Tumblr!

It was a hard-fought battle. A long road that led the sole survivor and his closest companion to lay their heads to rest within The Castle’s walls. Turmoil. Bloodshed. Love and grief. They had their ups, and they certainly had their downs, but they made it through. They survived. They lived to see another day…

And to see each other as the sound of the high tide receding echoed through the dank walls.

Preston was the first to stir as the dawn broke, tired eyes lazily scanning the room before coming to focus on the man beside him. For once, he looked peaceful as he rested; he wasn’t grimacing or tense. He wasn’t fighting anymore. His features were soft, and his breaths were steady as he moved to bask in the warmth the illuminated sheets had brought. The strong arm around Preston moved, too, pulling his (presumably) sleeping partner closer. For once, now that he knew they had it, Preston gave in. Didn’t shy away in an attempt to sneak out of the bed and onto preparation for their next mission. He indulged. Shifted against the sheets and slowly tucked his head beneath Shepard’s so that he could press a gentle kiss to his shoulder.

It was quiet. It was comfortable. And the soft silence was broken by a sleep-trodden hum.

“Hey… You’re still in bed…” His voice was low; held a warmth that mirrored that of the sun’s rays. “Everything okay?”

Preston couldn’t stop the amused laugh that crawled forth, his arms moving to slowly wrap around his lover’s torso. “Yeah, of course, babe. Just… feeling comfortable. For once.”

Shepard laughed with him, stretching briefly before leaning to kiss the top of his lover’s head. “That’s good. I think… I think I am, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He paused, listening to the distant sounds of others waking and going about their duties. Hushed chattering, the excitable barking of their canine companion, the powering up of the radio and that soft, classic music rolling through the halls. “I feel like… I’m home.”

The words carried a weight that only they could understand. He had lost everything; the world as he knew it was shattered in a way that seemed impossible to rebuild. Even in moments like these, where the pair found themselves relishing in the smaller victories, it felt so weak in comparison. It was never home. It was just a new world. And even for Preston, who had been born into the ashen remains of history, there was never a sense of home that carried beyond the old homestead he’d been raised in. Every settlement lived and lost felt distant–foreign and uninhabitable. But The Castle? It felt like home. Like the culmination of his efforts finally paid off.

He smiled against Shepard’s skin, withdrawing just enough to meet his gaze.

“You have no idea how glad hearing that makes me. I feel the same way. I… I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t… want… to leave this spot. Not for a long time.”

“Well… We don’t have to.” Shepard shifted his position, turning more on his side so that he could sit up and watch the sunlight pour in. Watch it reflect off Preston’s deep, rich skin and bring out all those gorgeous hues. The ample maroon of his cheeks; the cool undertones of the five o’clock shadow that’d just begun to sprout.

Soft, calloused hands reached up to pet the stubble, earning another laugh from his partner.

“Maybe. But what about–”

“The morning rounds? The others can handle it… And we’ll hear if they can’t.”

“… Right, yeah. Okay.” Preston’s brows furrowed a bit. “That’s all we have, isn’t it?”

A curious glance. “All we…?”

“I didn’t mean–” He sighed, looking out the window across the way and watching as the clouds rolled by. “What I meant was… With everything said and done… We actually have time to sit and just exist.”

“… It does feel strange, doesn’t it?”

A soft chuff. “You’re telling me. It means that things actually got better. That I–That we did it. We did something that I never would have thought…”

“Hey.” Attention was caught. Their gazes met again. Shepard’s thumb caressed Preston’s cheek, expression soft as he mulled over his thoughts. Dissected Preston’s and tried to find the right source of comfort. “You don’t have to tell me twice. When I first left the Vault, I never would have thought anyone could survive… Then I found your group at Concord, and it was then that I knew it was possible. That anything was possible, really. Especially when you told me about…”

Quincy.

“Shepard…” His voice was soft. There was a subtle shiver to it; one that rippled through his nerves and raised his hairs. He sat up, setting his hand on his chest and splaying his fingers so that he may feel his lover’s heart. He reciprocated, placing his hand over Preston’s and holding him tenderly.

And he grinned, lopsided and drowsily. “Preston.”

As much as he tried to show displeasure in the cheesy mirroring, Preston couldn’t help but smile back. It was equally lopsided and drowsy, but it was full of enough love to spread across the Commonwealth and strike everyone’s hearts. “Very funny, babe. What I wanted to say–or rather ask–was… Do you really think things will stay like this?”

“I’d like to think so.” He sighed. “The world is so… different from the one I knew. But… I know that as long as you’re by my side, everything will be okay. We’ll be okay.”

“Yeah… Okay, I believe you.” The weight that sat atop his shoulders finally shed, coaxing him to join his partner in sitting up to admire the dawn. “So… That means we don’t have to get out of bed just yet?”

His coy grin was met with a gentle kiss.

“We can stay here all day, if you’d like.”

“Hmm… Don’t tempt me with a good time, General.”

“And if I did?”

Preston sat up more, leaning in to kiss Shepard with a surprising liveliness. He kissed back, melting against the sheets and tracing along the contours of his jaw. After a moment, they withdrew, leaving only a minute amount of space between them.

“Then we might be here all day after all.”