He grabbed my hips, holding me close as I kissed him. But then I remembered something he'd said and jerked back, panting as I leaned my forehead against his.
"You said the bond—the bond isn't always romantic," I panted, tracing the ridge of his nose with my thumb, trying toseeif he still looked the same as he had years ago. His nose wastiny and pert, his cheekbones high and sharp, his scalp smooth and devoid of hair, which surprised me a little, because the last time I'd seen him, I'd been sure he had some hair. Or were they just strands of his shadows?
His face was angled sharply, like he was always just a little underfed. He'd told me it was what his species looked like when I'd tried to force my dinners on him as a kid.
"It's not. It can be platonic. It can even be between siblings and have no sexual or romantic component at all. But it's not like that for me," he said, and I relaxed.
"Me neither," I promised, then kissed him again, pouring in all the things I'd felt in his absence. All the times I'd wished he was with me, all the times I'd wondered why he'd left, all the times he'd made me smile as a kid. Back then, I'd just thought he was amazing, but over the years of his absence, he'd turned into something more. I'd believed he was the only person who could truly understand me, who knew what it was like to be forever trapped in darkness and still see the light.
Shade pulled back after a moment, and I realized my lungs were burning. I dragged in a deep breath as my hands slid to Shade's shoulders, then down his arms. He was as lanky as ever, his limbs just a little too long. I could feel his shadows around us, like thick clouds brushing up against my skin again and again. They felt nice. Comforting.
"You're really happy about this, aren't you?" Shade asked, something like wonder in his voice.
"Of course I am." Didn't he know just what he meant to me? Didn't he know how much I'd missed him? How desperately I'd wanted to see him again?
"I'm glad," Shade murmured, and I tucked my face into his neck, breathing him in.
"You have no idea what it was like, coming home and finding out you were gone. I wasn't scared when I lost my sight. I really wasn't. When the doctors told me my blindness was possibly permanent, my first thought was that we had something in common now. I'd been so sure you'd help me, that I wouldn't have to worry about anything because you'd be there. When I came home and found out you were gone? That was when the fear came. I broke down. I cried and cried, and my mom thought it was because it was finally hitting me that I'd never see again, but all I cared about was that I would never see you again."
Neither of us spoke for a long moment after my confession, and Shade wrapped his arms around me, holding me to him as I focused completely on him. His scent, his soft breaths, the way his heart beat against my chest. His heartbeats weren't like mine, more of a thud-thud-thud thud-thud, and I found myself following the beat as if it was a lullaby.
"I'm sorry," Shade murmured, startling me. Had I really been about to fall asleep?In Shade's lap?"I never should've left you."
"Yeah, you shouldn't have. But it's okay. We're together now, and I'm not letting you get away again."
"I'm not going anywhere," Shade assured me, and I smiled against his skin.
We sat like that for a while, talking in whispers as we told each other about our lives away from the other. I told him about teaching a class of third-graders, feeling all warm and fuzzy when he expressed how proud he was of me.
He told me about drifting from shadow to shadow after he left my home, and how Zephyr found him and offered him a home at the Sanctuary.
We talked until a loud bell interrupted us, the same as last evening, and Shade patted my back.
"Are you going to go have lunch with everyone?"
"I don't want to leave you here alone," I said with a pout as I sat back.
"I could come with you, in your shadow," Shade offered, and my eyes widened. We used to do that when I was a kid, and while Shade couldn't interact with me when he was inside my shadow, he'd still enjoy going places.
"Yes, please. I'll grab us some food and then come back early so we can eat here," I suggested, and Shade pressed a soft kiss on my lips, making my cheeks heat up.
"Sounds good."
Shade
The moment Diego stepped into the dining room, silence fell. All eyes—as far as I could see from my spot in his shadow—turned to him, but of course, he didn't notice.
"Diego?"Liam asked as he hurried over, a note of incredulity in his voice. "What are you doing here?"
Diego was surprised too, because I'd been too distracted by his kisses and having him in my lap to tell him that he already had another friend here.
"Liam? What areyoudoing here?"
"Let me hug you first," Liam said, then gave Diego a tight squeeze that would've made me jealous if he didn't have a ring on his finger and his mate right behind him.
Diego hugged him back, then pulled away, his head turning from side to side. "Youarehuman, right?"
Liam snickered. "Yes, I am. You've met my fiancé, though. Haruto?"
