He sat there, clinging to him, breathing heavily as he tried to bring his brain back online. After a few moments, Dimitri set him away from him gently. Arlo blinked at him, watching as he reached for the tissues they kept in the center console. He opened his pants, just to clean him. Arlo let him, too out of it to protest. His limbs felt heavy, his thoughts honeyed, his chest tight as he thought about how fucking lucky he was to have him. When he was clean and tucked back in, Dimitri gathered him in his arms once more, wrapping them both in the blanket.
“You know,” Arlo said after a while, voice muffled against Dimitri’s collarbone, “if this had happened five years ago, I would’ve completely lost it.”
“I know,” Dimitri said. No judgment. Just fact.
“But I didn’t,” Arlo added. “Not really. I mean, I panicked, but…” He shrugged. “I came back.”
Dimitri met his gaze. “You always do,” he said quietly. “You’re tougher than you think you are.”
They sat like that until Arlo’s breathing evened out completely, his body heavy and relaxed against Dimitri’s. The storm hadn’t lessened, but it no longer felt threatening to Arlo, just loud.
Dimitri finally reached for his phone again, shifting carefully like he didn’t want to disturb Arlo. He tried his mother’s number once more.
This time, it rang.
Arlo stilled. Dimitri smiled into his hair.
“Hey, Mom,” Dimitri said when she answered.
“Hey, kid. Are you driving?”
“Uh, not exactly. We are kinda stuck on Highway 160 about two miles South of Preston. We ran out of gas. Do you think you could bring us some?”
“Yeah, sure. Oh, wait. Cricket’s here. I’m not sure I feel okay leaving her alone. I suppose I could go by myself.”
“Like hell you will,” Lola said.
“I’ll be fine. Really,” Cricket said in the distance. “This baby is already five days late. I doubt he plans on making an appearance right now.”
“I don’t know…” Calliope said.
“I’m fine,” Cricket assured her again. “Go.”
Calliope sighed. “Are you two safe?”
“Yeah. We’re okay. Just need someone to bring us gas andyou’re closer than anyone else.”
Arlo could hear her gathering her things as she said, “We’re on our way. We have gas for the generators that we can bring. Just hang tight.”
“Okay. We’ll stay put. Love you,” Dimitri said.
He ended the call and kissed Arlo’s temple. “Rescue is officially en route.”
Arlo let out a long, relieved breath. “Told you we weren’t gonna die.”
Dimitri laughed softly. “You did not.”
Arlo smiled anyway, rolling onto his side, using Dimitri’s chest as a pillow, letting his eyes slip shut. He yawned, a high pitched sound escaping as he did. He burrowed his face deeper into Dimitri’s coat with a contented sigh.
“Take a nap,” Dimitri said. “I’ll let you know when they get here.”
Arlo tipped his head up, frowning. “What about you?”
Dimitri reached into his pocket, pulling out his AirPods. “I’ll just listen to my music. My phone’s almost fully charged.”
“Can I listen too?”
Dimitri cued up some Christmas music—a playlist he’d made just for Arlo—carefully tucking the other AirPod into Arlo’s ear. Arlo didn’t think he made it through a whole song before he was drifting off but he couldn’t help it. The heat of Dimitri’s body, the steady thumping of his heart beneath his ear, the low Christmas music…it was all too comfortable, too cozy.
