Storm didn’t sleep.After he dropped the others off at the Rink, he took Nathan straight to his apartment. His precious human didn’t wake as he carried him inside. He undressed him on top of the blankets of his bed and used a warm washcloth to wash away the worst of the bloodstains. Nathan stirred just long enough to crawl into bed. Storm undressed slower, studying Nathan’s too-pale face. He’d come far too close to losing him tonight. What if they hadn’t gotten there in time? Would the guild’s doctor have been able to save him?
He shook off the maudlin thoughts and crawled into bed, curling around Nathan and settling in to wait for him to wake. He would keep watch, delighting in the sensation of warm skin and the reassuring thump of Nathan’s pulse.
The moon traveled slowly across the sky outside, and when Nathan finally stirred, warm morning light shone through the closed curtains downstairs, giving the apartment a hazy glow. He touched the back of Storm’s hand, draped around him, and rolled onto his back, blinking blearily at him.
He’d come so close to losing him. What would he have done without this man? If he’d had to face immortality without Nathan by his side? A month ago, he wouldn’t have guessed he would be so attached to one human. Now he couldn’t live without him. Hewouldn’t. If Nathan had died last night, Storm would’ve taken one of those holy blades and followed him right into the abyss.
He leaned in and kissed him. Nathan hummed, rolling toward him and throwing an arm and leg around him.
“Thank you for coming last night,” Nathan murmured when they parted. “When the attack started, I just wanted to see you again in case…”
Storm growled, crushing Nathan against him. “In case nothing. I’m not letting you leave me, sunshine. You’re stuck with me forever.”
To his horror, Nathan’s eyes filled with tears. They spilled from his eyes to soak into the pillow. “I love you,” he sobbed. “I don’t know what I’d do without you now.”
Storm reeled him in, letting Nathan muffle his sobs against his chest. He didn’t realize it until now, but some small part of him had been worried Nathan would regret leaving his ring behind and walking away from the guild. That he’d wake up, decide he’d made a mistake, and go back to them. But Nathanlovedhim. He didn’t think their relationship was a mistake. This was the beginning of their forever.
“I love you, too, sunshine,” he whispered, carding his fingers into the back of Nathan’s hair. “Do you know why I call you sunshine?”
“Mm? No. I just thought it was a nickname.”
“No. It has meaning to me.”
Nathan tilted his head back to look at him. “It’s not because the sun hurts you, is it? Because that’s not a nice nickname.”
Storm snorted. “Of course not.”
Nathan smiled, settling. “Okay, then why?”
Storm kissed him, needing to taste that smile. “It’s because you’ve brought light to my life. Light and warmth and color. My world was just empty and gray before I met you. You changed me completely. I’ll never be the same.”
“Oh, Storm,” Nathan breathed, and it was the best thing Storm had ever heard. He drew Storm into a deep, slow kiss, as though indulging in the taste of him.
Storm wanted to push for more, but he wasn’t sure Nathan could handle more yet. He was probably still recovering from the gunshot, at least internally. Luke and Malachi had said it took Luke a while to recover from the blood loss after being stabbed. He would wait as long as Nathan needed.
When they parted, Nathan sighed heavily. There was a weight behind it, and Storm cocked his head.
“What’s wrong?”
Nathan flapped a hand in the air above their heads. “I’ll have to leave my house now. And I don’t have a job. I’m really starting completely over.”
Storm stroked his back. Nathan had given up so much to be with him. Storm wasn’t sure he was worthy. “We’ll go back to the house one day, I promise. And I’m sure you can go to work at the Rink with the others. I don’t think they make much, but they get by. They get new clients all the time, because word’s getting around that they do good work.”
Nathan’s eyes were filling with tears again. “Yeah, I think I’d like working with them.” He sighed. “It’s hard to imagine a time in the future where the paladins are no longer a threat to us. I tried so hard to make them see that you guys weren’t the enemy. I’m sorry I failed.”
Storm brushed a kiss to his forehead. “Sunshine, they were never going to accept the truce.”
“I know. I justhoped. I wanted to make them see reason.”
“That’s because you’re a good man, Nate,” Storm said softly. “Better than anyone I know. Certainly better than me. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you, but I want to make you happy, if I can.”
“I am happy,” Nathan whispered.
Was he? The tears suggested otherwise. Storm shot him a doubtful look and wiped away the wetness collecting in the corner of his eye. “You sure about that?”
Nathan huffed out a wet laugh. “Yeah. You make me happy. This is… I don’t know. Everything that’s happened has me a little off-kilter, I guess.”
“I hear humans need time to adjust to big changes.”
