“She said that we are running headfirst into heartache because we have love-goggles on. Because in three months’ time, when your school is over, you will return to Montana, and I will remain in the Pentagram.” They hugged themself with all four arms. “The worst part is, she is not wrong. You will be leaving, and I will not be going with you.”
“You could,” Bryce said, and their stomach somersaulted with a mix of elation and nausea at the offer. “Would you?”
They did not want to answer too quickly and risk hurting his feelings, but they felt themself shake their head all the same. “That is a very big decision. A life-changing decision.”
“It is,” he agreed.
“Would you stay?” they asked, and he shook his head just as quickly as Zef had.
“That has never been my plan. I have a whole life and career here. I can’t just… abandon that,” he said carefully.
It was the answer they had expected. Even if he offered to stay in the Pentagram, Zef would not have let him. They could see the way he shone here, the way he fit in this place, in this life. How could they ever ask him to give that up?
But in the same thread, how could they simply walk away from the life they had built for themself in Envy? They did not have a career path the way Bryce did, but the rest of their life was there. They could not simply walk away from it. Could they?
“Irrevocable circumstances.” they whispered, and Bryce knew what they were saying.
He shook his head, stepping forward to lightly grip their upper biceps. “I don’t believe that.”
“Then perhaps you are as naive as Nan claims,” they said, not unkindly.
“Or maybe I’m willing to think outside the box. Maybe I’m willing to fight for this because you’re… Zef, you’re worth fighting for.”
Ancestors above, this man. He was going to demolish their heart. There would not even be pieces left in his wake.
“You said you’d come visit,” he said, palms sliding up their arms and over their shoulders until he was cupping their neck. “And I’ll come visit you. We can make it work.”
“How sustainable can that be?”
“Not forever. I won’t want it to be forever,” he admitted. “I want to work towards a future where we’re in the same place, building a life together. And if you’re willing to work towards that too, then the rest is…”
“Pie,” they said, and he quirked his head. “Or cake. Or whatever other dessert you humans consider easy.”
Laughing wetly, Bryce nodded. “Yeah, the rest is pie.”
“Are you sure? Long-distance is not easy.”
“No, it won’t be easy, but you’re worth it.Weare worth it. Right?”
And yes, they were. Bryce and his sharp mind and his large, loving hands and his gentle soul. He was worth it all.
“Okay,” they said, setting their top hands on his chest as their lower hands framed his waist. “Then we will do long-distance, and we will visit each other as often as we can, and we will work toward a future together. Easy as pie.”
“Best pie in the world,” he said, and emotion cinched their throat shut at the pure adoration in his eyes.
“Will you hug me now?” they asked, and Bryce enveloped them, his body big and soft, making them feel surrounded and safe.
“I ain’t giving up on us before we’ve even had a chance,” he said into the nape of their neck. “Don’t you go giving up on me.”
“I will not,” they said, brushing the lightest kiss to Bryce’s temple. “You are worth fighting for too.”
He hugged them tighter, but they did not fight to escape it. They banded their many arms around him and cradled him close. Because he was their Bryce, and they were going to love him one day. They were going to love him down to their bones.
When they parted, Bryce beamed at them, smoothing their hair out of their face. Before they could, as their friends so eloquently coined it, sack out, they swiftly pecked his cheek. It was over and done in the blink of an eye, but their entire body flushed with adrenaline and tingles.
For his part, Bryce froze, slack-jawed, as his cheeks darkened under his beard. Much too smug, Zef preened, wings humming as they strutted past him with an extra spring in their step.
“Are you coming?” they called to a still frozen Bryce.
