He felt Wren shift, and then he was propped up, elbows against his chest as he looked into his eyes.
“I know the system is against us, but I’ve always known that. I was ready to spit in its face at seventeen. And I’m more than ready to do it now at nearly thirty. I don’t care about Nexus, Teddy. I don’t care if they kick me out. I don’t give a singular shit about any of it. There are three things I want in this world. My sanctuary. My brothers. And you.”
“I just need you safe,” Teddy whispered. “I get what you’re saying, but I need you safe.”
“I will be,” Wren said, leaning down to kiss Teddy’s chest, right above his heart. “And I’ll keep this safe too.”
Teddy watched him for what felt like hours before he could force himself to speak over the tide of emotion that rose inside him.
“Fuck, I don’t know how I existed without you,” he finally managed to say, the words coming out breathy and shaky. He pushed himself up and rolled them over again, pinning Wren beneath him and resting their foreheads together. “I never want to do it again.”
“Let’s not.”
“So will you live with me? Wherever that ends up being.”
Wren’s hands found his hair, his smile effervescent. “Yes. I get to choose where it is though.”
“Deal,” he whispered, leaning down to steal another kiss from Wren’s lips.
He’d barely tasted him when his phone rattled against the nightstand, the vibration he’d put it on doing nothing to silence it.
“I fucking hate that sound,” Teddy said, resigned.
“Is it him again?” Wren asked. Teddy slid the phone off the nightstand and checked his message.
“Just Trace.” He smiled. “They’re calling us down for food.”
“Ah, okay. We should eat something. And probably check in to see where we are with the case.”
He rolled over to lie on top of Teddy as he said it and Teddy chuckled.
“Not helping, Little Bird,” Teddy said, even as his arms went around Wren’s waist and pulled his naked body closer.
“Neither are you,” Wren said, brushing their noses together.
“Come on.” Teddy slid out of bed with Wren still held in his arms. “We can shower together. Save water.”
“I love you being eco-friendly.” Wren giggled as Teddy carried him into his shower.
It took them longer than it should have, but they eventually managed to get dressed and leave Teddy’s room.
He led Wren down the stairs, his peripheral vision catching Eerie leaving Trace’s room before they joined Saint and Trace in the kitchen.
“Someone had a good rest,” Saint said with a smirk as they joined everyone at the table.
Teddy felt himself blush, but he didn’t look away. He was done hiding the fact that Wren was his entire life. Done pretending he wasn’t the best part of who Teddy was.
“I feel better than ever,” Teddy said, looking at Wren who sipped his tea smugly, smiling into his mug.
“Well that is great because our investigation only confirmed what we suspected,” Trace said. “All of our cases had an unregistered crap excuse for a caster. And I guess that’s all wecan say about that. They’re still not talking, their families are still refusing to cooperate, and PUMA will be foaming at the mouth if we so much as nudge anything else in this case.”
“So that leaves whatever you got,” Saint said.
“An address,” Wren said. “We have an address that we hope holds some of their operation.”
“How the fuck did you manage that?” Trace asked.
“The shady pet store we called you about,” Wren said to Saint. “It was part of their operation. And we caught a guy there.”
