A hand came down on his shoulder, spinning him around. He turned with a challenging grin, ready to tell Leviathan to get lost so he could buy him something.
But it was not Leviathan that stood in front of him now.
“Walker?” He gasped.
50
Walker was openly gaping at him, tears in his eyes and shock written all over his pale face. His hand was still outstretched, hanging near Cullen’s elbow, and he was only inches away, his lips parted and his breathing uneven as he gazed at him.
“Cullen?” He whispered, his voice just as shaky as Cullen’s had been.
His mouth opened–and then closed again, his heart slamming hard inside his chest. He wondered if Walker could hear it. Knew Leviathan could, even over the thrum of people around him. Knew because he could hear the panic in his mind, could feel him hurrying towards them.
He couldn’t bring it in himself to respond to that panic. Couldn’t find his mental voice or his physical one.
Slowly, Walker opened his mouth again, his lips trembling. “You’re alive.” He whispered.
The tone of his voice sent memories reeling through his mind. The first time he’d heard him laugh, the way his eyeshad crinkled as he threw his head back; the first time he’d told Cullen how handsome he was; their first kiss, clumsy and surprising as it had been. Soft snores in the night that had given way to soft cries from the night terrors Leviathan had forced into his mind.
A cry of rage, a shout for Cullen to run…
“Cullen, you’re–” He reached for him–and Cullen flinched away, his shadows swallowing him up without him telling them to.
They stole sight and sound and scent until he was alone in the dark and he couldn’t have found his way out again even if he’d wanted to–
Something curled tight around his wrist. He could feel it, though he couldn’t see it, could feel it pull, draw him closer. He followed it, letting him pull him until he slammed into a hard, familiar chest, a racing heartbeat meeting his own as strong arms pulled him close.
The sweet scents of the festival vanished, replaced with fire and smoke; he inhaled harshly, something in him relaxing at the scent. Leviathan’s sweet smell hit him seconds later; Cullen brought his arms up around him, inhaling again to calm himself. His heart was still racing, a terrible panic curled tight in his chest, cutting off his voice and his thoughts.
Leviathan pressed a kiss into his hair and began to whisper something. Cullen couldn’t place the words for a long time. It wasn’t until he realized he was whispering, “You came home, you came home,” that Cullen felt himself calm. That he realized he’d portaled here himself. Or had tried to, at least. He wasn’t sure how he’d known how to do it but…yes. He’d come home. His arms tightened around Leviathan.
“I…I don’t understand.” He whispered after what felt like an eternity. “How was he there?”
Leviathan’s hand slid through his hair. “We may have been a little closer to the academy than you realized.”
He exhaled shakily. “We were in the city?” How could he never have noticed? It was true he had seldom gone down to the heart of the city, had hated the place…but to not recognize it at all…
“Are you angry?” Leviathan asked softly.
He took another slow breath. “No…I’m…I don’t know.”
Leviathan hesitated, his hand running through his hair again before he brought both up to cup his face. Cullen blinked up at him, blushing when tears ran down his cheeks. Leviathan’s lips pressed into an unhappy line and his mind began to pry at Cullen’s, looking for answers.
Hesitantly, Cullen opened his mind to him, closing his eyes while he let him see it all. The interaction, the emotions that had rocked through him at the sight of his ex, at the human memories that had come flooding back to him. Whatever he found there had his forehead dropping to Cullen’s, his gaze softening.
“I shouldn’t have brought you so close to the academy.” He scoffed, looking irritated. “I never thought he would come down there for the Christmas celebrations…”
Cullen wouldn't have guessed it either. Walker had always hated it all so much, had only gone along with Cullen’s love of Christmas to keep him happy–and barely even then. For him to be down there at that moment… Had he been looking for him? Or had he been trying to chase the memories of their past holidays?
“He was on a date.” Leviathan said quietly.
Cullen jolted away from him. “What?”
Slowly, Leviathan’s mind pressed into his again, showing him what he had not noticed before. Standing just behind Walker, his eyes wide with shock, had been Ryan, his lime green eyes wide with shock. They’d never hung out together before but Cullen would be lying if he said he hadn’t noticed the way Ryan had always looked at Walker, his eyes lingering…
But he never would have thought…
“A date?” He repeated, feeling as if somebody had punched him in the chest. “A date so soon after…”
