"About this, us, our future."
She moves beside me and leans against the wall."And?"
"And I want it.All of it.You.Warren.Sunday dinners with your mam.Dinosaur facts at breakfast.The whole fucking thing."
She smiles."Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Good.Because I want it too."
We stand there in comfortable silence.She reaches for my hand and threads our fingers together.
"We're doing this then," she says."Properly.Building something real."
"Yeah.We are."
"It's going to be messy sometimes.I'm still healing.Warren still has nightmares.We're still figuring out how to be...normal."
"I know.And I'm still figuring out how to be the kind of man you need.The kind of man Warren needs."
"You already are."
I look at her, really look.At the strength in her eyes.The hope.The trust.
"I love you," I say.
Her breath catches."I love you too."She squeezes my hand."So much it scares me sometimes."
"Me too."
This is what I want.This is mine now.Not to own.Not to control.But to protect.To cherish.To build with.
"Come on," she says eventually."Warren wants to show you his dinosaur book.Apparently there's important information about Stegosaurus plates you need to know."
I smile."Can't miss that."
We head back inside.Together.
And for the first time in my life, I'm not just surviving.
I'm living.
Really living.
And it's fucking beautiful.
22
TANK
The clubhouse feels different when I walk in.Or maybe I'm different.It’s hard to tell.
It’s been three days since I properly set foot in here.Three days of being completely engrossed in Enya and Warren, not to mention learning way too many facts about dinosaurs.It’s been fucking bliss and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
But I'm still a brother.I’m still part of this club.I can’t just disappear, even if part of me wants to stay in that small flat forever.
Pyro spots me first and nods toward the back room."Tank.Got a minute?"
