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My breath got trapped in my throat and I stumbled back directly into his waiting arms.

We were on the cliff again, Barth’s moonlit ship in the distance, the waves foaming against the harsh rocks beneath us. Millions of stars twinkled above us, and in front of me…a nest. Or something resembling one. Piles of blankets folded into a soft circle, with Ryan’s empty duffel bag discarded to the side.

“Wait…” I turned in his arms to look up. “Was that… The duffel…the blankets were in it?”

“Couldn’t really carry them in my arms and guide you here safely at the same time, so I just grabbed as many as I could find and stuffed them inside.”

My heart soared, deaf to my warnings. I felt my eyes water.

“Love?” His eyebrows furrowed in worry. “Owain, are you… Fuck, are you crying? Don’t cry.”

“I thought…” I hiccupped a little, clutching the fabric of his shirt under his coat in my fingers. “I thought you were packed. To…to leave.”

“Le-leave where?” he asked and I pressed my forehead against his chest, hiding my face. I was gonna say it, wasn’t I?

I was gonna be the one to take the leap and put it all out there, and wait to be let down.

“Home,” I said. “I thought you were leaving me and going home.”

Hands gripped my shoulders and pushed me away, and then his face was level with mine, blue eyes wide, expression worried and disbelieving. “What?”

I looked away with a shake of my head. “I know how to use my powers now. Andrew is calm. And your company no longer exists. Your mum’s waiting for you. You don’t have to be here anymore. And then you walked down with your bag and I just…”

“And you thought I was leaving you,” he finished.

I nodded. I felt so small. So exposed.

“I knew it was coming, I just didn’t think it would come so fast,” I whispered. Another tear rolled down my cheek. I couldn’t have stopped it if I’d tried. It landed on his palm, and he jerked his hand away like it had burned him.

“Love, please stop crying,” he said. “I’m not… Fuck, Owain, I’m not going anywhere.”

My head snapped up. He reached for me again, slipping his thumbs under the frames of my glasses to wipe the tears away.

“I wanted to tell you in private.” He pointed to the blankets. “I wanted to make it special.”

“Tell me what?” I asked, scared to hope, even though I desperately wanted to.

“That I don’t want to be without you ever again. That watching you be brave and powerful tonight put the last nail in the coffin of my singledom. You…you own me, Owain. You have since the first moment I saw you. I don’t want to leave. I don’t think I can. You, the ghosts, this place…it feels like home and I want to stay. If you want me to…”

I let out a sob so loud it startled us both. I couldn’t help it. “I want you to. I have wanted you to since the start but I didn’t want to assume. I didn’t let myself hope. I’m not…”

“Not what?” he whispered.

“I’m not forever. I’ve never been forever to anyone.”

“Owain…”

“I’m fun, y’know? I know I am. But I’m also… I’m very easy to forget. I’m easy to live without.”

“No, you’re not. Living without you would be the hardest thing I’d ever do. Leaving here would be the single worst decision of my life and I’ve already made so many awful decisions. And even if I did leave, I’d have you on my mind forever. Because you’re mine, love. My forever.”

I crashed against his chest, openly crying now, letting years of solitude and rejection just pour out as he held me tight. He whispered more beautiful words against my hair, ran his hands over my back, and kissed my wet cheeks over and over and over again until I was all out of tears.

I cuddled into him, nose pressed against his shirt, eyes closed and fingers clutching at him as if I still expected him to turn and walk away.

“You’re staying?” I whispered, and I felt him nod as he held me.

“I’m staying.”