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“With me?”

“With you, for you, because of you, yes.”

“Forever?”

“For however long you’ll have me.”

I looked up. “Forever.”

He smiled at me. “Okay.”

“You can move into my room,” I said quickly. “It’s cutely cosy and you’ll be closer to me that way.”

“Sounds good.”

I took a breath to keep going, but then… “Am I moving too fast? Am I too much? I can—”

“Call yourself too much again and I’ll spank you, love, I swear to god.”

My eyes went wide, vision clouding with the idea. I let out an “Ooooh” and he smiled, leaning down to kiss the tip of my nose.

“Let’s put a pin in that,” he said, then his expression softened. “You’re not too much, Owain. You’re exactly right for me.”

“I feel the same way about you,” I whispered, feeling warmth spread through me as his words tore down the walls I’d tried building around the well of need I had inside me.

The need to belong. The need to love. The need to be seen and heard and accepted.

“And just to prove I mean all of this, I have something for you.” He led me to the pile of blankets. There was something nestled in the fluff. “If you’re moving too fast, I’m right there with you.”

He bent down and picked up the wrapped item, then handed it to me gently. I wrapped my fingers around the colourful tissue paper and looked into his eyes.

“I got that at the market,” he said, rubbing the back of his reddening neck. “When you sent me away to go look at the dicks. Open it.”

I nodded and slowly unwrapped the paper, my eyes tearing up again when a perfectly carved, dark wooden spoon fell out.

“Ryan…” I gasped, heart already fluttering.

“I walked up to the booth and saw it and something told me to get it,” he said as I ran my fingers over the carvings. A knot, a keyhole, and a heart.

“This specific one?” I asked shakily.

He nodded. “I picked it up and it felt exactly right. I paid for it, and as he was wrapping it the man selling them told me the meaning. I had zero clue why I felt like I had to get it. I know now. It was for you.”

“What do they mean?” I asked, even though I knew. But I needed to hear him say it. To know I wasn’t dreaming it or reading into it.

He took my fingers between his and guided them down the handle of the spoon. “The knot means an unbreakable bond, together forever.” He gently stroked his thumb over my finger. “The keyhole is security, looking after someone, sharing a home. And the heart…”

He looked at me, eyes piercing and real. Honest and true.

“The heart…” I whispered, mouth dry.

“True love,” he said softly.

“Ryan…”

“I love you, Owain. So fucking much.”

“I love you too. More than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything.”