Page 152

He pressed closer, lost himself in the moment.

For a while there was nothing in the whole ruined beautiful house but this.

At some point, they ended up on the floor properly. Nate’s back against the base of the armchair, Leo gathered against his chest, one of Nate’s arms heavy around him and the other hand moving slow through his hair, over and over.

Leo lay there and listened to the heartbeat under his ear.

He should say something. He had questions. How, and how long, and what happens tomorrow.

He could not bring himself to ask.

Not now.

Nate’s chest rose and fell. The lamp hummed. The hand in his hair kept moving, slower now, and slower, until it came to rest, just weight, just warmth.

“Goodnight, Leo,” Nate murmured, already half gone.

“Goodnight, Nate.”

Leo didn’t sleep. He could not. But he closed his eyes and let the heartbeat count the hours away. The night went soft at the edges, and comfortable.

If it were up to Leo, it could have gone on forever.

Chapter

Thirty-Four

Nate woke to the feeling of his head trying to kill him.

He was on the sitting room floor with his back against the armchair and a spike of pain behind his right eye. For a moment he did not move at all. Moving seemed like a mistake. His mouth was dry. His neck hurt.

His arms were cold.

He looked down. Leo was still there, gathered against his chest exactly where he’d fallen asleep.

But Nate’s arm went through him. Through his shoulder, through the blue fabric of his sweatshirt, resting on the floorboards on the other side of him.

The effect of the tea had faded, of course.

Leo’s eyes were open and looking at him.

“You’re awake,” he said.

“Unfortunately.”

“You look terrible.”

“Uh-huh.” Nate closed his eyes again. The light hurt. And underneath the headache, everything was loud. Leo most of all. He could feel him without trying, bright and close. Leftovers from the tea, probably. He decided not to mention it.

“You snored again,” Leo said.

“You stayed again.”

Silence.

Nate opened one eye. Leo hadn’t moved. He was lying in the circle of an arm that couldn’t hold him anymore, chin up, daring Nate to make a big deal of it.

Nate was not going to make a big deal of it.