Florian bit back his tears and looked away. “I know,” he rasped, steeling himself for whatever was coming next.
“So why?” Kade said, his voice breaking. “Why do I still want to stay?”
Florian’s head snapped up to look at him, not daring to believe what Kade had just said. But Kade was looking steadily back at him, tears dripping down his face with a weary look of acceptance.
“Please,” Florian heard himself beg, as he pushed himself across the floor to sit directly across from Kade, their knees touching. “Please stay.”
Weakly, Kade shook his head. “Jerah died because of me. I can’t stay.”
“That’s not true,” Florian protested, gingerly setting the Arrow down next to him, so he could grab Kade’s hands with his. “It was an accident. We were both being stupid, but it was an accident. Even if it is your fault, it's my fault too. Okay?”
It took a moment, but eventually Kade nodded silently, looking down at their hands.
“Please stay,” Florian repeated, squeezing his hands again. “Please stay.”
“Don't do this to me, Florian,” he breathed, looking away with an agonized expression. “I don't think I can say no to you.”
“Please,” Florian whispered. His vision blurred with tears, but still he kept his eyes firmly on Kade who squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again to meet Florian's gaze. He took in a long, shuddering breath before speaking again.
“Okay,” he said. “I'll stay.”
And he pulled Florian close and kissed him. Every nerve in Florian’s body cried out in relief as he kissed back, frantic and needy. For a moment it felt like the world had slipped back onto its axis—that everything that had gone wrong was suddenly righted.
“Can we start over?” Florian asked after he pulled away, eyes still closed. “Do you still want this? To be with me?”
Kade was silent, kissing him in answer: a soft press of his lips before taking in a slow, deep breath. Florian opened his eyes. Kade was looking at him with an inscrutable expression, somehow sad and hopeful all at once.
“Part of me is still mad at you,” he finally said. Florian's heart sank, but before he could dwell on it, Kade took in a shuddering breath and continued, “But I... I don't want to be away from you, either.”
“Really?” Florian asked. A tiny spark of hope had lit in his heart. “You're sure?”
Kade nodded. “If I'm going to stay, then I want to stay for you. Not just because you need help. That too, but... I wanted to be with you the first time I saw you. And then you were so curious, and you wanted to come here to help, even though you were scared, and you didn't really believe it. You were kind and brave. And I still… I think you're a good person, and I want to help you, and... be close to you.”
Florian pressed himself closer to Kade, who squeezed him even tighter. His arms felt strong and warm around him, and for the first time in days, Florian felt he was truly safe.
Without meaning to, he started to sob, all the anguish pouring out of him at once. His hands clenched into fists against Kade’s shirt as he wept, and in his arms Florian could distantly feel the sensation of the other man’s shoulders trembling with his own tears. If he had lost Kade, too... He didn’t know what he would have done. He would have lost everyone.
Eventually, Florian’s sobs relaxed into choked hiccups, then stuttering breaths. Kade still held him tightly, keeping him propped up as he had slumped forward against him.
“We can take it slow for real this time,” Florian said, his voice muffled against Kade's chest, damp with his tears. “Whatever you want.”
He could feel Kade shaking his head. “No point in that anymore. Everything I was afraid of already happened. Whatever you want to do is fine.”
Florian laughed weakly at that. “Whatever I want, huh?”
“I'm serious,” Kade said, squeezing him again.
“Will you go down to breakfast with me, then?” he asked. With everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, he felt more vulnerable and raw than he could ever recall feeling in his life. “I—I don't want to be alone in the castle.”
Kade made a soft noise, a rumble deep in his chest. “Okay. I understand.” For a moment, they were both silent. Florian could hear the thudding beat of Kade’s heart against his ear. “Maybe let me put my things back in my room first.”
Florian laughed, and Kade released him as he got to his feet. “Okay. I'll help.”
***
They stayed together for the rest of the day, hand in hand as they wandered through the castle, until Tatiana asked them to help sort through Jerah's things.
“These are all of his notes, everything he's compiled since he started gathering information on the Blight and the Arrows,” Tatiana told them, gesturing toward a pile of notebooks and loose papers that had been stacked on Jerah's writing desk in his private study.
