The cabin was small.
Wooden walls. A crooked chimney. One flickering fireplace struggling against the cold. But to Kai, it was perfect.
It was quiet.
And quiet was everything.
Adrian hadn't said much since they escaped. He didn't have to. Every touch, every glance spoke louder than any words. And Kai gods, Kai couldn't stop touching him.
His fingers skimmed Adrian's ribs as they lay tangled on the floor before the fire, wrapped in one thin blanket and each other. Every scar his fingertips passed over made his heart clench.
"I'm sorry," Kai whispered, barely audible over the crackle of the fire. "For not finding you sooner."
Adrian didn't respond immediately. He just pressed a kiss to Kai's temple, breathing him in like he was the first breath after drowning. "You came," he said finally. "That's all that matters."
Kai shifted, sliding on top of him with a gentle, teasing weight. "Damn right I did," he murmured, brushing his nose against Adrian's. "And I'm never letting go."
Adrian's lips curved into the ghost of a smile. "Good. Because I don't want to run anymore."
Kai paused, his brows knitting with the softness of the moment. "Then don't. Stay here. With me. Let's make this… something new."
"You think we can?" Adrian asked, voice rough with disbelief. "After everything?"
Kai nodded slowly. "I think we deserve to try."
He kissed him again slow this time. No urgency. Just warmth. Healing. His lips coaxed a sigh from Adrian's chest, and Adrian's arms slid around him, anchoring him there like he was afraid Kai might float away.
But Kai wasn't going anywhere.
They didn't make love that night not really. What they did was something deeper. Softer. They undressed each other like unwrapping fragile memories, like worshipping something holy. Every gasp was a prayer. Every moan a plea for more time.
Adrian trembled beneath Kai, not from lust but from the way Kai looked at him like he wasn't ruined. Like he was still a man worth touching. Worth saving.
When it was over, Kai rested his head against Adrian's chest, listening to the heartbeat he'd fought so hard to reclaim.
"You're safe now," he murmured. "This place... it's ours. No more blood. No more screams. Just you. Me. And maybe some really awful tea."
Adrian chuckled, low and worn. "I love awful tea."
"You would," Kai said, grinning into his skin.
Silence fell again. But it was the good kind. The kind that wrapped around them like a lullaby, like snow falling soft outside.
And for the first time in a long time, Adrian slept.
Not with one eye open.
Not in chains.
But with Kai's arms around him.
And hope tucked into the space where pain used to live.