After Kai picked up their child from the woman's house, The next few days passed in the kind of bliss that felt dangerous.
The kind of peace that made you forget just how much hell you'd survived.
Kai was living in Adrian's oversized shirts, walking barefoot through the creaky old cabin, humming gently so as to not wake the baby while he made tea and occasionally threatened Adrian with wooden spoons. And Adrian, Adrian was entirely gone for it. Every laugh, every sleepy stretch, every annoyed eye roll Kai threw his way had him wrapped around that dainty little finger tighter than before.
"This," Adrian murmured one night as they lay tangled together in front of the fire, "feels like a dream."
Kai blinked sleepily. "Mmh?"
"You, Me and our baby No blood. No bullets. Just… this."
Kai smiled against his chest. "If it's a dream, don't wake me up."
But beneath the warmth and stolen kisses, there was something unspoken pressing against them like fog on glass.
Reality.
They were two creatures from opposite worlds one built from ancient hunger, the other forged in the pull of the moon. This little haven? It was a pause. A deep inhale. But the exhale was coming.
And they both knew it.
Adrian tried not to watch Kai when he wasn't looking. Tried not to memorize every angle of his face. The way his nose crinkled when he read. The tiny pout he made when he was concentrating. The way he instinctively moved closer in his sleep, seeking warmth like a plant seeking sunlight.
One evening, after a lazy dinner of badly burnt grilled cheese {Kai insisted it was "rustic"}, they stepped outside to sit on the porch. The sky above was streaked with purples and soft oranges, stars beginning to blink through the velvet dusk.
Kai leaned into Adrian's side, eyes on the treetops. "You think we'll make it out of this?"
Adrian tilted his head. "Out of what?"
"Whatever's still chasing us, Vampires,Werewolves. The old rules. Fate."
Adrian was quiet.
Then, "If it touches you, I'll kill it."
Kai gave a dry laugh, though his eyes shimmered. "That's hot. Also insane."
"I'm serious, Kai. I don't care what kingdom burns. You're mine."
There was something primal in his voice low, rough, and edged with something dangerous. Kai turned toward him, eyes wide, heart beating like a trapped bird.
"I'm not afraid of them," Kai whispered.
"I am," Adrian said softly, brushing Kai's hair from his forehead. "Not for me. For you."
Kai climbed into his lap without hesitation, straddling his thighs, arms wrapping around Adrian's neck. "Then don't waste time fearing, baby. Just love me like it's the last chance we'll get."
Adrian's hands slid to his waist, thumbs drawing slow circles just under the hem of Kai's borrowed shirt.
"I already do," he murmured against Kai's lips, and then they were kissing slow and unhurried, like they had all the time in the world. But the hunger beneath it burned, ever present.
By the time they stumbled inside, pulling off clothes like they were suddenly too hot to bear, the stars were already watching.
And the fire inside the cabin?
It wasn't the only thing burning.... Just as they were about to get tangled, a gentle cry pulled them from their intimacy... "looks like someone's is up" Adrian said.