Ayden sat at a highly polished table in a study room at the Arcane University. It was an ornate room, with walnut paneled walls that curved at the top of the vaulted ceiling, and encircled the stain-glass dome above. The center of each panel was a detailed painting, depicting events or important figures of mage history. Even the lamp in the center of their table was a small statue of Eolys, the God of Magic. The robed man with a crooked nose held up his hands to hold a blue crystal, glowing brighter than most so as to give plenty of reading light.

A book laid open before him, but his attention was on the woman beside him. She was deep in thought as she wrote in a journal. She’s the complete opposite of Tess, he mused. She was pretty in a gentle way, delicate and feminine, not a plain but cute tomboy. Her strawberry blond hair hung loose in waves, not straight and brown and in a braid. Her eyes were bright blue and thoughtful, not chocolate brown and exuberant. She did have freckles, but Tess had much fewer and only across her nose. And Tess was slender, whereas this girl was curvy.

Elyandra Wilnic—the woman his grandmother wanted him to be with—was intelligent and kind and from a powerful mage bloodline. And the one huge difference between her and Tess: she wanted him. For as long as he had wanted Tess, Elyandra had imagined marrying him someday.

He couldn’t find any fault in her at all, except… she wasn’t Tess. She didn’t have a childlike nature. She didn’t do silly things just to make people smile. She was serious and quiet, not playful and prone to lively chatter. Tess had brought light and laughter into his life.

“What are you smiling about?” Elyandra asked, her voice soft and sweet.

He had been staring at her but hadn’t notice her attention had shifted to him. “Oh,” he muttered, shaking his head slightly. “Nothing.”

“Something interesting about my face?” she wondered, smiling as if she knew what he was thinking.

He forced an amiable smile for her, then looked down at his book, the second volume of ‘The History of Manipulations of Origin Spells’. “We should finish studying,” he suggested, keeping his tone neutral. “You’ll like the next section, it’s on Richard Wilnic’s successes with ice spells.”

Her disappointment at his change of focus was brief, quickly replaced by interest in the book. Magic was the most important thing to her, and she could very easily let everything else go. Still, she scooted closer and put her hand on his arm as she read from his book instead of the copy in front of her.

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt,” a man behind them said.

Ayden turned—thankful for the excuse to move—to the old, gray-bearded man who worked at the university. “No, it’s fine.”

“It’s just that this letter arrived for you, and I know I like to get my mail straightaway. I thought you might, too,” he said cheerfully.

Ayden frowned in confusion as he took the letter. He hadn’t told anyone he was here. “Yes. Thank you.”

------

Julia answered the door and gasped when she saw Ayden standing on the front porch. Smiling widely, she pulled him into a tight hug. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you!” She let him go so she could hold his face in her hands. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking him over to see if there were any signs of damage, or if he was too thin.

The only real sign of distress were the bags under his eyes—he hadn’t exactly been sleeping well. “I’m fine,” he answered.

She smiled and hugged him again, but after a moment, she pulled back and smacked his arm. “Do you know how worried I’ve been? You could have at least written me and told me you were okay, that you had a roof over your head and food in your mouth,” she admonished sternly.

He looked down sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” she said happily. “You’re home now.”

He nodded and looked at her again. “Thanks for sending the letter. You were right; I thought she was with him.” He fought against the tears that threatened as he said it. He had been miserable in Oraunt for two and a half weeks and all the while, Tess had been here, waiting for him. He hated himself more every time he thought about it.

“Go talk to her. She can tell you everything,” Julia said, taking his hand and leading him into the house. They stopped in the living room, next to the couch and the pile of clothing she had been folding there. “But I didn’t say anything or send you any letter.”

He smiled. “Of course not. So, how’d you know where I was?”

She shrugged. “I know that, after Tess, you love magic more than anything, so I sent the same letter to all of the Mages Guilds and the university.”

“You wrote thirteen letters?” he asked, touched by her effort.

“Well, twelve. I went to see your grandmother in person. Sorry to say it, but she’s not a nice woman.”

Ayden frowned worriedly. “What’d she say?”

“She wouldn’t tell me anything,” Julia said with a huff. “Just told me to get out of her office, that she had no time for mild mages like me. No offense, but mages can be so damn high and mighty.”

He nodded. “Sorry. But thank you for going through the trouble to find me.”

“It’s fine, and well worth it.” She smiled and touched his cheek fondly. “You know, I have no idea how such a sweet person came from a family like yours.”

He smiled back. “You didn’t have a good family, but you’re really sweet,” he pointed out.

She waved a dismissive hand at his compliment as she turned, and led him through the house. She stopped by a window at the back and nodded at Tess, who sat in the middle of the yard. She was looking away from them, toward the forest, with her knees against her chest and her arms wrapped around them. “She misses you so much,” Julia told him. “You two have been inseparable since you were six years old—you don’t belong apart.”

He took a deep breath and blinked back tears. Just the sight of Tess' back made his heart swell. He desperately hoped he would be able to stay with her. But even if she wasn’t with Matt, it didn’t mean she wanted to be with Ayden, and if she didn’t, then she would just eventually be with someone else. He couldn’t stay to watch that.

__________

“Tess!” Gavin called as he came out of the forest where he and Falcon had been for the past two days, and stopped on the other side of the fence.

Falcon walked up behind his son, holding his horse’s reins in one hand. Tess' saddlebags were on it, along with his own. Once he lifted Gavin up over the fence and set him in the yard, the boy immediately ran to his sister. “Look! I found them!” he told her happily.

She smiled at him as he handed over her daggers. She was thrilled to have them back, and almost felt like hugging the beloved weapons. “Thanks, Creepy.”

“He’s quite the tracker,” Falcon told her proudly, then added to his son, “We’ll have to get you a bow and take you hunting soon.”

“Mom will love that,” Tess said sarcastically. “She’ll probably be afraid he’ll shoot himself in the face or something.”

“You can’t shoot your own face with a bow, stupid,” Gavin told her, rolling his eyes.

Tess chuckled and Falcon joined in, until he looked toward the house. “Come on, Gavin, let’s go stable the horse.”

“I don’t wanna,” Gavin complained. “I wanna see if Uncle Cael got me the beetle book like he promised.”

“Fine,” Falcon said easily. “Why don’t you take your sister’s daggers inside for her?”

“Okay,” Gavin agreed, taking them and then running into the house.

“Thanks for getting it all for me,” Tess told her father.

He smiled. “Of course. I’ll be back.” He jumped up onto his mount and rode off.

She started to get up to go into the house, but when she turned, she saw Ayden coming toward her and sat back down, barely breathing. Her stomach knotted and her heart swelled at the sight of him.

He stopped in front of her, bent to pick a little daisy from the grass, and then held it out to her. “What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

She took the flower with a sad smile, and it was a minute before she could make herself speak. “He left, and I miss him,” she said, paraphrasing the conversation they’d had when they first met.

“Who?”

“My best friend.”

“Where’d he go?”

She swallowed and looked down at the flower as she twirled it between her thumb and finger. “I messed up. I hurt him, and he went away.”

He knelt down. “I could stay with you if you want.”

She nodded and wiped her tears on her long shirtsleeve. “Okay,” she mumbled. “Can we be friends again?”

He nodded slowly.

“Can you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” he told her. “But can you forgive me?”

“For what?”

“For not telling you every day, for years, how much I loved you. For stupidly assuming you knew.”

She nodded. “Can you still love me?” she asked, the knot in her stomach clenching tighter.

“Always have, always will.”

She smiled widely as more tears came. “Ayd,” she whispered, it sounded choked. “I love you. I really, really love you. And I don’t mean like you’re my friend or I want you to take care of me and follow me around, but for real... like in a romantic way. I mean, in the way my parents are together—not with kids and stuff obviously—I just... I need you, and I want you to be with me every day and every night, forever.”

He looked surprised for a moment, but then slowly began to smile and his eyes became glossy. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “You’re my world.”

He wiped away some tears that slipped down his cheeks. “You’re mine.”

She shifted so that she was sitting on her knees. She bit her lip for a second before asking quietly, a little nervously, “Can I kiss you?”

He nodded and his smile widened as he looked at the ground. “I couldn’t be the first,” he whispered, “but I wanna be the last.”

She touched his damp cheek and lifted his head so she could meet his gaze. “I promise there will never be anyone but you. I only want you. I love you, Ayd, so much.”

“I love you too, more than anything.”

She leaned forward slightly and brushed her lips against his in a gentle kiss. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, holding her tightly against him. He returned her kiss feelingly, and he was firm, but incredibly soft, tender, and achingly sweet. It was even more perfect than she had imagined.

Her heart felt so full it threatened to burst. How had she not known? Why hadn’t she realized years ago that in his arms was where she belonged? They were connecting pieces, they fit together perfectly in every way; they always had, and now they always would. As the kiss deepened, she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close and knowing that she would never let him go again.

After a long moment, their lips parted, but they continued to hold each other. She looked into his warm, hazel eyes and saw all the love he had for her. There was so much, and she couldn’t believe she hadn’t truly seen it before. She traced his lips with a finger and smiled. “All these years... and I had to lose you to realize... I’m so sorry, Ayd. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it a long time ago.”

He stroked her hair back out of her face. “It doesn’t matter. We’re together now,” he told her. “And why did you cut your hair?”

“I was gonna cut it all off, but Dad stopped me.”

“Remind me to thank him.”

She laughed, but then told him seriously, “I just didn’t want anyone to have to take care of me like that.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry for what I said about buying a dog. I was upset and I just wanted to say something mean. But the truth is... I am your puppy,” he said with a small laugh. “But it’s because I wanna be. I honestly love doing all those little things like brushing your hair and packing for you. I wanna take care of you, always.”

She kissed him sweetly and lingered there for a moment, just reveling in the bliss of being with him like this and how perfect it felt. Their breath mingled, and they placed little, tender kisses. He touched her nose with his and laughed softly, buoyantly. He did, too. She hugged him and nuzzled his neck. They held each other and she sighed contentedly, feeling like she was whole again.

“You wanna go upstairs?” he asked quietly. “We have an audience.” His gaze flickered to the house.

She nodded, then stood and pulled him with her. When she turned around to see what Ayden was talking about, she laughed at her mother moving away from the window.

“Geez, Mom,” Tess complained playfully when she walked into the house, still holding Ayden’s hand. “Can’t people get some privacy?”

Julia wiped her tears away and sniffed. “Oh, shut up.” She pulled Ayden into a hug first, and then her daughter. “It’s just... well, it’s about time.”

Tess glanced over at Ayden. “Yeah, it is.”

“I’ll agree with that,” Falcon added as he came into the room. “Glad you’re back.”

“Thanks,” Ayden said.

“Come on,” Tess told him, pulling on his hand. “I want you all to myself right now.”

Ayden smiled and followed. When they got to the staircase, though, he stopped and turned back to her parents. “Oh, would you mind me staying a few nights? I ran into my dad on the way over here and... well, he’s not ready for me to come home just yet.”

“This is your home, goober,” Tess told him, her hold on him tightening possessively. “And you’re never spending a single night away from me ever again.”

“Like I ever wanna be away from you,” he returned. “But it’s not your house, it’s theirs.” He looked back at her parents. “So...?”

Tess rolled her eyes and Falcon chuckled. “Of course you can stay.”

“This will always be your home, Ayden,” Julia said.

“Thank you,” Ayden told them sincerely.

“Thank you,” Julia said meaningfully, and Falcon nodded.

“See? Now come on,” Tess said impatiently, tugging on Ayden’s hand.

He grinned happily and went up the stairs with her.

__________

Over the next several days, they fell back into their regular routines. Tess even went to the Fighters Guild and sparred with her father, though Ayden came with her now and watched.

It wasn’t much of a change to have Ayden at the house every night, except that instead of sleeping on the floor, he shared Tess' small bed. She didn’t mind the small size, she wanted to be entangled with him all night anyway. But so far, all that had happened in that bed was cuddling and kissing, because he kept holding back.

They walked into their bedroom after dinner one night, and Ayden automatically grabbed the book they were reading. But when he sat on the bed, Tess took it from him and set it on the side table. She sat next to him and started kissing him, but as soon as she put any passion into it, he stiffened. She let him go and pouted. “What’s wrong? Don’t you... don’t you want me?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then why won’t you...?” She watched him pick at her quilt and shook her head. “Ayd,” she said gently, putting a hand over his. “You’re not nervous, are you? It’s just me.”

“A little,” he admitted. “I’m just worried that...” He sighed. “That I won’t be good enough compared—”

“Look at me,” she cut in. “Ayd, you’re everything to me. You’re the only one I wanna be with. Ever. Not him or anyone else, just you. So, just be with me. Okay?” She pushed his shoulder lightly and smiled. “Don’t make me beg.”

He smirked. “That could be fun.” He chuckled softly when she glared. “Like I can ever say no to you anyway,” he grumbled.

“Good.” She leaned close to kiss him again, but he was still tense, She sighed. Then, feeling a little wicked and nervous herself, she stood up, pulled her t-shirt over her head and tossed it aside. Her body had gotten a good reaction before, but she wasn’t sure if Ayden would like the look of her as well. She always changed in the bathroom, so he had never actually seen her naked before—not since he had accidentally walked in on her when she was nine, but she had changed since then.

She didn’t look at him as she continued stripping. It wasn’t until she stood there, completely naked, that she glanced over at him. When she saw his face, she grinned—she might not have had much experience, but she knew there was no chance of him refusing her now.

He took a deep, shaky breath as his eyes traveled the length of her. Then he smiled and shook his head slowly. “Always have to get your way, don’t you?” he murmured.

She bit her lip as she took a step closer, coming within his reach. She honestly didn’t know what to expect—this was Ayden, and he was as different from Matt as it was possible to be. Her breath caught when his hands touched her stomach, then he grabbed her waist and pulled her to him. He leaned his head against her belly and moved his cheek against her skin. They stayed like that for a while, with his arms around her waist, holding her to him.

She ran her fingers through his soft curls and waited, letting him set the pace. She was amazed at how natural this was. There was no awkwardness at all, going from friends to lovers. It felt like it was just always meant to be.

Finally, he leaned back. She let him go and stayed still with her arms at her sides, trying not to hold her breath in anticipation. His hands moved around to her stomach again as he stood. He gazed down at her as he caressed her body, his touch soft and slow. She was torn between wanting to close her eyes, to just enjoy the feeling, and watching his sweet face and his blissful expression. She decided she couldn’t stop looking at him.

His hands slid up her ribs and to her small breasts, and she reminded herself to breathe as a thrill surged through her. When she met his gaze, his eyes were smoldering, and she shivered. Her desire grew with the look she had never seen in him before.

She started for his clothes, her excitement building now. He took his hands away from her and let her undress him. Once he was naked, she paused to look over his slender, smooth body. Her eyes widened slightly, and she thought about what Vivyka had said about sizes. She would have never guessed that Ayden would be bigger than Matt in any way—but to her surprise he was.

She ran her hands over his body, over his soft, practically flawless skin. Her finger touched the single freckle very low on the left side of his stomach, and then she glanced up at his face when she moved lower. His breath became shallower, and she felt him grow harder in her hand. She loved that her touch did that to him. She smiled as her hands moved to his back, and she pulled him close.

Reaching around her, he pulled the tie out of her short braid and ran his fingers through her hair, letting it hang lose around her shoulders. “Tess,” he whispered, now holding her face in his hands. “I lied about something.”

She frowned. “What?”

“You know how I’ve always said I don’t remember my dreams? Well, I do. They were just about you, so I didn’t say. And... I’ve dreamed of this for years,” he said, blushing.

“How many years?”

He smiled sheepishly and looked down for a moment. “Mmm, three or four, maybe.”

She grinned and licked his lips with a quick flick of her tongue. “We should have done this years ago.”

“We can now,” he murmured and kissed her. It was deep and hungry now—he wasn’t holding back any longer. The fire grew stronger in her belly with that feeling of need as she kissed him back passionately. Then she let out a little gasp of surprise when he picked her up, carried her to the bed, and laid her down. She pulled him with her, smiling up at him. This was a whole new side of the man she had thought she knew so well, and she was thrilled by it.

__________

They lay there some time later, both a bit breathless. Ayden rested his cheek against the top of Tess' head as he held her close and sighed, feeling completely content, completely happy, and in a bit of a daze. He had dreamed of being with her for years, but it had been amazing, so far beyond anything he could have imagined.

But a moment later, when he pulled back a little to look down at her, he felt devastated—she looked upset. “Was it... bad?”

She leaned her head back, met his gaze, and held it firmly. “I thought you never did that before,” she said with an edge in her voice.

He frowned in confusion.

“Where’d you learn those things?”

He fought a smile now. “Are you jealous?”

“You... you’ve been with someone else?” she asked, close to tears at the thought.

“Maybe all guys know.”

“Matt didn’t do that stuff,” she blurted out.

He instantly turned serious. “Was he... better?”

She scoffed. “Gods no! Not even close. You’re... um...” She sighed and rolled her eyes. He grinned and she glared at him in return. “Tell me!” she demanded.

He smiled and kissed her sweetly. “I just read a lot.”

She gaped at him. “There are books?” she asked incredulously. “On that?” She lifted herself up and looked down at him in shock. “Seriously?”

He nodded, then laughed when she looked thoughtful. “Interested in the library all of a sudden?”

“You never told me they had books like that.”

He shook his head. “Not that long ago you wouldn’t have cared,” he pointed out.

“True,” she agreed. “But why were you reading them?”

He blushed. “For you... when you were ready.”

She grinned widely. “You’re completely wonderful,” she told him adoringly. “And it’s good for you too, right?”

“Very, very good,” he promised with a blissful sigh. Then his smile turned into a smirk. “So... I’m really better?”

She nodded. “I was actually worried,” she admitted, “because, well... you’re so different than... you know, but you’re...” She bit her lip and smiled. “Incredible,” she breathed. “You’re—” She didn’t get to finish as he pulled her to him and kissed her greedily.

When he finally released her, her eyes were eager. “Is there more?”

He laughed. “Yes.”

She bounced slightly in her excitement. “Show me.”

“Why do I have the feeling I’m be exhausted for the foreseeable future?”

She lay back with a dramatic pout. “Well, if you don’t wanna...”

He moved over her and kissed her jaw, then her throat. “Shut up,” he told her, grinning. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She wrapped her arms around him and grinned back happily.