“Koa,” Evander poked my nose and I opened one of my eyes, yawning softly, “you can’t sleep out here. You’ll burn.”

“I don’t get sunburns,” I flipped onto my stomach, letting the sun's warmth soak into my back, “you shouldn’t be out here, honey. Your skin can’t handle the sun yet.”

“I have on a sweater,” he laughed and suddenly straddled my back, making me smile, “it’s been a month, I don’t want to be a caged bird anymore and you left me inside to sunbathe.”

“I don’t want to lose my tan and it’s good for my scars.”

“Hm,” Evander kissed my back gently and I laughed when his arms slid under my chest, “I want attention, Koa.”

“I can tell. What can I do, babe?”

“I don’t know. I’m bored,” he whined in my ear, the chair we were on struggling under our combined weight as I could feel it starting to bow under my stomach, “I want to go out and have fun!”

“Well… I’d need to wrap your neck again. That burn isn’t doing as well as your arm. But if you want, I suppose I can take you shopping. I need to get a few new lenses for my camera and we ran out of all your favorite snacks.”

“You feed me well, can you blame me?” he kept kissing my back, moving to my neck and I reached back to lace my fingers in his hair, “Koa…”

“Yeah, babe.”

“I just like saying your name.”

There was a strange sound from the gate by my head and I grabbed my glasses, sliding them on before moving up on my elbows, Evander still hanging from my back. A flash of red hair disappeared and I groaned, rolling my eyes.

“He still lives there?” Evander whispered in my ear.

“Beau won’t leave until I go back to my townhouse. He’s essentially stalking me, it’s frustrating.”

“He uh… left a note on my car,” he cleared his throat and I looked over my shoulder, my eyes wide, “told me you can’t be a good boyfriend, that if I want to be happy I need to end it. It was stupid, you’re good to me. Not my boyfriend, but you treat me better than I thought anyone could. Oh, he also called me a lot of messed up stuff for being trans and ended it by saying you can’t be attracted to me since I don’t have a dick.”

“You’d think he’d know not to do that seeing as one of his moms is trans and he never had a problem with that before. Beau just wants to hurt your feelings, Evan. Also, you know full well I’m severely attracted to you. Don’t let his stupidity get to you. We’re happy. Aren’t we?”

“Absolutely,” Evander giggled and slowly kissed me before rubbing his nose on mine, “it’s almost Christmas. Are you guys going to Montana?”

“Yeah. Hey,” I held him as tight as I could with one arm as I rolled onto my back, grateful I didn’t accidentally drop Evander onto the ground, “come with us.”

“Huh?” Evanders eyes grew wide as he laid his hands on my chest, the wrap he was forced to wear over his right hand tickling me.

“Well. By the time you can work again, I’ll be in my last semester of school. So we’re both on a bit of a break from life. I want you to come to Montana with us. Meet my grandparents. They’re in their 70’s, and not doing great. I’d like you to meet them at least once. Plus my million cousins, aunts, and uncles. I also don’t like the idea of spending the holiday away from you. We have just enough time to get your passport and I’ll pay for your flights. Come with us.”

“Hm,” he laid back down, resting his chin on his hands and I smiled, running my fingers through his hair, adoring the way the silver waves clung to my fingers every time I did this, “Okay. I’d love to.”

“Good because my parents already bought your tickets,” I snorted and Evander gently hit me in the chest, “Hey!”

“You should tell me these things!”

“But I just did. Don’t be so grumpy,” I kissed his forehead softly with a smile, “God… I adore you, Evan.”

“Koa?”

“My thoughts slip out these days, don’t worry too much about it. We need to take care of your passport documents then we’ll do our shopping. We’ll just put them in the urgent category. You’ve committed no crimes, it should process.”

“I’m scared but you are so worth flying across the damn world,” he laughed and another crash came from behind the fence, “Beau! Go away,” Evander shouted.

“You don’t get to tell me that. I’m just in my backyard,” Beau called back and I patted Evander on his rear so he would climb off me.

Grabbing my shirt from the chair next to me, I walked down the driveway and out of the gate, Evander behind me as I made my way into the Rivera’s front yard where I found Brooklyn and Erica.

“Mrs. Rivera? Mrs. Rivera?” I called quietly and they both turned to me, “I’m sorry to bother you. But Evan and I are simply trying to spend time outside and Beau keeps staring at us over the gate or being disruptive. He’s also been stalking me and leaving notes on Evan’s car that… they’re really cruel. I know I dumped him but this is getting out of hand. It’s been a month of this now. I stayed quiet but I can’t anymore.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Erica sighed, fixing her light brown curls, “I am so sorry, Koa. We had no idea.”

“I don’t blame you. I don’t even fully blame him for being upset that this happened. But it’s getting annoying. Evander can’t go to his brothers until Alexi allows it with the burn scars. We just got to a point where he can shower. I don’t want to keep living this way. It’s too stressful. We leave for Montana in a month, I don’t want to cower in my parent's house until then. I have to defend Evan against this harassment because that’s what Beau is doing.”

“Beau!” Brooklyn shouted and he came running, his face hidden in his sweater, “Why are you acting like this?”

“Just don’t think it’s fair that Koa gets to rub his new relationship in my face,” Beau muttered.

“Rubbing it in your face?” Evander came around me, glaring at Beau, “We are simply enjoying time together in the backyard. I get to be in the sun again for the first time in forever. I wanted to spend that with Koa and you’re constantly disrupting us. Why? I would think you’d just want him to be happy. You did this. You cheated, not him. It’s not his fault you make shitty choices, Beau!”

Beau suddenly slapped Evander on the side of his neck and Evander screamed loudly, the wrapping on his throat suddenly turning red and I covered it quickly, pressing hard.

“Shit,” Beau whispered, his eyes wide, “I didn’t… I didn’t mean to…”

“His throat hasn’t healed entirely! You tore the burn open!” I yelled, “Goddammit, Beau!”

My parents suddenly appeared, more than likely due to the raised voices and Alexander immediately picked up Evander without another word, taking him back to their house as Evander cried, the pain overwhelming.

“Why?” I whispered, my voice shaking, “Why would you do that? Why would you… hurt him? Evander is a good man. He’s gentle. Kind. Adores me. He didn’t deserve that. Even if you didn’t know, you had no right to hit him.”

“Koa,” Caelan gripped my shoulder and I nodded, staring at my feet, “Brook, Eri? Can you explain everything to Beau? I don’t think he understands that Evander nearly died almost two months ago. His burns aren’t healing properly, his immune system is weak. It’s taking a long time for new skin to form.”

“Right,” Erica grabbed Beau by the nape of his neck and dragged him into the house, the same way she used to when we were young.

“Koa… I… we are sending Beau away,” Brooklyn whispered and my eyes grew wide, “he’s going to stay with some friends of ours in New York. Needs a fresh start to learn from his behavior. I apologize, I truly do, for what he’s been doing to Evan. We didn’t know he was harassing your potential boyfriend.”

“It’s fine,” I whispered, wiping my nose, “Evan just wants to be happy. Can you also… try and explain to Beau how sheltered Evan was? He doesn’t really understand confrontation so how Beau reacted might confuse him. I know Caelan shared everything about Evander and Kipton’s past with you two. It would mean a lot to me if you could help Beau understand. Beau was my best friend at one point. I didn’t want to lose that friendship but our relationship destroyed it. I don’t want to be his friend anymore or even attempt to fix that relationship later on. But I want Beau to find happiness. I found mine. It’s Evan and the future we’re planning together.”

“I know,” she smiled and wiped a tear from my cheek, “go on. Evan needs you.”

Nodding, I ran to my parent's house and into the sterile bathroom where I found Alexander calming Evander as he cleaned the torn skin. Evander stared at me before smiling, tears in his eyes and I kneeled down, taking his left hand and gently kissing the back of it.

“I’m okay,” Evander whispered and I nodded, “it was just one small spot. It really hurt because his nails caught me and it tore. Alexi is more worried about infection.”

“I put the antibiotic ointment on it and cleaned everything. I’m just putting sterile pads over it before I wrap it then Evan should take some ibuprofen so it doesn’t swell up,” Alexander nudged me and I looked up, “you don’t need to worry. We got another one of his blood tests back. His white cell count is rising. He’s getting healthier.”

“Really?” I looked into Evander’s eyes and he giggled, “Oh thank god. I can’t have you getting sick. Matua, can I still take him out with me later? He’s tired of being trapped in the house.”

“Sure just don’t forget to go get his passport photo taken,” Alexander laughed and moved away, “there we go,” he washed his hands and left the room as Evander hummed softly.

“Are you okay?” I whispered, caressing Evander’s cheek.

“I’m okay. Thank you,” he leaned down and kissed me softly, “for always defending me.”

“I always will. Hey?”

“Yeah?”

“If I was going to ask the question you’re waiting for, do you need me to make that romantic for you?”

“Oh. No. Not at all. I would be happy regardless,” he laughed softly, pulling on one of my curls.

“We’ve been dating for nearly five months. You’re coming with me to meet the rest of my family. I adore you and our times together, even if they’ve been mostly spent with you healing as of late. I have two questions I want to ask. Just not in here. Can we go out to the garden?”

“Okay.”

Evander followed me outside, playing with my fingers and I swung our arms carefully, always grateful I could feel his touch even with my prosthetic. We settled in amongst the white and purple flowers on a bench Alexander had bought Caelan for their twentieth anniversary and Evander smiled, looking around us, his eyes matching the clear skies above us.

“Evan?” I kissed his cheek and he nodded, “I know I sometimes can’t vocally tell you how I feel. But I do my best every day to show you what you mean to me. You changed my life. Showed me I don’t have anyone to impress. I just need to be happy. You make me so fucking happy. I didn’t know relationships could be this way. I thought it had to be rough, fighting, and hurting each other and then making out to fix it. I didn’t know they could be this peaceful. Um… when you were in the hospital, you called me your boyfriend. I don’t think anyone has shared that with you. It startled me at first. To think you’d want to be with me further than dating. But the more I sat there watching you, the more I realized that I already considered you my boyfriend as well. But I wanted to wait until you were stable enough before I asked… if you’d be my boyfriend?”

“Really?” Evander smiled, turning in his seat and I nodded, cradling his face, “Of course! Oh I’d love nothing more,” he leaned forward and kissed me rapidly, giggling as he did, “Absolutely, Koa.”

“Thank God,” I sighed happily, tangling my hand in his hair.

“Can you shave that though?” he rubbed my beard and I scowled, “It just doesn’t fit your face, babe. You’re still so hot but it scratches my face. Or at least take better care of it. You need beard oil and stuff.”

“Ugh,” grumbling, I kissed him again before smiling, “I will shave it on one condition.”

“What is it?”

“When we get back from Montana,” I reached into my pocket and grabbed a set of keys, pressing them into his left palm, “move into the townhouse with me. Don’t go to Kip’s. They’re about to have a baby. Give them the space to bond with their child and live with me. I’ll take care of you as we get the business up and running.”

“K-Koa?” he sniffled and I pressed our foreheads together, “baby are you sure? That’ll mean seeing me all the time.”

“I love seeing you all day just like I do now. I need you home with me. We can get a kitten. One we train to travel around with us when we have to go somewhere for a job. But the townhouse will be our permanent home base. I have room for the mobile bar in the garage. I only keep my motorcycle in there, I already made sure it was big enough in the hope you will tell me yes.”

“Yes,” Evander whispered, “god yes.”

“We’ll turn the spare bedroom into an office for now. So I can edit photos and do bookkeeping. We’ll share my room, it’s big enough for us both.”

“I love that. I love this. I… I don’t know how to…” he started to cry, hugging me tightly and I pressed my lips to his hair, shushing softly.

“I’m happy too, Evan. It’s okay. Just cry.”

“I never thought I’d have this. You don’t understand… with my life before I escaped… I was expected to be miserable basically. But you’re ensuring I stay happy, that we get to stay together. It makes my heart so full it could burst.”

“Me too, baby,” I cupped his chin and kissed him with a smile, “oh,” I groaned quietly when he licked my bottom lip and opened my mouth, letting him explore as he wanted, “Evan,” I murmured, my heart racing when I felt him gently bite my lip, “w-wait. We have stuff we actually need to do today and you aren’t healed enough for things to go past this right now. It will hurt you. I am beyond happy. You have no idea,” I pulled back, my chest heaving, “but your health is my priority and as much as I want to lay in bed and cherish you, I can’t. Not yet. Okay?”

“Okay,” he laughed, hugging me again, “I just got excited.”

“It happens. I’m excited too. Let’s go spend our first day as a couple shopping and dealing with your passport.”

“I love that idea. Can I sleep in your room?”

“Mhm. I would love nothing more than to hold you as you fall asleep and actually get to stay at your side instead of what we’ve been doing.”

“I do hate watching you leave when you think I’m asleep.”

“Never again,” I pinched his chin, ensuring we maintained eye contact, “you’ll never have to worry about that again.”

“I trust you.”